DMC #10515 DeLorean,Maintenance Repairing the shifter boot

Repairing the shifter boot

Broken shifter boot - DMC10515.comSince I picked up the DeLorean, the shifter boot has always been flopping around. It no longer stayed in place, so when shifting, the boot (also called the “gaiter”) would move around. Not only did it look bad, but it was a bit of a pain when the phone charging cable or wired ear bud cables would get caught under the edges when driving. So, it was time to fix it.

The original DMC bracket is plastic, so after 30+ years it curled changed shape enough to bring up the edges and at some point the plastic clips broke off – which is why the boot just flopped around while shifting.Shifter boot bracket - DMC10515.com

DMC sells the boot and the bracket together for $137 delivered, but not the bracket alone, and I wanted to keep the original boot. So I ordered just the bracket from DeLorean Industries for $53 delivered.

Plastic and metal bracket - DMC10515.comThe boot was originally attached to the plastic bracket with a staple in each corner, and glue around the edges. I pulled out the staples and used a heat gun to soften the glue and the boot came right off. However, the boot barely fit over the new bracket. I thought about soaking the leather in water to make it more pliable so it would stretch over the frame, but it was just close enough that I decided to just let the adhesive keep it in place.

Clamped shifter boot - DMC10515.comI used 3M Plastic Emblem and Trim Adhesive (03601) and put a bead on the top of the bracket all the way around, then fit the boot back on to the bracket. I then used a bunch of clamps I got from the 99¢ Store to keep it all flat and smooth. It turned out great and has a nice tight fit to the frame.

To install it, you just have to snap it in to place. If you look at the picture above of just the bracket, you can see that two sides have small tabs sticking out. At first, I thought those would just break the console section or just not grip the console correctly – but it turns out that part of the console is a good hard metal. So I got it lined up and pushed it fairly hard to get it to snap into place, and it worked great. The boot looks good and it’s nice and tight.

Finished shifter boot - DMC10515.com

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