With all of the Bravada console installations being discussed lately, it would be a good time to share some pics. This is an Impala T-56 console modification that was done in trade for the fiberglass hood now on the wagon.
We started off with a ’96 console already using the F2B offset adapter and a BBHP console insert with the C5 boot. For those that haven’t seen, or don’t remember them, it looked pretty much like this, even using the same C6 shift knob (although in much better condition that the mess seen in these examples found over @ ISSF).
The owner wanted to incorporate the Bonneville seat controls into his console, much easier said than done, as there is too little room forward of the shifter to mount it like is often done using the automatic shift plate. And the sloped section leading up to the armrest behind the shifter is both curved and tapered, making the it difficult to fit the keypad without gaps everywhere once it is in.
At the time this project started, the C5 boots were unavailable, and the owner wanted to keep his C6 shift knob. Using the C6 knob up to then was a bit of a kludge, as the C5 boot was basically stretched over the C6 knob until it is just short of tearing, and because the fit was off, it didn’t look that good. We wanted to incorporate a C6 boot to take advantage of the retaining ring feature that couples the boot and knob together.
We began by cutting material out of the sloped portion of the console to make enough room for the Bonneville seat controller. To get enough depth to fill in the curved portion, we then milled a completely new bezel for the keypad out of billet aluminum. By recessing the pad into the bezel, the sides were then tall enough to fill the gap between the flat button surface and the concave console. As you can imagine, this takes more that just an evening or two on manual machine to accomplish, utilizing a 2-axis CNC to make it happen.
We then took the C6 shift boot and carved out a retaining ring that enables the boot to mount from the underside, and dresses up the console opening.
Next, we cut a new lower insert to mount the shifter & ring, and fabricated a filler piece to bridge the gap between the console latch area and the upper bezel.
We purchased a sheet of the expensive 3M embossed sheeting to give the insert & filler a carbon fiber look, and finished off the installation with the addition of a W-body Impala dash emblem.
Enjoy.
- J
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Sun Jan 29, 2012 3:18 pm
