Fitting a gear lever gaiter
- Thread starter lthom
- Start date
It is a bit of a fiddle.
The first problem I found was getting the insert out of the end without damaging it. You neet to pry it out with a blunt implement (a table knife - don't tell Belinda [
]) but keep working round and round the edge moving the insert out a very small amount at a time. It goes in quite a long way - about 12mm from memory.
Once the insert is out, getting the the old gaiter off and the new one on is relatively easy untill you get to finishing it.
You have to work the loose end of the gaiter into the insert hole pushing it in and runching up the leather eavenly around the edge of the hole. A long time and effort working the leather at this point helps greatly towards getting a good finish. This is glued to help hold it in place. Then you have to put the insert back - and you thought getting it out was tricky?
You can bang it in, but only with a rubber hammer or you will dammage the insert. Be careful what you rest the lever on. The open bottom end of the gear stick makes a nice ring punch and will punch a big hole in anything soft you might rest it on. If you rest it on something hard you can crush the side of the stick closing the hole that receives the retaining spring.
Whilst the above sounds complicated it does all become apparent when you do the job and having a nice new gaiter makes the whole interior look much tidier.
If it isn't totaly perfect when finished don't worry as it seems to shrink to fit after about six months of sweaty gear changes.
The first problem I found was getting the insert out of the end without damaging it. You neet to pry it out with a blunt implement (a table knife - don't tell Belinda [
]) but keep working round and round the edge moving the insert out a very small amount at a time. It goes in quite a long way - about 12mm from memory.Once the insert is out, getting the the old gaiter off and the new one on is relatively easy untill you get to finishing it.
You have to work the loose end of the gaiter into the insert hole pushing it in and runching up the leather eavenly around the edge of the hole. A long time and effort working the leather at this point helps greatly towards getting a good finish. This is glued to help hold it in place. Then you have to put the insert back - and you thought getting it out was tricky?
You can bang it in, but only with a rubber hammer or you will dammage the insert. Be careful what you rest the lever on. The open bottom end of the gear stick makes a nice ring punch and will punch a big hole in anything soft you might rest it on. If you rest it on something hard you can crush the side of the stick closing the hole that receives the retaining spring.
Whilst the above sounds complicated it does all become apparent when you do the job and having a nice new gaiter makes the whole interior look much tidier.
If it isn't totaly perfect when finished don't worry as it seems to shrink to fit after about six months of sweaty gear changes.
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