Shift boot and cover plate

[NYNick]

I wound up the carpet project last week and part of that was console deletion. I'm interested to see and hear what and where people sourced the shifter boot and cover plate for a clean, cool look with no console. Pix would be great! Thanks

Nick

[Mike Self]

One thought...source a round shift boot from an early (short console) car, and find a retaining ring (perhaps also from an early car) that can be fastened to the tunnel housing.  You'll then just need to make a finishing ring to cover the raw edges of the carpet around the shift boot. 

 

Another option:  find the shift boot surround from a defunct Frigiking A/C unit.  It's trapezoid-shaped, separate from the A/C housing and has a metal retaining ring for the factory rectangular shift boot.  It will cover the area around the hole in the tunnel housing, and also can serve as a location for extra switches (fog lights, etc)

 

mike

[Simeon]

There are a few posts on here about people making their own surround out of PVC plumbing fittings to attach the factory round rubber boot to the floor. This is what I am going to do, if it is done right it should hide the cut edge of the carpet around the shifter hole. 

 

Are you going to need a scrap of carpet to go directly underneath the heater box? Admittedly that’s not a spot that’s easily seen when sitting in the car and the seats are in.  Any issues regarding getting the tunnel carpet flat without cutting? (I am assuming that’s an Esty carpet). 

 

 

Edited January 3, 2019 by Simeon
Added the link

[Conserv]

I think the look you want, Nick, is the simple round boot of the pre-Modell 71 cars (1966 to April 1971).

 

I’ve seen people weld a lip onto the original hole, or attach one with screws. Unfortunately, I don’t know what the search string is to find others who have done this.... ?

 

Best regards,

 

Steve

 

Edited January 3, 2019 by Conserv

[NYNick]

Still looking for ideas but thanks for the replies so far.

31 minutes ago, Simeon said:

There are a few posts on here about people making their own surround out of PVC plumbing fittings to attach the factory round rubber boot to the floor. This is what I am going to do, if it is done right it should hide the cut edge of the carpet around the shifter hole. 

 

Are you going to need a scrap of carpet to go directly underneath the heater box? Admittedly that’s not a spot that’s easily seen when sitting in the car and the seats are in.  Any issues regarding getting the tunnel carpet flat without cutting? (I am assuming that’s an Esty carpet). 

 

 

I like the PVC idea Simeon, maybe. I have some spare Vinyl I could cover it with to match the door cards so that's an alternative. And yes, I have a piece of scrap carpet that's going under the heater box. You caught me there!

 

The trick with the tunnel laying flat for me was two fold. 1) Lay the carpet in the sun and get it very pliable. I didn't have that luxury. 2) The tunnel slopes gently upwards toward the firewall in front of the stick shift which makes it difficult to get the carpet to lay flat. I believe that cardboard and sound insulation piece installed by the factory took care of that. For me, I strategically placed two more layers of EZ Cool to soften the slope change and that did the trick.

 

23 minutes ago, Conserv said:

I think the look you want, Nick, is the simple round boot of the pre-Modell 71 cars (1966 to April 1971).

 

I’ve seen people weld a lip onto the original hole, or attach one with screws. Unfortunately, I don’t know what the search string is to find others who have done this.... ?

 

Best regards,

 

Steve

 

Thanks Steve. I'll look into that as well.

Edited January 3, 2019 by NYNick

[stephers]

What you really need is the round rubber shift boot that I have posted in the for sale forum.  It would be perfect for this project   check it out

Thanks, Rick

[AceAndrew]

We have a few similar themes in our cars.  Mine is also Black/Tan with no center console.

 

The cleanest IMO is to use the early boot ring.  A close second would be the hot-rod ring from Lokar.  The distant third was the chunky ring I found from the Dodge Viper.

 

FYI, I will be making leather shift boots that incorporate an upper finishing ring that sits right below the shift knob.  I've hated how traditional leather boots often look unfinished at the top. Been wanting to do it for years (already machined the rings), this is the year!

 

Look forward to seeing how yours turns out.

[SmoresTM]

 

I don’t have any good pictures of it, but I did this mod an loved it. I sourced an early round shift boot and IE actually had a 1600 parts car that they were willing to cut the round retention ring (if that’s what it would be called) out of the transmission tunnel and send to me. Esty was then kind enough to trim a piece of close-enough spare carpet as a temporary solution to cover the seem that my car has there. It worked really well and I think it’s an awesome look.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[RogerRamJet77]

I see you relocated the battery to under the rear seat. What did you use for a positive terminal buss bar in the engine compartment? Picture please?


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[NYNick]

11 hours ago, rockyford77 said:

I see you relocated the battery to under the rear seat. What did you use for a positive terminal buss bar in the engine compartment? Picture please?


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I used the red positive pictured below in the engine compartment. Drilled two holes.

https://www.amazon.com/Positive-Insulated-Battery-Junction-thread/dp/B009SCSXVO/ref=sr_1_12?m=AB3RH2VK84JRX&s=merchant-items&ie=UTF8&qid=1546609566&sr=1-12

 

I used a normal bolt through the fender, sanded the paint off the inside of the engine bay where it connects, put some dielectric grease on the sanded part, washer, nut, ground wire connector, nut.

 

I used heavy duty 1/0 gauge wire for everything. Getting over 13 volts delivered.

Edited January 4, 2019 by NYNick

[NYNick]

15 hours ago, stephers said:

What you really need is the round rubber shift boot that I have posted in the for sale forum.  It would be perfect for this project   check it out

Thanks, Rick

Rick,

Went looking, didn't find it.

Nick

[stephers]

What is your email and I can send you pictures.    

 

It is a bit old of a listing now

 

Thanks, Rick

[ingramlee]

4 hours ago, NYNick said:

Rick,

Went looking, didn't find it.

Nick

Go to Stephers profile and hit find content. Its there about 3/4 ways down the first page