Shifter boot restoration

[TheNovaMan]

I FINALLY scored a shifter boot for my Hurst Ram Rod! Two questions:
1. What's the best way to clean it?
2. What's the best way to fix the small tear in it?

[Hemicolt]

Can you post a picture of the boot with the tear?
I washed mine in dishwashing liquid and warm water, then applied Gibbs Brand.

[TheNovaMan]

I washed it in Dawn and warm water too. It has some stubborn whitish specks on it that I think might be paint, so I was considering trying some bug & tar remover on them. I'll try to get a photo up soon...

[TheNovaMan]

OK, here are some pics:







I think the reason a couple of the pics seem to have a blue spot is I hadn't thoroughly rinsed the boot yet. It has no blue spots visible to the naked eye after I rinsed it.

[PeteLeathersac]

The sound seal may suffer slightly but before mucking up an otherwise beautiful boot w/ a repair attempt, it looks worth considering a subtle razor blade/exacto knife type of modification?
Looks like some careful slicing could continue the sidewalls lengthways beyond the bumps losing the rounded turns where the rip started and enlongating the slot into the ripped area?
If the remaining bumps were the exact middle, would a slot the same length in the rip direction be long enough to encompass all the bad?


[img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/dunno.gif[/img]
~ Pete

[Hemicolt]

That's the worse place to have a tear. Pete is right, I think you could continue the slot on forward and get rid of the tear, but then you will have a void in front of the lift gate rod.
The rubber is like a piece of aluminum with a crack, it will continue if you don't stop it. The best way to do that is to have a round hole at the end of the crack. That way it doesn't have a path to follow. I would think a leather punch would stamp a clean hole to stop that.
Have you thought about asking a local interior shop if they have some type of vinyl/rubber repair process that may repair the tear? You may be able to cut the tear a little wider and apply the release backing paper to the outside of the boot and then flip it over and apply the repair epoxy.
If you can't get it repaired, you could always make a bezel with the two slots added and glue it to the top of the boot. Paint the bezel black and it could blend in a little better.
Have you tried Goo Gone to get rid of the paint specs?

[day2killa]

i made mine into a single lever boot, it has the same tear so I took an old boot I had laying around and cut the top part off and slipped it right over, this is just temporary I have a ram rod shifter without the reverse linkage rod that I am trying to find so I can install but until then.

[TheNovaMan]

I haven't done anything to it since I rinsed off the soapy water. The edges of the rip meet very nicely (there's no material missing), so I think I might be able to glue it for cosmetic purposes. For a structural fix, I was wondering about gluing a piece of fabric (maybe denim) on the underside to reinforce the whole top of the boot. I have no idea what glue to use though.

[day2killa]

I tryed to fix mine with wetsuit glue did not work

[Xplantdad]

How about a tire patch kit? I think it's rubber cement...and rubber?