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MG MGF Technical - Gear lever gaitor

It seems like a silly question but can anyone tell me how the gear lever gaiter fixes to the center console on an early F. It has come away while I was fitting a new gear knob and I cannot see how it re attaches. The new gear knob is an alloy one and does not seem to have any way of attaching to the top part of the gaiter. The old one had 2 plastic clips which attach to a moulding which is ty wrapped to the gaiter on the inside.

Any help would be much appreciated Cheers Carl
C Bintcliffe

Not a silly question, but difficult to describe. The back part near the seats just has two plastic flaps which tuck under the centre console moulding. At the front near the facia, there are 2 female threaded plastic moulded studs which form part of the centre console facia, which holds the screws which holds the gaiter plastic in place. If these studs have broken, you will need a new centre console moulding, can pick them up for £30, just check they are not broken too !
So, you need to remove the centre console to be sure. There are good guides on the net for doing this, and if I can do it, anyone can. I have successfully glued my studs back on with good old araldite, and they have held now for over 12 months, so you can consider this as an option.
I removed the centre console, repaired the studs, fitted the gaiter and the gaiter moulding in place, then fitted the whole console back into the car. Once in place, I fitted the new gear knob. Hope this helps a little, there are picture guides available on other sites. Hassle, but looks ok now !


Martin Costin

When I replaced the leather gear lever gaiter in my 1996 "F", I found it attached to a square plastic subframe at the bottom of the shaft within the centre console. The gaitor was stapled into this subframe. The frame was secured into the centre console with two screws towards the rear of the car and under two delicate plastic clips towards the front.

To get at the subframe and free the old gaiter from it, you will need unscrew the gearknob then lever out the centre console panel from it's two snap in fixings left and right just below the dials and at the centre top between the dials. And finally release it free at the gear shift end, nearest the seats. The clock and temp gauge will come with the console, so be wary about yanking out the wires that connect to them - identify and mark the connections prior to pulling them off, to make replacement easier.

Once free of the shaft and centre console, I levered out the gaiter to subframe staples with a flatblade screwdriver, discarded the old gaiter and upon fitting the replacement, reintroduced the staples through the leather with a pin. Very tedious! A pair of pliers helped the staples back into their original holes and a tap or two with a small hammer drove them home into the subframe. Sadly the gearknob and shaft had nothing there to secure the leather and I resorted to superglue and a black plastic wire tie to keep the gaitor "up" on the shaft and tight to the gearknob. You may find there is an existing plastic and metal collar set on the shaft that achieve this properly.

A shoddy gearshift gaiter is a proper let down to the interior. A new one will make the world of difference. Same applies to the handbrake gaiter!

Jeff
J Lennon

Jeff, thanks I was hoping somebody would post a little tip re how to keep the gaiter in place up towards the gear knob. :)

I had thought about resorting to glueing it on since I couldn't find any references to how it is supposed to stay up. Anyone else got any tips?

cheers
Ali
A Steventon

Ali,
I misunderstood what you wanted, sorry. If you look at the image I have attatched to my previous post, you can see that I have done as you describe. The only problem is that I did it 12 months ago, and can't remember exactly how i did it.
I think that on the existing gaiter there will be a rubber ring stitched in to the neck. I undid this stitching, and folded the excess leather up towards the knob. Then I somehow used the rubber ring underneath the leather to secure it in place. I am too scared to remove it to see exactly how it works in case I can't get it back on again. Hope this helps a little, at least you know it is possible to do.
Cheers, MC.
Martin Costin

Perhaps if you slip a chunky rubber grommet over the gear stick before putting the gaiter in place, you will be able to slide it up to secure the top of the gaiter against the gear knob.

I seem to remember doing something like this to mine a while back, because it kept slipping down, revealing an inch of bare gear stick.

:-)
Sam Murray

A small hose clip on the gearstick before putting the gaiter in place might work.
Eric Martin

This thread was discussed between 07/11/2010 and 19/11/2010

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