79-86
Center Console Restoration
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Part1: The "Challenge" or "WTF have I just gotten myself
into?!@!?#$"
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ON THE PICTURES!
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So I found a heckuva deal on this center console from a
cool dude on FEP. $20! Well, $20 plus $17 shipping.
So, $37 shipped. I mean, they ain't making them anymore, right?
I've been looking for a basket case...er DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH to
restore. It is an automatic console, not as valuable as the manual
one but it comes with a pad, and most of the console parts. It
looks a wreck but isn't all cracked and the pad is untorn on the top.
SOLD!
And soon...a box shows up:
So far so good. Let's get her opened.
Oh what a mess.... ewwwww....don't know what the heck was all over
this thing. Slimy dirt...droppings. Yick. Of course
the e-brake seal is gone. It always is. No shifter bezel
too. Will have to find one. Automatic console specific parts
are cheap as most people convert to manual.
Red paint everywhere. Guy was some kind of artist. HEY!
We have a cigarette lighter! Those are always missing.
Is that tan I see? Ok, so we have a tan, red, grey, black
console. Joy.
No cracks in the inside. Usually the se things are YANKED out
of the car and the screws pulled through.
Pad looks good from the top. Gotta stay positive.
The underside is not doing it for me...DOH! No latch! NO
BUMPERS???? That'll have to go on the list of parts to get.
The console underside is decent. No cracks here.
The ash tray light is there....but one of the plastic ears is
busted. So it's just flopping around. Also, the little
bracket that should hold the harness connectors has been YANKED out.
In the corner, the whole plastic mount is GONE. Owch.
As Lando would say..."this deal is getting worse and worse". Glad
the previous owner figured out how to make the light socket all red, but
miss the rusty bracket. Talent.
Here is a picture of how
the underside is SUPPOSED to look. Note the wiring harness
connectors are nicely attached to a thin metal bracket? Yeah,
that's a problem. (The metal brackets are supposed to be natural, but I
HATE RUST. So they get painted. They can't be seen.
Sue me.)
In Conclusion
Well, we have what looks like an originally tan 85-86 console (maybe
84). It was painted. Painted with colors. At first
appearance it looks pretty decent, structurally. I didn't find any
immediate breaks in the console plastic. The top, has no splits in
it. Maybe not too much needs to be repaired? (HA!).
We need
the following parts though:
E-Brake Console Seal
3 parts for
the console pad latch.
Pair of console pad bumpers.
Auto Shifter
Bezel.
Everything else like paint, tape, etc I have. Time
to disassemble and clean her up!
Part 2: Lamesville
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