You can say that it's possibly one of my most-planned modification process, given the stages I planned and went through before ending so far. On the other than, it can be perceived as my typical Singapore kia-see-ism (n – state of afraiding to die) in act, wanting to make sure that everything is in order or validated before making the next move.

To be honest, I started just wanting to replace my peeling stock shift knob with a new one, and I accomplish that desire by replacing it with a Momo's automatic shift knob. Very soon, I realised it need not end there, as I can replace the entire chrome shift cover with something refreshing. But the process, through some IM (Instant messenging) correspondence with vwvortex's FEEL, seems complicated, and I want to be absolutely sure about my ability to execute it before embarking on the modification itself. Obviously, I am 'kia-see' as I don't wish my investment (of buying a replacement shift boot) to waste. But most importantly, I want to make sure I can do it myself, although I know that I can easily pay some shop and had it done professionally.

Hence, my assessment on the complexity of removing the shift console, prior to placing an order with hillsideimports for an Volkswagen OEM Sports edition shift boot (p/n: 1 J0 711 113 CD NEZ).

Before placing an order for the shift boot, one may be interested to know there exists a few variants of VW OEM shift boot that he can choose from. It's a matter of individual style preference, not so much of fitment choice :-

• The 20th Anniversary shift boot has a brushed aluminium shift frame (or commonly known as ring ) and red-stitched black leather boot;
• The R32 shift boot also has a brushed aluminium ring, and a white stiched black leather boot. (I believe you can opt for black-stitched one as well)
• The Original Sports edition shift boot, has a chrome ring, with black-stitched black leather boot.

I chose the chrome variant one, not exactly because I love chrome trimming, but because the brushed aluminium style will be a mis-match to my current interior trimming.

STEP by STEP

1. Remove the gasket if you have not done. Follow the link for a reference of step-by-step on gasket removal how-to

2. If you have just removed your gasket, and have not put back the shift console, take the opportunity to remove the shift guider as indicated by the red arrow. If you manage to remove the guider, then you may skip step 6.

Next, focus on the shift boot.

3. Flip the boot, so that you see the bottom of the shift knob, with the ring bracket that holds the leather to the knob. Slip out the metal ring fastener.

Removing the knob from the shift boot

4. With the help of a plier and exerting abit of force, pull out the ring bracket. The shift knob is now freed from the leather boot, and I can then proceed with putting my aftermarket knob to this leather boot.

Note Step 4 is unnecessary, if you prefer to cut off the leather boot around the edge of the shift knob. That is definitely the quickest and easiest way to remove the knob away from the boot, but I prefer to remove with minimal damage.

5. Slip the shift knob chrome ring and Momo's bottom chrome cap back into the boot, as shown. I used some adhesive tape to secure the ring to the boot, and as the chrome cap is “dropped” into the ring, I also used a strong adhesive tape to ensure it doesn't slip off from the ring easily.

Now, the next step is necessary if you choose not to remove the shift guide, just as I have not. If you have done, as per step 1, then skip step 6, and go straight to step 7.

The underside of the shift frame, the left side is one with the tabs cut-off, the right is with the tabs intact

The diagram shows the bottom of the shift boot frame. There are clips on each side of the frame, in order to clip onto the shift console firmly. Notice that at the rear side of the shift boot, there are 3 tabs, at the position indicated by the red arrows. These tabs are meant to secure the shift boot to the frame. These tabs interfere with the shift guide, and prevents the frame from inserted completely into the shift console properly.

6. Use a cutter, and cut off these tabs. The picture on the left shows the trimed shift frame without the tabs. The cutting is pretty easy since the tabs are made of plastic[/i]). Cutting of the tabs does not compromise the fitment of the shift boot to the console. Neither does it result in loose leather boot on the frame. So cut it with a piece of mind!

If you have not cut the tabs as per described in step 6, and you have not removed the shift guider, you will find that your shift boot pops out alittle at the rear.

With the shift knob removed,

Inserting the frame into the console

7. Slot the shift boot over the shift shaft, and slide in the shift frame forward, and under the shift console. Insert the frame completely by pushing it down into the console.

You may find difficulty in securing the frame properly into the console, as the frame might be still popping out alittle. Here's some tricks and tips for your reference.

• Push the two sides (left & right) of the frame inwards so that that clips go underneath the console.
• Push the rear side of the frame inwards so that the clips go underneath the console, and then pull it outwards so that the frame shifts back, allowing the bottom of the frame to have clearance off from the shift guide.

8. Put back the shift knob, tighten the allen nuts, and pull up the shift boot so that the chrome cap can be secured with the shift knob, as shown.

Other resources

1. Part supplier – Hillsideimports
2. Information Source – Vwvortex

Following my successful attempt to remove the shift knob and the shift gate, I was so determined to go ahead and replace my chromy shift cover to a leather boot that's commonly found in the manual version of Bora and Golf. So I did more research, and have several correspondences with a fellow vwvortex's member, FEELER, who had attempted this mod awhile back. One of the important task is to remove the gasket that's secured beneath the shift console, so that any MK4 OEM shift boot can be fitted on the shift console perfectly without any further modification. To do so, I have to remove the shift console, and before placing an order from hillsideimportsp, I decided to try taking out the gasket first.

How-to step by step

the prerequisite of this how-to is to remove the shift knob, and optionally the shift gate. If you have not done so, just refer to the shift knob removal and shift gate removal articles.

1. First of all, using a torx screw #15 driver, remove the 2 torx screws, which are located at the front end of the shift console, just under the dash console, as shown.

2. Next remove the cover as shown in the above picture on the left, and unscrew the torx screw. There are 2 torx screws on each front side of the shift console, which secured the shift console firmly to the ebrake console.

3. Remove the ash-tray component from the shift console. First slide open the ash-tray lid, and remove the ash-tray casing, and it will expose a torx screw at the bottom of the ash-try, as shown on the left. Unscrew the screw, and slowly slide the ash tray out by pushing the ash tray forward alittle before pulling up and away from the shift console.

If you have problem trying to move the ash tray, chances are the plastic tab at the bottom of the ash tray is clipping on the metal piece, as shown in the picture on the left (the two tabs are located on each side of the centre torx screw). Pry the tabs slightly so that the metal piece is off the tabs' hook, before sliding up the ash tray. In my case, it's very easy to take out the ash tray without even prying on the tabs.

4. When the ash tray is taken out, unplug the harness from the ash tray lighter, as shown in the diagram on the left

5. With the ash tray removed completely, you will be able to see a metal bracket as shown in the photo on the left. Pull out the left side of the bracket.

6. With all the screws and ash tray removed, you may start wiggle the shift console, pulling it up and backward.

First of all, pull up the shift console away from the bracket at the front, where you previously unscrew the 2 front torx screws. This free the front console, and then you can start to pull back the shift console.

When you pull back the console, wiggle alittle so that the 2 finger-like plastic pegs on the shift console are out from the main console's bracket completely. When these plastic pegs are not cleared from the bracket, you will find it difficulting pulling out the shift console at all. Once the pegs are cleared, the console should be freed from any clips or brackets, and you can slowly pull it out, leaving the shifter as shown in the diagram on the left.

7. Remove the shift guide & optic cover from the shifter, by unclipping the 2 tabs at each side of the cover, as shown above. Apparently, this is required for the OEM shift boot to be inserted into the shift console perfectly without any obstruction. Once my shift boot arrives, I will confirm if this step is required or not.

8. With the shift console taken out finally, the next step is where the real intent of removing the console is about. Flipping the shift console, you will see the gasket attached to the underneath of the console with 4 philip screws, as shown on the left photo.

When the gasket is detached away from the shift console, you see that the rubber trimming around the chrome cover is also removed. The rubber trim is actually fitted onto the gasket, before tightening all 4 screws on the gasket to the console. With the gasket and hence the rubber trimming removed, it creates some gap around the shifter, presumeably for the OEM manual shift boot to be fitted on properly.

More information will be shared once I get hold of the shift boot and figure out how the shift boot will be attached to the shift console.

In the meantime, I have ordered a shift boot from Hillsideimports, just couldn't wait for it to come. To be continue in 10 days time, hopefully!

Following the removal of my auto shift knob and replacing the stock shift knob with MOMO auto knob, I have been exploring options to “perfect” the look, hiding away the bare metal shaft like the picture on the left. One of the option is to remove the shift gate (from the layman point of view, the chrome cover seen in the photo on the left) and replace it with a manual shift boot. To do that, the first thing to do obviously is to figure out how the shift gate is secured on the console, and hence how to be removed without damaging the parts.

1. First of all, remove the shift knob, regardless of whether it is a stock knob or aftermarket one. This will facilitate the removal of the shift gate, as you will see later on.

2. Next, push the shift gate (the chrome cover) to the right with alittle force, you will be able to see some gap, like that on the right. The shift gate should be firmly secured at this point of time, so alittle force is required to open up the gap.

3. With the interior pryer tool, I try to fiddle with the shift gate edge and pry out. Becareful of prying to hard, otherwise, you may unknowingly broken the notch at the edge of the shift gate. With abit of trying and patience, I manage to have the notch out of internal slot, and when you do that, you will notice that the shift gate is starting to loosen on the left side as shown in the diagram below.

When the left side of the shift gate's notch is out of the securing slot

4. With the left side of the shift gate loosened, pull up the gate slightly and wiggle the shift gate to the left, so that the right side of the gate can be loosened as well. Becareful again not to wiggle or pull out the gate too hard, otherwise, the notch at the right edge of the gate may well give way and break.

5. With sufficient patience and wiggling, I manage to loose the right side of the shift gate as well, and just carefully feel the touchpoints between the shift gate and the shift console so that you can free the shift gate completely from the console.

6. Once the shift gate is loosened completely, just lift up the gate and away from the shift shaft. What remains is the whole shift guide in bare, with the optics that indicates the gear position.

Done: when the shift gate is removed completely, this is what you will see

The underside of the shift gate, to show you the structure of the gate that allows the latter to be mounted to the shift console.

A closeup look of the 2 notches at one side of the shift gate. This is the part where the shift gate is most fragile at

what's next … ? A search for a nice OEM looking shift boot to replace the shift gate! and the search continues

Changing of automatic shift knob, to certain people in Vwvortex community, is a taboo, or in a certain VW modification cult group, is socially unacceptable. Well, I must emphasized that such mentality only prevails in a small group of vwvortex'ers, fortunately.

Perhaps, the strong feeling against the act, is based on the assumption that anybody who attempt the modification is trying to be manual-stick wannabe. That to drive an automatic-transmission vehicle is a joke of century, at least to this unique group of interesting earth inhabitants. In the true spirit of Veedub modification culture, I am sure this is a fallible thinking.

Anyhow, not withstanding such a dark force, I decided to go ahead with the modification, although I am still in search for a well-styled aftermarket automatic shift knob.

1. Turn on the engine, and shift the gear to Neutral. In many versions of How-to guide, the instruction said D or gear 3 or 2. For 4-speed automatic transmission vehicle, it has
been verified that either of the modes mentioned is okay. This might not be the case if your vehicle is tiptronic transmission, and should stick to gear 3 as most has suggested.

2. Pull down the chrome sleeve that covers the shift shaft as shown on the left. This will unlock the gear, and the knob button will be loose.

3. Then press the knob button and pull out the knob with some amount of force.

If you inspect the shift rod closely, you notice that the only movable mechanism is the plastic rod that's contained within the shift rod. When you press the shift knob button (with the stock knob intact), it actually depresses the plastic rod, and mechanically unlock the gear during "P" and "N" position. Hence, one can conclude that for 4-speed automatic transmission vehicle, one can replace its stock shift knob with any universal aftermarket shift knob, since it does not have any tiptronic plate or overdrive mechanism.

Upon looking at the internal of the knob, you notice that there isn't any complicated mechanism in the knob button. The knob button basically will keep in contact with the tip of plastic rod when the knob is plug on the shift rod. The plastic cylindrical clip within the knob is designed to held and clamp on the shift rod tightly.

Tips: I realised that if the car is parked under scorch hot sun for a few hours, it will be easier to take out the shift knob. This is possibly because that the plastic clip inside the knob has expanded due to the heat, and hence make it easier to plug out the shift knob.

With the stock knob removed, I begin to hunt for a nice aftermarket automatic shift knob to replace, as my stock knob surface is starting to peel. I wanted to make sure that the DIY removal of stock knob is possible before I commit myself with a new aftermarket shift knob.

The hunt for the new shift knob is not easy. There's little market for automatic shift knob, and alot of nice shift knobs made by Rapid, Momo and Sparco are mostly for manual shift stick. I bump across OEM automatic shift knobs like those for Audi and Porsche, but they cost an arm (more than US$150). My choice was thus limited to the Momo automatic shift knob, as shown below.

4. Insert in the chrome cover bottom as shown in the picture.

5. Screw 2 allen nuts to the Momo shift knob such that they are flushed to the inner wall of the knob. The Momo shift knob comes with allen key and nuts, and the knob itself has 3 holes at the edge of the thread (as shown on the left photo) for one to screw the allen nut so that the knob can be firmly secured on the shifter shaft rod.

6. With the allen nuts in the knob, slot the knob into the shifter rod as shown on the left. Do not over-screw the allen nuts, otherwise the knob can not be inserted down the shifter rod.

7. With the knob sits nicely on the plastic shift unlock rod, turn the knob so that wording "MOMO" is aligned, and depress the knob slightly (not all the way round), and begin to screw the 2 allen nuts tightly. The reason of depressing the knob before screwing the nuts, is to have the knob as low as possible.

Knob is secured by 2 nuts, the 3rd allen nut is not required as it'll prevent the bottom chrome cover not able to cover the knob.

8. Screw in the chrome cover bottom, as shown.

and voila, a new aftermarket shift knob for my automatic gear transmission BORA.