35 replies to this topic

[Tyre biter]

As described, I am trying to fit the centre console into the car.

 

The top of the console keeps fouling on the centre vents assembly leaving the tail perhaps half an inch above the rear mounting plate whilst also making some very uneasy noises when trying to slot it under the vents - 40-odd year old plastic going 'crack' is a worrying thing :(

 

Yes, I have removed all underlay below the carpet covering the trans tunnel, alas no change.

 

I could of course jam it in there and pack up the back end of it - just seems a tad dodgy is all, plus the plastic is clearly very much under stress and again, this can only spell long-term issues for the console's plastic construction.

 

This is yet another task in the re-build which feels entirely like Ikea furniture: "A won't go in to bloody B FFS!'.  Why this thing just doesn't want to go back together easy-peasy is beyond me...

 

Ad so, I can't work out what is going on nor why - the heater box has no adjustibility (is that even a word?) and so can't push it up any to give me some more room.

 

I have heard this is not an uncommon issue and so I am putting it out there - has anyone had this issue and if so, how did you remedy it?

 

Appreciate your experiences on this one - I am simply out of ideas and about to put yet more dents in the back of my garage door what with more spanners being hurled.  The toys are out of the cot on this one I can tell you.

 

Regards, TB

Edited by Tyre biter, 30 April 2015 - 02:32 PM.

[StephenSLR]

A picture says a thousand words. Try to post up what you have, where the snags are, you may have wrong components.

 

It should be a simple bolt up.

 

s

[Tyre biter]

Jeff,

Perfect and not messed with in answer to your questions.

And I can't take anything off the bottom because the inner and outer of the console meet there and to do so would bugger it all.

I am wonder if I should take a bit out of the tops but this would be far from ideal - I would rather pack it up at the back where is screws to the plate below the compartment.

Just concerned at the stress on the console over the long term doing it this way hence the 'pro' for cutting a bit off the tops.

 

Stephen,

Thanks for your interest but no pics required - it is what it is - the components are all a-okay - everything is OEM and where it should be - it is just the fit hence my comment relating this bloody car of mine to kit built furniture...

I have heard this issue has been encountered by some before hence my asking how others fixed it.

As I see it, I have two choices - pack the rear and cross fingers the integrity of the console remains intact over the long-term what with the tension, or alternatively, cut the tops of the console.

Neither are ideal but I am flush out of ideas hence my enquiring what others who have had this problem have done.

Cheers, TB

Edited by Tyre biter, 30 April 2015 - 02:55 PM.

[Tyre biter]

Thanks Jeff,

Here is a photo in-situ at its natural position before needing to be pushed forward under the vents and funny thing is that even then it sits a tad high at the back where it bolts in:

It should slot this far per this exemplar from TF in 2013:

 

 

The console came out of another car (I bought it on Ebay) and so goodness know's its history - my car was a mess when it came to me - easier to write a list of what came with than not.

Having said that, it is a very tidy and intact console and so I do not expect anything to have been moved because of repairs and whatnot at some stage, but you make a valid point - maybe it is not the heater box and car but the console to start with.

 

And the heater box was put in ages ago before anything else by me - it had nothing to snag on but to be sure, my cursory look just now reflects the same.

 

Cheers, TB

Edited by Tyre biter, 30 April 2015 - 03:14 PM.

[Tyre biter]

Makes sense Daz - certainly didn't think of that - thank you.

Any con's in this approach - thinking the back of the heater box needs to form a seal against the firewall is all?

Cheers, TB

Edited by Tyre biter, 30 April 2015 - 03:31 PM.

[EunUCh]

just out of curiosity?,when the heater was installed in the cab did the nylon spacer go on with it?

[Tyre biter]

Good question - yep - I recall this and checked now - installed.

It is shaped a bit like a rego plate frame right?

heers, TB

[mika03au]

just out of curiosity?,when the heater was installed in the cab did the nylon spacer go on with it?

Curious of this spacer, do you have a picture?

Can you buy them from any place as I dont think I have one?

 

Craig the console looks a little different to mine, is yours a repaired one? 

 

 DSC03469.JPG   154.26K   11 downloads

Edited by mika03au, 30 April 2015 - 04:41 PM.

[hatchssv8]

Thats the one.

 

You mentioned the condition of the plastic.....most of them are like that now.....brittle and easy to crack.

 

What I have done is put urethane on the inside where the plastic pieces join and a film of urethans where the plastic has been stressed and may crack.

 

Sofar so good.

[StephenSLR]

You mentioned the condition of the plastic.....most of them are like that now.....brittle and easy to crack.

 

Absolutely, over time the plasticisers in vinyl and plastic dry out leaving the product less flexible; even quicker in sunlight.

 

s

[EunUCh]

In the pictures posted it looks like vent on yours is sitting a little low compared to the bottom of the dash as compared to

the second picture, but could be just camera angle/lighting?

 

Weird and frustrating,about the only other thing i can think of is that one the top bolt/s in the heater got "snagged" on the threads and even though it felt like 

it went all the way up it got stuck or as already suggested something got stuck between the box and bulkhead?,bit hard to tell once the box is in,any gap on the top side of the box where it meets the bulk head? would probably only have to be a mm or 2 and at the vent end it would end up a bit more.

 

Pic. of spacer fitted,roughly 2.5mm thick.

 spcr.JPG   72.34K   5 downloads

 

 

 

[EunUCh]

^ good point, just took one off ,it is too,the top is the thin bit and it has a rib that starts just below the "corner" and continues around the bottom to the other "corner".

The bottom measurement is close to 5mm and the rib faces the box,if fitted upside down that would be enough to drop the box at the vent end enough to cause a "bit of" a problem.

[EunUCh]

side on view,"fat bit" to bottom of box.

 sph.JPG   24.2K   4 downloads

[hanra]

GMH Torana forum members to the rescue me thinks!!!!

[Tyre biter]

All,

Thank you for your help.

What you suggest makes sense Baron, and EunUCh's photos make it all the more apparent.

I'll get the box out and have a look - fingers crossed I have it in the wrong way and all will therefore be sweet once fixed.

Thanks once again and cheers, TB

[Kirk]

I m having the same problem in the hatch but when i put the console  in the sedan no problems it lines up perfectly.The heater in the hatch was taken out and put back in but the one in the sedan hasnt been touched .I am assuming the heater was not reinstalled properly

[Tyre biter]

Ah the good old dance we play building cars....

 

First you take a step forward, then two back....then one to the left...then two back....then two forward, one to the right, and sixteen back.....

I hear you Bomber - everything I do with this car takes three goes or so it seems.

Truth be told however, it is more to do with 'operator error' his unfamiliarity with the car than anything else.

Friends in my club seemingly do this stuff with their eyes closed and have long learned the pitfalls I always seem to encounter.

I have learned to stop and savour the wins as they arise - I'd go mad otherwise!

And so fingers crossed, this is all to do with the direction I have fitted the gasket and thereafter it will be smooth sailing...

Probably should have said that out loud - Murphy's Law will probably bite now :(

It is also what is great about this forum: 180-odd views and 20-odd replies to my request for help and voila, it seems the matter is resolved - this place and the community that underwrites it is a brilliant place.

And tell me, have you bitten the bullet and committed to TF 2015 as yet?

Cheers, TB