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1st Generation 1964 1/2 - 1973 - Questions & general discussions that apply to a specific year => 1966 Mustang => Topic started by: drummingrocks on June 13, 2013, 06:31:06 PM

Title: Installation of '65-66 Lower Shifter Boot (4-speed)
Post by: drummingrocks on June 13, 2013, 06:31:06 PM
I'm trying to install a lower shifter boot on my '66 fastback, built Dec. 8th, 1965, at Dearborn.  It's a 289 4-speed car.  Can anyone help me out with how this boot installs properly?  I know that it goes around the base of the shifter and then protrudes up into the passenger area through the shifter hole in the floorboard.  No matter how I orient the boot on the actual shifter itself, it ends up looking wrong.  I've dug through every assembly manual and the '66 shop manual, and while the lower boot is pictured in some manuals, the picture is virtually illegible.  This is one of those cases where a good picture is worth a thousand words.

Also, did all '66s get this lower shifter boot originally?  With a build date of Dec. 8th, 1965, would my car have had this item when it was originally built, or was it phased into production later?

Thanks for any and all help!
Title: Re: Installation of '65-66 Lower Shifter Boot (4-speed)
Post by: Jays66gt on June 13, 2013, 06:50:19 PM
Can you post a picture of what you have there?  Wondering if it's the right boot.  Here is a picture of mine, but with the console you cannot see very much.
Title: Re: Installation of '65-66 Lower Shifter Boot (4-speed)
Post by: rockhouse66 on June 13, 2013, 06:55:28 PM
Do these help?

Title: Re: Installation of '65-66 Lower Shifter Boot (4-speed)
Post by: drummingrocks on June 13, 2013, 07:37:50 PM
Do these help?

Thanks, that's the one!  If you have any more pictures of the boot, maybe from the side, then I'd love to see them.
Title: Re: Installation of '65-66 Lower Shifter Boot (4-speed)
Post by: rockhouse66 on June 14, 2013, 08:25:44 AM
I only have one from the bottom - not much help  :(

Title: Re: Installation of '65-66 Lower Shifter Boot (4-speed)
Post by: drummingrocks on June 14, 2013, 11:50:02 AM
I only have one from the bottom - not much help  :(

That's ok, it still gives me somewhere to start from.  By the way, the car in the pictures looks excellent.  Great attention to detail!
Title: Re: Installation of '65-66 Lower Shifter Boot (4-speed)
Post by: J_Speegle on June 18, 2013, 02:27:58 AM
.................Also, did all '66s get this lower shifter boot originally?  With a build date of Dec. 8th, 1965, would my car have had this item when it was originally built, or was it phased into production later?


Feb 16th 66 (according to a TSB article ) was the day that Ford started to use/install the lower shift linkage boot
Title: Re: Installation of '65-66 Lower Shifter Boot (4-speed)
Post by: Brian Conway on June 18, 2013, 02:19:55 PM
    Thanks Jeff. That is certainly a little known ditty.  I guess that's an item not on my car that was never there prior to 2/16/66 ?  Brian
Title: Re: Installation of '65-66 Lower Shifter Boot (4-speed)
Post by: J_Speegle on June 18, 2013, 02:34:41 PM
    Thanks Jeff. That is certainly a little known ditty.  I guess that's an item not on my car that was never there prior to 2/16/66 ?  Brian

Yes your car was built prior to that date so IMHO no lower boot. Their a pain to work with anyway ;)

And yes this forum is the spot for those "little known" ditties   - LOL
Title: Re: Installation of '65-66 Lower Shifter Boot (4-speed)
Post by: Brian Conway on June 18, 2013, 04:12:53 PM
      Never tried to put one on my 65 but I know it is virtually impossible to get one onto my 69.  Brian
Title: Re: Installation of '65-66 Lower Shifter Boot (4-speed)
Post by: drummingrocks on June 20, 2013, 10:09:33 AM
      Never tried to put one on my 65 but I know it is virtually impossible to get one onto my 69.  Brian

Believe me, it's about as aggravating to try and put one on a '65-66. 
Title: Re: Installation of '65-66 Lower Shifter Boot (4-speed)
Post by: Bob Gaines on June 22, 2013, 03:04:35 PM
Believe me, it's about as aggravating to try and put one on a '65-66.
If the trans is on the bench it is a breeze  ;) . That is where I try to install them.  Of course people aren't always that lucky and have to do it after the fact like when the carpet has already been installed. It is difficult to do it with the front carpet installed because you can't get to the screws for the upper boot/lower boot through the smaller carpet shifter hole.