My shifter boot problems have been fixed …
I talked with Doug Reed, the SPF dealer in Louisiana. He said there were some SPF shifter boots coming on a freighter from South Africa in about 2 weeks, and I should call him then. Doug also mentioned that the problem could be caused by loose motor mounts, the shifter touching the tunnel and/or the tranny itself. Checked out his suggestions … motor rock steady when loading it by releasing the clutch while standing on the brake … no interference between shifter and hole in tunnel … and with the boot removed, NO problem with the tranny slipping out of gear. But later in the day he called me back and told me that he called Walt (SPF guy in Virginia) and he mentioned that I could get a “Sunbeam Tiger” shifter boot quickly from a place in CA (408-371-1642). Just to make sure it looked like the Cobra boot, I found their web site and it looked OK. So I called and ordered one and got it in a couple of days.
It was their part number IP53T.
Click here for the Sunbeam boot
and select - Shifter Boot, Tiger
Put it on …. Success! No more problems.
Because the Cobra “style” boot fits a lot of cars (Mustangs, Sunbeams, etc) I’m sure there are quite a few boot manufacturers, and tons of places to buy them.
Thanks to:
1) Finish Line who said they would credit me the on my next order for the boot.
2) Doug Reed
3) Everyone who gave me suggestions on this thread
I took a picture of the two shifter boots. I cleaned the Sunbeam boot after taking the picture. The surface finish along the parting line was OK but a little dull after cleaning, but not a big deal. Note the difference between the heights of the boots.
My suggestion to anyone that has problems with the tranny popping out of gear is to first make sure it’s the boot that is the problem by driving it without the boot. If the problem goes away, get a new shifter boot from your Cobra manufacturer (SPF, ERA, FFR, etc) or try the Sunbeam Tiger version I got from Sunbeam Specialties.
P.S. to Mark - thanks for tip on boot installation, but had already changed out the stock shifter with those fake lock out bar that hurt me many times. I put in the Jordan shifter ... much better, no lockout bar, easier to shift, less missed shifts (who, me?) blah, blah ...