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Shift Knob Replacement

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Hello Folks. This post details my 2017 6MT shift knob replacement.

If did not like the feel / look of the stock shift knob. I wanted an all leather knob. After some research online and on the forum, I found many round ball options but did not find an all leather one. I decided that the best option for me was to use the Camaro shift knob #24287141.

Prep the new knob - phase 1:
1. Very carefully remove the black plastic "inner ring". This piece is glued to the leather boot. I used an exacto knife.

Old knob removal:
2. Start the process with the knob in 4th gear.
3. Gently pry off the silver bracket that holds down the shift boot leather, I used a plastic trim tool.
4. Pull up the leather boot.
5. You need need to carefully cut off a tie wrap at the top of the knob.
6. Now pull down the leather boot. This will expose the hold down screw on the left side of the knob.
7. Remove the torx screw.
8. You can now remove the knob by pulling straight up on the knob.

Harvest the trim from old knob
9. The old leather boot has a leather "sandwich" where it connects to the console. You need to disassemble the sandwich and "harvest" the two plastic trim pieces.
10. Carefully detach the silver outer trim by pushing on the tabs and prying off the silver trim. It's kind of tricky. Be careful NOT to break of the white tabs. You will now have the boot with the inner white trim attached.
11. Remove the white plastic "inner ring" from the old knob. This piece is glued to the leather boot. If you want to preserve the old boot, be very careful during the removal process. I started the separation with an exacto knife and then gently pulled of the boot. The old material separates easier than from the new boot.

Prep the new knob - phase 2:
12. Glue the white inner plastic trim to the new boot. Try to align the trim to the existing cutouts. Make sure that the stitching is centered on the trim. WARNING, the console trim is directional! Working upside down with the boot can be confusing. I glued the trim in the wrong direction. Make sure that the wide ends up toward in front of the shifter and facing the dash , when it is installed. I messed up and had to re-due (the pictures show the incorrect install!). It will work, but the shift diagram will be upside down.
13. Let the glue dry a few hours. I used a super glue - not good. Best to use some contact cement type of glue.
14. Trim the extra leather around the white trim.
15. Install the silver trim and carefully squeeze them together to make the leather boot sandwich again. Be careful when doing this to avoid breaking the tabs. I broke one. Broken tabs will cause a gap between the silver trim and the leather boot. I used glue is the gap area and it fixed the gap.

Console re-install
16. Install the new shifter on the shaft and install the torx screw.
17. Gently press down the boot onto the consle

Enjoy the new shifter. I like the feel of the new shifter much better than the old shifter. Also, note that the suede scheme on the new shifter matches the suede on the dash board and top of the doors very well.

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For the MGW short throw shifter, use the 5th gen camaro 2010-2015. There are 3 models to pick from depending on what shift knob you are using. Retro fits older style knobs, flat stick uses their ball shift knob, and the one I used was for OEM use/ZL1 2012-2015.
View attachment 296787
For the MGW short throw shifter, use the 5th gen camaro 2010-2015. There are 3 models to pick from depending on what shift knob you are using. Retro fits older style knobs, flat stick uses their ball shift knob, and the one I used was for OEM use/ZL1 2012-2015.
View attachment 296787
I've someone post that the flat stick is not centered in our car. As it does not exactly match the Camaro.
I was thinking of this look, but I don't know what to put for the boot size on redline's site or how it will attach.
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Flat stick looks cool but it also looks like the stick sits to far back in the SS to me.

That's the 5th gen retro. If you decide to change knobs you can just order the correct stick. They've made the latest version of the shifter where you can switch the stick.

SS sedan shift boot worked for me with minimal trimming.
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Flat stick looks cool but it also looks like the stick sits to far back in the SS to me.

That's the 5th gen retro. If you decide to change knobs you can just order the correct stick. They've made the latest version of the shifter where you can switch the stick.

SS sedan shift boot worked for me with minimal trimming.
agreed

ok, thanks
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I've someone post that the flat stick is not centered in our car. As it does not exactly match the Camaro.
I was thinking of this look, but I don't know what to put for the boot size on redline's site or how it will attach.
View attachment 296788
You’ll notice my drawing intended on me having seams in the corners. However, the leather was a lot thicker than the shitty OEM vinyl boot so the overlap of material in the corners caused the middle of the white plastic trim piece to bow inward when installed. I resulted in going with a center double stitch to address the thickness in the corners and switching to alcantara which is as thin as the OEM vinyl boot.



Here is how I determined the amount of material slack I wanted to have in the new boot; I rolled the excess up and shifted the shifter to Reverse, First, Fifth, Sixth to make sure there was enough slack in the boot to prevent the shift from happening or the material being drawn too tight. I then marked the location on the boot and removed it to take additional measurements.




My Redlinegoods boot is 2.5” shorter in length compared to the stock boot. I have no issues with the material being too tight when in any gears.




Side profile from exposed area not glued to white trim ring to top of boot is 4.25”. The only dimension I’m missing is the circumference of the boot top opening.




End result…It took me THREE Redlinegoods boots for me to be happy with the look as the first two boots were made out of leather. Looking back at all the cost and hassle I went through I would have been better served in just buying the GM Camaro ZL1 boot!

There is a lot less material slack compared to the bottom photo




Look at all the excess material with the stock boot!!



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You’ll notice my drawing intended on me having seams in the corners. However, the leather was a lot thicker than the shitty OEM vinyl boot so the overlap of material in the corners caused the middle of the white plastic trim piece to bow inward when installed. I resulted in going with a center double stitch to address the thickness in the corners and switching to alcantara which is as thin as the OEM vinyl boot.



Here is how I determined the amount of material slack I wanted to have in the new boot; I rolled the excess up and shifted the shifter to Reverse, First, Fifth, Sixth to make sure there was enough slack in the boot to prevent the shift from happening or the material being drawn too tight. I then marked the location on the boot and removed it to take additional measurements.




My Redlinegoods boot is 2.5” shorter in length compared to the stock boot. I have no issues with the material being too tight when in any gears.




Side profile from exposed area not glued to white trim ring to top of boot is 4.25”. The only dimension I’m missing is the circumference of the boot top opening.




End result…It took me THREE Redlinegoods boots for me to be happy with the look as the first two boots were made out of leather. Looking back at all the cost and hassle I went through I would have been better served in just buying the GM Camaro ZL1 boot!

There is a lot less material slack compared to the bottom photo




Look at all the excess material with the stock boot!!



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I like your look with the silver knob. Very nice.
I went with black Alcantara with red stitching 4piece and chose 1" shorter. Looks like I should have went 2.5"...maybe 2" for just a bit of slack. Even though you said it was not tight at 2.5".
I like your look with the silver knob. Very nice.
I went with black Alcantara with red stitching 4piece and chose 1" shorter. Looks like I should have went 2.5"...maybe 2" for just a bit of slack. Even though you said it was not tight at 2.5".
You can always trim but you cant add...
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You can always trim but you cant add...
Very true
You can always trim but you cant add...
Not effectively when both openings have little tolerance for the openings being too small or large.


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I emailed MGW about some concerns. I mentioned how the flatstick doesn't seem to align correctly in the gearshift console area and this was the reply I got this morning:

"we can do this with a retro shaft which is m12x1.75 but also we are starting to put modular flat sticks on the standard upper thats offset to the front like the retro so you can call monday and order a flatstick and just tell them you do NOT want it centered but up front at 12 o'clock".
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I emailed MGW about some concerns. I mentioned how the flatstick doesn't seem to align correctly in the gearshift console area and this was the reply I got this morning:

"we can do this with a retro shaft which is m12x1.75 but also we are starting to put modular flat sticks on the standard upper thats offset to the front like the retro so you can call monday and order a flatstick and just tell them you do NOT want it centered but up front at 12 o'clock".
Yes, I ordered the Flatstick first than bought the Retro stick portion afterwards where I saw that I could just use the Retro adapter with the Flatstick. I like the look of the Retro more with my knob so I kept it installed.


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I installed the ZL1 suede boot and knob late last week, after I swapped caps! I really am enjoying it a whole lot. It feels good and it looks sweet, with the red stitching to match the rest of the interior. Don't mind the few flecks of dust! 😁
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View attachment 301983


I installed the ZL1 suede boot and knob late last week, after I swapped caps! I really am enjoying it a whole lot. It feels good and it looks sweet, with the red stitching to match the rest of the interior. Don't mind the few flecks of dust! 😁
I did the exact same about a year ago. Pretty happy with it, shift knob has much better feel and is a bit heavier whic is nice. The suede on the knob is a bit tough to maintain. I hit mine with a suede brush every couple months to fluff it up again, but it seems to be wearing down.
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I used a GTO/GXP knob on my MGW. Looks similar to the HSV but $400 cheaper and matches the original interior very well
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I used a GTO/GXP knob on my MGW. Looks similar to the HSV but $400 cheaper and matches the original interior very well
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Who did the leather on the steering wheel? I hate our leather on the wheel…it’s cheap feeling.
Who did the leather on the steering wheel? I hate our leather on the wheel…it’s cheap feeling.
Stock Camaro steering wheel.

But, you can also have Redline do a custom recover on your SS steering wheel. They have very reasonable priced services
Who did the leather on the steering wheel? I hate our leather on the wheel…it’s cheap feeling.
Several companies out there.

SoCal Garage Works:


Guardian Designs:


Bodykitskingdom.com.au :


I think I recall someone using Dallas Custom Steering Wheel in the past, and heard good things about Craft Customs in Texas as well.
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