Ford thunderbird console swap/build

[m_m70]

also, looking at the armrest, door handles and door cards (pic #1).......love the arm rest and door handles!
Wondering what those are out of?

 

[amfw]

Ok, updates... I put some effort towards this over the weekend, but haven't moved it along very much.
Saturday afternoon I pulled the Duff J shifter for bending. It lands too far towards the driver side without modification, making contact with the inside edge of the trim.
I installed this unit less than a year ago, but man I couldn't for the life of me remember how I got good access to the rearward bolt. It came out eventually though.
As far as the bending... I hadn't done that before, but it went OK, the second time. I used a cheap MAPP Gas torch. it took forever to heat up the lever, but it eventually moved with a fair share of grunting on my end. Unfortunately after reinstall and placing the console, it was still to too far to the driver side. So I kinda put it away for the day and gave it another whack in the morning.
After attempt number 2 it had moved far enough to the passenger side for my liking.

I spent a little time templating the "deck" after that. I feel pretty good about the fit of the template.. The thinking here is that I am going to cut the shape out of 16 or 18ga steel and fix it to the frame. Im thinking rivnuts on the frame and machine bolts through the deck. Paint will be Parchment.

I am not totally settled on layout. I have some inclinations to add a horse or a script logo somewhere, but also feel like I should just hold back and let it be pretty sparse. As of now, I'm leaning towards sparse.

 

[amfw]

also, looking at the armrest, door handles and door cards (pic #1).......love the arm rest and door handles!
Wondering what those are out of?

A LOT of T bird stuff in there

 

[.94 OR]

Heated seats?

 

[amfw]

Heated seats?

Are you asking about the random switch above the cup holder? If so, thats just an old vacuum switch from the console. I want to make an electric switch from it. Maybe for power steps on the side.

 

[.94 OR]

Are you asking about the random switch above the cup holder? If so, thats just an old vacuum switch from the console. I want to make an electric switch from it. Maybe for power steps on the side.

No, I was inquiring if you had or will have heated seats and need a place to install switches in a convenient location.

 

[tasker]

wow...just wow!!

 

[amfw]

No, I was inquiring if you had or will have heated seats and need a place to install switches in a convenient location.

ahhh gotcha! I don't have heated seats at the moment,though they would be nice. I even have a couple pads and switches on my shelf that were SUPPOSED to go in my Cherokee...If Im being honest though, there is a lot of salt on the road here, and I don't really drive in the winter, but still could benice for chilly spring and fall nights. There definitely is plenty of room for switches and knobs. I am going to make sure the deck panel is removable for any additions. Power will be easy nearby too, since I have a Blue Sea Systems fuse block going in underneath the plastic drop in insert.

 

[amfw]

Today was not without some minor anxiety, but DEFINITELY a payoff day.
Messed around with some layout for the electronics in the console. My old console housed a marine head unit, a small 4 channel amp, and the fuse block pictured above. Over the fall the Bluetooth in the head unit developed a really annoying glitch, so I am not reusing it. The amp and fuse block will live in the new console, as well as an EQ that I ordered today. They will get signal from a JLAudio bluetooth receiver/dongle that I had lying around. The EQ isn't really necessary, but I had a gift card for Amazon and it will help make some of the connections cleaner, add some quality control, and give me an easy AUX in which I use for radio at the drive-in theater.
I had drilled out holes in the bottom just using the existing holes in the floor from my Tuffy console. Of course one of the bolt heads landed exactly where I wanted to place the amp.. So I just dropped in another layer of plywood with on oversized hole to allow access to the bolt head. I had to make a couple half holes on the side to get past the sex bolt heads, and leave some room for the incoming wiring. Amp and fuse block are attached to the floor with velcro. It makes pulling for adjustment, replacement, or relocation a simple affair.
After that I went upstairs and quickly drew up some grommets to match the holes I had drilled and printed them on the 3d printer. Those were very satisfying to pop in.

Next step was to reinstall my freshly bent shifter lever. Installation was a breeze this time, and the lever moved about 1.25" to the passenger side, right where I wanted it to be. At this point, I brought the console back out to the garage. Once it was in place I moved the shifter through its positions and used painters tape to mark out a rectangle for clearance.

Then I took everything back down to my shop to transfer that to the cardboard template I had for the top. Once I had that marked, cut out and verified clearance, I set out to Lowes to get some steel sheet.
For the top part, I used 22ga steel. It bears repeating at this point in the thread that I don't have any real experience working with metal. I thought I was going to use 16GA steel, but when I got to Lowes it was pretty apparent that 16ga was not gonna bend the way I wanted, and I just bought based on feeling which metal felt like it would bend the way I need, but wasn't too wimpy. To mark it out, I just put double sided tape on my template, stuck it to the steel, and traced. Best tool I had available for this cut was a jig saw, but I didn't want the movement to ripple my edge. So I put the steel on some scrap MDF I had around with some double sided tape and cut away. Cleaned up the edges with a file and cut the holes for the shifter and cup holder. Cup holder was done with a hole saw. Then I marked out holes for fasteners and hit them with a center punch. I didn't remove the metal from the MDF until completing all these steps.
Fixing the top to the frame wasn't quite as straightforward or easy as I hoped, but all is well that ends well, and I am satisfied with the result. I fixed two machine screws in the back and kind of moved forward from there, only drilling the next hole once the hole behind it was fastened. This was to avoid puckering the metal. Not all of my holes landed in the best spots. Despite planning, some of them didn't end up in great places to grip the frame, but everything was able to be squared away with washers, and when I place it for final install I think I may just add a backing plate where needed. The other tricky part here was the bend... The curve makes the metal wanna move side to side, and putting too much stress in the wrong place would give me a hard crease that I could never forgive! So I just took my time and carefully coaxed it into place with some careful consideration and clamping.
Lastly, I got some replacement chrome moulding and ashtray parts from eBay, and I took the time when I was done today to swap them on, because WHY NOT. Then I tested the cup holder

 

[svastano]

Yes definitely cool!

 

[56f100bbw]

very nice job

 

[amfw]

very nice job

thank you. It has been very satisfying to bring it all together. Looking forward to getting paint on the bare metal and getting it in the truck. There are some other things that need to happen before that. I need to make a piece to close up the back, and figure out a way to kind of complete the front are where the trim just kind of quits before it hits the bottom of the dash.

 

[.94 OR]

thank you.
and figure out a way to kind of complete the front are where the trim just kind of quits before it hits the bottom of the dash.

Can you print some trim extensions to match up with the bottom of the dash?
What are your plans on the finish of the surround? I must have missed that part.

 

[amfw]

Can you print some trim extensions to match up with the bottom of the dash?

This part has been in the "cross that bridge when I come to it" category since I started this. My original idea was to make a little plate or block that has channels in the back that can sit over the end of the trim and go to the bottom of the dash. I was definitely thinking 3d print, but that may be more involved than I need. I started modeling the trim profile on Sunday. The driver and passenger profile are different. Got the driver side modeled pretty well, passenger is more difficult. I want to get it in the truck one more time for a good look and think before i decide on a plan of attack. Good news is nothing really involves altering any important pieces, so I can just throw everything at it until I get something that works! I have an idea for a cool little detail, but I am hoping to keep that a surprise until completion.
As far as surrounds... Im not sure which part you are referring to. If you mean the forward side panels that sit underneath the angled part of the frame, I am reusing the Tbird panels. I cut folded and fit them a few days ago, they just didn't make it into this pic.

 

[tasker]

SO VERY COOL!!! can't wait to see it done!

 

[amfw]

SO VERY COOL!!! can't wait to see it done!

Can't wait to show ya! Im thinking sometime in MAY.....

 

[fatboy]

Looks great!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[amfw]

Can you print some trim extensions to match up with the bottom of the dash?
What are your plans on the finish of the surround? I must have missed that part.

I think trim extensions are the way to go... Been working on that today

 

[amfw]

Nothing much today.. Tried to find some dash paint for the console top, but no luck. Made a piece for the opening in the back, but haven't covered it in vinyl yet. I did add the rear ashtray trim piece I made last week, and installed a USB charging port mounted in a small panel behind the ashtray door. The headliner fabric plus vinyl added some thickness so I used the panel to bring the door out a little.
I liked. 94OR's idea of 3d printing some trim extensions. I was considering buying some extra just to cut up (even joined a thunderbird forum haha). But the more I thought about it and looked at everything, 3d printer seemed the way to go. I used a new (to me) modeling technique, tracing the shape, photographing it, importing it into sketchup, and tracing/printing. I got a really good model using that technique, and I think I have a solid path forward.

Panel for rear ashtray

Installed

Trying out the profile

 

[m_m70]

know this is for the bottom area but is the width the same so you could use for the top?