Custom center console!!

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:thumbup::thumbup:
I give the whole package 2 thumbs up
 
Very Sweet!!

I have been considering the custom console route since I want a floor shifter but can't readily use my factory one. It doesn't play well with my 518 trans, so I'm gonna go the aftermarket shifter route with a custom console.
 
Ok Sorry for the delay, But I've been busy.

The diagram is from the drivers side of the console, The lower drawing is from the back and shows how it is contoured to sit against the floor. I didn't put in the measurements for the front as they will vary depending on how the rest of the console is built and if you have A/C or not..

Center console.jpg
 
player1up,

Looks nice! What have you done, if anything, to the gauge/cluster?
Can you post a picture if it's different?
 
I see that there are alot of the "gauges" posts coming in as of late... and I'm lurking.. :lurk:
I haven't gotten there yet. I'm not sure if I will be making my own when I get the cash for gauges or some sort of retro-fit to the stock bezel but as of now it's the lame-o stock cluster. I do have a spare that I will be experimenting on. I haven't really come up with the right look in my head, when something "hits" me I'll have it done in a week but I have no motivation to spend the bucks on something that is working and still have no idea how I want it to look. too many choices but I do have my eye on the EV marine blue from ISSPRO and the Blue racer from Defi.

http://www.egauges.com/vdo_main.asp

there are tons of guys that have really nice looking clusters hanging around here but none that I've seen that "fit" my car..now if someone made a tach/speedo combo gauge that looked like a clock...( short hand tach and long hand speedo...) that would be just TITS.....damnit :idea1: i think I just found my look...=P~ .......patent pending, all rights reserved, copyrighted..side effects may include headache and drymouth :-D
 
After seeing this, I will be making one. That looks absolutely great !

I am an excellent woodworker but I am stumped on how you got the carpet around the borners w/o visable cuts or the carpet bunching up.

Would you mind passing out a few tips or should we take it to a fabric installer. I was thinking about making it out of vinyl to match the seats..

Grassy
 
Grassy, It's not carpet, WAY too thick to contour. The nature of tweed ( fairly loose weave ) lends it to being stretched, and (with a lighter) shrunk to fit almost any contour. Where I did have to make cuts, just make sure it's glued down good and tightly line up the seams so they are almost invisible, the black material also helps hide things like that.

Rounding off the edges of the piece helps make it look like it belongs and less like a covered toolbox, and the closed cell foam gives a firm cushion for the armrest without looking like a pillow.

Vinyl can be a little more difficult to work with ( more heat needed to make it conform, like a hair dryer) because of the thickness and backing. Should you take it to a shop? well if you have the money, sure, but if ( like me ) you have more time than money and are willing to learn, cool things can happen :cheers:
 
My dad always said that if I wanted something that I would probably have to do it myself..I am in the same boat..lots of time..not a lot of $$..

Didn't realize it wasn't carpet..what you say makes sence and now, I will try it...I can only mess it up to a point where my daughter will say..not in my car :)

Thanks for the tips.
Ian
 
Very, very cool, and very, very nice job.

I had really wanted to do something like this when we converted my 74 to floor shift, but my dad wanted the 69 style GT console, and we found the whole package for a good deal, so I couldn't say no...
Someday I'm going to do my own custom center console.
Probably will have to wait until I buy my 69 Coronet though. :D
 
Thanks again everyone for the comments!!

but what was I thinking?, I really should include ALL of the info...

Fabric place:
http://www.diyupholsterysupply.com/Church-pew-fabric-duramax.html
$10 per yard at 54 inches wide.

Foam place:
http://stores.shop.ebay.com/Maverick-Poker-Table-Co__W0QQ_armrsZ1
1/8 thick is $2 a foot 57 wide
1/4 thick is $4 a foot 57 wide

So 6 feet of 1/8 closed cell foam, 4 yrds of black and 4 yrds of grey, adds up to about $100 to do the door panels, dashpad, package tray and all of the plastics around the glass with enough left over to do 2 consoles....now what would that cost to have done at a shop...yikes! um no!
 
This is the icing on a fantastic post !!

Thanks you player1up !

I was wondering where I could purchase the fabric.

There will be one of these in our car in under a year (have to get the buckets in first ! )

ian.
 
Very nicely done, indeed. I've saved your construction photos. If I convert to buckets, I'll do something like it. Since my beverages are more in the Big Gulp size, I'll need a bigger cup hole.

Q: Did you, or think about, a cut in the A/C housing to cool the cup holders, or to run a vent tube through the console to provide A/C to the back seat? Sorry, if you did, I missed the post.

If I ran a hose to the back seat, I'd try something like a PC power supply box fan, wired to the blower switch, to move the air through the tube.
 
Great job! Just found this post.

Any updates? Add anything to the console up in front of the cup holders?

I was thinking it would be cool as hell to Router out a rectangle the size of an Ipod/Zune and install a docking connection in the hole. Be really neat to have the Mp3 player just under the radio mounted flush.
 
I didn't read all of these, but has someone mentioned maybe fanning it out a little bit towards the A/C vents? You could mount a stereo right in there... (if you wanted too). That might be cool?!

Great job by the way!! :)
 
myasylum said:
I didn't read all of these, but has someone mentioned maybe fanning it out a little bit towards the A/C vents? You could mount a stereo right in there... (if you wanted too). That might be cool?!

Great job by the way!! :)
Click to expand...

Well, I did actually. About a year ago I put in the 4-speed.... console wont cover the shifter...DOH! so I rebuilt the front half widened it and made some changes, but it went wrong from there. Made it functional but not very pretty. Had to remove one of the cup holders and make a boot for the shifter that was (ahem) custom made to center it in the car...great in theory but still had to deal with the modifications to the floor. AND on top of all that, something pulled on the wire to the lit shifter so it only kinda lights up now :(
It's been a while so something new is in order

SOOO, I'll be redoing the console in the near future, maybe this weekend if it gets to bugging me enough.


dahdgedaht said:
Great job! Just found this post.

Any updates? Add anything to the console up in front of the cup holders?

I was thinking it would be cool as hell to Router out a rectangle the size of an Ipod/Zune and install a docking connection in the hole. Be really neat to have the Mp3 player just under the radio mounted flush.
Click to expand...

Well, I do have an mp3 player and the stereo I bought has 2 aux inputs, but plays mp3 straight from a disc, and a disc will hold well over 100 songs. I've really got no need to have 10,000 songs on tap by plugging one in unless I need 320 days of continuous tunes. :clock:

I haven't added anything there as of yet but stay tuned as the new hottness will have some upgrades...I'm not giving anything away but it WILL have an A/C vent in the back, a power port, and at least one cubbyhole.

I've also got some ideas that include brushed aluminum accents

Now finding room for all of that crap in something that doesn't build a wall between the front seats will be a challenge.

AND as always, I'll post up the pics on how messed up the inside will have to be to get things to fit, but I'll most likely start a new thread because it will be a 4-speed console.
 
....zombie thread ;)
This is the only pic I have from the last iteration of the console with the 96RE shifter ( jeep cherokee shifter )

Console_final.jpg
 
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