Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

I've recently put the anti sizzle gearshift stick back on my car, with a new boot, and now find the boot no longer stays attached to the sheet metal plate that gets screwed down to the 'glass. The protrusion of the bushing is simply too big for the boot. Dave Bean says there's only one boot sold nowdays.
Anyone else have this issue? Simple solution is probably make my own boot, but really.....

Greg Z

Make your own new boot out of a piece of leatherette that matches your trims.

You may find it helps to glue the boot to the plate before fitting, fit the plate over not under the insulating felt and don't screw it down too tightly.

...you're talking about the inner boot I think?

...why not make up a rectangular spacer to lift the whole assembly up slightly?

Jon

S4 isn't it? Seem to recall reading somewhere that a suitably sized cv joint boot can be adapted?

oldelanman wrote:, fit the plate over not under the insulating felt and don't screw it down too tightly.

Aha! this might be my problem. I've always screwed the plate directly down on the 'glass, then put the insulating pad on top. This , of course, pushes the boot down the stick.
Jon, theres only one boot that I know of, but technically called a grommet, per the parts manual.

Worse case, I can adapt a cv boot per Robert's suggestion

aha...I was speaking as a +2 man..which has an inner and outer boot

Jono might have the answer here. Raised the sheet metal a bit and it takes the strain off the boot. It also raises the console a bit too much but the boot stays attached to the sheet metal.

All in all, I think todays repro boots are just too small. It slides around easily on the sheet metal and easily comes 'undone'. A bit more work here but headed in the right direction. I might try to make a piece of sheet metal with a smaller hole to better encapsulate the boot. Thanks to all for the advice.

Greg Z

Greg,
Try glueing the boot to the plate - you may not need to make a new plate or use the spacers.

I'll give it a shot, Roger. I'll look for the strongest epoxy for rubber to metal.

Greg z

I used RTV sealer - leave it for a good while to go off fully before you fit it to the car. OK so far