How would you go about restoring a center console?

[Chillin014]

I just bought a center console or my el camino from ebay. I was expecting some cosmetic issues but it is actually much worse than that. The plastic is brittle and there are cracks around the front where you bolt the piece down and the arm rest area as well. Not to mention, the arm rest itself is looking pretty gross and the "hinge" seam is non existent so it just flops where it wants.

I have a center console and armrest lid from another vehicle I was considering transplanting onto the g-body console but I'm not sure how to go about joining the pieces. Should I use bondo/filler? Or fiberglass? And would bondo work to fill in or secure the cracked areas?

Otherwise Id have to get the armrest recovered and attach some sort of hinge to the lid...which might be more hassle and expensive than my franken-console idea.

 

[Jg85350Regal]

I was just wondering the same thing, my car had a factory center console which was cracked on the lower portion to begin with and now the whole thing is pretty much shattered. I sat there and super glued it all back together but Im thinking im going to end up fiberglassing the bottom half to get some stregth back into in and paint or carpet it depending on what I can find that matches. For the top foam parts you may be better off searching a bit more on ebay.

 

[Chillin014]

Yeah I hate how brittle the plastic is...and that's what I worry about trying to repair on top of. I saw on the show "Muscle Car" he was restoring an old...steering wheel or something and he bondo-ed over a crack and painted it. My project is a little more structural though so I'm thinking I will probably experiment with some fiberglass.

I saw some lids on ebay but they wanted like 70 bucks, screw that.

 

[Blake442]

Do NOT use body filler!

This should help...
http://gbodyforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=12155

 

[Chillin014]

awesome, thanks

 

[454muscle]

That's a nice thread Blake442.

Personally, I dont like g-body center consoles. I think they're somewhat ugly and flimsy to begin with.

I have seen some custom made ones, which gives you greater flexibility to put other stuff on it, if you choose. They look a lot better than factory. Some have used consoles from other cars too.

In my case, I bought a fiberglass console off ebay that was made for a 67 Mustang. I fit right in with no problems and came with a cutout for the shifter which I positioned right over my shifter. It also came with a padded armrest which opens up to a metal compartment. On the console I'm mounting (embedding into it) 2 stainless steel cupholders, my iphone base, the power mirror switches, and the nav unit. Finishing it off with fiberglass and black satin paint. It's not finished yet, but here's the picture of the work in progress (picture sucks... iphone/poor lighting):

 

[Chillin014]

That looks pretty awesome. I agree the g-body console looks like it was some awful after-thought. Not to mention the armrest sits too high, and it really serves no purpose other than the armrest storage and that coin tray or whatever the hell it is. How does that console look where it meets up with the dashboard? That is the main reason I havent bothered looking into other vehicle consoles...but I suppose older cars probably had simpler designs.

 

[454muscle]

That big piece at the end of the console was too high to fit uner the Grand Prix dash. I had the option to cut it and shorten it to meet up with my dash, but I didn't want that look, so I just cut it off and rounded it out. It sits fine under the dash and I'm gonna be mounting my Nav unit on the flat surface up there so it will line up with the bottom edge of the dash. It actually fit quite well.

I could have just as easily made a console out of wood, complete with cup holders and storage compartment, then wrapped it in black vinyl. Easy enough to make and would look much better than factory. Just an idea you might want to try.

 

[Chillin014]

My dad suggested a wood console too, it's really not a bad idea at all. In fact, that's probably what I will look into once I fail with this plastic mess. I'll post up pics of what I'm doing later on today possibly. I'm off to purchase some glue and maybe fiber glass stuff.

 

[454muscle]

Very nice. It'll be a great project, I can't wait to see the progress! 😀
Off the top of my head I would think of using MDF of various thicknesses, bulldog grip, fiberglass, and bodyfiller to finish it (if you were gonna paint it) and otherwise you can use a spray-on glue and vinyl and wrap the pieces before assembly, if that makes sense. It'll get messy but when you do it yourself it turns out just how you want it, I'm sure it'll look killer. :wink: