Saturday - Part 2:
The first problem I had was too much leather at the top of the gaiter.
It slipped over the widest part of the gear knob with ease, but wouldn't gather tight.
So I knew that I needed to make some changes, or switch to a MkII version.
But the overall design principle is sound:
- Hold the top tightly in place where the string is located.
- Hold the bottom in place by fixing the leather to the base.
I am sure I have a spare (broken) fixing plate for the gear level rubber gaiter 'somewhere', but I couldn't find it.
Actually, I stopped looking when I found a spare rubber gaiter.
Which, together with the cardboard template, let me cut this out of aluminium.
Not easy to see in the photo, but this alloy panel is/needs to be curved.
There is still some tidying up to do around the edges, but this was good enough for more testing.
I also butchered the original leather gaiter to shorten the top edge and open the sides.
( As there needs to be a 'gap' to allow the gaiter to slip over the gear knob. )
This allowed me to get one step closer to the final shape required.
But it was actually getting very dark outside and the street lights had just come on.
In the end it was going to be quicker to start again, and this is the MkII design.
Where the two sides would only be joined from the bottom up to the 'arrows' and then left open to the top.
The second line above the arrows is where I plan to fix an extra layer for a second fixing point in the middle of the 'open' gap.
By the end of the night I had sewn up the top edge, but was getting confused about this 'new' second fixing.
So I decided to wait and have another trial fit around the gear lever before I do any more sewing.
Until next time, take care, Paul.
