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Welcome the skepticism, the few mods I have done are usually not too widely regarded. And thanks for the heads up, I’m about 60/40 on doing it myself.
How was swapping out the shift boot? That looks like it could be a pain too, with all those little clips. Did you remove the entire piece of the console (up to the ash tray), or just unscrew the shifter surround part?
Here’s a crude mock-up, black all season mats + black buttons and gauge cluster convinced me the contrast might tie-ie, but I could be wrong):
Next project is about to commence. OEM 350Z shift **** + Redline shift boot (black suede). Exciting “upgrade” for me, because: my OEM shift **** is worn out and always looked odd to me, I strongly prefer the shift pattern to be on the **** vs on the shifter surround (will need to figure out a good way to cover that one up), I think the black **** and boot will be a nice contrast to the stone interior, and the OEM leather (vinyl?) boot is very noisy to me. So pretty pumped, just trying to figure out if it’s worth it to try myself or Go to the pros.
Am I crazy for attempting the install myself? Several good YouTube videos out there, so the steps seem straightforward enough. And I have a strap wrench, vice grips (to hold the linkage to the transmission in pace), and towels needed to pull off the job. Just never tried anything like this before...
Welcome the skepticism, the few mods I have done are usually not too widely regarded. And thanks for the heads up, I’m about 60/40 on doing it myself.
How was swapping out the shift boot? That looks like it could be a pain too, with all those little clips. Did you remove the entire piece of the console (up to the ash tray), or just unscrew the shifter surround part?
Here’s a crude mock-up, black all season mats + black buttons and gauge cluster convinced me the contrast might tie-ie, but I could be wrong):
Removing the shift boot surround is easy-peasy. The shift boot itself will take some effort regarding the plastic frame, but work slowly and carefully (and use a sharp fresh xacto blade to cut off the mushroomed plastic) and it will be easy. Mine is all taken apart; I should be able to put up some pics this evening.
You can usually press on the little inward-star lock washers to hold things in place, or re-melt the plastic with a heated spoon or soldering iron.
Personally, I usually use leather cement or black RTV. I've seen folks use hotglue as well, but I don't trust that stuff with any sort of structural job.
So the plastic stubs align with the holes along the outer edge of the shift boot, then there are like 4 tabs which snap the shifter surround back in place and sandwich the material of the shift boot, right?
You guys are saying that’s not enough to keep the shift boot in place (attached at the bottom)? Adhesive is needed too?
Grateful for any photos, Mike, if you remember to snap a few while your shifter is all apart.
I'm not saying it is NEEDED, but what *I* do. My auto maintenance mentality comes from USAF aircraft maintenance, and I freely admit that I over-engineer solutions.
