Shifter cover arrangement

A cover arrangement for covering a transmission shifter for a vehicle, comprising:

• a lower cover member adapted for attachment to a vehicle to generally cover a transmission shifter while permitting limited movement of a shift lever on the transmission shifter, the lower cover member having unfinished areas and also having first connectors in the unfinished areas;
• a removable upper cover constructed to mateably cover the unfinished areas, the upper cover having second connectors arranged to releasably engage the first connectors;
• one of the first and second connectors having apertures, each aperture being defined by marginal material having an angled inlet surface, an angled outlet surface, and a tooth extending laterally between the angled inlet and outlet surfaces;
• the other of the first and second connectors having protrusions shaped to extend into the apertures, each protrusion having a rough surface on one side for engaging the tooth of the aperture corresponding thereto;
• each respective protrusion and tooth being related and configured so that the respective protrusion can be slid into and out of engagement with the respective tooth with a predetermined constant force and to a desired selected depth, whereby the upper cover can be repeatedly removed and re-installed on the bottom cover member without concern over wear and cover damage.

A method of covering a vehicle shifter comprising steps of:

• providing a lower cover member having visually unattractive areas and first connectors thereon located in the visually unattractive areas;
• providing an upper cover shaped to cover the visually unattractive areas, the upper cover having second connectors arranged to engage the first connectors, the first and second connectors including a protrusion and an apertured flange for receiving the protrusion, and one of the connectors further including a resilient pressure tab for biasing the protrusion against the apertured flange, the first and second connectors being configured to releasably engage at a variable depth and being configured to engage with a constant retention force regardless of the depth of engagement;
• and
• assembling the upper cover to a desired depth with the upper cover retained on the lower cover member with a known retention force and located at an adjusted depth, the desired depth being unknown at a time when the upper cover is provided.