[Miata] Shift Boot

[entropycat at verizon.net]

Greetings to the list!

   Here's another question:

   I have a '90 Miata (NA) with a disintegrating inner shift boot.   This is 
not the "insulator" boot that keeps heat out of the cockpit, this is the 
small boot that attaches to the metal cap that screws into the shift tower 
on the gearbox.

   I have a pert number for the whole assembly (I think) but I don't have a 
clue as to how one is supposed to get it on or off the shift lever.   The 
small rubber boot seals against a small diameter portion of the shift lever 
right above the huge ball that it pivots on, and right below the large 
diameter black-painted finished section that eventually protrudes into the 
cockpit.   I don't suppose that destroying the old boot getting it off would 
be a big deal, but I'd really hate to split the new one by forcing it on. 
The smallest diameter of the shift lever that it would have to go over is 
the bottom part of the black part, which is probably twice (or more) the 
diameter of the part that the boot seals against.   Forcing  the new boot 
over this part of the lever sounds like a good way to ruin it.

   Anyone ever replaced this boot?   Any suggestions?   Please, no KY Jelly 
jokes.

Regards,
Jim T.
entropycat at verizon.net
'74   914
'90   Miata  (x3)