Center Console Bulging. Why ???

[MetalSteve]

Trying to reassemble my center console and get rid of the left side bulge once and for all. It's not lining up properly no matter what. It skews toward the drivers' seat. Here is a pic showing everything mocked in place, but loose. I loosened every screw I can find but it won't budge into place. It used to line up perfectly but a shop did some rushed work years ago and it's been this way ever since. Thoughts ???

 

[YY1]

Design flaw.

You're lucky it's not cracked there yet.

 

[4vnut]

Mine is the same as yours. I just ignore it, or try to.

 

[MetalSteve]

Really ??? I've owned the car since the early '80s and never noticed it until a few years back when it came back from a shop. I always thought it was straight and flush.

 

[Ron H]

I’d say the console top has to come off completely to find what’s impeding the correct placement of the plate. Maybe not removing the entire console, but that might be necessary. What work did the shop do having to mess with this…some work on the trans, the shifter?

 

[#41]

The fit on these isnt great to start with, and then they tend to warp right there. The plastic is thin.

 

[Ron H]

Had a Challenger with the same console and it was set right. This one looks cocked and the height of the plate may not be lining up with the side of the console to set in place. Can putz with it all day, but MO something is blocking the plate to set better and not a good idea to force plastic…it isn’t in right.

Lol, when I heard a ‘shop’ did the work, I cringe as they aren’t working on ‘their’ car. Thinking of my Challenger, taking it in the shop for warranty work on the rally dash cluster, good Lord, the bezel re-install was so effed up, noticing it at night with OH lighting shadowing out half the gauges, I re-worked it. And this is after I took it back to get a new bezel as they scratched the fake wood on their first fix. Last thing I wanted to do is take it back in to the dealer to have them fix the bezel placement. Can’t count how many times I had to rework crap a shop – did.

 

[MetalSteve]

Ron, like I said, I've owned the car since 1983 and it never seemed this "off" to me. Shop DK'd around with it in a hurry years back, can't even remember why, screwed up the plate, the alignment of the mechanism, AND broke the t-handle. Then the car sat. ETC ETC. Now I'm finally getting around to making it more presentable with zero budget. Side note: The console was never removed, just the top plates etc etc. Is the silver plate supposed to go under the lip of the console? Because it doesn't want to. And yes, everything seems cocked.

 

[Ron H]

Ron, like I said, I've owned the car since 1983 and it never seemed this "off" to me. Shop DK'd around with it in a hurry years back, can't even remember why, screwed up the plate, the alignment of the mechanism, AND broke the t-handle. Then the car sat. ETC ETC. Now I'm finally getting around to making it more presentable with zero budget. Side note: The console was never removed, just the top plates etc etc. Is the silver plate supposed to go under the lip of the console? Because it doesn't want to. And yes, everything seems cocked.

Aside from the plate looking askew, it also appears the 'height' of the plate could be goofed, not allowing it to mate with the edge of the console. MO, the only way to fix this is to get the top off to see what might be blocking the plate to sit better, thinking this may be enough, w/o getting into the console body, not sure, sold my Dodge years ago. Something looks to be impeding the set of the plate, or sloppy job having reinstalled it. This work requires a sequence to put it back together right, JMO.

 

[MetalSteve]

Ron, the entire console was filthy with decades of crude and such, so I took the wood grain plate off to replace the grain with new material, I took off the black slider, the P-R-N-D-2-1 indicator, and the chrome shifter gate to clean and I painted the console and door.

Question: Shouldn't the chrome metal plate be attached somehow ??? It was just kinda laying loose on top of the mechanism and slides around. The wood grain plate sorta holds it in place though.

PS to all: Don't try to clean the P-R-N-D-2-1 indicator. Or at least an original one. The slightest touch wipes the lettering & numbers off. Now I need a new one.

 

[YY1]

There aren't enough attachment points on the bottom part of the console.

Next time you are at a swap meet, look at the used ones for sale.
99% of them will be cracked right there.
Any that are not will be double or triple the price of the others.

The last time I lokked into this, I believe I considered milling off 1/8" from the left side of the chrome indicator plate.

...but that would still leave the attacment point issue with no way to draw the side in.

 

[Badvert65]

On the 74 Road Runner I used to have, the steel brackets welded to the floor for the console mount were slotted. This allowed me to move the console body around some to align itself with the shifter. It was only about 1/4 - 3/8", but that was usually more than enough for getting things to fit properly. I don't recall whether the shifter itself could be moved around. If I can find pics, I'll post them.
Take all the console mount screws out and see if the console body will sit in place without the bulge. That will at least tell you if it is warped or not.

 

[Ron H]

Did you use some alcohol-based or solvent cleaner? Dang, I learned some lessons here fortunately using a mule gauge I had. Mild soap, a couple of q-tips gently dabbing and a water-dampened (not saturated) cotton ball to wipe off the soap residue.

 

[MetalSteve]

Did you use some alcohol-based or solvent cleaner? Dang, I learned some lessons here fortunately using a mule gauge I had. Mild soap, a couple of q-tips gently dabbing and a water-dampened (not saturated) cotton ball to wipe off the soap residue.

No, I actually just started wiping it with warm water and my finger and the lettering started coming off.

 

[MetalSteve]

The last time I lokked into this, I believe I considered milling off 1/8" from the left side of the chrome indicator plate.

I am going to do something similar, kinda, for now by just painting the edge of the chrome plate black, hopefully giving the illusion of being lined up better.