Mongo

Doing something a little interesting recovering from surgery here. Productivity equals less meds and less focus on pain. I may have to shorten the leather shift boot .. like a lot.

Mongo

I guess I forgot 1 pic from last night. Don't remember what gen Corvette this shifter boot came from. Will have to find the parts bag again.

Zirconocene

That last picture is critical. Looks pretty good, I can't wait to see how it comes out.

Cheers

Gary Knox

Andy,

Please let us know. I used a Porsche 5 speed boot to replace the rubber one on my '94 GTS. I assume the Corvette one might be cheaper, if so, I'd use it if I do that on another 928 automatic.

Hope you'll be fully recovered soon. Thanks for this post, and keep up the healing.

Gary

Mongo

The boot is from a C4 Vette manual transmission. 1989 to be exact.

Dimensions are as follows for the boot:

• 1989-1996 Manual = 2-1/2” x 8-5/8”

Porsche's auto shifter plate dimensions are as follows:
2” x 6-1/8”

​​​​​I decided to use the largest boot of the C4 generation since I didn't know how much leather I needed to work with for the gear shift to properly run through the range without pulling out from the shifter plate.

I'm targeting a height of 4.5 inches of leather where it meets the bottom of the T-handle.

Gary Knox

Andy,

Was the Corvette boot for a manual or an automatic shifter?

Thanks,

Gary

Mongo

Thanks Gary. I got a few more weeks to go till I'm 100% again.

The boot is from a manual transmission Corvette.

Mongo

Over the Memorial weekend I put some more time into sewing the boot to the frame. A couple photos to show the progress. I still have a ways to go but I'm taking my time on this due to other priorities.

Mongo

Been absent with this quite some time due to job hunting after a recent lay-off due to outsourcing.

I have the leather around the metal frame nice and pretty. Overall, I use the same factory mounting points and clearance is more than adequate to reattach the locking levers to the base plate.

Mongo

Not too happy with the fade of the plastic plate. On the bright side, I've always wanted to paint my shift plate silver so it blends with the silver faceplate of my Blaupunkt San Diego receiver.

I've separated everything. For those of you who don't know, you can remove the white letters and numbers for the gear indicator. I will be shopping for an indicator light to rig up since my drive light no longer works in my cluster.

The paint used will be VW color "Reflex Silver"

Mongo

Onto painting... Plastic can be difficult for paint to properly bond to. Very important you use an adhesion promoter after sanding (400 grit used).

3 coats of Reflex Silver, 3 coats of clear. Once cured I will be very lightly wet sanding with 2000 grit to get rid of any orange peel and buffing.

I forgot how stinky auto paint can get and how irritable it makes the wife.. banned from the patio area for base and clear....

Mongo

The low light is because I need to replace 2 T12 fluorescent bulbs but I stuck a flashlight under the gear indicators to show how they will illuminate at night.

Mongo

Almost there y'all...

Zirconocene

That is looking great!

Mongo

Found some interesting stuff when taking my old plate out. It was missing a lock and it was glued into the console...