Any interior guys here?

I've looked and looked , including auto parts stores and eBay. I'm looking for a shift boot that's large enough to cover our shifter base and maybe 7"-8" tall. I have vintage speedster interior which is tan vinyl. I don't have any upholstery guys near me that I know of. Any suggestions? I want to cover the shifter base because I cut the carpet out from under the base, as I'm trying to eliminate some shifting issues. Than,s all.. Keith

Did you type "shifter boot" into ebay's front page search?

I see a bazillion of about every type and size I can imagine though not many are specifically for a speedster. http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p5197.m570.l1313&_nkw=shifter+boot&_sacat=See-All-Categories

Also, my wife sewed me a really nice one for the winch shift handle in my old Toyota land cruiser using leather from some old purse of her working days.. I used a milled out light switch cover from the house to hold the boot on the floor.

I spent a lot of time on eBay....

www.redlinegoods.com

I went to redline.... I'm not finding what I need.

Do you have any spare material? If so, shoot it off to me with a picture of what you have to cover and a dimension and I can have my upholsterer sew something up. Also let me know if the shift knob is removable, stock VW, T handle, etc... so I know what to do at the top of the boot
I keep tons of leather hides in stock, but no vinyl. I may be able to get close in leather if you don;t have material.

I'm going to see if I can find material, I feel confident I can stitch it by hand...

Eather Cip-1 or Sewfine have a wide varity of materials try them.

Thanks Barry

Keith:

My wife is a quilter and I've done 7 or 8 auto interiors over time (diamond tuft, tuck and roll, inserts, etc) so I guess I can offer suggestions.

Look in the yellow pages for "Fabrics" or "Upholstery Fabrics " or "auto upholstery fabrics".

I just googled upholstery fabrics in Nashville, tn and got 8 good hits.

Many of those places (but not all) carry vinyl upholstery material in a lot of colors and can also help with people in the area who can sew stuff up for you, although the best place might be a local auto upholstery shop.

Why?

Because they have these industrial-strength sewing machines with stitch lengths up to 3/8" which can look good in a car. For instance, the baseball stitch in my F250 is about 1/4" length and the thread is really beefy - something your ordinary home sewing machine would choke on.

Just remember that you might have to buy a yard length of whatever width material you choose so you might end up with some extra kicking around for other projects. I still have some left from when Kathy made a side window carrier pouch for Lane.

Personally, I wouldn't try sewing up a shift boot by hand, simply because the stitch line would show and it's really hard to keep the line straight when you hand stitch, even with a hand-stitcher like this:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NIB-SEWING-AWL-hand-stitcher-LEATHER-UPHOLSTERY-BELTS-SHOES-COATS-/360394910760

I have a couple of those and only use them when it's an emergency or when the stitches don't show (or can be hidden within the material).

Good luck!

gn

Gordon, the e brake boot is reverse sewn, so like a glove finger, you see a seam, but no stitches. That's the only reason I considered hand sewing, because the stitches won't show. A friend found an upholstey guy who can throw me a boot together, so I think I'm set.. I will go buy the fabric though, thanks!

Keith if you can set the stitch on a old standard singer to 8 per inch . and use the thickest nylon you can find tha will fit throught the needle you can machine sew it . that boot won't have any real straine on it,like a seat cover..

I have a consew industial with the walking feet. I know a few tricks but with care and taking it slow a standard machine will do it for a straight line sew.. But if your gonna atempt anything like roll and plete or diamond tuff you need a good machine, to make strong sews..

ordinary swingline staples work too for that inside-out stuff with no strain on it. Ask me how I know.