We'll after "sniping" a 4 speed console plate off eBay last week for the bargain price of $250 (had to BIN with 1.5 days left when an obvious bidding war started, and I wanted to scoop it before the reserve took the option out, I checked out the sellers previous action and his BIN was usually within a couple dollars of reserve). So that's in the mail...

Now in anticipation I am readying my console for it. I have had this one on both my '67s and along the way I have cleaned it up and repaired the details that needed it. Now I am looking at giving it another facelift to better complement my interior.

First off I need to strip the paint from the grained sections on the top plates. This in my experience (in dealing with the grained metals) is best acomplished by blasting. The challenge here is that this is a cast piece with the chrome edges and the brushed inner panels. So I need to know the best method to protect these surfaces while blasting in between them? Will several layers of masking tape hold up to blasting? Should I add an additional layer of posterboard?

Next I am going to take the plastic body of the console and smooth and fill it. I assume I can do this with a skin of glazing putty and then block the whole thing, prime, and paint? Anyone have ideas here? The plan is to make the body of the console more complimentary to the smoothing and body color matching I did with the dash:



Next I'm off to scope eBay for a backup plastic body. I'm willing to give mine the treatment if I have a backup to fall back on.

 

i don't know about filling it jay, if the console flexes at all it will pop the filler right off. i would use some soret of epoxy resin or something that would lessen the risk of it popping off

 

I gave this some thought yesterday as well. And the cracking was a concern. Perhaps I should just glass the whole thing? There must be a boat filler that can bond and flex a bit too?

 

i think if you just use the 'glass resin it should work ok, might still have to use a small amount of putty to make it level, but nowhere near as much as trying to fill the grain with it

 

Just an update. Through a little research (asking the guys everyone seems to ridicule) I found that the standard method of filling the grain these days is to use a primer/filler and keep building up coats and sanding it all down until a smooth/level surface is achieved.

I am through with 4 or so cycles of this and things are almost done and ready for the topcoat. It's working pretty well and I can't wait to see the final outcome.

Should have photos after this weekend.

 

I think I'd try paint stripper before blasting to remove paint.

 

Meant to update on that part too... I found that 2 layers of masking tape is suitable to protect the surfaces you don't want to blast (this is using a cheap Craftsman bucket blaster). For safety I used 3 layers of tape and an additional layer of poster board on the big areas. Worked excellent.

 

OK, it's DONE. This took an enormous amount of work. What made this project take a hard left was that during my AOD conversion I decided I would rather use a new Lokar Floormount Shifter instead of just adapting the stock shifter using a conversion rod from Windsor Fox or Ron Morris. The Lokar idea caused serious headaches.

First I had to pick a 4 speed shifter plate off eBay at the bargain price of $250 . Then because I went from auto to 4 speed setup I had to cut the base of the console (plastic) and notch the top plate. Then after doing all the work on the whole setup I found I had to notch the passenger side of the 4 speed plate to clear the somewhat tall Lokar shifter. BTW I used the 6" shifter, which is the shortest they sell ... any of the other longer lengths would result in a Rat Fink setup with your knuckles over your head but hey that might get you more points in the MCA modified class ... it's 1 point per inch over stock or something right?

The sanding and filling method I described earlier worked pretty well. It took about 6 cycles, in the end there is still evidence of the "skin" in a few little areas, but in the car it's gone.

And here we go:

 

BTW... interior upgrade this winter will be having the rear seat covered to match the Corbeau seats and upgrading to deluxe door panels with red/exterior color substituted for the brushed aluminum

 

I was just thinking that you need to bring the red back with other components, but it sounds like you got that covered.

Looks nice.

 

Looks gorgeous! Great job!

 

Nice looking interior, good taste you have !

 

excellent work!
________
Headshops

 

WOW Jay! That looks great. Good work!

 

Agreed.

Nice work!


Seems like a shame to cover up all that smooth custom work with the saddle catalog console though.

 

That is just plain sexy! I think I just wet myself!

 

I know. But that thing is so darn convenient and comfortable. I'm sure if I give it some thought and time I can mod it somehow

 

Wow, that turned out GREAT!

A little "custom embroidery" on that shift boot and you'd be good to go!

 

darn jay that rocks good job

 

Thanks all! It was a lot more work than I ever imagined but it was worth it. Over the winter I'll have to extend the color back as Mark said, should allow me to add some more speakers too. Of course while the door panels are off it will probably mean that the power windows and locks will find their way in too.

It never ends.