It is better to entrust car maintenance and tuning work to specialists. But there are some things that you can do yourself. For example, you can remake the cover for the gear shift lever with your own hands.
Almost every car with a manual gearbox and some cars with automatic transmissions have a lever that is protected by a cover. Sometimes it is called the gearshift lever curtain. The shape and size of the cover differ from car to car. But the principles of dismantling, sewing and installation are almost the same for everyone. For example, we offer step-by-step instructions for sewing a gearbox cover for a 1993 Opel Vectra A.
Required tools and materials
To sew a new gearshift lever cover you will need:
- flat screwdriver;
- wire cutters;
- pliers;
- stationery knife;
- scissors;
- nylon clamp, 3.2 mm wide, minimum length - 15 cm;
- a piece of artificial leather or leather, size 40x40 cm;
- helium or ballpoint pen;
- stapler and staples 6-8 mm.
Of course, you will also need a sewing machine; to sew a leatherette cover, any household sewing machine is sufficient. To stitch leather, a special sewing machine is used that is capable of sewing rough material.If you don’t have a machine, then you will definitely have friends who have one. Most likely, your friends will agree to help with sewing the cover.
Instructions for sewing a gearbox cover
1. Remove the old cover. It is usually secured in two places. Carefully snap off the bottom part of the case. It is usually made of plastic and is attached to the center console with latches. Sometimes a regular flathead screwdriver is needed to tighten the base at the mounting points. Turn the cover over to the left side. The top of the cover is often secured with a nylon clamp. We remove it using wire cutters or a sharp stationery knife. Remove the cover through the gearshift knob.
2. Remove the staples that secure the cover to the base. We use a screwdriver and pliers.
3. Usually the cover is made of 4 parts. Sometimes it may consist of 2 or 3 parts. We mark on the old cover how the parts are sewn together.
4. Steam all the parts. We get patterns for a new case.
5. We transfer all parts to new material. It is recommended to use artificial leather or leather. To sew a cover, you approximately need a piece of leather or leatherette measuring 40x40 cm. You can outline new details on the front side with a helium pen or on the back with a regular ballpoint pen. Cut out new parts.
6. Carefully sew all the parts together according to the marks that were made on the old cover. If desired, you can make a decorative stitch. You can choose any color of thread at your personal discretion.
7. Insert a new nylon clamp into the upper part of the cover. We attach the lower part to the base. We use a stapler and staples 6-8 mm high. Using pliers, bend the ends of the staples from the inside. You can use 88 glue instead of fastening with staples.
8. The new case is ready.We attach it back to the car. We carefully put it on through the gearshift knob. Tighten the clamp on the top of the cover. We remove excess with nippers. We turn the cover inside out and attach the base to the center console. We straighten the cover.
