Installing the Elise Shift Boot and Parking Brake Boot

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The original boot on my shifter had started to wear and I also wanted a matching boot for the parking brake. I contacted Redline Goods whom I have used in the past, the quality of the leather they use has always surpassed the OEM boots in my other cars. The following steps were used to remove the old boot and then install the new boots.

 

 

I started by removing the shift knob, this may require a little force due to the LockTite that is used. The OEM knob has a set screw in the front that has to be loosened first with a 2.5mm Hex wrench, then the knob can be screwed counter clockwise to remove:

 

 

 

Once the knob was removed I used a Torx T20 driver to remove the front console screws, one on each side:

 

 

The next step was to remove the parking brake handle, there are two 2.5mm Hex screws on the bottom of the handle that need to be loosened:

 

 

 

Console removal is not required to remove the shift boot. I was able to reach under the shifter and remove the clamps that held the old boot to the console by lifting it up just enough to reach under. Once it is out the leather boot can be peeled off of the plastic ring, it will be reused and is glued to the boot with contact cement:

 

 

 

The new boots from www.RedlineGoods.com are removed from the package:

 

 

Starting with the shifter boot, the plastic mounting ring must be attached with the larger part facing up. It appears that it will not fit but the leather will stretch perfectly and wrap around the ring snugly. Once the ring has been fitted to the boot, rubber contact cement can be used to secure it- let it dry before proceeding to the next step:

 

 

 

After the glue is dry, the boot can be reinstalled. I started by turning the boot inside out and placing it over the shifter rod. I then zip tied the boot to the shifter rod, be careful to position it so that the reverse cable remains free and functional:

 

 

After the zip tie excess is cut, the boot can be flipped down over the zip tie and the plastic mounting ring reinstalled to the console using the metal clips removed earlier. I chose to install the Lotus trim plate and glued the boot directly to that in place of the plastic trim ring. The brake boot can be slid over the brake handle and with the console still pulled up, the boot can be tucked down into the console around the brake handle. You may want to check this before tightening down the console mounting screws as it does not like to stay tucked. The last step is reinstalling the console screws and admiring the finished product:

 

 

Click HERE for a downloadable .pdf version of this DIY guide