After a frustrating day attempting to swap the factory A6 shift boot on my '10 GS I decided the best thing was to just sleep on it. That worked well because after having time to get my game plan together I was completely successful.

I got the DSV A6 shift boot, a shift **** plus the e-brake handle and boot on their Black Friday sale and finally had time to do the work. They do look very nice and much better than the factory items. I found not a whole lot of good information or tips here on the CF or anywhere else. But all the information I was able to find I was able to use bits and pieces here and there.

The biggest issue to me seemed to be gluing the new boot to the retainer piece that is around the P-R-N-D-S indicator. I used some Gorilla Super Glue and it worked well. I was baffled by how to go about gluing to the retainer piece but sleeping in it did work well.

First I semi turned the boot inside-out and glued from that side. The confusing part at first was keeping up with the correct direction everything went. How I did the gluing was centering the seam on the side of the boot to a notch that is pretty well centered on that side of the retainer piece. I only glued one small spot there. Then I went to the other side of the retainer and glued the seam down in a similar notch. As soon as I glued down the leather I put a clothes pin on that spot. I slowly glued small spots here and there and used another clothes pin. When I finished with the glue I had probably 10-12 clothes pins holding everything down. I let it sit for may an hour or more though it was probably fairly well ready sooner.

I attempted to take some very close shots showing what I did on the actual installation... That didn't work out... I took quite a few shots of each of the next steps and when I was completely finished I discovered the SD card was NOT in my camera... And that camera has no internal memory whatsoever... I wasn't about to take everything apart again!

In the car I carefully turned the boot back to the right-side out and got the shift **** retainer ring piece and pushed it up into the "neck" of the boot. The factory boot was glued to that ring (it's not exactly a ring but that's the best name for it...) plus had a zip tie around it. The DSV boot is tight enough and is a pressure fit -- it won't fall out accidentally.

Next I got the shift **** retainer ring onto the shifter shaft and lined up the P-R-N-D-S retainer piece with where it fits. (After removing the old boot I snapped off the exposed P-R-N-D-S plate piece that you actually see showing through the boot -- save it for last!) I then got that retainer snapped back onto it spot around where the red shift indicator is located. At this point I stretched the boot around the thick foam that surrounds the actual shifter shaft. There area few small "teeth" notch things that stick out around the perimeter of the foam to help hold onto the boot. The boot has some elastic in it to hold it onto that foam covered base. Make sure you have all of the seams lined up the way you want it.

At this point you can put the shift **** back through the retainer ring that's in the neck of the boot. You need to have the ring in the correct direction (front/back) so the **** goes on facing forward like it should -- you can experiment with that to make sure it's facing the correct direction. In the boot turn that retainer ring from the 12-o'clock position to approximately 2-o'clock. Put the shift **** into the ring then get it onto the shift lever. Push down until it slips on -- make sure it's all the way down. While holding the **** in the 12-o'clock position turn the retainer ring (through the boot) back to the 12-o'clock position too. That should be it for that part.

I then made sure there was some space around the P-R-N-D-S indicator so that the plate cover will have room to snap in. I have a dental cleaning tool that's excellent for poking and probing and used it to make sure the P-R-N-D-S plate was going to fit.

The next to last thing is to replace the top of the console. Once all of that was back together I took the P-R-N-D-S plate piece and worked it onto the indicator. It was pretty hard to get it to fit down in the space because the leather is probably 3X as thick as the factory vinyl. Once it was pretty well in place I folded a microfiber towel and laid it over the P-R-N-D-S plate and used the rubberized handle of a screw driver to more or less hammer the plate back into place. Just pushing on it with my thumbs wasn't quite doing the job. It finally snapped back into place just fine.

That was it! I wish like heck I had remembered the memory card in my dang camera so I could have some assembly pics to go along with this. There are a few descriptions on the forum and around the internet but some of what I thought were important shots were left out -- I was trying to fill in some of the gaps in information.

Below is my finished product. The color of the leather **** and the boot are a better match in person -- the camera flash or the lighting make them look very different...

I also installed a new emergency brake handle and boot from DSV. They were much simpler and very easy to swap out. I put in one of the console lids several months ago... Everything looks great. I'm pretty sure I'm going to get the door handles if I don't get the entire leather door panels. The instrument panel pods would be cool as would replacing the console too. It's like getting a tattoo...you'll want more...it's almost addictive!

Good luck anyone who tries this and if you have any questions I will be happy to answer them to the best of my ability.



P.S. If I was the one who designed the A6 shifter I would have put the P-R-N-D-S indicator in the instrument panel someplace (digital) and made the boot assembly a WHOLE LOT SIMPLER!!!

 

Thanks for the write up, but I wish too you got those pics. My vette tech at the dealer doesnt even want to tackle this project

 

It's not really that bad if you can remain calm! I had just installed a new dishwasher in my kitchen a couple days before and that was enough to me want to choke someone. (I replaced the DW about 17 years ago and it was a piece of cake in comparison...) If you've got patients you can do it yourself but take your time. If you want to try it yourself PM me if want to know anything. I totally understand why there isn't much info on this modification -- nobody REALLY wants to do it!

Good luck!

 

I remember doing mine 3 years ago it was a real pain in the **** and good write up

 

Working on mine, the shifter boot has one clip at 1 or 2 oclock that does not want to seat under the trim ring. Is that just the thick leather in the way? How do I make that happen? Is it the wiring harness that runs through that area an issue? Very cold out in the garage to work with the cold material. I might just wait until I get to Fl. next month and play with it in warm weather.
Buy the way, I used 3M spray contact glue to hold the boot to the plastic ring. With a rubber band around it over night. Not sure it will hold with the tunnel heat. We'll see.

 

Did my 08 was a nightmare but like you took my time slept on it and got it done

 

I remember that one well also. Your work looks great. Great write up too.

 

Ive seen the vague write ups from past attemtps thats why I took it to the dealer but as I said he's not thrilled. I would think well what if a customer ripped the factory boot should be simple for the dealer :skeptical:

So with yours, did you remove the console or work with it in place?
Did the shift indicator just pop out with a little prying?

 

thank you

 

Don't try to pop the P-R-N-D-S "cap" off until you get the boot off. You'll need to pry down below what you can see before removing the boot. I did remove the top part of the console -- it's the part that goes up and around the stereo, air vents, etc. You'll need to at least unplug the traction control button, the console power point and the driver's side seat heater if you've got one. I didn't unplug the hazzard flasher or the passenger seat heater and just let those wire hold up the piece while I was working on the shifter. I think it would be absolutely impossible to change the boot without taking the top of the console off. There are two hex screws next to the console power point and you'll need to undo the e-brake boot to access a couple more hex screws in the area of where the brake handle normally sits.

There is a small bundle of cables that are up against the shift boot base but they weren't really a problem.

Good luck! I would actually help someone do this now... Ha Ha

 

I used this write up complete with pics. I was smart the first time around as I removed the boot over the winter and sent it in so when I got the new boot the ring was attached so it made my life so much easier.
http://www.theredlion.us/Tech%20tips2.htm

 

Somehow I dont think the A6 is as easy

 

Great information. Thanks for sharing.

 

It's NOT. I went to the above link and never found an A6 shift boot replacement link. There are links to the M6 shift boot -- not the same!

How I planned my attack was looking at a bunch of different information -- there wasn't one that I could find that told the whole story -- there was holes here and there that was frustrating me. Particularly the gluing of the boot to the retainer "ring". Another thing that throws me is that retainer "ring" isn't really a ring to my way of thinking. It's shaped identical to the P-R-N-D-S cap but is a little larger and has little ear things at the top ("P" end) and bottom ("S" end) that holds it down. The P-R-N-D-S cap snaps down into that piece but isn't connected to it -- it holds onto what it covers.

If I had thought I could have sent the old boot in so they could have glued it to the new boot. But it really isn't that difficult -- it's just figuring out how to go about everything.

I COULD KICK MY TAIL FOR NOT NOTICING MY CAMERA HAD NO MEMORY CARD!!!!!

 

Great write up and I give credit to anyone that installs an upgraded shifter boot on the A6
When I thought I'd like to get a DSV leather boot for mine I first searched for install info as you did.
I've dissembled / assembled things all my life.
But after seeing what was involved with the boot, aaand taking off the center console itself,..I really wasn't interested anymore
Again, Nice job and Great write up