blazer console with T-56: shifter boot solution?

Hey all-

I am wrapping up the interior touches on the sleeperwagon and I am kinda stumped on this one. I got one of the Blazer/bravada center consoles and cut the driver's side seat and the fit is beautiful. The only thing about it that looks funky is that the shifter boot is offset to the passenger side and I don't like the shift indicator cutout sitting there vacant. Has anyone who has done a T-56 swap come up with a good looking solution to the shift boot area? I saw one with the entire console insert replaced with a faux-carbon fiber insert and it looked good, but I am trying to keep the interior as OE-looking as possible and I really like the way the wood grain matches the dash accents. I am OK with cutting out the opening bigger and using a larger boot if anyone knows of one that looks good. I own a machine shop so I can fabricate any necessary adapters or parts. Looking forward to seeing some elegant solutions!

Tom

Tom, I’m about in the exact same spot as you. Just finished the T56, bought a blazer console and it’s supposed to arrive today. I used the googles to bring me through S10 forums about T56 and consoles. I came across this one; look at the first pic. The cup holder is basically cut off underneath but uses the round-in-front / square-in-the-rear pattern to hold the leather FBody shift boot.

I found a thread somewhere with more pics but the author said the stock FBody shifter boot slides over that cup holder bezel perfectly and it looks pretty decent!

https://www.s10forum.com/threads/gas-mileage-expectancy.350940/page-2

https://www.s10forum.com/threads/ls-with-t56-trans.524722/

That is a totally different console than the one I got. Mine is like this one-

https://servimg.com/view/15396300/1780

https://servimg.com/view/15396300/1779

It must be the console or how the seats are positioned? Mine arrived tonight and I wasted no time cutting apart the drivers seat, cutting the base out of the cup holder and positioning things. Mine actually was a bit to the DRIVERS side, and I needed to flip the stock FBody shifter around so it moves the shifter away toward the passengers side (bolts now go in from the drivers side. Needed to cut off about 1/4” of the shifter base to allow the fit.).

It may just be a game of finding / fabricating the correct adapter or shifter to put the shift lever where you need it, and positioning the console around a bit as well to make it all look and feel right.

I used the crossmember from Clear Image, so I’m confident the alignment of the drivetrain and car are correct.

I have a B&M short throw shifter with a 1-pc shank so I am not able to re-position the shifter arm. I use the same crossmember, the workmanship and fitment were great so I'm sure it is centered. In fact, the B&M shifter is perfectly centered, the issue is that the model-year console I used has the boot opening offset to the passenger side and a window for the gear shift indicator (from the auto transmission) towards the driver side. It sounds like I am gonna have to cut the opening bigger and make a bezel to re-center the boot.

I see. When that console is in place it really looks awesome. Seen a few pics.

I finished mine this evening (same as you can’t figure how to post pics) but I’m very pleased with the result of the shifter position, armrest height etc.

The fit of the console to the floor as you move up toward the dash isn’t awesome. There are large gaps between the console and carpet, but I’ll save that chore for another day.

The project as a whole was really not bad. All that’s left is wiring in the reverse light switch, the reverse lockout, VSS, having the PCM flashed and changing the rear end (2.93 currently going to 4.56).

Even with the 2.93’s it’s so much fun to drove, grabbing gears. When I figure out how to post pics, I’ll add some.

4.56 is pretty extreme. I went with 3:73s and It feels about perfect. Still have a huge top end but I don't feel like I'm shifting every 3 seconds putting around town. It's gonna take me a while to datalog and get the tune perfect because I went way too far on the engine build. I have the first guess at the tune ready to flash but I'm sure it will need some tweaking. I eventually figured out how to add a link to the pictures in one of the posts above. The pic isn't my car (I have a blue interior) but the fit to the floor is quite good. I guess you either get a good fit at the floor or a good fit at the shifter but not both. My console is from a '94/'97 S10/Blazer/Bravada/Jimmy 2WD with an automatic trans and a floor shifter, which is apparently a fairly rare combination. Which console did you use?

The console in the pics you linked from the S10 forum above is for the '95 and up 2WD trucks with an automatic transmission and a column shifter rather than a floor shifter. The kickout towards the driver side up at the front is to cover up the hole where the transfer case lever would be if it was a 4wd. 4WD versions look similar to yours but have a slot in the console up in that corner for the lever. The consoles for the floor-shifter option are symmetrical from side to side up at the front and fit the transmission tunnel much more closely on the  B-body cars.

Hmmmmm. So figure out how to creatively position the shifter and cover up the shift indicator in the console....or figure out how to make the console itself for nicely to the floor (because the shifter, boot, position etc on the console I have is REALLY NICE and looks damn near OEM without much work at all.

I’m considering slitting the carpet from the shifter to the dash, unzipping it and stuffing in some additional carpet insulation to bulge out the carpet in hopes of closing the gap.

Keep me posted on your progress. I dig that console but didn’t want woodgrain.

My RMW has woodgrain trim all over the interior and I really wanted to console to look like it was OEM installed. The woodgrain really seems to tie it all together so I went out of my way to find one. I wanted every part of the build to be so seamless that anyone who doesn't know B-bodies inside and out can't tell that they are about to get their ass kicked. Spent hours tucking away and hiding every component of the nitrous system, stuck with iron heads but ported the hell out of them, etc. Other than the cold air intake, long tube headers and 3 inch exhaust nothing looks out of place unless you tear the car apart

Have you posted pictures of this sleeper?

An issue I just ran into, that I think I know how to fix (but am not looking forward to).

I disconnected the 3 plugs from my backup / neutral switch mounted to the top of the column (C-shaped white switch). It had 2 plugs with 2 wires each then a single green wire plug.

The center one was for backup lights (pink green) and i wired in my backup light switch wiring from the T56. I didn’t know what the others did so I left them disconnected.

Now....I’ve lost the ability to pop the back window with the dash button or exterior pop button.

I’m assuming the first plug I disconnected with 2 wires was to let the car know it’s in park, and let someone pop the rear glass.

Thinking I need to disassemble the dash again and jumper those wires to fool the car into thinking Park all the time, but I’m not sure what that single green wire plug was. It looks like it may have been the power or ground feed to the switch, and that may play a role in getting this rear glass pop operational again?

It's not too complicated, but this should help...

Insanely helpful, thank you! Appears easiest way to resolve is just to ground pin B4 of the release relay, as that’s what happens when in park and neutral.

Heckuva lot easier to get to than the switch on top of the dash. Thank you so much for that!!!

Now to figure out why I can’t select between heat vent and defrost after monkeying around under there. Worked fine before, so I’m sure I knocked a vacuum line off somewhere.

Couple things
You will also see that wire goes to the pcm so it knew if the car was in park or in gear when it was an auto.
If you simply ground that all the time, it thinks it is is park all the time and the decell fuel cut won't work. Something else,but it has been so long, purge maybe?
If you do want to ground the hatch switch all the time , disconnect the wire at the PCM.
Or run the wire through a diode to the park brake switch.
That way, you have some sort of deterrent so the hatch doesnt get popped driving .
In my case it reminds me to set the park brake because I cant get the car cover out if I don't.

That is some smart thinking right there

Tim Swink aka BigBlackBeaSSt had a Bravada console and T-56 in his wagon. He trimmed the shifter hole in the console for the shifter to clear in all the gears. for the hole that the auto indicator he used some extra leather left over from the shifter boot he had made, and made a small pouch the he put his cell phone in. Looking for pics.. I'll post if I find any.

Digging this up from the archives, to post a few pics of the blazer console installed. Very very pleased with the results.