Shift boot arrived today. I think the color-matched stitching was the right choice; (don't need to call attention to the stitching.) And the perforated leather is pretty classy, matching the perforated style in the center seats. I don't know what to think about the 4-panel design yet. They were smart enough to cut the 4-panels so that the two sides are the same size, the back section is larger, and the front section is smaller... as you can see in this flat picture. Anyway, that was interesting to see. I was curious if they would do that, and they did.

I took it out to the car just now, and am very psyched to see this come together. The color choice in Charcoal is perfect, IMO. Very, very much like the dark OEM vinyl, but better... and actual leather, and perforated, etc.

 

Did you cut the notches in the bottom or were they already cut? I like the fact that the leather is much thicker and will probably last a lot longer than the vinyl. Did you go with standard height?

 

The one notch in the front, and the two notches in the back... the boot came that way. Redline did it. I figure to remove the boot assembly later tonight and start playing with it.

Yes, standard height. Later on in the year, when I get to the STS mod, I'm going to see what I can do to get a shorty extension, pushing the **** height back up to OEM fitment. I mentioned that to TWM in an email, and was told they're going to run the idea past R&D.

 

Oh, I did not realize the pre-cut notches were for the front and back. If I remember right, you will need to cut 4 similar notches in the sides for mounting tabs. Here I thought Redline took my advice to pre-cut them. Oh well.

STS mod? I got a bit creative with my shift **** height as my shift **** is drilled almost all the way to the top so it can sit low enough to drag your knuckles every time you shift. That combined with the different shift lever made for a bit of creativity to get everything to work right. Kind of a pain in the ****, but I am happy with how it is now.

 

The ship time from redline seemed pretty fast, given when you ordered. And the quality seems good. Might have to get one of these, as well. I wonder if the perforated black would be a perfect match for the black leather or if it would be slightly off... That would bug me.

 

I did the black shift boot and arm rest cover. It is as close to a perfect color match as I can tell.

 

I will likely do up the lid, too. After I'm all done, I think I'm going to start a Pay it Forward thread, where people ship the samples around one member to the next. I don't really need them anymore.

That lid of 4DRZ's is beautiful. Want that, but in perf charcoal to match my boot.

 

Very, very nice!!! You are spot on: it is indeed very classy. It'll pull the whole interior together with the leather and perforation...and if you go with same on the arm-rest.....ARE YOU KIDDING ME??? An English luxury-sports saloon.

Your attention to detail and perseverance is really paying dividends. I can believe you are very psyched.

I'm definitely in for the swatch pass-around.

Sean

 

Hmm. Removing the underside ring proved more difficult that I thought it would. You have to use a razor blade to slice off the little round rivet flats on about a dozen plastic posts. And you have to cut or tear away at this felt tape. Finally got it off with 4DRZ's advice...

...only to discover the new leather boot doesn't have cut-outs for the four clips. On top of that, only the front and back pre-cut holes line up with those dozen little plastic posts. The ones on the side very much miss the mark.

So now I'm going to have to cut and punch (or drill) my way to fitment. Err-r-r-r. This is not a plug-n-play mod. It requires time, and forces you to step back.

 

I think mine is the charcoal color, or whatever they are referring to that matches the factory leather.

A few relief cuts in the sides of the boot for the tabs and poke one new hole and you should be all good.

 

It's a lot more work than it would seem

I have the perforated nappa leather and silver stitching, its an exact match

 

So close to an awesome pun. So very close... just one little letter.

 

I dont get it

But I'm also an idiot when it come to pop culture.

Ive had redline boots on my last 3 cars. This was the only one that was somewhat difficult to replace.

 

I think he was looking for "more work than it would seam" because there are seams in the shift boot. Then again, I don't entirely get the Get Smart pic either so I think we are in the same boat. Maybe because that show is full of puns...

 

Seam... exactly. Can't believe that happened by accident, LOL.

And the Maxwell Smart character had a well known catch-phrase.


And once again, 4DRZ was right about the fitment issues being no big deal. Turns out that yes, I had to cut four little slits for the tabs, but only two extra holes for proper fitment. It's all snapped back together now, and I'm working on the center piece.

It's certainly slow going. I must have fitted it on and off about twenty times.