65 Console Adventure

This is what the interior looked like when I first brought her home. The PO had removed the console wood trim as it was in bad shape and replaced it with some black vinyl type material that looked very similar to the rest of the original on the upper dash.

I've mentioned before that I'm only going to do a couple things to this classic and then drive & enjoy it for awhile while deciding what's next. Those two things are re-upholster the seats as the drivers was pretty bad and they were 'snowing' underneath. Secondly is the air suspension. Well, while the seats are out getting new threads I noticed how badly those rear heater outlets looked & thought it best to remove & clean them as they might be hard to access later on when the seats are back in. Aside from the little rust bubbles underneath the chrome, they actually came out looking fairly nice after using some naval jell & chrome cleaner. Then, since I'd decided to put the air management control in the ash tray opening, I thought it a good time to remove the peeled up black stuff on the bezel(?) and replace it with something appropriate yet inexpensive. That lead to doing the same cleaning process on the chrome. After doing the shifter bezel & small compartment door also, it left one remaining item that now looked less than acceptable in comparison. That little jewel at the rear of the console. And why not replace that awful looking courtesy light lens while I'm at it?! As most of you already know, removing that cigar lighter/ash tray thing is not a simple task. I ended up loosening the whole console & pulling it rearward just to get access to the 4 nuts that hold it in place! About that time I'm saying to myself "how did I get to this point?!" SNOWBALLS. I'm sure I'm the only one who does this - right guys?!

So I took this photo after I got the rear ash tray with new courtesy light lens installed.

Warning to those who've not ventured here; have the hinge installed for the little compartment door BEFORE re-installing that rear assembly! It's an absolute pain to do it after putting the whole console back in place. :mad: And while I'm at this point I thought 'those A/C & heater controls sure could use some attention'. After removing the bezel I thought that the black paint had too many chips showing so............... It was near this point that I started looking at the aftermarket radio & thinking 'the PO included the stock radio', maybe this would be a good time to replace it. That's when I decided this snowball had already gotten too big; I can do that some time after the seats are back in. So I finally put the console back together after cleaning the aforementioned controls and letting the bezel paint dry.

I'm not replacing the carpet right now either, as there is a rust spot on the floorpan that needs repairing. So the seats will be going back in soon; after I put the rear window back in.

Steve

Very Nice!

You, like so many of us, apparently were absent from restoration class the day they showed the items that pointed to the stop signs and just kept right on going. Then you reach the top of the hill and start heading down; then there's no way to stop.

It looks really nice. I especially like the burled wood and choice of stain - Very Sharp

Ed

Very nice job. Looks as good as they get.

Looking good! Since you just changed out your rear console lens, what would the procedure be

if I was just changing that lens and doing nothing else? I bought a lens a while back because mine is kind of yellow from old age and was shocked to discover it doesn't just snap into place. It's still in my drawer as a future project.

Looking good! Since you just changed out your rear console lens, what would the procedure be

if I was just changing that lens and doing nothing else? I bought a lens a while back because mine is kind of yellow from old age and was shocked to discover it doesn't just snap into place. It's still in my drawer as a future project.

Apparently, that's what the PO of my car did after discovering what you did. I was about to order a lens when I found a brand new one in a box of parts that came with the car!

Now I've not done this, but in researching this debacle I found that some of the guys here have removed the ash tray and painstakingly removed the 2 little fasteners that hold the lens from the inside. I used 'console' as my search criteria.

Steve

Apparently, that's what the PO of my car did after discovering what you did. I was about to order a lens when I found a brand new one in a box of parts that came with the car!

Now I've not done this, but in researching this debacle I found that some of the guys here have removed the ash tray and painstakingly removed the 2 little fasteners that hold the lens from the inside. I used 'console' as my search criteria.

Steve

Steve, I found a post with a blow up diagram of the console and in studying the diagram, it looks

to me like it would be possible to remove the heater bezel on the rear side of the console and stick your hand in there to remove the two screws holding the lens bracket to the ash tray assy. I can't imagine that you could get in through the small hole that the ash tray fits into. I am making the assumption that the heater bezel comes right off from the outside with four screws. Also Steve, what kind of heads do the screws holding in the

lens bracket have on them....phillips or hex head?

it looks

to me like it would be possible to remove the heater bezel on the rear side of the console and stick your hand in there to remove the two screws holding the lens bracket to the ash tray assy. I am making the assumption that the heater bezel comes right off from the outside with four screws. Also Steve, what kind of heads do the screws holding in the

lens bracket have on them....phillips or hex head?

The heater bezels do come right off, but behind them is the ducting for the heater which prevents access to the rear. I didn't want to put force on the console plastic as it breaks pretty easily and the ducting is not something I wanted to damage either. BTW, are the seats out of your car?

The screw heads are hex.

Steve

The heater bezels do come right off, but behind them is the ducting for the heater which prevents access to the rear. I didn't want to put force on the console plastic as it breaks pretty easily and the ducting is not something I wanted to damage either. BTW, are the seats out of your car?

The screw heads are hex.

Steve

The seats aren't out, but pulling a front seat is a five minute job.....sounds like I need to train

a mouse to go in through the ash tray hole and take those two screws out!

I call this "Jims Axiom!" Sometimes, actually in most cases, the extreme method (remove everything in this case) ends up being the quickest!

!

Not to be discouraged, I went to Pet Smart and bought a mouse. I picked the one with the largest head, figuring he may have

more brain matter up there. The training will start this weekend. I will first try to train him to hold the ratchet wrench in his paws without dropping it and then we will move on to making the ratchet operate properly. I am using mild cheddar cheese as a reward

when he learns something new. I'll let everyone know how this turns out. If I get him trained, I will make him available to other

Forum members on a rental basis. He might become valuable on heater core jobs as well.