February 5, 2004

J-spec Shift Boot and E-brake Boot Install

Written by Joseph Keawkalaya
Images provided by Joseph Keawkalaya
 

Created: 2/5/2004
Last updated: 2/10/2004

My shift boot and ebrake boot was looking pretty bad after all these years. Nine years of wear and tear have resulted in some funky wear and some tears. I figured, since my car has a J-spec theme, why not? I purchased a J-spec shift knob from Coz, who has excellent service as usual, and the red stitched shift boot and e-brake boot from Courtesy Parts and got the TT.net discount for members.

    First of all you have to remove the trim piece right above the radio. You have to be careful because there are two metal snaps that attach to the two holes. I used a small screwdriver and pushed upwards from the bottom of the snaps. It releases the tension and allows you to pull it out. Remove the two screws and put them aside. After you are done with that, then you pull out the two screw covers at the top of the vents in the two corners. Once you pull them off, you can remove the two screws and put them aside. Then you can remove the front trim and make sure that you disconnect the connector to the factory clock.

    This is what the front console looks like after you remove the front vent trim.

    Remove the ashtray and remove the one screw. Yes, I know, it's dirty in there. It's clean now. ;-P

    Open the center console door and remove the mini carpet. You have to remove the three screws. After that, you have to pull the whole center console forward. Watch where the front lower corners are flush with the center piece. You just have to kind of bend the front piece outwards a bit and then slide the whole assembly forward. Sorry if it's kinda vague but when you are looking at the whole piece, it becomes more apparent.

    Turn the console upside down or to the side and disconnect the following plugs:

1) Cigarette lighter plug (2 plugs).

2) Electric mirror and for Twin Turbos, the adjustable shock switch (1 plug each).

3) For me, I had to disconnect an alarm LED, proximity sensor plug, and my Alpine Digital processor plug.

    This is what the shift boot looks like.

    To remove the old boot, you remove the 4 screws to take the metal plate off and then you slide the rubber seal over the plastic ring and the whole thing will slide out. To install the new boot, it's the exact reverse of removing it. Make sure all the little holes line up. Put the ring back on and then make sure the two leather wings are wrapped around the plastic ring before you put the rubber seal back on.

    The shift boot was pretty self-explanatory as well and has a similar installation like the shift boot. There are 3 screws that you need to remove and then you can slide the metal frame off and the boot. Like above, the installation of the new boot is the exact reverse of removing it. You may have to stretch the boot a little to fit all the little holes. The one hitch in the installation I had was that I had to cut two holes in the boot that were inadvertently left off. After both boots are back on, reverse the removal process and make sure that you reconnect all the plugs that you removed. There is a lot of dust and such inside, so now is a good time to vacuum and dust off all the normally hidden parts. I don't know about you guys and gals, but I always have dust on the radio trim surround so I was able to clean that off and also the dust inside the vents.

    Here is the new shift knob and shift boot.

    Here is the new e-brake boot

    Both together... I know, I know, my interior was dirty. I was detailing the car and doing all kinds of other stuff.

    Here are pics of everything all cleaned up. My camera's resolution is so high, that you can make out dust especially on the floor mats. They must be the kind of dust that is not visible to the naked eye or something. Doh!

With my new gauge rings, the interior really has changed. I like the red stitching and it seems to go well with my car's color. Now, the seats and panels are another story. Time takes it's toll on the seats. My leather seats are still soft and supple and not dry and crunchy. I always clean and condition the seats, but it just seems like you can't do anything about the wrinkles, creases, and lines. Blah. Hope this write-up was informative and somewhat helpful.

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