Sales@VetteEssentials.com
248-852-9030 (Office)
248-396-4173 (Cell)
1810 Star Batt Dr
Rochester Hills, MI 48309
www.vetteessentials.com


We are pleased to provide for you our installation instructions for Vette Essentials' custom 6-speed shift boot and knob. We also invite you to review the many other products offered by Vette Essentials, including other custom leather products, as shown on our website: www.vetteessentials.com. Enjoy!


Disclaimers, etc.


  1. The following are one set of steps that you may use to install the Vette Essentials' 6-speed shift boot and/or shift knob on a C5 Corvette. Alternatives may exist.
  2. Use these instructions at your own risk and be careful not to damage your new or existing parts.
  3. This entire shift boot and shift knob install will likely take on the order of an hour.
  4. Neither Vette Essentials nor anyone affiliated with it or the formation of these instructions takes any responsibility for the results or effects achieved by following these instructions.

Specific core information for this project


Many Vette Essentials items require the return of a core item (i.e., the original factory part), so be careful not to damage the part you are replacing because if it is damaged so that it cannot be used by Vette Essentials then you may also owe to Vette Essentials the value of the core. Unless arrangements have been made to the contrary, you are required to return your stock shift knob to Vette Essentials (you are not required to return the shift boot for the 6-speed). To be an acceptable core, the physical integrity of the shift knob should be in stock fashion; thus, slight blemishes on the surface are not a problem, but structural damage to the shape of the knob may be a problem. If your stock part does not comply with these requirements, please call Vette Essentials to discuss your options.

Printing these instructions


You might find it might helpful to print these instructions so that you can take them out to work on your 'Vette. For most folks, these instructions should print out in a readable form simply by choosing "File" and then "Print" on your web browser. Alternatively, you may save some office supplies and some stress if you print these directions in landscape orientation. For those not familiar with that, at the top of your browser choose "File", then choose "Print." A window opens up with print options, and one option should say "Properties." Choose that "Properties" option, and there now will be several tabs to choose from -- select the one that says "Paper." This will bring up several options about the paper, one of which that is "Orientation." Click on "landscape," click "okay" once which will take you back to the print window, and then hit "okay" again. This should start the printing process.

Viewing larger pictures


If you want to see any of the pictures below in enlarged form, then just single click on the picture. When you're finished looking at an enlarged picture, hit the "Back" button on your browser.

Let's get started

Here's our tools, from left to right:
  1. a cloth item to protect various interior parts when working with tools
  2. hammer, preferably ball peen
  3. sturdy and lengthy flat blade screwdriver
  4. small flat blade screwdriver
  5. needle nose pliers
  6. vice grips, which are shown as needle nose but alternatively may be regular vice grips (see steps 5 and 6, below, and the alternative following those steps)
  7. tiny flat blade screwdriver
  8. (along the bottom of the picture) -- piece of wood, preferably with a thickness of an inch or more. Don't worry, while mine might look a lot like it came from a politician's sign, I assure you it was completely legitimate.
Step 1: The basic stock shifter. Say goodbye, as soon it will be much nicer looking!
Step 2: I am only demonstrating here where I will pry; I will use the tiny screwdriver in between the piece that has the shift pattern and the rest of the shift knob. See the next picture.
Step 2, continued: I have wrapped the tiny screwdriver from the preceding picture in the cloth and I am now prying. The cloth protects your stock (or other current) shift knob from getting scratched. The cloth also protects the plastic piece with the shift pattern, which is important if you are re-using that piece with a new Vette Essentials' custom shift knob.
Step 3: I now move the cloth-covered screwdriver to one side of the shift pattern piece so that I don't fully pry from just one side -- this reduces the chance of scratching anything.
Step 4: The shift pattern piece is out (and cleverly placed in the cupholder), and you can now see a metallic piece at the top of the shift knob -- this is the top of what is a metal pin that extends an inch or so vertically down the inside of the shift knob and into the center of the shifter shaft. Take several deep breaths; removing the pin is the only difficult part of the entire process. Some people choose to use some type of liquid bolt loosener for this step; however, Vette Essentials highly recommends that you DO NOT use such a material. The loosener may eventually drip down in the shaft or in the nearby area and cause damage to the Vette Essentials' leather. Thus, using bolt loosener is risky and Vette Essentials does not warrant the replacement of any damage caused by this or other chemicals.
Step 5: Steps 5 and 6 describe a prying technique. You may choose this approach, or you might consider the approach shown as an alternative and described below immediately following step 6. Looking to the present step 5, the needle nose vice grips are attached, tightly, to the shift knob pin. Alternatively, you may use regular vice grips for this step, but they require a little more maneuvering to fit within the relatively small opening at the top of the shift knob; however, they can be used as shown in the alternative following step 6, below.
Step 6: First, note in this picture that I actually removed the vice grips as compared to the previous picture, because I decided that they would be better situated as rotated 90 degrees from the above; so, in this picture, they are rotated and re-attached to the pin -- I did this for more working room for the present step. Put the cloth around the piece of wood, and then lay the cloth-covered wood on top of the shift knob and next to the vice grips. Then insert the sturdy screwdriver between the vice grip jaws and lay the tip of the screwdriver on top of the cloth-covered wood. You can then pry upward on the screwdriver handle, thereby prying and lifting the vice grips upward, and hopefully pulling the shift knob pin upward. Be careful because the vice grips might come loose from the pin and go flying -- you might guess how I know this. So, at the same time you are prying with one hand, hold the vice grips with the other. If you do not, you can pretty much guarantee those vice grips are about to grow wings and seek freedom in your car's interior.
Alternative to Steps 5 and 6: As an alternative to prying, many have had success using a regular set of vice grips along with a hammer. The picture illustrates the regular set of vice grips attached to the shift knob pin. The fit is a bit tight for the vice grips within the void on top of the shift knob, but they will fit if you press downward while clamping them in place. Also indicated is the "shoulder" of the vice grips. Once the vice grips are clamped as shown, use the hammer to strike upward against the shoulder, and at the same time use your other hand to wiggle and pull upward on the vice grips. The shock from the hammering will loosen the pin while also lifting it upward, as further urged upward by your pulling upward on the vice grips.
Step 7: Once the shift knob pin is out, the hardest part is over. Unscrew and remove the shift knob by turning it counterclockwise.
Step 8: Use your thumb to press lightly at the interface between the current shift boot and the console. You can feel, and also see from the pictures below, that the bottom of the shift boot is attached to an oval-shaped plastic ring that clips in place just below the surface of the console. The ring will flex a reasonable amount, but of course don't go too far or you might break it. An inch or so below my thumb, you can see the top of one of the teeth on the ring that keeps the ring in place relative to the console. Free one of these teeth from the console by pushing toward the shifter and work your way around the ring freeing a few more teeth.
Step 9: This picture illustrates the point where enough teeth have been freed from the console and I am able to lift the ring, with the attached boot, upward and off the shaft.
Step 10: The stock shift boot is out. Note that the seam between the two leather halves of the boot lines up with the middle tooth on both sides of the ring. This same alignment is likely to be preferable when you attach the new Vette Essentials' boot.
Step 11: The stock shift boot is attached to the plastic ring by staples and a little glue. Use the medium sized flat blade screwdriver and the needle nose pliers to remove the staples, and thereafter pull the leather which will cause it to break free of the factory glue.
Step 12: The new Vette Essentials' shift boot has elastic along its bottom, and it also has triangular cut-outs that illustrate exactly how to align the new shift boot to the plastic ring. Simply tuck the exposed elastic in each cutout behind a corresponding tooth on the plastic ring. Also, make sure you pull the boot down as far as possible on to the ring. It is not necessary, but you also may apply some super glue to the boot and ring.
Step 13: Simply clip the ring back down into its original position. I chose to put the gray portion facing forward, purely by personal preference and to match the coloring of the Vette Essentials' shift knob (shown below in step 14). Next, reverse the remaining steps from earlier. First, screw your new Vette Essentials' shift knob (or other shift knob) back on to the threaded shifter shaft. Second, insert the metal pin in the top and tap it downward with pretty good force using the back side of the ball peen hammer. If you use a regular hammer, you might run the risk of hitting the shift knob instead of the pin. You also could use a punch to avoid this risk. In any event, ensure that the pin is all the way down because they have been known to work themselves upward when not fully installed, and this can cause a rattle in the shifter. Third, push the plastic shift pattern piece (from step 2) back in place.
Step 14: Stop and admire your work. Next, ask yourself what else you need from Vette Essentials to further enhance your Vette!!

That's all folks. Peace.


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Reproduction permitted for purposes of installing Vette Essentials' products

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