New center console/beverage center (pics)

[mciahpv]

A while back, I Herculined my interior and got new seats. During that process, I did away with my old center console and eventually filled that space with an Art Carr shifter. The set up looked and worked fine, except that it left me nowhere to store anything, which resulted in lots of small stuff rolling around all over the place. It also did away with the only cup holders I had, which seems pretty petty and bling until you find yourself attempting to pilot 6000 pounds of American pride with one hand while checking in with the better half on the cell phone and your favorite trail beverage (adult or otherwise) nestled uncomfortably against the family jewels. Time for a new plan.

So I picked up this new F-150 console on ebay and did some special modifications. (Insert Ford joke here) It was more of a PITA than I ever would've thought, but I'm very pleased with the results. Just got it finished tonight. Here's the walkthrough...

1 -- Had to assemble it in place in order to make it work. Here's the frame bolted in place. The red circle indicates where I predrilled two holes where I would eventually bolt down the shifter legs.

2 -- Here's where I slotted the bottom to feed the Morse cable through. (You can see it poking through the floorboard.) It's not pretty, but it won't show, so I didn't waste a lot of time.

3 -- The armrest and actual storage space. I had to dremel out a space for the shifter legs to poke through, they were about 2" too long otherwise.

4 -- Drilling a hole in the bottom of the console for the Morse cable. This would actually be visible when looking down into the box, so I was very careful with the measuring and drilling.

5 -- The center setting loosely in the frame with the Morse cable fed through.


Hang on, have to post another message with the finished pics...

 

[mciahpv]

Here's the rest...

6 -- The center bolted to the frame with the cable and shifter installed.

7 and 8 -- Finished product.

9 -- It was originally plumbed to run A/C out vents in the rear. Since I don't have A/C, I put two LED lights in the vent holes and wired them to my interior light switch. Helps throw a little more light in the back.

It was way more work than I had originally anticipated, but I'm really happy with how it turned out...

 

[readymix]

That is cool. How hard is it to get to the cup holders while driving?
They look too far to the back

 

[79k20350]

who need them, their for the back seat. theres already 2 next to the shifter...

 

[readymix]

Duh.....Since i own a LB truck i always forget about the back seat

 

[BozoWise]

Looks sharp. What did that new bodystyle console go for on ebay? If you want I can send you some black abs fill the gap around the shifter. It is super easy to work with and if you have a propane torch you can bend it to the same contour as the console.

 

[mciahpv]

Got the console for $100 on ebay. As far as I know, these are from both '04 and '05 F-150s. They call it the "flow-through console." You could probably find them cheaper, but I was looking for black, so I jumped on this one. (It was actually black w/silver top, but I painted the top pieces with plasti-kote while it was apart)

Thanks for the offer of the ABS -- you can't really see in the picture, but I cut a piece of lexan that is actually sandwiched between the underside of the console and the body of the shifting mechanism. (I forgot to take pictures when I was doing that part) It's sort of a light smoke color, so I may eventually put a green light down in there to match the rest of the dash/interior lighting at night. The gap was one of the hurdles along the way. I didn't anticipate that it would be so big. Thought I would have to enlarge it for the gate shifter and that then everything would be hidden. Whoops!

 

[mayerichm]

If you want I can send you some black abs fill the gap around the shifter. It is super easy to work with and if you have a propane torch you can bend it to the same contour as the console.

Where can someone find that abs at anyways? I stumbled across some once upon a time at a garage sale and haven't seen any since, it's as useful as duct tape when fabbing stuff.

 

[stallion85]

Looks great, very clean job.

I love those seats, what are they? Corbeau's?

 

[BozoWise]

Got the console for $100 on ebay. As far as I know, these are from both '04 and '05 F-150s. They call it the "flow-through console." You could probably find them cheaper, but I was looking for black, so I jumped on this one. (It was actually black w/silver top, but I painted the top pieces with plasti-kote while it was apart)

Thanks for the offer of the ABS -- you can't really see in the picture, but I cut a piece of lexan that is actually sandwiched between the underside of the console and the body of the shifting mechanism. (I forgot to take pictures when I was doing that part) It's sort of a light smoke color, so I may eventually put a green light down in there to match the rest of the dash/interior lighting at night. The gap was one of the hurdles along the way. I didn't anticipate that it would be so big. Thought I would have to enlarge it for the gate shifter and that then everything would be hidden. Whoops!

No problems. Couldn't see the lexan in the pictures (I know see the reflextion of the shifter in it). Did the skull shifter come from ebay? I have looked at a couple like that on there. 100.00 doesn't seem bad at all. I have sold some factory consoles on there for MUCH more then that. I am still drooling over the seats in your rig. Those are smokin

Where can someone find that abs at anyways? I stumbled across some once upon a time at a garage sale and haven't seen any since, it's as useful as duct tape when fabbing stuff.

Try any local car audio specialist. I keep it instock at my shop and would be happy to ship some out. I get mine from AAMP of America. I know Select Products sells to the public but their prices are high


It is listed under abs here https://selectproducts.com/html/frame2/frames2.htm

The only time I use select products ABS is when I need a woodgrain. Theirs is top notch. The black abs is the same as I get from AAMP

 

[RubberFloorMat]

f-n sweet!!!

 

[mciahpv]

Thanks, guys. Making the effort all the more sweet. The seats are Beard/Red Arts. I've got a back seat on order with them too, I'll post some pics when I get it in.

I actually got the skull shifter at the local Advance Auto Parts. $15 I think, and the eyes light up. Bonus!