Heating and Cooling - Things to buy, things to repair.

So, in the process of removing the heater box, I ended up removing the center console and shift boots. In this entry, I'll focus on these two things.

The shifter has three boots:

1. An "outer" rubber boot (right in the picture below), which attaches to the shifter tunnel and the actual transmission case, where the shift lever sticks out. It seals the insde of the car from the outside (lower) part of the car.

2. A "middle" rubber boot (left in the picture below), which mounts on top of the outer boot, providing further noise insulation.

3. The upper vinyl boot, which is the one mounted on the console and is visible to the inside of the car.

The outer and middle boot were mounted incorrectly. Not that it matters, since both rubber boots were torn and pretty badly degraded. Furthermore, the plastic attachment used to mount the middle boot in place is a bit torn up, and needs some repair.

The vinyl boot is also torn up somewhat. I will have to purchase a new one (or maybe upgrade to leather.) These are easily sourced, as well as the rubber boots themselves.

The plastic attachement, well, they are not so easily sourced. I'll probably have to hack something to make it useable again. If I knew how to make fiberglass, or even carbon-fiber parts (gasp!), I would be considering doing something crazy right about now.


The console itself is also in so-so shape. It is made of a plastic shell, covered with thin vinyl, and accented with wood and crome trim. The plastic shell is in usable shape, but the various attachment points are torn up. I will have to hack some attachments in order to bolt it onto the car firmly.

The vinyl cloth is OK, but I suspect I want to actually remove and replace it. This would entail sourcing similar vinyl (not sure where, yet) and gluing it in place. Not sure how to best proceed, yet.

The wood trim looks very sun-faded. Although it still looks OK, I suspect I will want to replace it. Replacing it will involve sourcing some wood veneer (not sure which kind yet,) sanding and varnishing it, and installing the new pieces in place. As far as the chrome trim, I'll probably polish the heck out of it, and call it done.

Again, one can only wonder at how a carbon-fiber replacement (with brushed aluminum trim) would look. I think it would look phenomenal. I really should learn how to make CF parts...

Next up: The heater box comes apart.