Interior Mustang Mods

Ah the old restoring the console trick. I disassembled it when I first got it in May. What saved my bacon is I kept the console components in separate containers or reassembly would have been impossible.

Ford uses a rubber flange around the Automatic floor shifter. It was toast. Between coffee, coke, and sunlight, there wasn't enough of the old one to see what it looked like except the thin tempered stainless frame. I saw some remnants of the vulcanized rubber on it. One bicycle tube to the rescue. Chopped up an 8" slice, washed both parts with contact cement cleaner and then laid on come contact cement on both parts and bonded them. I'll use an Exacto knife tomorrow to clean up the outer edges and cut a slit for the shifter shaft.

There's over 75 parts in that Capri console, not counting the clock circuits or 'bulb out' display circuits. The shifter pointer alone has 14 parts. so I cleaned up the delicate plastic lenses and lamp holders - polishing plastic, yuk!

Once the shifter cover is located properly, the front console bracket can be located and screwed down. I can't cut the E-brake mounting holes in alignment, without the console in place to mark the locations. The front floor bracket does most of the alignment.

Once I get that done, I can install the ebrake cables, and finish the dash wiring to the console components.

Sure is nice to run out of parts. The wagon is coming together.

 

Geeze I hope you didn't count them all....

 

I had to clean the undercoat tar off of them, so yeah, I counted them.

Somebody went nuts with can of undercoat or tar, or melted licorice.

 

The weather is with me! Gone to play. Pics later. I hope to get the other tailgate prepped and painted over the weekend, after I get the car running. Fingers crossed. ciao!

 

Cheshire Grin time...

While I'm presuming , please don't think it was easy, but it was simple - one step at a time. I am one proud Fox wagon owner, and maybe the only one with a stock console mounted ebrake. :2_thumbs_up_-_anima

Ok, skip the guff stuff, here's the meat and 'taters.

I took pictures of the Capri installation beneath the console (which I practically used exclusively), and I took lots of dimensions (which I really didn't use, except for proportioning). Mine had the Shifter mounting plate drill marks from the factory, which suggests that Ford Dealers could do this to showroom Fairmonts) However, no console ebrake options were offered for Fairmonts, until now!

There's already pics of the console refinished and gutted earlier in the thread, so I won't bore you.

These 2 new holes locate the front tunnel mounting bracket, which also holds the ashtray and lighter. These have to be done first. You align the console to have about a 3/8" to 1/2" gap under the radio 'dip' in the main dash. You need this clearance to get the console off, even on a Mustang/Capri. They are not dependent on any other measurement except centering from side to side. On mine, with the bracket installed, the back edge of the bracket is about 1/4" forward of the shifter floor mount (gray).


This one is the tricky beast. This is the rear console mount bracket. In a Capri/Mustang, the tunnel is shorter and has a rise happening going to the rear. You have to flatten the angle. I used vise-grips in my bench vise and got most of the front/back tilt out. All four screws have to go in, but the styrene bottom of the console won't take any stress. Even though you get it nice and flat, it still sits just under 1" too high. I used a chunk of 1" styrene foam insulation. I was going to make a new steel bracket, but when I thought about the styrene console floor, I figured this was better and simpler. The foam will take a hit and not the console. The RH pic of the bracket mounted without the spacer shows the angle that you have to flatten. Not hard but tricky.


I drilled the holes in the foam will a slow drill, because that stuff is unpredictable - the bracket holes are 1/8", the foam holes are 1/4". so you can locate it better. Note the offset slot to match the console locator pin. Also note that I marked the foam to avoid confusing myself. You're working upside down and that bracket only mounts one way.

Screws are large panhead star sheetmetal screws - about 1.5" long. 1-1/4" is too short, because a steel cover plate goes inside the console storage and fastens to the rear screws. (see pics below these)



See following post for e-brake mounting.

 

Nice to see things are moving along.
It's going to be a sharp looking console, and quite unique I'm sure.
You'll have lots to talk about if you ever meet someone who's also attempted this.

 

The BIGGER GRIN!

Dam right!
See previous post to mount the console.

You can't mount the shifter without that rear bracket located and fastened. And it has to be secured to the console or the ebrake handle won't line up. I screwed down the front mount screws first, then marked where the rear bracket screws went, then removed the console, drilled and mounted the rear bracket. Then re-positioned the console, pushed the rear spacer in place, screwed down the front screws, making sure the rear console screw holes were visible, and screwed them in. tightened the front screws and checked it for alignment with the dash.

Then I took the ebrake console cover plate and nudged the slot over the ebrake handle - this is 29 year old sun-baked styrene - don't force it. Then I wiggled the handle more or less into position, using the picture I took on the Capri, to see where the rear ebrake bracket hole had to go, relative to the rear console mount's front hole on the driver's side. Then I held the ebrake handle firmly, while removing the cover plate and marked it. Removed the console, leaving the rear mount bracket screwed to the tunnel. Drew a straight line in line with the side of the tunnel - It has to run straight back. What makes this tricky is the ebrake won't sit flat until you get the floor opened up. The holes are 1/4" diameter. The distance between them is exactly 4". The rear of the bracket hole is slotted to allow for about 1/16" each way - forward or backward.

I've done some sheetmetal tinsmithing, so I spent about an hour looking at my old sheetmetal brackets and figuring how to get the 'dip' into the tunnel, cutting the square for the rubber grommet over the adjuster rod, etc.

Here's the reason for the 'dip':


This is what I did.

I drilled 1/8" holes at every corner where the jigsaw would end - radiused corners are stronger than squared corners. I drilled a 5/16" hole inside the grommet hole, and another one, where I'd bend the sides of the 'dip' and rivet a galvanized cover from below the car. The ebrake 'dip' has no stress on it, even Ford don't reinforce this 'dip' on the Mustangs and Capris.


Then I followed the dots.


Then I shaped the sections:


And I roughed in the ebrake handle:


And this is what it looks like erected:

 

Are you volunteering your's to be the Other?

 

Since the carpet came from a sedan, I have to remove the console again and cut the carpet where necessary, and the thick underlay. I can now finish installing the wiring and hook up the console's goodies.

I finished up, and sat in my rear split Mustang folddown seat and felt like I won a soccer game. One pleased puppy!

 

No.
But if you wanna talk I can go "uh-uh"!

 

Norm,.....!! Don't know what to say!?

...


..your a freek, I like that in a guy!

 

I do that with my wife.

Well fine then, you stick with Column One. I'll pretend its a Turbo Six Stick!

 

I can imagine what hand built cars were like now.

 

E-brake cables are in now. No issues for length or inserting into the brake backer. Made for each other! Have to make up some cable endstops for the other end, and done. The length is purrrrrfect!

Wagons have 10" rear brake drums, like this RS Capri had. I don't think it would be a problem on Sedan foxes, because the Ford manual just says that the brake drum end of the cable measures 8.043 inches for either of the drum sizes. One size fits both, it seems.

Finally got the new snow tires off too.

 

Another First for me. It was hot today. 33C is about 90F. Under my tarp, it was running 52C! 123 degrees! I've felt 52C in Monterrey MX, where my wife is from, but it wasn't 75% humidity there. More like 30%. Brer wabbit moved real slow.