I would like to install a console in my 72 wagon, what makes or models will fit or can be made to fit? Any pics of yours would be appreciated.
Any type of console will require modification and drilling into your center hump. I used an 86 Merkur console before I installed my Mustang II one. Both of which fit perfectly and match up with the shifter and e-brake handle.
The Merkur one is more modern looking, while the Mustang II one has a larger armrest compartment, bigger coin tray, and is more era correct for a Pinto.
Also, the Merkur console does have a rubber like armrest, but the rest of it is plastic. Both consoles I have used were from Automatic cars, so a bit of modification was needed to make them look right with my 4spd stick shift. I had to secure an aftermarket shift boot to the Merkur console to make it look right, and it slid right over the original shift boot after removing the shift knob. For the Mustang II console, I used the original shift boot, but fabricated a bezel to make it look right in my car.
If you get one from a yard or eBay, be sure to grab the rear bracket for the Merkur one, and both front and rear brackets for the Mustang II one. The front bracket for a Merkur console makes it sit to high if you decide to keep your center cubby.
Here are some pictures of the old Merkur console, and the Mustang II console I just installed.
Thanks Dave, they both look good, are the Merkur consols easier to find than the Mustangs? I have the Tan interior so I would have to paint/dye the color if I could find either.
Both Merkurs and Mustang IIs are rare in junk yards here. However, to the best of my knowledge, all Merkurs had center consoles. Not all Mustang IIs came with them, some had interior packages like the Pinto with just an e-brake cover, others had the e-brake cover with a cigarette tray on the back, and then of coarse the ones with the full length center consoles (like many Ghia models and Cobra IIs).
I had searched every yard in south west Idaho for a Mustang II with a center console, and the only time I found a Mustang II was at my regular yard where I pulled my Steering wheel and the MII shifter I modified to work with the Pinto 4spd transmission. It was like a Pinto though, and only had an e-brake cover. I ended up finding the Mustang II center console in Spokane Washington, a nine hour drive from Boise Idaho, on Craigslist. I drove up there a few weeks ago to get it and pulled some parts off a Pinto while I was up there to make the trip worthwhile.
The Merkur one is a two piece plastic console console, as is the Mustang II. The Merkur's bottom half was Grey (the only interior color I have seen on Merkurs), and I used SEM plastic prep and Landau Black color coat to make it black.
As for my Mustang II console, it was Red. The bottom half is plastic, however the top half is solid vinyl, has a stitching pattern around it, and the armrest is softer since it is foam. I used SEM vinyl prep and the same SEM Landau Black I used on the Merkur console to make black.
SEM does offer other colors for their vinyl and plastic paints, however their products are not cheap. I spent $30 on the paint and plastic prep for the Merkur console (only needed one can of color coat), and $46 on vinyl prep and color coat for the Mustang II console (neeeded two cans of color coat to soak into the armrest). I purchased them from a local auto body paint and supply store. They might be cheaper online though.
The coin tray and shifter bezels on Mustang II consoles are made of plastic. The shifter bezel is "chrome plated" (vacuum metallized) like the Pinto gauge cluster and vents are. The chrome rubbed off when I started to buff it, so I just painted it silver until I can obtain an actual manual transmission bezel. The coin tray is actually chrome plated, however almost every console and coin tray I have seen has the chrome bubbling on it, or peeling around the edges like mine. I have yet to find a suitable replacement coin tray.
Does anyone have any pics of the e-brake cover/console that came in Pintos? I'm looking for a console to rest your arm on that would go over the e-brake that was a factory option(not out of a Mustang II or Merkur). If anyone has one let me know.
hi dave, I could see from the pics that you posted how you set up your dash, you place the guages into both those cars? or where they already there and you just remodled? could you post a pic of each car's dash from the back seat showing up the dashes/gauges and radio compartmets? thanks
My dad installed the gauges in my 78 Sedan, my 73 wagon doesn't have any gauges except what's in the cluster. I just added the plastic dash plate to surround the gauges.
This is the closest I have to what you're asking:
Thats looking good i got idiot lights lolol but i know where the dipstick is I see em every morning when i look in the mirror
lol.
Well my gauges on the dash for temp, oil pressure and the ammeter arn't perfectly spaced. The center gauge is noticeably closer to the one on the left than it is on the right, but the plastic panel kind of distracts you from the distance, at least on first glance.
They somewhat compliment the center console, giving you the comfort feel and convenience of engine statistics of the "higher end" Mustang.
cheers and thanks for the pics. looks good, love the center console!!!
I think I need to find a center console, Man, those look great