Gaiter

[Fisherman]

Hi there,

I've not seen any other threads about changing a Copen's gear stick gaiter so thought you might like to hear about my experience. My 04 car's gaiter was quite worn. I found a place on e-bay selling new one's for £14.99 with fee p&p. It was in Italian leather with red stiching. All you need to do is unscrew the gear knob and carefully remove the platic section which house the gaiter. Amazingly the new gaiter's holes and slots all line up perfectly. Took me literally 15 minutes to do and looks great. Hope this might be of help to someone. Best, Adrian

[honeyjew]

Sounds interesting - do you happen to have the ebay sellers name, or something to identify the gaiter type to hand?

[Fisherman]

Hi, just go to e-bay and type in Daihatsu Copen on their search bar. Scroll down the listing on the first page and there are several gaiters for sale, all I believe from the same company. The stitching comes in several different colours too.

[honeyjew]

I've purchased one of these and it came today - very quickly. Though I'm having a little trouble working out how to get the old one off and put in the new one. I've managed to screw off the gear knob (not that that was hard), but I'm not quite sure what bit I have to try to get out next - I don't want to force anything in case it all goes terribly wrong. Do I need to pry out the ring which is inside the gaiter and is perhaps holding it in place, to release the gaiter? or does the whole small section of centre console pull out and then I'll be able to take the gaiter off from going up under it?

Many thanks in advance

[Rex]

I'd take the whole center molding out (which I have done many times!).

To do this, press in the plastic from both sides, just underneath the molding we want to remove - towards the front. Try and get your fingers under the gap you create on both sides. Then pull up. The front side lifts first.

If this is not clear, I'll try and take some photos, but is does come out and go back quite easily. Some of the small platic moulded fingers bend a little, but this does not seem to matter too much.

Rex.

[Fisherman]

Hi there, you dont need to take out the whole centre section. Just the centre bit where the gaiter is housed. A flat balde screwdriver will do. just carefully put it in the joint and twist, but be careful not to damage the plastic. On mine it just popped out. There is then a plastic retaining piece that you carefully pry off the back, take the old gaiter out and then pop the new one in. The chrome bit below the knob itself is held in place by a bit of wire that you carefully untwist. The hardest part of the operation for me was pulling the new gaiter over the chrome bit, but with a bit of patience it went on. Hope that helps!

[Rex]

Sorry both,
Maybe my last post was a bit confusing - Fisherman is right, I didn't mean you have to remove the whole centre console, only the bit that holds the gaiter.

http://i776.photobucket.com/albums/yy45/Copen_Rex/P1020544.jpg
Press here on both sides - just UNDER the join.

http://i776.photobucket.com/albums/yy45/Copen_Rex/P1020545.jpg
Get your fingers in the gap (both sides) and pull up.

http://i776.photobucket.com/albums/yy45/Copen_Rex/P1020546.jpg

This is the underside

http://i776.photobucket.com/albums/yy45/Copen_Rex/P1020547.jpg

Rex

[MJM80]

Thanks for the advice and photos. I've ordered one off ebay and will have a go at fittin it at the weekend.

Martin

[Fisherman]

Excellent set of pics, Adrian

[honeyjew]

Perhaps I'm being stupid - but I've got mine out and I'm wondering if these four melted-nodules (??) need to be broken off to replace the gaiter? It does look like that way to me. I've ringed them in the photo below.
http://imgur.com/E14oe.jpg

[Fisherman]

Hi, I found that with some careful pushing they popped out without breaking.

[MJM80]

Many thanks for the tip guys. Mine arrived today and was fitted easily in half an hour. The leather is very supple and cut to fit perfectly.

MM

[honeyjew]

I got mine on today:

http://imgur.com/nncu4.jpg

Though had a little trouble securing the ring underneath again once it had come off. I had to jam some folded paper into the clips otherwise it seemed it might pop out and end up god knows where within the bowels of my Copen. Seemed to do the trick!

[Rex]

Hey, honeyjew,
What happened to your head ?? :-((- Freaky picture. :D

Rex.

[honeyjew]

I was seven foot before I got the Copen, now only six foot. Damn multi-storey car parking barriers! :)

[Rex]

honeyjew, you just reminded me...
Is it really true a Copen with the top down can drive under carpark barriers ?
I've heard this before, but didn't know whether to believe it or not :)

Rex.

[Rex]

Okay after seeing all the gaiter talk, I had to buy one. It arrived in 2 days from 'topgaiters' (http://myworld.ebay.co.uk/topgaiters/) on ebay.

I wanted a red one - none listed but a quick message later to 'topgaiters', said no problem. - Price still the same £14.99 inc postage.

Fitting was easy, took me less than 15 mins and that including taking the photos! All the holes were right size and in the right place.

So here is is.


Gaiter as received - very soft leather.
http://i776.photobucket.com/albums/yy45/Copen_Rex/P1020558.jpg


I removed the centre section and carefully removed the plastic retaining plate (as posted above) to be able to remove the old gaiter completely.

By turning the old gaiter inside out, I found the centre chromed ring was held on with wire!
http://i776.photobucket.com/albums/yy45/Copen_Rex/P1020559.jpg

After untwisting the wire the chrome ring slid out.
http://i776.photobucket.com/albums/yy45/Copen_Rex/P1020560.jpg

By turning the new gaiter inside out, I used the wire to secure the chrome ring to the new gaiter.
http://i776.photobucket.com/albums/yy45/Copen_Rex/P1020562.jpg

Fitting the gaiter back into the frame...
http://i776.photobucket.com/albums/yy45/Copen_Rex/P1020563.jpg

And securing with the plate...
http://i776.photobucket.com/albums/yy45/Copen_Rex/P1020564.jpg

And finally....
http://i776.photobucket.com/albums/yy45/Copen_Rex/P1020565.jpg

The colour is a little lighter than the seats, but no as bad as shown in the photo.

Overall, I'm happy!! Go on - have a go yourself :)

Rex.