[How to] Replacement of gear stick gaiters

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Italian

New Member
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Location
Scotland
Hello.

I purchased new gaiters off ebay, and they didn't come with any instructions. Done a quick search on here and the net and couldn't find much. Had some time so put together my first "how-to"... so go easy on me. :eek:

Disclaimer: This shows how I went about changing the gear stick gaiters on my disco 1. I'm not a mechanic (land rover or otherwise) so don't take anything I say as being correct or appropriate. It may be different on your landrover. :D

This is how mine looked before I started.

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Bought these on ebay and are Italian leather - they came without fittings or instructions.

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Gear / Hi-Lo Stick

Starting with the gear stick, carefully lift the collar holding the gaiter off the centre console upwards. There are six clips - mine came off by hand.

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Next, twist the gear knob anti clockwise unscrewing the knob from the thread.

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Once you have removed the knob and existing gaiter from the vehicle, turn the gaiter inside out and you will see a rubber o-ring holding the gaiter to the knob. Remove this o-ring and set aside.

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The existing gaiter is glued to the plastic clip that holds the gaiter into the centre console. Peel the gaiter from the plastic, taking note of the orientation of the seams.

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Position the new gaiter over the plastic clip, with the seams orientated in the same direction as the original. Apply a bead of glue to the underside of the plastic clip. I used “Shoe Goo” as it is ideal for bonding leather.

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Apply pressure to ensure the glue bonds the leather to the plastic. I used some clothes pegs.

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Turn the gaiter inside out, position the gear knob so that is approx 1 inch from the edge of the gaiter and then reposition the rubber o-ring over the gaiter.

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Return the gaiter outside out and then you have a recovered gear stick. Return the gear stick to the disco and screw back on, taking care to rotate the gaiter along with the knob. Reclip to the centre console to finish.

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The Hi/Low shift stick is the exact same procedure as the gear lever.

Handbrake

Unclip the cover plate from the window control switch panel and set aside.

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Unscrew the four cross head screws.

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With the control panel set aside, you have more room to unclip the retaining bracket for the handbrake gaiter. Push down and prize out. Take care not to pinch any wires.

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Unscrew the handbrake grip. This is not screwed in (there is no thread) there is a bead of glue that landrover have placed there, to stop it from sliding out. By rotating, you are trying to break this bead of glue. Now you can remove it by pulling it clear of the handbrake.

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Handbrake removed from the vehicle. The grip is secured in the same way as the other levers – by a rubber o-ring. Remove this first.

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Prise the material from the metal clip, taking note of positioning of the material. Also note what is the top and bottom of the clip.

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Apply glue to the new gaiter and reposition, using clothes pegs to hold in place.

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Once the glue is dry, reinstall in disco, and then reattach window control panel in reverse order of how you took to bits. Job done - nice new shiney leather gaiters!!!

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I hope this proves useful to someone. The leather gaiters look better over the original landrover ones in my view. :cool:

Taking the window switches out may not be necessary but I think it gives more room to get the gear stick gaiter out without damaging the cubby box.

Cheers

Italian
 
Very nicely done! A good deal of the how too's on here are just mechanical. Nice to see something a bit more aesthetic being tackled. I need to do both my discos. I wasn't aware you could buy just the leather. How much was it, if you don't mind telling.
 
Good post ! If you cannot source ShooGoo any polyurethane glue or EvoStick type contact adhesive will do the job . And yes , it does look better - I was recently thinking what a shame it was that my ES D1 had shabby old PVC gaiters.....but as usual urgent mechanical and bodywork issues took precedence !
 
Did my handbrake gaiter last year (£6.96 inc P&P e-bay) took about 20mins in total, and yes any contact adhesive will do I used UHU from the 99p shop :)
I didn't remove the grip, as I didn't know you could, but did pulled the switch panel out a bit.
Don't forget to turn the gaiter inside out first then fit the rubber O ring then roll back to normal as you fit it over the brake lever that's what my instructions said. :)
 

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Cheers people! :)

Very nicely done! A good deal of the how too's on here are just mechanical. Nice to see something a bit more aesthetic being tackled. I need to do both my discos. I wasn't aware you could buy just the leather. How much was it, if you don't mind telling.

Hi matey

The set cost me £10.40 including postage - not bad price I reckon considering that it is actual leather.

shocker said:
Good post ! If you cannot source ShooGoo any polyurethane glue or EvoStick type contact adhesive will do the job . And yes , it does look better - I was recently thinking what a shame it was that my ES D1 had shabby old PVC gaiters.....but as usual urgent mechanical and bodywork issues took precedence !

Oh , and the fireplace pic ! At first glance I thought "F*ck me ! He's telling everyone to burn the old ones off !" .....

I know the feeling. I was giving the underside of mine a coat of waxoyl the other day and found that the cills on the driver side were absolutely rotten with rust. An M.O.T failure for sure so need to get it sorted. Also discovered the rear axle was leaking oil - think seal may be gone... The fire place background was just me experimenting with photo shop, definitively no fire is required ! :D

discool said:
Did my handbrake gaiter last year (£6.96 inc P&P e-bay) took about 20mins in total, and yes any contact adhesive will do I used UHU from the 99p shop :)
I didn't remove the grip, as I didn't know you could, but did pulled the switch panel out a bit.
Don't forget to turn the gaiter inside out first then fit the rubber O ring then roll back to normal as you fit it over the brake lever that's what my instructions said.

Yes, it probably only took me just over an hour to do all three. To be honest I didn't wait till the glue was cured before reinstalling them - didn't have the patience! :D

Just realized that I probably should have posted thread in how - to section ? :confused:

Cheers

Italian
 
Shocker:
All standard stuff with years of polish on top of polish due to my compulsive polishing disorder. :)

Italian:
Yes it is very good, it's the first time i've seen a 'how to' on this subject, does any one look at the 'how to' section, but you can always cut and past. :)
 
Does anybody know where to source a new handbrake gaiter retaining metal clip, like the one shown in the attached photo.

All gaiter sets sold don't have this clp, from what I understand. Mine is broken.

Cheers,
Marko
Discovery I 300tdi (1997)
 

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When I did my gaitors I found it snapped in my handbrake aswell. God knows how,I reckon it was broken when it had been taken out before and bodged back in. I didn't bother replacing it. The new gaitor had enough to just stick in the hole loose.
 
Thanks for the post, I just did mine with your help. Beware though, the ones I bought on eBay only just fit with maybe 2-3 mm pulling over the corners. Looks like your replacements hade plenty of spare leather to glue.
 
Thanks for the post, I just did mine with your help. Beware though, the ones I bought on eBay only just fit with maybe 2-3 mm pulling over the corners. Looks like your replacements hade plenty of spare leather to glue.

The Exmoor Trim versions are exactly the same. You have to tease the fabric over the frames and there is nothing left to spare. I suppose for £16 they're not going to give anything away!

At first I thought they had been cut too small, but they fitted up in the end and with a bit of patience the job was a good one. Better than the c. £100 LR wanted for a new set when I phoned them up...
 
Thank you for this ..brilliant post ... just bought a new set of gaiters and this post was exacly what i needed..
Keep up the good work
 
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