custom console build

[dukegnarley]

So, in deciding to go with the AWshifter, i needed to make room somewhere for my arcade joystick. I already had a console, but it was junky and there was no way to get the joystick to look good mounted to it. In continuing the theme of my dash, i decided to fab up a new one. It's not done yet but i figured i'd post up some pics of what i have so far.


Here you see all of the parts i made out of 18 ga. most of it i was able to shear and bend at the school, but there were a couple of things i had to cut out with the dremel (only 12 discs worth).



Here's the lid. it turned out about 1/8" too short, but i'll see if i can get it to work still.


Here's the console all tacked up. the front portion down low is going to have a couple of holes cut in it, and i will mount in some of those marine cup holders. the part that angles back towards the driver is large enough to mount a DIN head unit in case i ever want to mount a radio. directly behind that is the flat area where the joystick will be located along with some room for future switches. finally, behind that is the cargo area, measuring 8" wide, 12" long and 9-3/4" deep.




here it is mocked up in the jeep



for only $35 in material, i think it's turning out well. the only thing i don't like about it is how far back the joy stick is going to be. to move it any farther forward is going to require me to cut off the cup holders, but i think i'll try it this way first.

[rustywrangler]

Looks good so far. Is this going to be a locking setup as well?

[white_87yj]

oo thats nice. i had to rip mine out because the heat from the tranny melted what ever was in there, it also didn't have a lock, and needed to take the carpet out. so i'm hoping to build something like this as well.

[dukegnarley]

rusty,

yes it's going to lock. i just need to weld in a small piece of angle in the front of the storage compartment and then drill a hole in the lid for a cam lock (like $5 from ACE).

[newYJfan]

woah, that's turning out nicely... and i'm a fan of that dash, too.

[zekthecat]

I am a fan of that dash as well can you post some more pics of it please

[dukegnarley]

pictures of the dash can be found in my dash thread (link in sig). it's the same now as it was then, except now it's all wired up and has a layer of flat black on it.

[ronfezz]

it looks good, do you weld outside? the kraft paper insulation is very flamable, tha acetone is also, that must be why you have the big extinguisher on the bench.

[dukegnarley]

It's true, i weld dangerously. should have some more updated pics later tonight

[dukegnarley]

so first i welded on some hinges ($3.50 from fred meyer)


then i bent up some 3/8" rod to make a handle


then i cut out the holes for the cup holders. i didn't want to spend $20 on a hole saw so i used the cutoff wheel on the dremel to get close, then ground the rest of it with a die grinder.


then i drilled some holes and cut out a rectangle for the shifter to sit in.


i then welded in a piece of 3/8" rod for the lock to grab onto when in the locked position.


Here's the lock mounted into the lid.



and here it is done.


There's still plenty of room to mount a stereo in front of the shifter and to the side i will eventually be adding winch controls and a rocker for the torque converter lockup. all i need to do now is make a couple of brackets to hold it into the jeep.

[geusey]

That is some really nice work man

[zekthecat]

Looks really good man. Can you build me one?

[geusey]

ME TOO!

[BlackRhino]

That looks great! Being able to control an automatic tranny would be the best of both worlds.

[sebastian22]

Great job! that thing looks awesome.

That shifter looks like its from an 80's racing arcade game.