I was going to post this in the "What did you do with your Subaru today?" thread, but since I couldn't find any previous write-ups on it I decided to create a full step-by-step in case anyone else wanted to give it a shot. I'd been thinking about doing this for a while, so after swapping in a 6-speed and picking up a sweet WC Lathe Works titanium knob from @ryjacobs I thought it was time. The boot I settled on was one you can find for less than $10 on eBay or Amazon in various colors/styles (in my case black suede with blue stitching). I figured if I screwed anything up at least I wouldn't be in it for much. Luckily it went pretty well, so here we go! First impressions weren't too encouraging, despite the package claiming that the product is of "High Qualiaty." Once I opened it up I was surprised to find out that it actually was made from real suede leather. The stitching was ok, about what I expected for the price. The first task was modifying the boot to fit my 6-speed shifter (not necessary if doing this on a 5-speed but you'll be left with the chrome ring on top). The collar was attached with a wire wrapped/twisted around it on the inside... ...so I removed that and cut the stitching to widen the opening. After doing this I realized it would be a better idea to cut the leather and leave the seams intact because they started to tear a bit further and I had to be really careful with it. Next task was to remove the OEM boot, which wasn't as easy as I'd hoped it would be. After removing the trim panel from the console this is what the underside looks like... You'll notice these stupid little barbed washers holding the trim ring on, which are near impossible to get off without destroying something. You can either cut the washers or the plastic pegs they're on. Cutting the washers is preferable so the pegs will still be there to reinstall the trim ring, possibly with new barbed washers if you can get your hands on some. I did it the wrong way and just cut the plastic pegs off. The boot is glued to the trim ring and isn't hard to get off once you have it started. So that does it for disassembly. The slightly trickier part is installing the new one...
With the new boot sitting in place I sprayed trim ring and boot with adhesive Then with the boot adhered to the trim ring I cut off the excess and trimmed around the mount holes that the plastic pegs go into. The next step will vary depending on what you did to remove the boot, but since I destroyed the pegs and couldn't use the barbed washers I had to come up with a different solution. I had some JB Weld handy so I set the boot in place on the trim panel and bonded the mounting points that were still intact. With that done, I set some brake pads on top for weight and let it sit for a while. The next day I went to work doing the final install. I inverted the boot, slipped it over the top of the shifter, and secured the top of it with a cable tie Then I just snapped the trim panel back in place and I was done! Pretty happy with the end result, matches by black/blue interior pretty nicely. There are some things I'd do differently to get a cleaner install, but it works.
Lol, thanks. I would eventually like to swap out for the updated console and climate control stuff, but this will do for now.
The face plate is too much for me, but everything else looks great! Nice work. I'm dreaming of the day I get a 6-speed swap done.
The trim was sprayed WRB when I bought the car, wasn't a big fan of it myself but it's grown on me. At least it was done with a full-on base/clear automotive paint instead of just rattle-can. The 6-speed swap wasn't exactly planned. My 5-speed sort of uh...broke and needed to be replaced or rebuilt. Could've just gone with another 5-speed but I figured if I was ever going to upgrade that would be the time to do it.
I have all of it https://mnsubaru.com/threads/2007-sti-interior-bits.52228/#post-855404 Nice write up!
