Hurst Competition Shifter And Installing Dust Boots

dz01

Member
Mar 31, 2005
274
10
19
Massachusetts
I recently purchased a hurst competition shifter to replace my hurst billet plus short throw. The short throw isn't very comfortable and the hurst knob is huge. Although the competition doesn't fit the style of the fox in my opinion, it's a pretty comfortable shifter and I really don't notice the extra length that much. I've yet to actually drive the car with the new shifter so the jury is out at this point.

The instructions, as well as a few on line videos (professional), say to use the hurst provided rubber dust boot after you install the shifter, then put the original OEM rubber dust boot (bolts to the trans tunnel), then install the leather boot and trim plate that you see on the inside of the car. First, that's a lot of boots! Second, I got to the step of installing the factory Ford boot over the hurst dust cover (ford dust cover is a huge pain to install by the way) and the tension from all the boots actually pulls the shifter out of first and third back to neutral. That obviously won't work.

When I pulled the billet shifter out of my car, the OEM dust cover was not installed and I guess I know why. On top of being a huge PIA to install, it doesn't seem like it would work in conjunction with the hurst supplied boot.

So my question- should I use the hurst provided boot than nicely wraps around the shifter plate or use the OEM Ford boot/plate instead? The OEM boot is probably quieter since it covers the entire opening in the tunnel and probably keeps more heat from the pipes out since they are in close proximity.

I'm sure others have run into this.

Thoughts??
 
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When Installed my Hurst shifter about 20 years ago, I used the factory rubber boot to seal up the trans tunnel. I opened up the hole slightly to make room for the larger shifter diameter of the Hurst shifter. A small slit will elongate the hole. I believe the shifter comes with a new shifter plate and a rubber boot to replace the factory plate and fake leather boot. That is what I used. I assume you can attempt to use the factory plate. I agree it is overkill to have three boots on the shifter.
 
I resized the factory boot opening to seal to the shifter base. Doing this provides the seal, but moves all that rubber away from the shifter handle. So, once the factory boot is installed, you can still access the shift stops. Hope that is all making sense.
The Hurst provided boot then goes on over the shifter handle and seals around the shifter base... just above where the factory boot has been trimmed to seal to the base.
Lastly, the factory leather boot snaps into place.
Factory rubber boot seals body to lower shifter body, throw stops still exposed.
Hurst boot seals shifter handle to upper shifter body, throw stops concealed.
Factory leather boot conceals all the mess.
 
I think (just my opinion after consideration) that the reason for all the boots is to reduce noise. It's been a common complaint for decades that aftermarket shifters are noisy (I have a TriAx which has always been an oft-mentioned offender). Most aftermarket shifters like mine require cutting of the stock boot to fit around the shifter. This leaves the internals of the shifter exposed; hence, the noise. I may be wrong, but that's what I've figured over the years.
 
Thanks. I'm going to make sure I like the Hurst Competition shifter first, then I'll probably pull Hurst lower boot off and just use the stock Ford lower boot. Likely have to modify like others have mentioned too.

Put 10 miles on the car with the new stick. Not bad, still not sure I like the height vs. the short throw. It is more comfortable though.