This article is about how to utilize a Hyundai Tiburon rubber shift boot in your MINI. Thanks to Sid (MSFITOY) for the help and info on how to do this mod!

OMG, I have a bit of Hyundai in my MINI??? How awful is that?? Well only as awful as you think this looks, cause frankly, I think it looks pretty sweet.

This shift boot isn't made anymore, but there are still some sources available. Start with eBay and use the links in this article to help!

These are the primary steps:

1. REMOVE OEM VINYL SHIFT BOOT
2. TRIM NEW RUBBER SHIFT BOOT TO FIT
3. RE INSTALL ALL PARTS

Total Time: 30 minutes or less
Skill Level: Beginner with some patience!

You'll need to buy the rubber shift boot and then use these instructions as a guide to removing the shift boot (or just skip to the photos below for details ):
http://www.redlinegoods.com/MINIinstall.shtm



It all starts with this


I bought this off eBay for around $40 including shipping. While it says $22.95 in the listing, he charges $12 for shipping!!! EEEK!! Here's the link.
(Link Removed--See new Info at bottom of article)

When it arrives it looks like this:


From the top looking down


From the Bottom Looking Up


Let me tell you, while this is a pretty easy installation, it's not a "smooth as butter" install, so be prepared to do some cutting to make this fit. When I received my shift boot, I encountered a lot of difficulty in getting it to fit properly. I called up my friend Sid to ask him how he got his to work, and it appeared that the boot I received was different from his! Not wanting to waste $40, I decided I was going to make this work, regardless! As a result of this, I got more courageous with my scissors and began trimming more rubber away, all the while thinking, there was no turning back! As you will see by the end of this article, I actually accomplished my goal, and from the looks of it, I'm not so sure my rubber shift boot is any different from Sids!

If you followed the above link at Redlinegoods, you should have removed the Trim Ring from the shifter, but if not, no worries, as I will show you how I did it here. One of the trickiest parts was figuring out how to remove the inner ring that secures the vinyl shift boot in place without damaging it, then figuring out how to attach the new rubber boot to it.


REMOVE THE EXISTING SHIFT **** BY PULLING IT STRAIGHT UP. It takes quite a bit of force, so be careful! If you've got a Whalen, go ahead and remove it now.

REMOVE THE TRIM RING BY LIFTING IT STRAIGHT UP. There are 4 plastic pins that hold it in place. You can see one of the holes that accepts this pin at the lower portion of this picture.


You can clearly see 2 of the pins here that hold the ring in place. They are rather fragile, so treat them with care.


You will need to remove this zip tie and discard it.


Some wire cutters work very nicely here.


The position of the 4 holes that accept the Trim Ring pins can be clearly seen here, and should be helpful when removing the trim ring. Once the zip tie is removed, just slip the vinyl boot off as well.


A closeup of the shifter for no reason other than it looked cool. =)

When you remove the vinyl shift boot, you will see the trim ring is still attached to it.




Looking carefully, you can see that the vinyl has cutouts. You will need to push in the plastic hook of the trim ring to release the vinyl. Don't worry about the glue either that holds the boot in place.


I found a suitably sized flat blade screw driver can help in pushing the hooks inwards towards the center of the trim ring. You can then slip the vinyl shift boot and inner ring off fairly easily. Make sure you work your way around the ring and push in each hook. Upon pushing the final one, the inner ring should come off easily.




Finally the trim ring is free!


But now you need to remove the vinyl from the inner ring.



Don't worry about the glue--just keep removing the vinyl boot.



With the vinyl shift boot removed, try placing the new rubber shift boot over the inner ring.



Notice that the rubber ring protrudes out at the points of the previous hooks you pushed in with the screw driver. You will need to find a way to keep the rubber from being deformed like this. I decided to cut little u-shaped cutouts for the hooks so the rubber would fit around the hooks. It's also pretty clear that the lower rubber lip needs to be cut away here as it protrudes out of the bottom of the trim ring.





Just another view of where the rubber needs trimming.


To remove the lower lip of the rubbers shift boot, just use some scissors and trim it off.


This is how much rubber I trimmed off!



Now the rubber shift boot and the inner ring fit smoothly inside the outer trim ring!


Slide the shift boot over the shifter. Notice you will need to push the rubber sleeve down past the first washer lip. Note the position here.


Now just press the trim ring down into position, and voila!! You are done.


Final touch is to reattach your shift ****! I've got a Whalen here.


You can see here that the lower ring isn't very smooth. You will still need to make some adjustments to get any wrinkles or creases out.


Should the above eBay link fail, I've discovered that the sellers are actually distributors of Hyundai/Kia parts and are located here in Orange County, CA.

Motor Impact
4050 N. Palm St #502
Fullerton, CA 92835
Phone: 714-449-1333
Fax: 714-449-1611
bronx01_99@yahoo.com
http://motorimpact.com/shop/product_...products_id=36

http://www.motorimpact.com/shop/

That concludes the Shift Boot Mod! Hope this article was helpful!

 

Superb how-to and very nice looking mod!!! Now these boots'll go faster than S2000 antennas. Thanks so much!!!

 

Great write up Richard I was getting worried that this Ebay guy was selling the wrong part when I first talked to you. Looks like the install went well. Now, can someone help me find a matching rubber boot for the e-brake

 

Thanks guys!!! Yeah, I was concerned about that eBay item as well. Looks like they are on holiday so they aren't replying to emails. Guess we should be on holiday too, eh? . Heh heh, I wonder about the e-brake boot. You got any ideas? Hmm, we got the shifter from a Hyundai--maybe we should go check out a Kia boot.

Or maybe something like the new SCION TC. No idea what it looks like--just a thought. We can really make our MINI's an international mix!

 

Sorry for the OT, but I'm having problems with my PM so the following is for Richard:

Yes...but it's easier for you to find better Chinese food out there

Msfitoy came from the classic puppet show "Rudolf, the red nosed reindeer" (though, I haven't seen it lately due to PC Christmas bashing ) and their adventures in the "Land of the Misfits" where they find abandoned toys because of their strange contradictions...the toy train with square wheels, Dolly doll who's depressed, "Charlie" in the box, the piggy bank without a slot, etc...LOL. I felt that the Mini had those beloved characteristic that only a few, but special people , like us would find endearing

 

Awesome! I bought the shift boot 2 weeks ago from the same guy on eBay and I haven't had the guts to tear apart my car without getting some detailed instructions! This will be my first post new year's project!

vin

 

As much as I like my Redline shift boot, this looks awesome!

 

sid it was on this year. i saw it. it was about a week before i think.

 

Ugg...I missed it again. Still tryn to remember the rest of the Misfits

 

That's probably the most detailed step by step I've seen written up on any forum. Well done. Just in time too, since I'm soon to recieve my leather boots from Redline any day now.

Al

 

Thank you! I try to write my articles so that anyone with even just a passing curiosity might learn something. I've encountered so many tutorials that sometimes leave a little too much to the imagination, and that's not necessarily a good thing!

Thanks for the kind words!

Richard

 

I had talked with Sid many months ago on this shift boot, and with some guidance from him, I started the hunt. Well, it took me two months to FIND someone who carried them and the another month to get it from Korea. I bought two, thinking that they were impossible to find, and like Sid, I paid about $40 EACH! About a week before I FINALLY received mine, I saw them on freaking eBay for that price. I will say that guy wanted way too much for shipping! Almost $13.
I also thought the boot on eBay did not look right and I thought it might be a crappy copy, but I see that it's the exact same boot.

Great installation write-up. I did however find that I needed to trim quite a bit more off then what is shown above.

 

Wow...is that a B&M It's so low...is it hard to reach? Looks great though

 

Got long arms ...


It's an Alta, so I do play with hight. Unfortunatly the shift levers are too far away to start with in the mini. If I was not worried about keeping the interior nice, then I would move the whole shift box inside on top of the console rather then under the car where it is.

 

Nice job!! Well I really wanted to remove only the minimum of material to make it fit, figuring I could continue to trim to fit. Atleast in my case, that's all I needed to remove--the bottom lip and some cutouts.

 

Excellent How-To....thanks for taking the time and effort for everyone!

 

You're welcome! When I got my 2005 MCS, I had accidentally torn my shift boot when I removed it from the 2003 MC pictured in the article. I left it off my MCS for about 6 months--thinking I might get another boot..but it didn't take long before I got sick of looking at the oem shift cover--and put the shift boot back in place--even with the small tear which is hardly visible. Awwww, it's such a great mod. I love it.

 

I have noticed that this boot is rather difficult to find lately. After much searching, I could only find one place that offers it anymore and not for cheap... It's about $70, but at least it includes S&H.

http://www.kspec.com/list.php?ac_id=83&ai_id=541

 

Yea I got one from ebay today and it was the wrong size, that and it was torn in half :(. I'll never get this done :(

 

Found a place that has them. Mine arrived this morning.

http://sharkracing.com/acecart/bin/s...cate=011000000