pmarch

Would like to get the pukka Impreza part through main dealer. They want nearly £40 to fit. In their words:

"The aluminium gear surround is a nice accessory. To fit it the console requires removal, some mounting holes to be drilled and the surround fitted.this takes about 0.5 hour to do which is #38.18 inc vat. The surround costs #55 inc vat".

Has anyone done it - is it necessary to dismantle things. I don't want to go drilling into things as fitted and wreck some underlying gear mechanisms etc. and make a hash of it.

scoobyboy

you do have to take the surround out this takes about 2 mins then put the frame over the gaiter so it sits where you want it then mark the holes remove the frame drill through refit frame insert bolts and tighten nuts on the backing then refit. it's that easy you could do it at home

Fizz_daz

ditto above -

whiteyisback

...is there anyway of glueing the thing to the centre consol ?

pmarch

Thanks for advice - may take a closer look at surround and take it off (a sort of dry run if you like) to see what's what before buying frame and actually doing it.

As to glueing surround, you could do it using a strong bonding type glue (the sort where you mix glue with hardener to make a thick paste - one that dries clear). But I doubt this would ever look convincing because you would not be able to put the fixing bolts in the holes, unless you sheared these down and glued them in place so that they look as though they are screwed in the fixing holes. Also all visible traces of glue would have to be completely removed before it sets otherwise I guess the finished result would be spoilt to some degree.

pmarch

I'm still pondering this one

What exactly do you do to get the surround off?

I don't want to prise it off wrong and muck it up.

£38 for fitting is no big deal but I would rather do it myself at my own convenience.

_Meridian_

iTrader: (1)

According to my dealer, you just put your hands under the plastic either side of the gaitor and lift hard - there's supposed to be a total of three spring clips which will all pop loose. Can someone confirm this please 'cos I've got one on order as well...


M

robby

Just fitted mine today (bought off ebay)
1. remove console ( as mentioned put hands into leather gear boot and pull console up, it's held by spring clips. The rear console will also lift up at the same time and this can be moved to one side)
2. unscrew gear **** anti-clockwise (it's a long thread so takes quite a few turns). The whole console can now be lifted out of the car.
3. from the back of the console you'll see some spiral clips holding the leather gaitor frame onto the console, these will need to be prised off (i ended up cutting the off with a dremmel)
4. now put the new frame over the top of the console and you'll see where it needs dremmeling (in each corner and at each side)
5. when you've dremmeled away the frame now sits "in" the console
5. put leather gaitor/ surround back in the console from behind and drill through the holes in the metal surround into the leather gaitor frame. The screws then go through the surround into the gaitor frame underneath holding it all together
6. with this done the console now slots back into place and the rear console also slots back in

Took me 1/2 hour from start to finish

hope this helps

Rob

_Meridian_

iTrader: (1)

Cheers - sounds fairly straightforward.


M

robby

Sounds worse than it is

pmarch

Thanks for your kind advice Robby and others

Reza_UK

Sorry...does anyone know how to mod a 95 gaitor with out having to use the big chrome surround?

Cheers

_Meridian_

iTrader: (1)

Update. I fitted mine today, and I have to say that the instructions that come with the surround are pretty good. I still can't work out why robby needed to Dremel his, unless he was fitting to a classic - on an 02 it fits perfectly. My only quibble is to do with the holes which need drilling for the screws: it's fairly hard to get the angle right, and holes in the lower frame (which acts as a template) are much bigger than the screws, so are a poor guide. I ended up drilling 5mm holes and that gave me enough leeway to get everything screwed dtogether. The panels in the central console were easy to remove and refit - start with the rear one (just in front of the CD/cassette holder) first. Didn't time it, but I think it took about 30-45 minutes in total.









M

pmarch

A confession - I had mine done by local Subaru dealer, who charged me £38 inc. VAT. It took them longer than expected but they did a good job. Glad I did really because I might have got it wrong and you only get one chance! Morale is.. if you are worried about it, leave it to the professionals and if they get it wrong, they will be responsible for restoring it. Having said that, I did manage to take the old gearknob off and put on my MOMO AirRace one. Still, thanks again for all the advice.

robby

Meridian - i had to dremmel mine as it wouldn't fit in the hole as the corners were too far out, guess thats what happens when buying copies off ebay :-(

Jamesemt

Meridian - have you got a short shift or is that just the angle? Where did you get the gear **** from? Cos it looks ace!!