The factory LED is orange and not a color that most folks enjoy.

So, time to take it apart. With a T15 torx bit, remove the sun visor clip. Pull the clip down and get the wiring connector out from the roof assembly.

Using a small flat blade screw driver, pry up the part of the connector that holds the barb, and separate the connector. Twist the LED holder out of the sun visor clip. You'll notice a small bulb near the connector in the black wire... this is the resistor that's in the line for the factory LED. For those wondering, the OEM circuit provides anywhere from 7.3V to 7.6V to this connector. This comes into play when selecting the right resistor for your LED.

Ok, so here's where you pick a color. Radioshack has some LEDs, but you have to make sure to get the high intensity ones. I happened to get part number 276-316 which is a blue LED. You can find 5mm LEDs various places online. What you want to pay attention to is the rated voltage for the LED as well as the rated operating current draw. For the Radioshack one, it was 3.7V and 20mA. In the following spread sheet, enter 7.6 as the supply voltage, 3.7V as the LED voltage, and 0.02 as the LED amperage. Looking at diagram 2, you see the resistor you need in series is 195 ohms. R1 can be ignored. Radioshack doesn't have a 195 ohm resistor, so go to the next highest... which is 220. Even the tiny 1/8 watt ones will work.

http://pages.slu.edu/student/steckdw/LED%20circuit.xls

Ok, now you know what resistor you need. Take apart the LED harness. First, pop the grey clip out by pushing a small screw driver into the barbs to release it.

Next stick a pin release tool... or a nail into the pin for the black wire, and remove the back wire pin from the connector.

Cut away the shielding over the resistor, and snip the thing out. Solder your new resistor to the black wire, and solder the other end to the pin. Try not to glob a ton of solder on the pin so that it can slide back into the connector. Wrap the resistor with heat shrink tubing or electrical tape, stick the pin back into place, and stick the grey clip back in. Replace the LED by cutting down the anode/cathode of the new one so it's the same length as the OEM one. The anode goes to the red wire connector. Go back to your car, twist the LED harness into place, and connect it back to the connector from the roof. Replace the T15 torx screw, and you're done! If you think the light is too bright, take it back apart and use a higher valued resistor.

Difficulty: 3 out of 5.

Time: Plan on about 30 minutes.

The tools used are:

A medium blade screw driver

A small flashlight may help get a better look at the work location as you start.

Let's get a look at the project. If you have a coupe, you may want to remove the roof. If

you have a convertible you may want to lower the top. This will both make maneuvering

the visor assembly easier but it will also provide you with better lighting in the cockpit for

your task.

Here are a few side by side comparison photos of the new Down South Vettes visor and how

it compares to the OEM unit you will be replacing.

The DSV unit starts with an OEM core and removes the fabric treatment and replaces it with

the same high quality leather used in each of the other interior parts

The leather treatment to the sun visor will add a little bit of thickness to the unit.

Start the installation by tipping the sun visor down towards the windshield as if you were

trying to block out the sun while driving.

Next, unhook the sun visor from the latch up on the windshield frame. Once you have done

this it may be a good time to grab your flashlight and take a look at the steps that you will

be doing next. In the picture below you will see the screwdriver placed near the slot that

you will use to release the sun visor from the pillar.

To describe the task, you need to place your screw driver up in to this slot as shown here

Now, while pressing your screwdriver up in to this slot you need to press firmly with your

left hand and using your right hand, rotate the entire sun visor assembly counter-clockwise

(counter-clockwise for the driver side, clockwise for the passenger side) back towards you

as if you were moving the lowered sun visor from the windshield to the side window. It

should only take about a quarter of a revolution of the bezel as pictured above. This

quarter turn will translate to about 45 degrees of the sun visor relative to the windshie ld. If

the windshield is 0 degrees and the side window is 90 you should end up about halfway in

between. You will feel it when it unlocks. You will see that the bezel is no longer seated

against the roof. It will look like this:

Once the bezel and the assembly are unlocked from the car you will need to pull down on

the sun visor arm to remove it from the hole. You may need to work it back a forth slightly

to free it from the car. Don't pull down too hard. Firm is fine but be prepared for it to come

loose. Now that it is loose from the car you still have the connector assembly to contend

with. You may need to reach up inside the opening to free the connector. The connector

looks like this:

To disconnect the connector you will need your screwdriver again to free the clip from the

detent on the mating connector. You can see the slot for the detent pictured below. Insert

the screwdriver in the top righthand corner and gently pry forward until the clip is above the

height of the small tab. This will allow you to pull on the connector and free the visor.

Once you have the connector disconnected it should still have the bezel attached and look

like this:

Now you need to remove the bezel from the visor assembly. If you look down at the

connector end and bezel you will notice three locking tabs on the bezel that hold it on the

visor assembly.

Using one hand to hold the visor assembly near the arm, with your other hand you need to

pull out on the three tabs to free them from the locked position on the visor assembly.

Once the bezel is unlocked it will float freely on the visor arm.

To remove, align the triangle on the bezel with the triangle on the visor arm and you can

slide the bezel up and off the visor assembly. Now just free the connector from the bezel.

Pick up the new Down South Vettes visor and take note of the shape of the locking

mechanism at the connector end. You will notice three distinct shapes to the corners of the

connector triangle.

Each corner has a different radius and will match up with a radius on the bezel as pictured

here:

Match the shape on the bezel with the same size shape on the visor assembly and slide the

bezel over the connector and down onto the visor assembly. When you first slide it on it will

look like this:

While looking from the top down as pictured above, rotate the bezel clockwise and you will

feel it lock in to place on the visor assembly. Once locked it will look like this:

With one tab of the bezel now aligned with each tab of the visor assembly. You should also

notice that the base of the bezel as viewed from the side is now flush with base of the visor

connector mount. You are now ready to put your new visor back in the car.

Grab your screw driver as you will need to reverse the steps you took to get the visor out of

the car. Place the visor up on end in your lap and re-connect the visor electrical plug:

You now need to tuck the connector back up into the frame. Tuck it up in towards the

rearview mirror side.

It's time to push the visor assembly and bezel back up in to the frame. There is only one

way for it to go back up into the car. You may need to work it a little bit to find the location

but try to remember the angle at which the visor was at when you removed it. Once you

find the slot for the latch to go into, slide it up and press it firmly in place. You will need to

hold it in place and reach for your screw driver. It should look about like this:

All that's left to do is latch the assembly back in to place. You will need to use your

screwdriver and place it back in the slot like you did to remove it. This time, place the

screw driver to the right side of the visor arm (This is for the driver's side. In either case,

place it into the slot and have the shaft of the screwdriver on the rearview mirror side of the

visor arm.) While pressing up firmly on the screwdriver rotate the visor and bezel assembly

from the arm pressing against the screwdriver blade and this will cause the bezel to rotate

and latch into place on the car. Congratulations, you've just installed your new visors.

Tools Needed

T20 torx driver needed (2005-2007 and 2009)

Phillips Screwdriver (2008)

3mm hex key

Loctite (optional)

See Below IF YOUR SHIFTER BOOT HAS A CHROME RING

AT THE TOP (GENERLY 2008 AND UP)

Remove the OEM as shown below (if your boot has a chrome ring see below)

Install your new shift knob, give it a few hard twists while putting downward

pressure to seat the knob. This knob has a precision fit, it's critical to be sure

the knob hole is in alignment with the screw hole in the shifter or you may strip

the threads. The OEM screw has a starter stud in the front to help align the

screw. If you meet resistance installing the screw check alignment and try again.

Reinstall the OEM screw using loctite if you have it. Tighten firmly using a ¼

ratchet if you have an adapter or as tight as you can if using a universal driver

handle. Slip the boot over the retainer ring working one side up and then the

other, you may have to twist the boot over the ring or use some Windex as a

lube.

2008 and up shift knob removal and installation

Remove the OEM knob by grasping the chrome ring and rotate it COUNTER CLOCK WISE until the ring drops down and exposes the screw

on the driver's side. Depending on the yr, you will either have a phillips or torx head screw. People have had problems removing the phillips

screw and most likely that is why GM switched to torx which is much less likely to have problems. To successfully remove the phillips, I

suggest the following. Use the best #2 phillips screw driver you have (do not use a power driver). Remove the screw when the car is hot

(after a good drive). Have someone hold the OEM knob and apply force from the passenger side as you apply pressure on the driver and

remove the screw.

Once you are happy with the ring fit, install the new bolt into the knob (loctite optional) making sure you are aligned with

the hole. Do not force the bolt in or you might strip the shifter. Using a 3mm hex key, make the bolt tight. the fit between the bolt and the ring

is very close and you must have the chrome ring positioned so the little tabs are facing front and back at the 12 and 6 positions. This will

give you the most clearance to install the bolt. Reinstall the chrome ring when you are done.

Instructions.

Adding a Down South Vette's Leather Sunvisor is a great way to upgrade the interior of your Corvette C6.

Difficulty: 3 out of 5.

Time: Plan on about 30 minutes.

The tools used are:

A medium blade screw driver

A small flashlight may help get a better look at the work location as you start.

Let's get a look at the project. If you have a coupe, you may want to remove the roof. If

you have a convertible you may want to lower the top. This will both make maneuvering

the visor assembly easier but it will also provide you with better lighting in the cockpit for

your task.

Here are a few side by side comparison photos of the new Down South Vettes visor and how

it compares to the OEM unit you will be replacing.

The DSV unit starts with an OEM core and removes the fabric treatment and replaces it with

the same

The Down South Vette unit starts with an OEM core and removes the fabric treatment and replaces it with

the same high quality leather used in each of the other interior parts

The leather treatment to the sun visor will add a little bit of thickness to the unit.

Start the installation by tipping the sun visor down towards the windshield as if you were

trying to block out the sun while driving.

Next, unhook the sun visor from the latch up on the windshield frame. Once you have done

this it may be a good time to grab your flashlight and take a look at the steps that you will

be doing next. In the picture below you will see the screwdriver placed near the slot that

you will use to release the sun visor from the pillar.

To describe the task, you need to place your screw driver up in to this slot as shown here

Now, while pressing your screwdriver up in to this slot you need to press firmly with your

left hand and using your right hand, rotate the entire sun visor assembly counter-clockwise

(counter-clockwise for the driver side, clockwise for the passenger side) back towards you

as if you were moving the lowered sun visor from the windshield to the side window. It

should only take about a quarter of a revolution of the bezel as pictured above. This

quarter turn will translate to about 45 degrees of the sun visor relative to the windshie ld. If

the windshield is 0 degrees and the side window is 90 you should end up about halfway in

between. You will feel it when it unlocks. You will see that the bezel is no longer seated

against the roof. It will look like this:

Once the bezel and the assembly are unlocked from the car you will need to pull down on

the sun visor arm to remove it from the hole. You may need to work it back a forth slightly

to free it from the car. Don't pull down too hard. Firm is fine but be prepared for it to come

loose. Now that it is loose from the car you still have the connector assembly to contend

with. You may need to reach up inside the opening to free the connector. The connector

looks like this:

To disconnect the connector you will need your screwdriver again to free the clip from the

detent on the mating connector. You can see the slot for the detent pictured below. Insert

the screwdriver in the top righthand corner and gently pry forward until the clip is above the

height of the small tab. This will allow you to pull on the connector and free the visor.

Once you have the connector disconnected it should still have the bezel attached and look

like this:

Now you need to remove the bezel from the visor assembly. If you look down at the

connector end and bezel you will notice three locking tabs on the bezel that hold it on the

visor assembly.

Using one hand to hold the visor assembly near the arm, with your other hand you need to

pull out on the three tabs to free them from the locked position on the visor assembly.

Once the bezel is unlocked it will float freely on the visor arm.

To remove, align the triangle on the bezel with the triangle on the visor arm and you can

slide the bezel up and off the visor assembly. Now just free the connector from the bezel.

Pick up the new Down South Vettes visor and take note of the shape of the locking

mechanism at the connector end. You will notice three distinct shapes to the corners of the

connector triangle.

Each corner has a different radius and will match up with a radius on the bezel as pictured

here:

Match the shape on the bezel with the same size shape on the visor assembly and slide the

bezel over the connector and down onto the visor assembly. When you first slide it on it will

look like this:

While looking from the top down as pictured above, rotate the bezel clockwise and you will

feel it lock in to place on the visor assembly. Once locked it will look like this:

With one tab of the bezel now aligned with each tab of the visor assembly. You should also

notice that the base of the bezel as viewed from the side is now flush with base of the visor

connector mount. You are now ready to put your new visor back in the car.

Grab your screw driver as you will need to reverse the steps you took to get the visor out of

the car. Place the visor up on end in your lap and re-connect the visor electrical plug:

You now need to tuck the connector back up into the frame. Tuck it up in towards the

rearview mirror side.

It's time to push the visor assembly and bezel back up in to the frame. There is only one

way for it to go back up into the car. You may need to work it a little bit to find the location

but try to remember the angle at which the visor was at when you removed it. Once you

find the slot for the latch to go into, slide it up and press it firmly in place. You will need to

hold it in place and reach for your screw driver. It should look about like this:

All that's left to do is latch the assembly back in to place. You will need to use your

screwdriver and place it back in the slot like you did to remove it. This time, place the

screw driver to the right side of the visor arm (This is for the drivers side. In either case,

place it into the slot and have the shaft of the screwdriver on the rearview mirror side of the

visor arm.) While pressing up firmly on the screwdriver rotate the visor and bezel assembly

from the arm pressing against the screwdriver blade and this will cause the bezel to rotate

and latch into place on the car. Congratulations, you've just installed your new visors.

You can find leather Corvette console covers all over the internet, but we are partial to the Down South Vette's leather console cover.

The quality is impeccable and the extra cushioning they put in it really makes a difference.

Difficulty: 1 out of 5.

Time: Plan on about 5 minutes.

The tools used are:

A T15 Torx driver to take off the console cover screws.

A flashlight may help get a better look at the screw location as you start.

We are ready to install a Down South Vettes leather console cover.

The OEM cover to replace:

Open the cover to reveal the four T15 Torx screws that hold the cover in place

Remove the four Torx screws and then remove the console cover. Take caution as

you remove the last screw. The console cover can fall off and you don't want to

damage your cover or interior at this point. Remove the last screw with your left

hand while holding the top center of the cover with your right hand.

Here are the two covers side by side:

And a close up to get a look at the added padding in the DSVettes cover:

You simply need to reverse the process now to install the new DSVettes cover in

place of the old OEM cover.

Seated in the driver's seat, hold the cover in place with your right hand and with one

of the screws in your left hand. Find the threaded hole and start the first screw.

Once the threads start, take out your driver with the Torx T15 insert and tighten the

screw most of the way. While still holding the cover, start one of the remaining four

screws with your left hand. When both of these are in tight, you can release your grip

on the console cover. Insert and tighten the remaining two screws and sit back and

enjoy your new console cover.

Once complete it will look like this:

Difficulty: 2 out of 5.

Time: Plan on about 30 minutes.

The tools used are:

A small blade screw driver to open the tabs that hold the ring into the console.

A T25 Torx driver to take off the shift knob

A flashlight to get a better look at where the tabs are located

Flat tweezers to reseat the new boot around the base of the shift knob

Common desktop stapler to reattach the new boot to the trim ring.

The original OEM shift boot to replace.

The shift knob comes off with a T25 torx screw. Just pull down the top of the old boot to expose

it.

Using your screw driver you will need to pry back the five tabs that hold the trim ring into the

console. These are located at roughly 12 o'clock, 2 o'clock, 5 o'clock, 7 o'clock and 10 o'clock.

Here is what the assembly looks like out of the car.

A side view.

The console location where the shift boot just came from.

Use your small blade screwdriver to pry up the staples. It is best to put the staple under the

boot and pry each side up and off the trim ring. Do this all the way around until all of the

staples are free.

Orient the new boot so that the notches in the leather line up with the tabs on the trim ring.

You want to make sure that your seams are in the center at 3 o'clock and 9 o'clock. Once you

are happy with your placement, start using your stapler to attach the new leather boot to the

trim ring. Start at 12 o'clock and work around the ring keeping an eye on your seams. Don't

worry, if you miss a staple or aren't happy with the placement, you can simply pry it out and

try again. You'll need to press firmly and slowly with the stapler to make sure the staple goes

in straight and reaches the trim ring through the leather. When you are done it should look

something like this.

The new boot mounted and ready to be installed.

Now comes the hardest part. Putting the trim ring and the new boot back into the console. It

is best to start with the bottom of the trim ring and get it seated in the console location. You

will literally need to work your way around clockwise, deforming the ring towards the shift lever

and pressing down to seat it into the console. Keep an eye the leather to make sure that it is

not bunching up around the outside at any one location. Keeping working around and pressing

down until you can fully seat the ring and feel the five tabs return to their original positions

flush with the console locations. Gently pull up on the leather to make sure it looks even

around the console edge.

Once you have the trim ring back in place in the console you will need to replace the shift knob.

To do this you will need to compress the leather boot quite a bit more than you did with the

OEM part as the new boot is a bit thicker. Place the knob on top of the shifter. Compress the

boot with your right hand and try to insert the torx screw back into the hole with your left hand.

The next step is to get the boot seated around the base of shift knob. Using your tweezers in

between the boot and the lip at the base of the knob, slide the boot up the tweezers and get it

over the lip on the base of the knob, now rotate the boot counterclockwise and leave the

tweezers in between use this as a slide to get the boot around the base. Once you are about

halfway around you can take out the tweezers and just keep working the boot up and rotating

counterclockwise. This twisting motion will allow the boot to seat on the lip. Once the boot is

seated, twist to align the seams to center

The finished product back in the car and ready to go.

Time: Plan on about 20 minutes.

The tools used are:

A small blade screw driver or flat tweezers to reseat the new boot around

the base of the e-brake handle.

T15 Torx driver to take off the console cover.

Phillips head screwdriver to remove the e-brake handle.

flashlight may help get a better look at the screw location as you start.

The original OEM boot and handle to replace.

The first step will be to remove the center console cover so you have access to

the screw that holds on the e-brake handle. Open the center console to expose 4

T15 Torx screws. Now, remove the center console cover.

Once the center console cover is off, pull down the e-brake boot to reveal a

Phillips head screw which holds the e-brake handle in place.

Once you remove the Phillips head screw, the only thing holding the handle in

place at this point is the brake release button at the top. The button is held in

place with a friction fit and a detent in a notch. To remove (easiest from the

passenger side), grip the OEM handle firmly and pull (slide) the handle off which

will "pop" the brake release button off the top of the handle. You can now slide

the handle off with ease.

Now that the handle is off you need to remove the OEM brake boot. Take a

minute to examine the new Down South Vettes boot. This will give you a better

understanding of the four attachment points on the OEM boot.

The boot is held in place by two press to fit clips on the driver's side and two

angled clamps on the passenger side. Start at the front and lift up and towards

the windshield and the front two clamps will come out. The rear clamps are a

little harder to get. Next pull up near the rear press fit on the driver's side. Last,

pull the boot up over the handle to get the metal frame underneath back to level

and work to pull up and forward to unseat the last clamp. Once this is complete

the boot will lift off of the brake handle.

Take the new Down South Vettes brake boot and place it over the top of the

handle set at a convenient angle. Through a combination of movements the

object is to get the frame and leather boot over the handle and back to level so

that you can press it into the four retaining points on the console. Snap

everything firmly into place.

Now we need to get the handle back on. Your new shift boot is considerably

thicker than the OEM boot and as such it is difficult to screw the handle back into

place. Move back to the drivers side of the car and get the handle, the Phillips

head screw and your screw driver ready in the open console.

Using your right hand, compress the boot as far down as you can and see if you

can get a clear view of the hole on the side where the screw needs to go. You

may need to twist and maneuver the boot a bit to get it compressed enough to

allow the screw to be reinserted. This will take some effort but it will go. Once

you are comfortable that you can compress the boot, hold the boot down and

place the handle back on the arm. Now use the handle to hold the boot down in

place with your right hand and try to start the screw with your left. Once you

get it started, use the screw driver and tighten screw to a stop. Be careful not to

drop the screw into the boot as you will need to remove the boot to retrieve it

and start over again. Once the handle is screwed back in place press fit the

silver brake button over the black cap and down into the hole on the emergency

brake handle. Press it down well and it will snap back into place.

Now it is time to get the boot reseated on the base of the handle. Using both

hands work the boot around the base starting in the back (or top) as pictured

below. Once the boot is started you can twist counter clockwise while pressing

the boot up into place. This will allow the boot to seat the rest of the way

around the base of the handle.

Now all that's left is to put the console cover back on using the four T15 Torx

screws, sit back and enjoy the look of your new leather.

Would you like to really spruce up the interior of your Corvette C6? The Down South Vette leather interior is one of those Corvette Parts that you cannot resist!! This article will show you how to completely tear down the center stack and install the Down South Vette Console Lid, DSVette Shift Boot, DSVette Brake Handle, Ebrake boot, Down South Vette radio bezel, and the DSVette Center console base. The installation is on an Automatic transmission.

Before picture. Completely stock Corvette C6 interior.


After picture.


All of the parts going on in this batch. Center console base, console lid, center dash, shift knob, shift boot, brake knob, and brake boot.


I cut this piece of foam drawer liner to line the center console with.

In this picture you can see the shift knob is removed. To remove put the car in neutral, set parking brake, and turn off car. Then you twist the plastic ring shown in the picture (ring at top of the leather boot). Twist it clockwise from about 12 to 2 position. Now pull up on the shift knob and at the same time pull down on the ring. I'd same more pulling up on the knob than anything. It should pop off and you are left with the above picture.


Remove console cover. 4 Torx screws.


Remove brake knob. Phillips screw show here. Just slide the boot down and out of the way.


Now that the screw is removed just pull off the knob. To remove the brake boot just pull it off. There are 2 pressure pins and 2 notched pins.


Brake knob and boot removed.


Remove these two hex head screws.

The center dash peice is all pressure fit. It will pull back easily, start at the bottom and work your way to the top. Don't pull too far, there are a lot of cables attached. There are a ton of things to unplug so I'll attempt to point them out. This is drivers side heated seat. I'm going to show all of the wire plugs, it might help to see them when you are feeling around behind the bezel to unplug them.


This is passenger side heated seat. Just squeeze the bottom middle and it pops out.


Ash try cigarette lighter.


Emergency flasher button.


Center console cigarette lighter plug.


Traction control button.


Here is a picture with everything out.


The boot needs the shift ring taken out by cutting the zip tie. The plastic ring around the shift position indicator is glued in so it needs the leather pulled away.

The leather boot is cut for the position indicator, but I think it really needs glued in.

Here is the boot with the plastic position indicator glued in. I glued it back in similar to how the factory boot was glued into it. I used some leather/fabric glue. You apply to the leather and plastic, wait a few minutes, and then both are tacky.


The center ring just slips right into the new boot. It's a pressure fit.

The position indicator ring snaps back in, the boot slips over the entire shifter base, the center ring slips back on, with light pressure push the shift knob back on, turn the center ring from 2 counter clockwise back to 12. You can see the shift position indicator is just sitting on; with some light pressure it will go back into place.


I hate to say put everything back together in reverse, but that is what you do. Put the console base on first (if you took it off to install a new one). Then snap the radio bezel back in place starting at the top. You'll probably have some trouble on the passenger side. It's all a tight fit because the new leather is a thicker product than the factory stuff. The brake boot goes on next, then the brake handle, and finally console cover.