Green Leather Shift Boots

Anyone have any experience dying leather? I want my shift boots to look like the kind you can get for an mb/2A but since I can't find anyone who makes green ones, I'm wondering if I can just dye my current brown ones green.

64'CJ5, 4-speed T98

 

A local auto store would have some fabric spray paint

 

Don't use fabric spray paint. Use green dye instead.

https://tandyleather.com/products/eco-flo-leather-dye?variant=31977618079875


I used to run a small horse tack business called Dry Creek Harness company, and have a lot of experience dying leather.

 

Awesome!!! Is it a rinse and let dry kinda thing?

 

Most of them you just apply the dye to the leather and let it dry, but there are different kinds of leather dye. I haven't used that particular Tandy product, but it should work fine, their stuff is always good just follow the directions on the bottle.

 

Awesome! I can’t wait! Everything else is green or black so it’ll be nice to match

 

I hope you have a factory style rubber boot under your leather boot. These are necessary to keep water out of your transmission. Rain and wash water runs down the shift lever and right past the pivot ball without the tight rubber boot. Lots of transmissions/transfer cases have been ruined from water intrusion. Your leather boot isn’t snug enough to keep water out.
-Donny

 

To that end I squirted RTV right under where the rubber boot rides on the shifter and then pushed it down onto the bead.

 

I HAD NO IDEA!!!! Yikes haha. Looks like i'll be searching for a better rubber option! This is why I love this forum.
Any advice on which rubber ones are worth it? I initially got the leather ones because the omix boots seemed so cheapo

 

Thats a good idea actually! I'm actually wondering of I can seal it up with a short length of heat shrink at the top. Like a little rubber ring that would crimp the top ends down.

 

There are some military parts houses that have OEM original parts, including these boots. They may be 40 or 50 years old, but they will outlast the reproductions (like Omix) by decades. Quarter Ton Military used to have originals, and Peter DeBellas Jeep likely carries them too. Just make sure you are getting real “old stock”. There are other suppliers too.
I’ve had 1953 dated boots (from packaging) on a couple of my Jeeps for nearly 20 years now, and they are still soft, pliable, and not cracking or rotting.
-Donny

 

Keep in mind that the true military boot is quite different than the civilian style since it is clamped top and bottom and seals completely in order to be submersible. Whereas the civilian boot is merely a snug slip-fit at the top end.