well Firebird guys, I may have solved our cup holder problems, after a few different plans and lots of cutting I think I'm pretty happy with the way its turning out. right now I still need to run a few layers of fiberglass over the whole thing but it should look good and hopefully be functional!

here the original plan, just a holder big enough for a can of coke


but then my Dad found a cup holder out of a saab we owned a while ago and he told me I could have it... so a lot more cutting and here she is. the plan is to have it perfectly smooth into the console lid so it looks like it belongs.



I have my whole interior pulled so I won't have pics of it fully mounted inside the car for a while.

 

what'd you get the cup holder out of? Post this on our NECF site too...

 

I dont know the exact model we got it out of but I think it was a saab 900 from the 90's but my families owned so many saabs I can't be sure. and I was planning on posting it over on NECF tomorrow after I had the fiberglass done so I could make it into a tech article.

also heres another pic to show how flush it fits

 

Awesome, this gives Camaro & Firebird owners with a dead console top an alternative to tossing it, great idea!

 

I gotta see this project go through. This is friggin' great man.

Can't wait to see it. Good job man.

 

What if you need to get something from the console??? (incase u didnt know, we dont have glove boxes).

You cant rest your arm, you cant use it as a storage space, not to mention youre probably gonna spill it if you have a manual any youre shifting.

Nulled 2 uses, and created 1.

Thumbs down from me.

 

thanks guys

online- I should actually still have a decent amount of room in the glove box, alls I use it for is my registration and insurance papers and my lug nut locks. and think about it, while you have a drink in these cars your not going to be resting your arm anyways, you'll be holding the drink, but thats why I decided to make it flush with the lid was so I'd still have a nice arm rest while theres no drink in there. and if I need something from the console, simply remove the drink and flip open the lid. but either way I like it and thats what matters most to me

 

well, no updates yet due to lack of funding and time but hopefully Ill get some fiberglass resign soon...

 

finally got some fiberglass filler today so here a pic after the second coat of glass.



also to make sure no filler goes to waste I'm using the extra on my shift plate since I needed a new one anyways... excuse the mustang paper next to it, I found it in the rag box lol

 

Looks like you're well on your way to a prototype.

Another option would be to install '91 GTA door panels with the cup holders already installed.

 

thanks, 91' gta door panels would have been nice, but being 16 theres a big lack of funding... plus its always nice to have something nobody else has, hence the camaro rocker ground effects on my car! lol

 

I didn't realize you were only 16 man. It's good to see that there is a spec of dust left of today's youth that has some taste in fine automobiles and not some piece of s#!t no bodyline havin' import!

 

I don't see how this would work I use my arm rest as...well an arm rest

 

for your next trick you should turn the center concel into a cooler that can properly house a 6pk.

 

don't tempt me...
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and it'll still work as an arm rest while theres no drink in it...

 

I think it's a marvelous idea!!!!!!

 

no, next is the (7up or sprite ripoff of pimp my ride) style one where he will install a fountain soda dispenser out of the dash

 

Good idea.. but I just went to advance.. spent $2 for the fold up one.. drilled 2 screws into the flat part of the dash to te right of the ac controls.. and when it folds up.. the black matches up.. and when I want it.. it folds down and works well...

 

swapping a 4th gen console would be easier and you get 4 cupholders with it, but that's been done to death..

 

With the scarcity of thirdgen parts nowadays and sometimes cost, sometimes going to the fourthgen is the best way to go.

 

thats the exact reason I didn't do that... and no more progress yet, this is pretty much a spare time project.

 

12 pack cooler on the passenger seat...and if someone is sitting in that seat, you've got yourself a beerbitch, and it's her problem where the cooler goes...

 

personally I like it in my 4th gen, but I'd never put one in a 3rd gen, I think the 3rd gen consoles have a lot of character to em

 

89rs- I agree, I think the same about the 4th gen dashes too.

 

More import trashing on a domestic site? Thats sad I own and love a mazda mx6 and a 90 350 T/A and I gotta say the T/A has a long way to go before it can compare to the mazda.

I've allways loved the 3rd gen cars but when it comes to "bodylines" third gens are pretty much wedges while my mx6 has a beautifull curvy style that looks like a new car 16 years later.

Now if yer talkin about hondas...


I'd have done the consol in leather or vinyl. Glass will eventualy crack if you actualy use it as an arm rest.

My mazda came with a similar holder and it's pretty much useless since it's a 5 speed but it only has 1 other holder in the drivers side dash.

 

You can't honestly be saying an early 90's mazda mx6 is a good looking car? They look like elongated neon's... any 3rd gen f-body is by far a better looking car.. maybe you should sell yours if you honestly think that little econo-box is superior in any aspect but gas mileage..

 

They handle a lot better also. I'm not going to get in to a bitch off on someone elses thread but yeah I think the 2G mx6 is a graet looking car.

They were only a few tenths off the fastest TPI cars when new and most people see times nearly a second faster after 10+ years if the car was maintained.

The quality all around was far far superior to any GM car sold in the US at the time.

When I say the T/A has a long way to go to match the 6 I mean that ride handeling and reliability is more important than 1/4 mile times.

Both cars will be auto X'ed and driven hard on the track and as things sit now the T/A just cannot compete with the 6.

Keep in mind that the T/A is stock and needs work still before it's in top stock condition and the 6 has been lightened has upgraded brakes and a full exhaust. And the local track is flat and relatively tight so the T/A's torque and straight ahead speed will do little. The cars transitional attitude needs serious work before it can keep up with my mazda.

 

you know, for years i tossed around the idea of putting cup holders into my camaro, but just recently finally realized that i won't do it, to this one at least, but maybe the next one. I just realized that I rarely drink soda, and if i do drink anything, it is bottled and not canned. So after a few years of toying with ideas, I figured I'd just use the extra space on the console for things like cig lighters for navigation/phone/etc and a few other things. If i have a drink in my car, its in a bottle that can get capped and it's either between my seat and the console or in the back seat. Not for everyone, i know, but just my realization

Back on subject, progress looks good. are you planning on covering it with leather or anything? sorry if you had already mentioned that, i kinda just scrolled down after the guys above me got off topic

 

nah I'm not going to cover it, Im just going to get it perfectly smooth and then black base coat and some clear. maybe Ill even do some air brushing on it, anybody got any ideas what to airbrush on it? I was thinking the thirdgen firebird logo or maybe some flames.

 

.

I didn't know Mazda's were actually "imports?!" "Cough Cough Ford Cough Cough!" I don't think kids today even know anything about your Mazda.

I'm talking about cars that kids look up to today and most affordable imports are butt-ugly, have no sense of design, appear to have been block-sanded and are way overpriced for what you are getting, PERIOD. Scion should change it's name to MAYTAG. Toyotas are hidious, appear like they were pulled through an injection mold and all look the same with minute differences. Honduhs look like nothing more then block-sanded econoboxes (started the no-bodyline craze). Suzukis, well, I can only think of "rainbows" when I see Suzukis. Need I go on? No.

Anyway . Tmic87TPI, I would do the Firebird logo man. Flames are, well, old. Waiting to see some new pix from ya.

 

But...There used to be a very cool, ABS glove box, that was made for 3rd gens. And they FIT...They were textured correctly & everything.

Pull your dash emblem off, put the box up there, put your emblem o it, like they are stock, and you'd never know it wasn't stock.

Unfortunately, they are no longer made. I managed to find someone at the manufacturer that remembered them. But alas...no plans to start making them again.



And no...I have pic of one, just the original text I wrote for TGO when we founded this site.

 

I know EXACTLY what youre talking about. I saw one in a heavily (but stealthy) modified GTA, i thought maybe it was a GTA option cuz it looked really stock. Id have to find the pic again.

87TPI, hows the progress coming? Im not much for the idea, but id like to see how it turns out none the less.

 

no progress, been working too much lately! but I have this weekend off so you'll probably see some pics by tomorrow night.

stephen- that thing sounds really cool, I'd love to get my hands on one.

 

well I worked for a little while on it tonight, got the fiberglass sanded, and got the first skim coat of filler (bondo) sanded, it still needs another skim coat before I prime it but heres some pics.
P.S. - excuse the dirty workbench lol

 

hope some people want to see finished pics, I ended up rattle canning it because I didn't want to spend the money for black base coat and my school had none left over.

 

Pretty, but 2 things come to mind....

Hot armrest in the summer, bare arm....

And how well will the paint hold up anyways?

I'd have gotten some fabric or vinyl and covered it, but that's just me.

 

Wow after looking at the fiberglass job I was thinking it's going to look like junk but finish piece looks great

 

thanks guys
haah, my first time working with fiberglass filler, Im used to real fiberglass resign and mat.
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it should hold up fine, Ill keep it clean.

 

Damn when you said "finished" you werent kidding!!!

Are you going to do the same to the other panels in the car?

Stephen, if he rattle canned the thing, it should hold up like most any exterior paint. Maybe a little fading due to sun exposure compared to quality paint, but probably no biggie.

Still not a fan of the location, but it looks real good. Nice job.

 

Great job, looks really nice. As for the ABS glovebox, I'd LOVE to see pics of it, maybe I could copy it in fibreglass.

 

That looks great... I too am not a big fan of the location but that looks kick azz... You done a great job... please keep us updated if you do any other panels... As for the airbrush... I believe I'd just keep it black...

 

Wow, that turned out a lot better than I thought it would when I saw the first couple pics. I too am not a big fan of the location but way to follow through. A lot of my friends are always talking about fixing stuff but they always seem to just take it out to work on and it never makes it back into the car, lol. It's nice to see people actually follow through.

Props,
Mike

 

dude that thing is beautiful! lol great job!! thats definitely not what i was thinking it would end up as..

 

Hey man looks killer,glad to see you didnt just put a fourth gen console in,keepin it third gen.

 

I really have to question the placement.. I mean it's right in the middle of the armrest. Why wouldn't you put it in the rear or the front, where you could still put your arm there? Or better yet, put it in the console itself?

I also question whether or not that thing's going to last, or if it's going to crack the first time one of your friend's leans on it too hard.

Fiberglass filler is not the same as actual fiberglass mat and resin. It's basically just a different formulation of bondo, and I don't know that it's going to be very strong.

Did you apply it right over the vinyl on the armrest? If that's the case, you have no structural foundation under the filler.

You would have been better off with real fiberglass mat and resin. It would have retained its own strength once it was set properly.

Mathius
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Not unless he gives it like a month to cure 100% and even then I'd be skeptical. If rattle can was as good as regular paint, they wouldn't charge as much for the good stuff.

Not to mention an armrest is going to have him rubbing his elbow on it all day long while he's driving, unlike his exterior panels.

Mathius

 

ive wanted to do this to the trunk well for some time now...
you might have inspired me

 

mathius - I know where your coming from and I understand your concerns. I know the resin/sheet would have been better but I started this on a whim when I didnt have a drivers license yet so all I had around the house was fiberglass filler, its been in the car since finished and its holding up great. I don't let friends lean on my console though just incase (not to mention the car hardly has passengers and those passengers know my cars more important then anything). and I sanded the vynal down so the filler would stick.
as for the paint its "wrinkle" paint, it wrinkles up after a few hours to match factory texture, Ive actually had people see it and ask about it thinking it was factory.

and I dont know what you guys are talking about, I put it far enough back so that I can still use the arm rest as an arm rest... I couldn't put it in the shiftplate for multiple reasons, mainly I would be concerned about all the electrical wires.. and liquid sitting there is just asking for havoc.

basically what I did was take junk parts that I had and made something unique that Im proud of. oh and its 100% functional...

 

How do you open the console up, with a drink in it? Wouldn't the drink spill?

 

since I'd only need to open the console with the car parked I just stick the drink between my legs, Ill admit I had to trim the console section to clear the cupholder but its not bad.

 

Are you serious? Obviously he takes the drink out first.

Mathius