The Bolton Build - 818C

[FFRWRX]

First thing, I did some additional machining to clean up the shifter assembly I made. Also made a shift knob and then powder coated all the various parts. I’m really happy with the way it came out. The switch at the rear is for the electronic parking brake.

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What to do with the center console panels? Since there is a lot of stuff in there that I may need to get at (shift linkages, wiring, fuse box, relays) I wanted it to be easily accessible. So, the stock aluminum panelling was out. Besides, with my shifter I would need to modify the stock panels anyways. I didn’t want small removable panels since that would most likely mean seams, joints, exposed fasteners, and a lot of work. The easiest thing would be to have it all removable. How about removable in a minute or two? How about removable without any tools? How about no exposed fasteners?

A quick mock-up on the side panels with cardboard:

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Something like this, obviously with some sort of panels on top. The forward one would run up under the dash and have a place for the A/C and heat controls. I could make these panels from thin wood, covered with foam and vinyl.
While looking at the cardboard pieces it came to me how to meet all the goals for the console panel attachment.

First, the cardboard pieces transferred to wood, then covered with thin foam:

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I didn’t take a picture of them covered with the vinyl at that stage. But I did figure I needed to cut the side panels into 2 parts, since with the seats in, it would be very difficult to get them in and out if it was one long panel from the front to the rear. One panel will end at the front of the shifter and the other one will go from there to the front firewall.
So how to hold them in place without any exposed fasteners and no plastic door panel clips (you know, the kind that break off most of the time or else tear out of the wood panel)?

I 3D printed these plastic retainers. They are 6” long each:

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I stuck them onto the aluminum floor panel with 3M VHB double-sided tape:

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The panels slide into those retainers to hold them in place at the bottom:

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Now, how to hold them at the top? Magnets!! I’ve used the small rare earth magnets a number of times recently in wood working and metal work. I was originally going to use them to hold the side panels in place at the top and bottom, but then thought that the plastic retainers would be a better way. Then I was going to use them just for the top of the side panel, but thought of another way.
I made a top piece from slightly thicker wood. The sides of it go down over the side panels to hold them in place.

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This is the bottom of it with the magnets in place. The magnets are in small cups that apparently increase the magnetic force of the magnet. The cups are epoxied into flat-bottom bores in the wood. You can see how the sides go down to overlap with the top of the side panels to hold them in place.

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The top with the vinyl on it.

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The slots in it are for small storage pockets I’m 3D printing. There isn’t a lot of room for them since the shifter cables run through the area in the middle, but it will be useful for a phone or other small things.
When the printer finishes, I’ll put it all in place with the side panels and take a few pictures. I tried the top panel to see how the magnets hold and no issue there……..they really hold!

I’m really pleased with how this is coming out. I can pop the top panel off which then releases the side ones and then slide them up out of the retainers. Even with the seats in place it shouldn’t be an issue to remove them. No tools, no exposed fasteners.

Now I’m working my way forward with the panels. I’ll use the same concept there.

Rick