[Illustrator] Make vector, without live tracing?

Hey

I have a problem. I want to make this image: http://f.exoload.com/507/zippsor.bmp (the zipper) into vector, and i still want it to look exactly like it looks now (non vector now). My question is, is there a way to do that? Cos I will need to use these on several of my photoshop print designs, when i put them into Illustrator, to make them vector so I can use them on t-shirts.

Do I paste everything into Illustrator directly, or should I cut everything out in photoshop first? What is the best way to do this, and save the "quality" of the image?

Thanks,
Jake