2000-99 FACTORY FIVE ROADSTER MK4
shift boot installation guide

1. New shifter boot, current rubber boot and shifter prior to installation. This installation should take 30 minutes or less. No trimming or cutting of the new shift boot is required.

2. Though difficult to see in the photo, use a marker to put alignment marks on the shift knob and shifter shaft. Remove the shift knob.

3. Remove the trim ring.

4. Remove the stock rubber boot.

5. Install the new leather shift boot. The hole in the new shift boot is a tight fit over the shifter shaft. Carefully and slowly work the shifter shaft through the shift boot. Pull the boot down the shaft, but do not pull it all of the way down. Installation of the trim ring is easier if the boot is a little farther up the shaft. The boot will be pulled farther down the shifter shaft in a later step. Adjust the shift boot height as necessary to make the installation easier. Move the shifter into second gear for easier initial boot installation.

6. Place the trim ring over the boot and loosely install the trim ring with two screws. Install the two screws where the splits are in the boot. There is no need to hole punch these two locations. Keep some of the boot outside of the trim ring all around the outer edge of the trim ring. You will shove the excess amount of the boot under the trim ring next.

NOTE:If your trim ring screws are installed in a different location in regard to the split, you will have to hole punch the shift boot in two locations to loosely install the two screws. Before punching the holes adjust the excess shift boot material around those two opposing screw locations.

7. Slowly and carefully shove small amounts of the boot just under the outside edge of the trim ring using a small flat blade screwdriver or similar instrument. If too much of the boot gets shoved in, use tweezers, forceps or similar tool to pull the boot edge back out and then start again.

8. Once the shift boot material is shoved just under the outer edge of the trim ring utilize a small punch to punch holes in the remaining two trim ring locations.

9. Install the remaining two trim ring screws.

10. Trim ring installed with all four screws tightened down completely.

11. Slide the boot down the shifter shaft. Place the shifter into all of the gears, especially 1, 3 and 5 as these locations cause the most stretch of the boot. Move the shifter slowly so you don't damage the boot if you did not slide the boot down far enough. Or you can slide the boot almost all of the way down the shifter shaft and then readjust the boot farther up the shifter shaft after placing the shifter into 5th gear. Adjust the boot back up the shifter shaft leaving just enough slack in the boot as to not damage it. Check the boot in all shifter locations and readjust as necessary.

12. Old and new shift boot comparison.

13. If thread locker was utilized clean the threads of the shifter shaft and shift knob.

14. Reinstall the shift knob using a small drop of blue thread locker.

15. Tighten the shift knob, realigning the marks applied in Step 2.

16. Installation completed.