Who likes my center console?
 

Made out of MDF.
Lots of time invested.

Here is the result.

http://youtu.be/i5zFv38Tvb0

Holy crap! That looks great. You should do a build thread for thing. I'm gonna be doing the same thing very soon.

Very nice. :unibrow:

:thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

I love it! Your whole interior works well together and looks amazing!

looks awesome!

console
 

Fantastic work!!! Build thread please.


rich

Dude, that looks REALLY nice! :thumbsup:

That looks great. Awesome work.

Looks great
 

So I click on the link and realize "hey he's speaking dutch". Went back to your post to confirm, yep he's in Holland.

My parents are both from Holland, have been there many times myself. Very cool to see Muscle Cars across the pond, nice car and great work on the console.

Jonathan

ps My folks are from Coevorden and Emmen

Center console
 

Thanks for the compliments guys.

I made several drawings to find out what I liked.
Searched on the internet to get some idea's. Mustang 05 shifter, airride e2 controller (would love to have the e3 but running out of ......money) 7" DVD player, Rockford Fosgate pre amp signal processor, stainless switches, SPAL power window switches.
This is the result.

@Jonathan. My car was painted by AJ's paint & body in Emmen. www.ajs-autobody.nl
Nice place in the east of Holland. Do you speak Dutch?

Pro touring is getting more and more popular over here but only for a limited amount of people because it costs soooo much money to upgrade your car............

Here some pics of the build.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...o/IMG_4096.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...o/IMG_4124.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...o/IMG_4139.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...o/IMG_4211.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...o/IMG_2238.jpg

Sorry - that's kinda a big jump between pic 4 & 5 - what's the console covered with? Is it just painted wood?

very nice work

Im actually in the process of restoring my 68 Birds console, unfortunately I dont have those skills, haha

good job

Who makes that shifter.

Mustang 05 shifter

Thanks. Nice work.

Really nice!!!

Dude, that is incredible.

I think that's nicer then many fiberglass custom consoles I've seen.
I'd also REALLY like to know how you made the silver trim edges and
what you covered it with.

Any progress pics to show how it went from the plain MDF finish to the really nice final look ???

Bram
 

I receive so many requests for giving more information about the build that I decided to post some more pictures.

I had the center console covered by Alfred van Vliet. He did a very good job. He has an upholstery shop in the south of Holland. Unfortunately he did not take pictures during the build so I can only post the "after" pictures.

He covered the MDF with a thin layer of foam and on top of that he glued the vinyl to the foam. The silver is stitched to the black.

Here they are.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...o/IMG_2704.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...o/IMG_2706.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...o/IMG_2709.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...o/IMG_2711.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...o/IMG_2714.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...o/IMG_2716.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...o/IMG_2713.jpg

I am really satisfied with the result. Looks very professional.
Let me know if there are any questions.

Thanks for the pics and details.

That answers my question. :thumbsup:
Very very nice console dude. Very impressive.

I'm going to give this a shot with my 70 442 since I need a new console
after I get my 6 speed installed over the new tunnel.

console
 

Great work and thanks for all the pictures.

rich

Very Nice

So nice...

WOW that's a nice console. I was kinda disappointed when I measured between my seats and found out a 98-02 Fbody console won't fit, but after seeing this, I'm definitely gonna try to make my own console. :thumbsup:

How did you get the mdf to curve outward as it goes from the rear toward the front? That looks similar to what I was going to try.

You can make compound curves, radiused panels and things like that a number of ways. One is to use 3/8" "bender board" and laminate (glue) two sheets together in the shape you want over a wood buck or jig. Or you can use 1/4" MDF sheets and do the same thing. Make your parts oversized and cut/sand to your final shape.

The console in the video looks very nice, and I imagine there is a lot of time involved. But the basic outside shape is fairly straight forward to make and you should be able to duplicate it yourself.
Post up pictures of what you make. :thumbsup:

I don't have a whole lot of tools, hell I don't even have a table saw so version 1 might have to be at least mostly flat on the sides. The thing about sticking sheets together and then cutting from them what I want is what I had planned on doing if I had tools, but I think I might make it straight and maybe just add some bondo on the sides to fill it out before covering it. I'll mount a couple gauges, ridepro e3 controller and a cd player in it, but there is zero chance it will be anywhere near as nice as the one in this thread. Looks like he used some plexi for the part holding the screen?
The gauge holder in the second pic here is the result of my first experiment with fiberglass. Functional, but ugly.
http://ls1tech.com/forums/14937962-post182.html

You could always carve the shape you want out of foam and cover it in fiberglass to finalize the shape. Depending on how much you'd need to use, bondo may be too heavy. For the pic on the other site I might try making a block of foam and then marking and carving what you want out of that. It will get messy though. (I might even angle the face towards the driver somewhat.) This site may help as well. >Link

That being said, it(the console here) looks to me that the wood on the sides is thin enough to follow the curves. (Otherwise, plywood can be soaked and molded to a form.)
Another thing you can to to get a feel for how the flat panels can bend is to use cardboard and tape. Then use the cardboard as a template for the MDF or whatever you decide to use.

I also don't see where a table saw would be necessary. A simple jig saw with a straight edge and clamps can get you by for the straight edges. I built a lot of things like that when I didn't have access to a table saw as a teen.

Jig saw, small/inexpensive sander from harbor frieght, spray adhesive, bondo or sheet foam(blue insulation from home depot) cut that with a steak knife....cover with fabric or vinyl or leather.....one custom console for under $100.00 including the sander and jig saw from HF. Dont use the foam for structural parts. Too soft. Just use it to contour the shape you want. Adhere it to the wood base. Use 3M spray90 adhesive. It stinks but it works way better than the spray77 version.
With a little practice you will be amazed at what you can make.

If you told me that was from a newer car I would believe it. Beautiful job.

That shifter brings back memories for me...I was part of the design group that was responsible for the birth of that shifter. Many hours spent on that thing...lol

Your console looks great!!!

Thanks for the compliments and thanks LS1-IROC for designing that shifter :thumbsup:

Here's a picture of the complete interior.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...IMG_2795-1.jpg

looks great :thumbsup:

That is an awesome interior...worthey enough for a magazine article.

It looks like I have some work to do on mine now.....:yes:

One other option I have been exploring is ABS Plastic. All you should need to form the plastic is a propane torch. Has anybody ever experimented or used ABS for constructing anything that can share their experience?

I don't know a whole lot about that, but it might be a challenge to keep the edges straight. I've read about using an old oven to heat the plastic up more evenly as well.
You might want to be careful of the vapors that come off of some plastics when you heat them up too.

Good point about the vapors. I guess if I chose this route I'd wear a breather.

Wow that's awesome