Under the AT Shifter Leather

[AppleTech]

So my leather on my AT shifter is pretty worn out on my '96 and I don't really have the $$ to replace it. I was wondering what is under it? Could I remove the worn out leather and use it without? Is it just plastic underneath? Is it clean and nice to use or is it supposed to be covered - IE, will it look weird with exposed wires and holes in the plastic and whatnot?

Thanks,
Phil

 

[NaterGator]

My leather on my LX has worn out pretty thoroughly and some foam is showing underneath it. I'm not sure what is under the foam.

While I'd love to replace the leather on my seats (quite ripped/cracked) I don't really care about the shifter. If I come across a wrecked LC with a shifter to swap I'll do it, but otherwise )

 

[akarilo]

On the `94 it is a very hard black rubber material that looks perfectly at home minus the leather. Go for it.

 

[lowbanks]

I bought a good used one from IRBIS (he's parting out several in the classifieds) and swapped it out.
I removed the worn out leather from the old one and it actually looked pretty cool and felt OK when handling it.

 

[AppleTech]

Can the leather be nondestructively removed? How do I remove it?

Thanks,
Phil

 

[BrettinSanAntonio]

Under the leather is black rubber. The first 80 series I owned had all the leather removed. It didn't look bad but I missed the leather.

 

[KCCruiser]

I just did this on my '96 and it looks so much better. It is just hard rubber underneath. I replaced the shifter indicator bezel and the front console at the same time. I think it added 10hp.

 

[wob]

Been there, done that. The rubber underneath the leather is kind of skinny and goofy looking. I took my leather off, and rolled with it for a while, then ordered a replacement rubber one from cDan to save a few bucks on the leather replacement. This was on a 96, ymmv.