Some consolation sought

[CopperNick]

So I am back to work on the console assembly for my 85 Monte SS. I did the conversion from auto stick to 4 speed manual last summer. From this site I did take pics of the 4-speed/console relationship and removed the trap door compartment that normally is pop riveted to the main body of the console in what would be the automatic version. This, I was advised, was necessary to create the room needed for the stick to move back and forth freely; eliminating and jamming or crashing against the compartment during operation. it was also mentioned that the main body of the console, once that compartment was removed, could simply be pushed back and then re-attached to the mounting plate that was tacked to the tunnel. Mocked the whole thing up to make sure all was well and NOPE! UH-UH, NO WAY, Ain't happening. The rear mounting plate for the console and the holes in the bottom of the console body just do not line up. So my question is simply this. Is there a specific or unique version of that console body that is meant for manual transmission installation exclusively? Or am I going to have to cut the tacks that hold that mounting plate on the tunnel and move it back along the tunnel to get everything to line up again?? To add insult to injury, the console body also crashes against the section of the inner cabin brace that re-enforces the cabin floor and offers attachment points for the seat bracket mounting studs. Simplest solution would be to leave the console out altogether but it is useful and fills an otherwise ugly and large hole so...………...

Ideas or suggestions??

Nick

 

[pontiacgp]

 

[gnvair]

Are you trying to modify the console so it looks like the 78-81 factory installation?
The main console body is the same (Auto and manual). The rear bracket is the same. The front bracket is unique to a manual transmission as the automatic shifter doubles as the front bracket on automatic cars.
What transmission are you using? I ask this as shifter placement makes a big difference where the console box will fit. I just designed brackets to allow use of a Super T10 with the stock shifter hole location.

 

[CopperNick]

Yeah, yeah, I know Pontiacgp, sympathy is between sh&t and syphilis in the dictionary. If you note the name tag on the sympathetic dude, it reads "Bob" That is because he is too large to swim and can only float there while waiting for his turn to sink.

With all that soft lovey-dovey crap now dealt with, Continuing on. The transmission is a Muncie 4-speed. In the original auto-stick format, the front edge of the main console body had holes in it that allowed it to be bolted to a flange located on the shifter assembly, and everything else fell more or less into place. The hole in the tunnel that had to be created to allow the Hurst shifter to gain access is cut so that the shifter is centered; that is it has equal amounts of clearance all around it and only enough so that the front and back stop bolts can be just accessed for adjustment. Physically, it sits just aft of the factory hole through which the cable for the auto-stick ran. I do have the metal shroud that would get attached to the tunnel in order to install the boot and trim plate. That has not been migged in as yet. Your picture is one of the ones that I have been using as a reference but I am beginning to conclude that this will end up being a full up rework and that I will not be able to use my brackets in their existing locations. Bother.

 

[ssn696]

This is the bracket that came out of the donor Malibu for the front of the console. Since mine came with a column shifter and the bread box instead of the ash tray this is what the factory spot-welded to the floor. I bolted on the loose front and rear brackets, put some heavy-duty foam tape on them, placed the console where it needed to go, then pushed down to stick the brackets. I drilled locator/rivet/bolt holes once the console was off of them. I painted the floor patch, and will mig it all down when I'm ready to commit!

 

[pontiacgp]

Bonnewagon (Mark) has a real nice center console in his wagon...

 

[CopperNick]

Okay, your pictures helped a lot. The tab in the first pic is actually located under the dash and you access the bolt to it by opening up the trap door to that compartment that sits ahead of the shifter assembly. For me, if you look at the last picture, of the complete console you can see two transverse slots running from side to side and through which go the two bolts that attach the console to a flange on the leading edge of the shifter assembly. If the glove compartment on the console was open you could see the two holes in the bottom that accept the screws for the rear mounting flange. That first flange Is still located on the tunnel. I had wanted to see if I could somehow slip that small forward compartment back into position but it crashes solidly against the shroud. No joy. What I am going to have to do is see if I still have the old auto-stick assembly and if so whether or not I can harvest the desired front flange from it to be repurposed as the front mount for the modified console body. With it in place that gives me a starting point to set the console in place and figure out where the back mount has to move to to work again.

 

[CopperNick]

Okay, your pictures helped a lot. The tab in the first pic is actually located under the dash and you access the bolt to it by opening up the trap door to that compartment that sits ahead of the shifter assembly. For me, if you look at the last picture, of the complete console you can see two transverse slots running from side to side and through which go the two bolts that attach the console to a flange on the leading edge of the shifter assembly. If the glove compartment on the console was open you could see the two holes in the bottom that accept the screws for the rear mounting flange. That first flange Is still located on the tunnel. I had wanted to see if I could somehow slip that small forward compartment back into position but it crashes solidly against the shroud. No joy. What I am going to have to do is see if I still have the old auto-stick assembly and if so whether or not I can harvest the desired front flange from it to be repurposed as the front mount for the modified console body. With it in place that gives me a starting point to set the console in place and figure out where the back mount has to move to to work again.

 

[CopperNick]

If Bonnewagon happens to be surfing later, I would appreciate seeing a pic or two of how his console is set up

 

[CopperNick]

Me, again, Was able to get your console picture to enlarge and that gave me a great view of how you have your shifter set up. Being in the middle like that and about exactly in the physical location where the auto-stick would have sat is beautiful. Mine, on the other hand, sits off centre and slightly further forward so everything is fighting for room. it almost looks like you have some variant of the old Muncie tunnel mount manual shifter/linkage to get the positioning you have. I have an 80's Camaro manual shifter that works with the Saginaw 4-speed and looks like that but it is no Hurst for shifter throw and crispness. Currently it is attached to a Saginaw but I have no plans to use the assembly.