[Jacques Reed]

Another item I picked up last week at Auto Surplus was a rubber gearshift boot of unknown origin.

I knew it was not for a CMP vehicle but the shape suggested to me it might make a good alternative with a bit of modification. The offset position of the lever hole is similar to Keith's original boot. The chance of finding any original boot, let alone one in usable condition, is almost zero so this will have to do to keep out dust, etc.

As they say, "necessity is the mother of invention" so I took to it with a sharp Stanley knife removing the lower bellows as the base was just a tad too big. I then super-glued some 4 mm insertion rubber to the bottom for the mounting plate to hold it. I cut out a circle of the insertion rubber and made a doubler for the lever's hole after removing the tiny rubber tube on the original boot for the lever. This too was super-glued in place. A couple of holes made with the wad punches for the stick and reverse lockout rod completed it.

All in all, it makes a reasonable boot even if not original. It should do the job. For $7.50 it gave me an hour's fun!

Cheers,