The rubber boot is necessary for heat and noise insulation, so just replacing it with the optional leather cover will look fine, but ....
If you really don't want to struggle with the connections at the switch, splice a 3 or 4 inch length of wire in both leads about where they pass along the "hump" in the floor. This will give you slack to reconnect them to the switch more easily after reinstalling the knob. Just be careful not to damage the wires as they pass through the lever when you close it all up.