In my '69 Chevy C10 I took out the stock bench and put some buckets out of a Mazda RX7 and I love them but now I need a consol. What materials should I use to build a consol?? Does anyone know a site that would give me some ideas on the size and shape I want this thing.. I will want to mount a shifter in the consol. I think it would look cool with aluminum diamond plate covering the sides and 2" around the shifter and cover the rest in carpet, I definatly need a place to rest my arm/

Hey, Gearhead69

I'm headed in the same direction as you with my truck.

When I installed a Gennie shifter and side-mounted handbrake in my truck, I discovered the trans was too close to the floorboard to just mount the boot, so I built a 2-inch "starter console" around it and it came out pretty cool. I used 1" x 2" pine for the sides (perfect height), layed a piece of 1/2" plywood on top and covered that with jute insulation.

Next, I plan on a trip to the scrap yard to find the right bucket seats ... after I find those, I'm gonna install my carpeting and finish designing the console! This, to me, is exciting! You get to do whatever you want! A place to throw some loose change ... a place for a drink ... CDs ... etc., etc. ... and, like you said, an arm rest -- check out the cool armrests Shawn designs at <a href="http://www.kristkustoms.com/" target="_blank">KristKustoms.com</a>

I guess 1" x 2" pine is cool for the structural part of it all, then I'd build onto that with 1/8" plywood, covered with closed-cell foam and naugahyde or material ... or carpet ... or any combination of those. I'm no expert, by any means, but I'll be tackling it and learning as I go.

There are 2 books I bought that explain the process in more detail :
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1931128006/alanhorvaacousro" target="_blank">Automotive Upholstery Handbook</a>

<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1555611400/alanhorvaacousro" target="_blank">Custom Auto Interiors</a>

Also, you can see pics of what I've done so far, at my site link (below my sig).

Alan
<a href="http://AlanHorvath.com/54chevy/" target="_blank">54 Chevy Pickup</a>

Hey sup. I say you plan out what kinda shape you want. I built mine out of birch plywood 1/2 inch thick. It aint yet done but birch plywood dont split an stuff like that as easy as other plywoods. I jus cut mine and used wood glue and and air nailer. If I run into a web page ill post it up. You might wanna try www.hotrod.com and search, but you prolly lready did to get the diamond plate idea ... Good Luck , Chris

MDF board.