center console idea

Its starting to grow on me a little now.

I got some Stainless cut up and it fit pretty dam nice considering I have know idea what it came off of. I guess thats just one benifit of not being able to throw stuff out.
I also found an aluminum cover for an electrical conduit fitting that should work perfect for the shifter trim (seen setting on top)


All trimmed and then welded up some mounting hardware


so far so good.


I also started on the new shifter. 1/2" alum bar stock turned down and taperd for 1/2 the length. Now I just have to figure out how to bend it?
The 1/2" aluminum is WAY stiffer that I had thought!

Should I heat it before bending?
" " anneal it w/ the sooty acytalene flame trick?
" " cut a wooden form from 2x4s and put it in the press (press it to shape cold)?

Jeff

 

Looks good man

 

since your mid build. I had to toss the 52 dash for a much cleaner 49=50 plymouth unit

 

Round bar shifter with a boot sounds best to me for this era of car.

 

^^^that sounds really custom^^^^^

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I finished up the new shift lever tonight and it freakin came out great!

machined the taper on the 1/2" alum, did a quick polish (easier to do before bending), and decided on a shape.


Used a jig saw to cut the profile and drilled 4 holes to "pin" the 2 halfs together and keep them in alingment. I did the sooty flame thing to anneal the alum and loaded it in the fixture while still hot.


I was really waiting for stress cracks to start showing up , but it formed nice and never left a flaw.


Lokar eat your heart out ;-)


jeff

 

Love the old door knob, I have ove in my 31 sedan. Looks good

 

Love it, great work.

 

Great idea for bending the shift lever. I'm gonna give it a try now that you proved it can be done.

 

It might look pretty good if you'd slick up those cuts and then cover it with some material matching your seats. Make some spring clips for it to pop over, holding it in place, install carpet and then just pop it on/off as needed. I like the shape of it.

 

dont cover it with material.paint it the same as the car.

 

That bending idea I know is going to come in handy for me, sometime.

 

I really havnt figured out how to mount it yet so ill be thinking of that.

And yeah, all those cuts were there for the shaping of the 5" pipe. The whole thing will be welded solid, smoothed and painted to match the dash.


jeff

 

You got skills my man. It's looking good Jeff.
I could sure use one of those hydraulic press in my garage.

 

Here's one I made.

 

$129 at Harbor Freight. I bought one on sale years ago for $99, and use the heck out of it. I never thought I'd use it for as many things as I have when I got it.

 

That looks AWESOME Great job!!

 

NICE! is that metal or glass?

 

metal or glass?

ya lost me on that one.

 

Is it metal or fibreglass?

Looks like metal, but looks like it could have been molded and painted as well.

 

A little more progress today.
I got the rest of the trim pcs figured out, And i gotta say I think it looks OK.
Here you can see what I made work out of the electrical cover, not bad for $1.19 at the hardware store.
Another trip to Homedepot and I found a nice pc of aluminum trim that had just about the same shape I was looking for. $9 for 8ft, So I have plenty left over and I can already think of more uses for this stuff.


Also figured out a way to secure it and have the mounting bolts hidden.




All bolted down and trimmed out.


Next up, finish all the welds and get it ready for paint.

jeff

 

nice work. Way to think outside the box!

 

Looks pretty good. It's a console, but not a console. I'll soon be going thru the same thing with my 50 chevy, so thanks for the post it gave me a few ideas. As for the suggestion of the Locar, I personally refuse to use one . The prices are rediculous. Money better spent elsewhere. I'd rather use vice-grips

 

I noticed you have a column mounted tach. You now have a great place to mount it on top of the consol. Just a thought. It really looks great

 

very cool idea and execution, dig it

 

very nice! I've got a couple bigger sized bumperettes that could be used the same way! I dig the aluminum trim.

 

I knew you would find a way to make it work!

 

That's coming together nicely.

 

Looks better than I thought when you first put up that picture. I was thinking you could make a metal shield that fit under the opening that was attached to the shifter handle and it would slide back and forth in movemnet to hide your opening. Is that aluminum trim flexible enough to shape it and to carry it all the way down to the floor in front of the shifter handle. Just thinking out loud here.You could use a piece of it under the opening for the dust shield. Take what you want from this.

 

I know, me too. Never had one for years and years but bought one at HF on sale and use it for stuff all the time now. It's one of those tools you never think about until you have one.

Don

 

^^^^
thanks,
The slotted opepening will get filled in but i just havnt found the stuff im looking for yet. Homedepot has the stuff, there its sold as door a bottom sweeper, but its like $10 and im cheap enough that ill keep looking.
As for the alum, yeah, it is flexible and I was planning on extending the trim all the way from the front to the back. I even cut the other pc and polished it but when I got the top one screwed on I decided less is more and stopped w/ just the top trimmed.

jeff