924Board.org

TinoCarrasco · Joined: 14 Jul 2005 Posts: 4 Location: Sweden down south!

My wife is a quite good not to say a pro when it comes to sewing, she has made a replacement shift boot for both my -80 & -82.It is made with the original boot as a template and u only have to rip the old one out and put the new one in. We have sold about 10 of them here in sweden and people are very pleased indeed. My question is! is there an interest in buying high quality shift boots owerseas and would it be possible? I meen u ship them in a envelope. Dont think it would be so expensive. Feedback please.
Tino

Neil924 · Joined: 18 Mar 2003 Posts: 4225 Location: Canada

Well I found that shift boots are a little expensive to buy from after market shops $40 American dollars or so. And just from local parts stores, they are about $20 US. So if you can make them and ship them for less, I'm sure you could sell a few but I'm not too sure it will be worth it. How long does it take to make a boot? How much for material? How much would it cost if a mistake was made and a boot couldn't be sold?

I'm sure there are guys on this board that would buy one if they saw a picture of one. But boots can last a long time, I'm not sure that would would see many repeat customers.

I bought a used one for $20 from a member on this board, it looked very new and fit very well. If you are looking for some return on your work, maybe you could figure out how to remake sunvisors? They are about $130 US for each one and if you want a mirror they are about $180 US.

Also you would want to focus on things that wear out more often, that have a big mark up in the after market shops. Seat covers are pretty cheap so that wouldn't really be worth it.

Maybe if you made the shift boots a little unique you would have more interset. Maybe sew "924" in yellow into the boots or the name of the driver? I'm sure you could charge a little more for those. Hell, I'd buy one right now!

Good luck.

TinoCarrasco · Joined: 14 Jul 2005 Posts: 4 Location: Sweden down south!

Thanks Neil. Our Shift boots cost 25 us buck ex shipping so i guess not worth it.
Tino

D Hook · Joined: 02 Nov 2002 Posts: 3158 Location: Omaha, NE

Tino: I may be interested in a brown one. Do you have any pictures? What kind of leather? Are these the kind that fit around and inside the shifter? Or will they also fit the shifters that have a shorter boot? I've been thinking of making my own also by using the old one as a template but haven't got around to it. I think I'd like to use marine vinyl though. Should last longer.
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'80 924 n/a SOLD