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I have a 71 w/auto and noticed the I think is called a bellow.. the rubber protector on underside of car on end of shift cable is dry rotted and broke in several places. Can that rubber bellow be replaced or do I need to buy whole new shift cable? I thought about just putting bike inner tube on it- but not the right fix. Net I found many for mercury cruiser boat shifts but nothing otherwise.
I couldn't find one when I re-did that area a few years back. Ended up with a new cable
That said, I did come across some that were for parking brake (not vette) cables that a person might make work without having to disassemble half of the console to change.
Let me see if I saved it anywhere
M
You're right in that this part looks very similar to what's left of my bellows/boot: https://www.westmarine.com/buy/sierr...03?recordNum=4
I guess I need to get one to compare but my local West Marine is out of stock on them... I'd much rather spend $15 than $60 for a piece of rubber.
Inline Tube says, "Unfortunately I do not have any measurements available for that part." I suppose it's too much trouble to pull the part from inventory and measure it... or contact an employee to do so...
Last edited by barkingrats; Apr 13, 2020 at 09:50 PM.
Try looking up therubberstore.com. I have to replace mine, new cable installed and it disintegrated. Not sure of the size required but maybe someone has one that could be measured.
Dale
I just went through this on my '73. I couldn't find the new rubber piece. I sourced a new shift cable from RockAuto. One thing to be aware of on the RockAuto cable (I bought the Pioneer branded cable): The e-clip that holds the cable onto the bracket under the center console was a 3/8" clip on my original cable. The Pioneer cable needed a 1/2" e-clip which did not come with the cable. I broke the 3/8" clip trying to get it in place before I realized the size was wrong.
Holy Crap! With those kind of costs, it's probably smarter to just buy the bellows/boot through Paragon or CC and get the cable sheath, cable, floor grommet, and connectors for free!
PS - I ordered 2 of the inlinetube boots off ebay for $13 shipped. I'll post here the results when I attempt to use one on the cable. Theirs were used on 80-81 corvette rear parking brake cables so I'm gambling they are the correct size to fit on this cable.
Last edited by barkingrats; Apr 14, 2020 at 06:57 PM.
I just went through this on my '73. I couldn't find the new rubber piece. I sourced a new shift cable from RockAuto. One thing to be aware of on the RockAuto cable (I bought the Pioneer branded cable): The e-clip that holds the cable onto the bracket under the center console was a 3/8" clip on my original cable. The Pioneer cable needed a 1/2" e-clip which did not come with the cable. I broke the 3/8" clip trying to get it in place before I realized the size was wrong.
DC
Guess what arrived in the mail yesterday? A Pioneer CA1145 I had ordered and completely forgotten about! (A mind is a terrible thing.) Well, I guess those bellows/boots from inline won't be needed for my car afterall. If they seem as though they'd work I'll offer them up here. Thank you, DC, for the e-clip advice.
I am impressed with the quality of the Pioneer cable ($47 vs. $60-80 from Corvette vendors). It is made in Israel and has a shaft seal at the console end and a metal crimp for the boot's small end whereas the photos from the vendors show a zip-tie st the boot -- looking suspiciously like the ATP brand photo on RockAuto ($31). Pioneer brand ATP brand
Last edited by barkingrats; Apr 15, 2020 at 09:43 AM.
The Inline Tube bellows that arrived are waaay too small to substitute for the shift cable boot. These are intended for the rear parking brake cable at the trailing arm and are only about 3" x 1/2" diameter.
I ended up with two replacement shift cables: one through Rock Auto made by Pioneer and a second through Ecklers (looks like the ATP from Rock Auto). I stand by my earlier thoughts that the Pioneer is a better quality just by the method to secure the boot to the trans end and the extra "boot" at the shifter end- otherwise they're pretty identical. Both will work but on my car the triangular mounting plate wouldn't allow either to be fastened to the tunnel hole without putting the cable in a bind with the shift linkage, opening air gaps around the triangular mount plate, and needing to drill new mounting holes.
I ended up cutting the center portion out of the original cable's rubber mounting gasket and using that plus the original ring to secure the replacement cable to the old holes in the trans tunnel. Not ideal but it does work by giving the replacement cable more alignment flexibility to mate with the shift connection.
Last edited by barkingrats; Jul 8, 2020 at 02:54 PM.
Looking at the pioneer one it would seem that you could remove that band from the front and remove the boot. Hopefully 68:72 jumps in as he's actually seen one in person
M
Looking at the pioneer one it would seem that you could remove that band from the front and remove the boot. Hopefully 68:72 jumps in as he's actually seen one in person
M
If you were removing the boot and installing it on your original cable, go with the one that has the zip-tie. The boots looked identical. The metal band would probably be mangled trying to open it and may not be able to reuse it. I don't know if "they" make crimp-style clamps that small, but that would be the best option.
shift cable bellow..
