Home Made E-brake Boot
12-02-2007, 01:09 PM
#1
3rd Gear Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Chicago
Posts: 757
Home Made E-brake Boot
Here’s a write-up on how I added a leather emergency brake boot.
Let me start out by saying that only two interior items greatly disappointed me with the new Mustangs. The first was the obnoxiously ugly sub-woofer grill on Shaker equipped cars. I resolved that with a set of Polk-MOMO grill covers. You can see how those look in my forum album (although, I do plan to paint them down the road for a more subdued look…I’m just looking for a good match to the OEM interior color). The second was the emergency brake cover. LORD what was Ford thinking? In an early magazine review someone once said that the team that designed the new Mustang’s interior should all get raises…but the guy who designed that emergency brake handle should be fired. I agree. The aftermarket has not helped, as most of what they offer are covers for the grip portion alone. They do not address the ugliest part of the emergency brake, which in my eyes is the lever arm itself. I don’t really have a problem with the grip portion of the e-brake handle, and most of the aftermarket only aggravates the situation by drawing attention to the e-brake handle with huge gaudy aluminum covers. This isn’t helpful when the problem is that curvy, plastic covered, piece of crap. Ok, so you get the idea that I really didn’t like it.
There are some aftermarket boot suppliers that cover the lever portion, but I didn’t go with them. One (Redline) makes the boot too large, giving it a goofy “puffy” look that is out of place and overwhelms the center console. I’m looking for a subtle look that blends, not the gaudy look that screams “look at me!” Another, on eBay, is much more streamline and better looking than the Redline piece (comparably priced too), and I almost got their item. Like the Redline piece (and many OEM boots), the eBay one covers the entire arm and rubber runner. I thought I would first try my hand at a custom piece that would only address the part of the handle I didn’t like, the lever.
So here’s my solution (for now). I picked up a set of universal leather boots (shifter and e-brake) on eBay for $6 (shipped), sweet deal for real leather, keeping the total cost of my home-made job to well under $10 (when you throw in some thread and a 7/8” i.d. x 1/8” o-ring). Not bad compared to the aftermarket cost, and the project was fun. Even if you paid retail for the boot, you’re only looking at $25-$30 max, compared to $50 for aftermarket pieces that look, well, aftermarket, and require removing your console to install. I tried several different pictures of the finished product, and these were the best I could manage. This is a shame, for I think they do no justice to how nice it looks in person. Still, it shows what kind of improvement one can make with very little money, a bit of time…all without having to remove the center console. I’m very happy with how it came out. I’ll write up the process in the next post for anyone who wants to try a similar project. [/align]
[IMG]local://upfiles/28883/FFA3EE94FE124BCF8D5F0690CC67A921.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]local://upfiles/28883/22E3E6FCF3AB4D3B91B1F6F14C4DDCD2.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]local://upfiles/28883/726C19577B5340C09787A7A1AD7D1887.jpg[/IMG]
Let me start out by saying that only two interior items greatly disappointed me with the new Mustangs. The first was the obnoxiously ugly sub-woofer grill on Shaker equipped cars. I resolved that with a set of Polk-MOMO grill covers. You can see how those look in my forum album (although, I do plan to paint them down the road for a more subdued look…I’m just looking for a good match to the OEM interior color). The second was the emergency brake cover. LORD what was Ford thinking? In an early magazine review someone once said that the team that designed the new Mustang’s interior should all get raises…but the guy who designed that emergency brake handle should be fired. I agree. The aftermarket has not helped, as most of what they offer are covers for the grip portion alone. They do not address the ugliest part of the emergency brake, which in my eyes is the lever arm itself. I don’t really have a problem with the grip portion of the e-brake handle, and most of the aftermarket only aggravates the situation by drawing attention to the e-brake handle with huge gaudy aluminum covers. This isn’t helpful when the problem is that curvy, plastic covered, piece of crap. Ok, so you get the idea that I really didn’t like it.
There are some aftermarket boot suppliers that cover the lever portion, but I didn’t go with them. One (Redline) makes the boot too large, giving it a goofy “puffy” look that is out of place and overwhelms the center console. I’m looking for a subtle look that blends, not the gaudy look that screams “look at me!” Another, on eBay, is much more streamline and better looking than the Redline piece (comparably priced too), and I almost got their item. Like the Redline piece (and many OEM boots), the eBay one covers the entire arm and rubber runner. I thought I would first try my hand at a custom piece that would only address the part of the handle I didn’t like, the lever.
So here’s my solution (for now). I picked up a set of universal leather boots (shifter and e-brake) on eBay for $6 (shipped), sweet deal for real leather, keeping the total cost of my home-made job to well under $10 (when you throw in some thread and a 7/8” i.d. x 1/8” o-ring). Not bad compared to the aftermarket cost, and the project was fun. Even if you paid retail for the boot, you’re only looking at $25-$30 max, compared to $50 for aftermarket pieces that look, well, aftermarket, and require removing your console to install. I tried several different pictures of the finished product, and these were the best I could manage. This is a shame, for I think they do no justice to how nice it looks in person. Still, it shows what kind of improvement one can make with very little money, a bit of time…all without having to remove the center console. I’m very happy with how it came out. I’ll write up the process in the next post for anyone who wants to try a similar project. [/align]
[IMG]local://upfiles/28883/FFA3EE94FE124BCF8D5F0690CC67A921.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]local://upfiles/28883/22E3E6FCF3AB4D3B91B1F6F14C4DDCD2.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]local://upfiles/28883/726C19577B5340C09787A7A1AD7D1887.jpg[/IMG]
12-02-2007, 01:21 PM
#2
5th Gear Member
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location:
Posts: 2,033
RE: Home Made E-brake Boot
I am VERY interested.. If there's any way you could post links to exactly which auction it was you got the boot from, or perhaps post pics of the package so I can go find it somewhere else.. I HATE that ugly plastic handle. The rubber strip doesn't bother me so bad (I'd almost prefer it to be the "brush" type instead though), but the plastic "bar" on the handle looks like hell.
That looks AWESOME!
Thanks man!!!
That looks AWESOME!
Thanks man!!!
12-02-2007, 01:21 PM
#3
3rd Gear Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Chicago
Posts: 757
RE: Home Made E-brake Boot
Here's the rundown on the install.
The first thing I did was size up the current boot opening with the handle/lever. The problem the aftermarket has not addressed is the interference of the existing plastic cover. That’s why, I think, their boots are so large and out of place. They have to be large to cover that stupid plastic cover. Well, I decided to take it off. Once you get off the plastic cover, the metal arm is much narrower and does not require as large a boot to cover. This means that I only had to cut an inch and a half of thread on the boot to enlarge it to fit over the grip portion of the handle, rather than worry how it was going to cover the whole plastic cover.
To get the plastic lever cover, you need to pinch the top of the cover and pull up to unclip the top half from the bottom. There are three such clips, but starting at the front is easiest (see pic).
This takes a bit of pressure, but it isn’t difficult. Once these are undone the top part of the cover will come off freely. The bottom part will be loose, but it will not come out yet. Lift the emergency brake up and begin to pull the cover forward, you should feel it hit a stop. Those stop are at the rear of the lower part of the plastic cover (see pic).
I pulled out my trusty slim screwdriver, and used it like a pry bar to dislodge the stop catches. Once you get the stops out, the plastic cover slides forward freely, no console removal required.
After the cover is removed you’ll see two catches on the back of the grip that helped secure the plastic cover (see pic). These will serve as grooves for the o-ring at the front of the new boot once you’ve prepped it.
Prepping the new boot was the hardest part, but on the whole it isn’t terrible (and I’m no seamstress). The first step (after cutting the threads) is to turn it inside out. I decided to use a large o-ring partially sewn into the front opening of the boot to snug it down over the back of the grip. I also thought about sewing in a small tie cord or perhaps bit of Velcro, but this seemed easiest. The o-ring sits at the front, with just three points to secure it, the top and two bottom sides (see pic).
The sides can also be sewn up and around the o-ring, but then you’ll see the threading. So unless you’re real consistent in your sewing, the finished product will look better if you just leave it. The advantage of just using three points is that you can sew into the leather that is already folded to the inside of the boot. This means that none of the new threads holding the o-ring will show once you turn it right side out (see pic).
The existing threading that was cut to make the opening large enough can be sewn up once it is back on the lever. I didn’t do this, but I’ll explain why later. Once you’re sewn up, you’re ready to go back to the car.
Slip the boot over the grip, and carefully pull the o-ring on w/o pulling excessively on the sewn points of the boot. All told I was surprised that the o-ring went over the grip as easily as it did. Once you’re at the back of the grip the o-ring probably won’t find its way into the existing catches on the first try. I had to use my trusty slim screwdriver and play with the o-ring and leather a bit before it all went into place and evened out. You'll likely need to push the leather sides back under the o-ring after you've got the o-ring in the catches. The back of the boot just slips down over the metal arm and tucks under the rubber e-brake runner. There is no need to do anything special to secure the back of the boot. The eBay version uses Velcro to secure the lower part of the boot once you remove the metal frame of the OEM rubber runner and Redline’s version reuses the metal frame. My version just says frip’ it, there’s enough of the leather to be secured under the rubber runner, and pulling the brake handle up only further pinches the leather in place. So I didn’t see any point in getting fancy. If I ever feel the need, the Velcro route seems easiest, but would likely require removal of the console to really work.
At any rate, once the boot is basically in place, you can lift up on the handle nice and high for access and sew up the remaining bottom. Actually, I sewed in “shoe-lace” style threads (using the original needle holes) that could then simply be synched up, tied off, and have the excess cut. This area of the lever is so low and unseen you could just as well leave it open, so it doesn’t matter much what you do with it or how you choose to finish it.
Well, that’s it. A little massage here and there to bring the basic boot shape that you like out of the leather, and it’s done. I’ve been driving with it for over 500 miles and it has stayed in place and looked great the whole time. I will say one thing, towards the very front of the metal arm, the metal edge contacts the leather and can begin to show a stress sign in the leather. On my next iteration of this project I think I’ll put a thin strip of foam tape over the entire top of the metal arm to alleviate this issue. That will bring the total cost up to about $11. Speaking of my next iteration, I think what I’d like to see is the Shelby e-brake lever (you have to get the whole handle/mechanism) with its leather covered grip and my boot. The result should be quite nice and subtle. At that time, since I’ll be able to work with the Shelby arm before it goes into the car, I’ll do the full lace up and finish the underside of the boot. Good luck to any of you who try your own! If you have any questions, feel free to ask and I’ll be happy to help as I can. Best, -j
[IMG]local://upfiles/28883/07B2FFD5244347758189D3E26657D1A2.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]local://upfiles/28883/573EA6BBB8C84E2CB4B7B7F284BA1190.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]local://upfiles/28883/A05D5FD0498C4E64B4A0849934487815.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]local://upfiles/28883/74844868EA01447BBF1E7B680E982B81.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]local://upfiles/28883/65C2D5743E1947AAAF81B50B2CA0ED8C.jpg[/IMG]
The first thing I did was size up the current boot opening with the handle/lever. The problem the aftermarket has not addressed is the interference of the existing plastic cover. That’s why, I think, their boots are so large and out of place. They have to be large to cover that stupid plastic cover. Well, I decided to take it off. Once you get off the plastic cover, the metal arm is much narrower and does not require as large a boot to cover. This means that I only had to cut an inch and a half of thread on the boot to enlarge it to fit over the grip portion of the handle, rather than worry how it was going to cover the whole plastic cover.
To get the plastic lever cover, you need to pinch the top of the cover and pull up to unclip the top half from the bottom. There are three such clips, but starting at the front is easiest (see pic).
This takes a bit of pressure, but it isn’t difficult. Once these are undone the top part of the cover will come off freely. The bottom part will be loose, but it will not come out yet. Lift the emergency brake up and begin to pull the cover forward, you should feel it hit a stop. Those stop are at the rear of the lower part of the plastic cover (see pic).
I pulled out my trusty slim screwdriver, and used it like a pry bar to dislodge the stop catches. Once you get the stops out, the plastic cover slides forward freely, no console removal required.
After the cover is removed you’ll see two catches on the back of the grip that helped secure the plastic cover (see pic). These will serve as grooves for the o-ring at the front of the new boot once you’ve prepped it.
Prepping the new boot was the hardest part, but on the whole it isn’t terrible (and I’m no seamstress). The first step (after cutting the threads) is to turn it inside out. I decided to use a large o-ring partially sewn into the front opening of the boot to snug it down over the back of the grip. I also thought about sewing in a small tie cord or perhaps bit of Velcro, but this seemed easiest. The o-ring sits at the front, with just three points to secure it, the top and two bottom sides (see pic).
The sides can also be sewn up and around the o-ring, but then you’ll see the threading. So unless you’re real consistent in your sewing, the finished product will look better if you just leave it. The advantage of just using three points is that you can sew into the leather that is already folded to the inside of the boot. This means that none of the new threads holding the o-ring will show once you turn it right side out (see pic).
The existing threading that was cut to make the opening large enough can be sewn up once it is back on the lever. I didn’t do this, but I’ll explain why later. Once you’re sewn up, you’re ready to go back to the car.
Slip the boot over the grip, and carefully pull the o-ring on w/o pulling excessively on the sewn points of the boot. All told I was surprised that the o-ring went over the grip as easily as it did. Once you’re at the back of the grip the o-ring probably won’t find its way into the existing catches on the first try. I had to use my trusty slim screwdriver and play with the o-ring and leather a bit before it all went into place and evened out. You'll likely need to push the leather sides back under the o-ring after you've got the o-ring in the catches. The back of the boot just slips down over the metal arm and tucks under the rubber e-brake runner. There is no need to do anything special to secure the back of the boot. The eBay version uses Velcro to secure the lower part of the boot once you remove the metal frame of the OEM rubber runner and Redline’s version reuses the metal frame. My version just says frip’ it, there’s enough of the leather to be secured under the rubber runner, and pulling the brake handle up only further pinches the leather in place. So I didn’t see any point in getting fancy. If I ever feel the need, the Velcro route seems easiest, but would likely require removal of the console to really work.
At any rate, once the boot is basically in place, you can lift up on the handle nice and high for access and sew up the remaining bottom. Actually, I sewed in “shoe-lace” style threads (using the original needle holes) that could then simply be synched up, tied off, and have the excess cut. This area of the lever is so low and unseen you could just as well leave it open, so it doesn’t matter much what you do with it or how you choose to finish it.
Well, that’s it. A little massage here and there to bring the basic boot shape that you like out of the leather, and it’s done. I’ve been driving with it for over 500 miles and it has stayed in place and looked great the whole time. I will say one thing, towards the very front of the metal arm, the metal edge contacts the leather and can begin to show a stress sign in the leather. On my next iteration of this project I think I’ll put a thin strip of foam tape over the entire top of the metal arm to alleviate this issue. That will bring the total cost up to about $11. Speaking of my next iteration, I think what I’d like to see is the Shelby e-brake lever (you have to get the whole handle/mechanism) with its leather covered grip and my boot. The result should be quite nice and subtle. At that time, since I’ll be able to work with the Shelby arm before it goes into the car, I’ll do the full lace up and finish the underside of the boot. Good luck to any of you who try your own! If you have any questions, feel free to ask and I’ll be happy to help as I can. Best, -j
[IMG]local://upfiles/28883/07B2FFD5244347758189D3E26657D1A2.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]local://upfiles/28883/573EA6BBB8C84E2CB4B7B7F284BA1190.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]local://upfiles/28883/A05D5FD0498C4E64B4A0849934487815.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]local://upfiles/28883/74844868EA01447BBF1E7B680E982B81.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]local://upfiles/28883/65C2D5743E1947AAAF81B50B2CA0ED8C.jpg[/IMG]
12-02-2007, 01:25 PM
#4
3rd Gear Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Chicago
Posts: 757
RE: Home Made E-brake Boot
Hey exx1976,
The ebay auction I won was a one time thing (a guy getting rid of old stuff). I'm pretty sure though that the boot he sold me was a Lokar boot (can't be sure though). You can get these at Jegs, Summit, etc. for about $20 or so. The rest of the stuff (heavy duty thread, large sewing needles, thimble, o-ring, and foam tape) is just "around the house" or at your local hardware store.
I'm glad you liked it.
Best,
-j
The ebay auction I won was a one time thing (a guy getting rid of old stuff). I'm pretty sure though that the boot he sold me was a Lokar boot (can't be sure though). You can get these at Jegs, Summit, etc. for about $20 or so. The rest of the stuff (heavy duty thread, large sewing needles, thimble, o-ring, and foam tape) is just "around the house" or at your local hardware store.
I'm glad you liked it.
Best,
-j
12-02-2007, 03:04 PM
#6
5th Gear Member
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location:
Posts: 2,033
RE: Home Made E-brake Boot
I just checked out Lokar.. The one you have it NOT a Lokar, it's MUCH nicer!!!
If there is ANY possible way you can figure out what brand it is, I'd REALLY appreciate it. I'm gonna keep hunting.
Thanks!
If there is ANY possible way you can figure out what brand it is, I'd REALLY appreciate it. I'm gonna keep hunting.
Thanks!
12-03-2007, 12:13 PM
#9
3rd Gear Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Chicago
Posts: 757
RE: Home Made E-brake Boot
Hey exx1976,
Wow, I really thought it was just a Lokar piece, but now that you mentioned it I took a better look and you're right. The piece I used is definitely not a Lokar boot. Now you have me on a mission. Unfortunately, I've just about exhausted all my trails. The eBay systems only keep records for 60 days, then they junk old messages and other assorted links to previously won items. I didn't realize that I had picked up this boot in June...life goes by before I get to play.
I'm down to rifling through my old reciepts, so I'll keep trying to get the contact info for the guy who sold me the boot. I'm also currently at a loss to find the information on that other eBay S197-specific boot supplier. I'm losing my head here.
Best,
-j
Wow, I really thought it was just a Lokar piece, but now that you mentioned it I took a better look and you're right. The piece I used is definitely not a Lokar boot. Now you have me on a mission. Unfortunately, I've just about exhausted all my trails. The eBay systems only keep records for 60 days, then they junk old messages and other assorted links to previously won items. I didn't realize that I had picked up this boot in June...life goes by before I get to play.
I'm down to rifling through my old reciepts, so I'll keep trying to get the contact info for the guy who sold me the boot. I'm also currently at a loss to find the information on that other eBay S197-specific boot supplier. I'm losing my head here.
Best,
-j
12-04-2007, 05:17 PM
#10
3rd Gear Member
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Coatesville, PA
Posts: 932
RE: Home Made E-brake Boot
ORIGINAL: exx1976
I just checked out Lokar.. The one you have it NOT a Lokar, it's MUCH nicer!!!
If there is ANY possible way you can figure out what brand it is, I'd REALLY appreciate it. I'm gonna keep hunting.
Thanks!
I just checked out Lokar.. The one you have it NOT a Lokar, it's MUCH nicer!!!
If there is ANY possible way you can figure out what brand it is, I'd REALLY appreciate it. I'm gonna keep hunting.
Thanks!
These guys may be able to help you out. It's worth checking out.