so i thought i could just cut the hole bigger, but that wasn't enough.... so i had to cut out the whole part where the shifter and shifter indicator goes and raise it up a little bit....(i am not done yet btw) i plan on using a boot like the 3rd gen shifter. well here are the pics

started the bondo.... this was my first time with bondo....







(these are some cell phone pics, camera decided not to work )
questions, comments, concerns?

I guess my main concern would be that bondo isn't a very good plastic adhesive.

ya, i realized that, and i was going to get some epoxy and put over the bottom to hold it in, i hope that would work well enough

I found that welding with a good soldering iron and the same type plastic will work wonders. try that.

so could i take the tip off the soldering iron and use all the pieces of plastic i cut off to weld them together? so would that also work where i filled in the gaps with plexi glass?

good luck with your project. Can't wait to see how it turns out. I had a autoshift 4th gen center console but what I did is raise the whole center console about an inch, but it sat so up and far forward that I had to make my own radio pod and I was never satisfied with it, so I just got a manual shiftplate and made a gear indicator on the dash...

leave the tip on. cut the strips into about 1/8 inch strips and do it like a welding rod. Works great. Get the iron really hot and use it like a welding rod.

well it looks like my plan changed a little....

how do you think this would look?

it all even up to the cup holder?
or maybe a little below the edge on the sides?






EDIT: actually i think i am going to keep the ashtray lid, and put some switches or something in there, and make it flat all the way back to the cup holder, still don't know if i want it totally even or a little below the edge on the sides....????

I would be very interested in seeing how this ends up, if all goes well, i'd document it on badassiroc.com for your achievement.... Also I had a 4th gen firerbird 6 speed console and had it crack on me when I tried to put it in. that was a definite fail.

this is basically what i am going for.

(red outline is the piece i am installing.)

and here are just some pics of where i am at.

well i am on my way to the finish!!!!

now i gotta glue and bondo this piece of plexiglass in and then modify a bracket for this black thing....goto bottom of post for that













and basically my plan is to make a new bracket for this.... the green part is the part i hope to make, and the part with red on it is the old part that is going to gt cut off because it is too tall

I'm doing the same with an auto console, I got it mostly in but not all the way. You sure did a lot of cutting on there, I may just raise the base up slightly to clear everything. Later.

are you going to be able to raise the front up with it right at the radio pod like that? or were you just going to raise the back up?

and i have been kinda lazy lately on this project. but i have been cleaning my 4th gen seats, so those should be going in soon

I think I'll need to shave off some of the front of the console just below the radio pod for clearance. Hopefully that'll give me the room I need to raise the front cause I really don't want to cut out the whole top like you have (lazy I guess). Later.

started the bondo.... this was my first time with bondo....

Looks like it was your first time w/ digital camera.. j/k

I have found that black ABS plastic works great & almost looks factory w/ a texture on the finish side.
You can find it at TAP Plastics" they also have ABS cement, that bonds in about 90 seconds & is just as strong as a molded piece. Its amazing what the right chemicals can do to plastic.
I made an underwater camera housing w/ Acrylic & bonding cement, it holds my Sony Handicam. (still works & is air tight too)

well i was lazy, so i just attached the pics threw this site.

this is where i am at now, a little more sanding, and a little more bondo and it should be good.

I got myself a 4th gen lt1 style centerconsole its a manual, my only issue is finding where you guys got these radio pods from. From the pics online iv seen the 4th gen radios are in the dash itself so where are these aftermarket(maybe) radio pods that you guys are using with these center consoles?

Theyre Not aftermarket. Theyre from 85-92 Firebirds.

well, i got a new interest on this, i worked on it today.

i saw a 5-speed center console for sale, so i thought it would be a good time to finish this and if i did not like it i could just go buy that one!

and i also figured out a new way of making it!

new plan-ish thingy

thats a boot like the original shifter in my 89 firebird

destroyed all that hard work i put into it




got an old piece of that top abs plastic that went on the headliner behind the t-tops and fabbed it up and put "abs sludge" on it (both parts are abs this time )

**NOTE: i took those plier clamps off and it holds it self, but i feel better having them on there till i get it finished

So I'm assuming that the console is not a direct swap? lol. I thought it was and was thinking of digging one out of a boneyard somewhere eventually... might just stick with my 3rd gen console if I'd have to fabricate the 4th gen console to line it up and make it look/work right.

I tried this with a 4th gen firebird console (6 speed) to put over my B&M mega-shifter, and it cracked the console. I think I will try it again one day.

The automatic 4th gen console, no, the manual, yes.

Good job on the console pop! I think if I ever get an aftermarket shifter, I'll do what you are doing, just cut a large rectangle out and fabricated my own hole...

* this was the greatest picture and paint post EVER! i could see myself doing something like this... which is why i found it so humorous. thanx-

JEBUS... talk about going past the point of no return!!

The only thing you need now is:

a) An old priest
b) a young priest
c) holy water

wtf happened here??!!!

i know this has all been addressed, but......

epoxy OVER bondo is like putting.................................

man, i can't even think of a good analogy..

let's just say it will hold for a month or two, eventually it will break apart...

putting epoxy over it won't help too much... you're just not adding structural integrity, you're just covering the patch with a patch....

take all the bondo off, and get good epoxy and do it right or you'll be tearing it all back apart as soon as your fat drunk friend falls into your car and breaks it all loose.... or your kids start bouncing around on it for some reason, or your girl reaches over to..........


..... and it's guaranteed to happen, just don't know when...