Shifter boot malfunction - 1987 5000

Peter Koskinen peter at prkbikes.com
Wed Dec 15 17:47:10 EST 2004


Ben,

I used a #6 flat head drywall screw. This works very well, its unobtrusive,
and is removable at a later date if necessary. If you use a very small drill
to give you a pilot hole you won't damage the rest of the console.

Cheers,

Peter Koskinen
Chilly in Chapel Hill, NC

-----Original Message-----
From: quattro-bounces at audifans.com [mailto:quattro-bounces at audifans.com] On
Behalf Of Ben Swann
Sent: Wednesday, December 15, 2004 2:22 PM
To: peter at prkbikes.com; Pasqualoni, James E
Cc: quattro at audifans.com; Ben Swann
Subject: RE: Shifter boot malfunction - 1987 5000

If you are going to do a kludgy fix, do it right.  The drywall screw method
will only end up cracking what is left of the boot retainer/bracket.  Either
use panhead screw - #10 stainless with phillips head is good or use beveled
head with metal ring grommets or plasitc grommets - here is where creativity
can come into play.  I found some sink valve seals - round with beveled edge
made out of hard black rubber/plastic and found in the plumbing section of
H.D.   I have done both and the metal grommets hold well, as they cover more
area and will "grab" the boot retainer.  Plastic however is less likely to
dig through the leather.  Just do all four corners - drill a hole just
outside of the leather at a slight angle and then use about a 1" #10 screw
with the washer/grommet.  Screw down uniformly on four corners and it will
not come loose again without use of a screwdriver.

No way will duct-tape or even epoxy hold for any lenth of time.   Well maybe
epoxy, but when you need to get it off again it can be messy.  

The continued distraction of the boot flopping back and forth while shifting
begs for an accident, so a fix is prudent, but no need to get a new
retainer, unless the existing one is completly shot.  The retainer/frame
clips do break off, usually from someone trying to remove the bracket  in as
hurry.

Ben

[Date: Wed, 15 Dec 2004 11:07:14 -0500
From: "Peter Koskinen" <peter at prkbikes.com>
Subject: RE: Shifter boot malfunction - 1987 5000
To: "'Pasqualoni, James E'" <james.pasqualoni at gs.com>, "'Dave C'"
<dconner at gmail.com>
Cc: 'Quattro list' <quattro at audifans.com>
Message-ID:
<20041215160719.VZIO1994.imf17aec.mail.bellsouth.net at gateway>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

I had that problem on my 5000 wagon. I drilled a small hole in each corner
at the top of the boot and used a black 1 1/4" drywall screw to attach the
boot to the console. No more movement. I also used the screws to reattach
the arm rests to the door when those tabs failed.

Peter Koskinen
Chapel Hill, NC


 <<<SNIP

The plastic frame won't remain clipped in place.  It seems the leather
is too stiff and pulls on the frame.  Or maybe the frame clips are
just tired.  Or maybe both.  It is worse in cold weather... maybe
because cold makes the leather more stiff.  Maybe I need to replace
the frame.  But if the real problem is stiff leather then I still need
to fix that.  I tried repeated application of Lexol leather
conditioner but it hasn't helped.  I also tried a bit of 3M strip
caulk at each corner of the frame.  This helped during warm weather
but it ceased to function with arrival of cold weather and now the
boot flops around with every shift. >>>]
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