Centre Console Fitment

[Nath 1,975]

Managed to find a manual centre console for my XD but it seems like it's just off (it's from an XE). Won't sit flat properly and the screw holes are a bit off. Also I noticed that using the shifter pulls the boot and console around a lot, I'd imagine that would put a lot of stress on the shitty little screws that are meant to hold it on.

 

Question - does the manual have a metal frame  like this that sits on top of the box and under the console like the auto? It didn't come with the parts I used for the conversion ages ago.

 

 

 

 

 

[Nath 1,975]

Also it looks like the bolt head on the shifter is just barely hitting the side of the console when going to 1st/2nd. Might have to bust out the Dremel tool but I was hoping not... Already got enough repairs to do on this console without hacking into it more.

 

 

This is a five speed from an E series, not the stock single rail so not sure if it needs help to fit. 

 

Have to find a way to secure the boot too, looks like the previous owner just glued it but that seems like not a great solution. Seems to be missing the ring that goes under there.

[deankxf 20,288]

19 minutes ago, Nath said:

This is a five speed from an E series, not the stock single rail so not sure if it needs help to fit

 

what i did with those shifters (need to be a bit handy) is delete that rubber bush thing.  (from memory i rounded off flanged nuts and inverted them as a metal bush with thread inside and then did bolts up)

that may give you the space you need also. 

 

i can't remember what XDs had to hold the boot on, but XE/XF had a big ugly rubber boot that slipped over a metal ring pop riveted on the top of the console

 

[deankxf 20,288]

removing that rubber bush in the shifter also makes the feel 100% better.(in My opinion)

[Nath 1,975]

4 minutes ago, deankxf said:

 

what i did with those shifters (need to be a bit handy) is delete that rubber bush thing.  (from memory i rounded off flanged nuts and inverted them as a metal bush with thread inside and then did bolts up)

that may give you the space you need also. 

 

i can't remember what XDs had to hold the boot on, but XE/XF had a big ugly rubber boot that slipped over a metal ring pop riveted on the top of the console

 

The bush under this rubber cover thing?

 

That doesn't seem to be the issue, it's not really touching anything when the console is down. It seems like the box sits a little further to the left than the X series one so the shifter is over a bit further too. I remember I had to make some extra clearance in the hole in the hump for the shifter too.

 

Funnily enough, the auto console worked fine as a manual one, plenty of room. Just can't get a boot to suit it as the cutout is rectangular.

 

 

 

[ZKFairlane 235]

This is the metal ring that XD's had.  This was for a borgie 4 speed.  As deankxf mentioned earlier, it's riveted on.

.

[deankxf 20,288]

19 minutes ago, ZKFairlane said:

This is the metal ring that XD's had.  This was for a borgie 4 speed.  As deankxf mentioned earlier, it's riveted on.

.

thats the XE XF type they actually cover up an auto hole (its what i've always had on mine until i used an EB console in the XF ute

[ZKFairlane 235]

That consoles a Frankenstein...  The console itself was out of a ZJ, the front metal hooks are from an XF console and I don't remember where I got the manual ring from.  I thought it was with an XD gearbox I picked up along the way.  I do remember that I had to trim out the hole to make the ring fit.  We did have it installed in the ZJ with the 4 speed and it worked a treat.

[Nath 1,975]

Ah okay, cheers.

 

At a bit of a crossroads now - I can either use the auto console and try to change the shape of the hole by JB welding some similar plastic underneath the cutout to make it smaller or try to butcher the manual console to fit.

 

Pretty annoyed about it actually, thing wasn't cheap. I thought they were standard fit, was hoping not to have to screw around with it other than fixing the cracks. Looks like the cutout is in the wrong position to accommodate the five speed, the screw holes don't align and the boot is too short for the shifter.

[ZKFairlane 235]

Seems odd that it won't work for you.

 

We put an EL T5 into the son's XF and all we did was swap the auto section for a manual one in the console.  We didn't have to modify it or the lever for the T5 to work.

 

Is the console seating properly into the dash?  I now I had a hell of a time getting ours to fit properly as I'd somehow mis aligned the dash and it wouldn't let the console go all the way in.

[Nath 1,975]

Hmm, okay that makes me wonder then. I tried refitting the auto console and it went in easily so I guess it's possible the dash is misaligned.

 

The manual one needs to come forward a bit more but it just won't, plus it's unstable. If I line the screws up as best I can with the holes, the shifter doesn't have enough clearance.

 

It's weird, I've made a blanking plate to block off part of the shifter hole in the auto console as that worked fine so just gonna see how I go with that, might be the simplest fix.

 

 

[deankxf 20,288]

2 hours ago, ZKFairlane said:

Seems odd that it won't work for you.

 

We put an EL T5 into the son's XF and all we did was swap the auto section for a manual one in the console.  We didn't have to modify it or the lever for the T5 to work.

 

Is the console seating properly into the dash?  I now I had a hell of a time getting ours to fit properly as I'd somehow mis aligned the dash and it wouldn't let the console go all the way in.

 

if the car never had the fancy console, (col shift or the base model console) the hole for the rear air vents needed cutting out of the dash/heater box area for it from memory (i had to block this when i used an XE ghia dash in My XE ute) 

[deankxf 20,288]

33 minutes ago, Nath said:

Hmm, okay that makes me wonder then. I tried refitting the auto console and it went in easily so I guess it's possible the dash is misaligned.

 

The manual one needs to come forward a bit more but it just won't, plus it's unstable. If I line the screws up as best I can with the holes, the shifter doesn't have enough clearance.

 

It's weird, I've made a blanking plate to block off part of the shifter hole in the auto console as that worked fine so just gonna see how I go with that, might be the simplest fix.

 

 

if the car never had the fancy console, or rear air vents (col shift or the base model console) the hole for the rear air vents needed cutting out of the dash/heater box area for it from memory (i had to block this when i used an XE ghia dash in My XE ute) 

[Nath 1,975]

Ah, I'll check to confirm that when I can. Mines a povo pack 3.3 with manual steering but it had air conditioning so there were vents in the console.

 

If I can manage to fab up something decent I'll just use the auto console with a blanking plate. Already cut one just have to file it down to size properly. Ordered another boot from eBay. Not sure how I'm gonna go about securing it, maybe glue it on the underside 

 

Just saw a photo of the metal ring that goes on the XE console - I think I have that somewhere but no idea how to secure it without cracking the plastic.

[ZKFairlane 235]

Thinking about it, I also had problems lining up the vent in the console with the air out bit in the dash.  A bit of tongue out and questioning the parentage of Henry Ford and I got it in ok in the end...

 

To secure the metal, CAREFULLY drill out the holes in the console and rivet the plate in.  I used aluminum rivets as they are softer than the steel ones.

[Nath 1,975]

Ended up using the auto console, made up a blanking plate from a bit of plastic to block off the extra space, just have to glue everything up now.

 

Got an extra long shifter boot so I won't have to secure it to the bottom of the console, maybe I can do it to the hump to avoid cracking the crusty old plastic. Won't look perfect but it'll be alright. The ring I had didn't fit so I can't see another way to secure the boot without breaking stuff.