Jim Bowen 1 Posted July 5, 2008 i bought one off ebay during the week, from Mr Gaiter, and i can't see it fitting, just been outside trying and it interferes too much with the action of the handbrake. who off here has fitted a leather gaiter, am sure i've seen them fitted, how do you do it? there is a thin slit where all the material has to go and its just not going to work Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The Hub 0 Posted July 5, 2008 i bought one off ebay during the week, from Mr Gaiter, and i can't see it fitting, just been outside trying and it interferes too much with the action of the handbrake. who off here has fitted a leather gaiter, am sure i've seen them fitted, how do you do it? there is a thin slit where all the material has to go and its just not going to work I bought one of these recently and I am going to fit it tomorrow, I'll let you know how I get on. I had one fitted to my old C and I can't remember having any fitting issues. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jim Bowen 1 Posted July 16, 2008 ive got it, but can't figure out how its meant to fit, keep sending emails to the seller who says "it needs to be fitted over the plastic trim" which doesn't make sense to me. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jay2 0 Posted July 16, 2008 Hello mate, Bought one of these as well and was a bit stumped when I tried to fit it. :? Took another look at the pic on his site and realised where I was going wrong, bought the gaitor which fits over the actual handle grip as well as the rest of the handbrake. So the only bit not covered by the leather is your button right on the end. Think thats why you may have so much bunching of leather, as I had the same thing. I think this is what he means when he says, "fitted over the plastic trim", the actual handle grip. Mine is still sat in the glovebox. :( Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
was8v 0 Posted July 16, 2008 I've had mine fitted for a while the same as this. Yes the leather covers the handle leaving only the button poking out of the end. My handle bit was missing its leather cover and I was missing the long T piece plastic anyway so these werent present. Anyway I removed the surround plastics, slid the leather over the handbrake lever, used some glue on the inside of the bit that covers the (originally leather covered) plastic handle and pulled it on (very tight plus the glue will help keep it in place). No removal of the handbrake mechanism was needed. I then gaffer taped the bottom of the gaiter to the carpet just to hold it in place while I slid the surround plastics back over the lever. Looks 200% better than it did and 100% better than the oem T piece and short handle. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mattnorgrove 0 Posted July 16, 2008 I bought one of these off the very same seller, for my old valver, it was way too big so I cut off all the extra that just wasn't needed down the sides, a bit at a time so as not to feck the whole thing up. Fitted perfectly in the end. Just need to take your time trimming it down. Got a pic of it fitted somewhere if you need. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jim Bowen 1 Posted July 16, 2008 a pic would be good, i want to try and keep the handle so the leather just sits up against the bottom of it, although i'm not sure i can be arsed with it anymore, gone back to the standard plastic trim now Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The Hub 0 Posted July 16, 2008 Sorry completely forgot all about this thread :cuckoo: I basically removed the plastic spine from the handbrake leaving the handle on. Then removed the handbrake tunnel, pulled the gaiter over the handbrake handle till the button pokes out the end. I seated the other end of the gaiter round the base in a way you won't get bunching when the handbrake is released. I then put the handbrake tunnel back over the handbrake being careful when passing the gaiter through the open in the tunnel, as it's tight and you could scuff the leather. I did not replace the plastic spine and just made sure the gaiter was seated right coming form the opening in the tunnel....... and hey presto :clap: The flash of my camera makes the leather look alot brighter but its actually a good match, but it hightlights that i need a new gear knob and gaiter now :lol: Edit: just looking at your pics i also removed the black plastic trim around the actual handbrake base. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mattnorgrove 0 Posted July 16, 2008 3corsa mine looked exactly like Hub's in the photo above. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cata 0 Posted July 17, 2008 I bought the same e-brake gaiter and love it, except that I was very disappointed with the fit when I first got it. After a lot of thinking, I finally figured out a way to make it look at home as anything less wouldn't do. You guys are right, it's designed to slide over the old trim. The problem with that is that the plastic trim is too wide to allow the leather to slide freely through the console. I ended up cutting up the long trim on both sides as far as I was permitted to, so that it didn't separate. You can see what I'm talking about when you look at yours. After, I added a strip of bent tin at the end and glued it in for good. This was to help the leather poke out downwards at the end. After all of this, I just scotch-taped the whole skeleton to the e-brake handle to get a tight fit. Corrado92.pdfProject 081.jpg[/attachment:210tpiix] The final and easiest thing that needed to be done was trimming down the leather to make it fit properly. This was done by trial and error with both sides being cut equally. You can look at how mine ended up and try to mimic it. passat climatronic wiring diags.pdfProject 082.jpg[/attachment:210tpiix] climatronic wiring-Golf from May 01.pdfProject 084.jpg[/attachment:210tpiix] I know that it's a pretty ghetto way to go about doing it but it worked like a charm for me. I'm very happy with the way it fits now. 2.8l 24v Climatronic system.pdfProject 085.jpg[/attachment:210tpiix] Project 086.jpg[/attachment:210tpiix] Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MikeVR6 0 Posted July 31, 2008 Hi, For my old 16 valve I had a nice fitting gaitor from Snappy Gaitors Available in all colours IIRC It covered just the parts that the crappy plastic gaitor did. I also got an alloy handle from Trimsport. Snappy Gaitors Andy Mayer 01270 580730 07984 520943 Was about 5 years ago now, so hope he's still in business. Right good job This is the only pic I have. Belfastfumanchu has the car now so PM him for better ones. PICT0023.jpg[/attachment:1636540b] Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
was8v 0 Posted July 31, 2008 My Mr gaiter one fitted. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites