Center Console Boogaloo

Interior Work Begins 

The Talon has a two tone Grey and Black interior, which I'm pretty happy with.  Plus the power Leather Driver's Seat is something I've never had...wait, except for my old 05 Pontiac GTO.  That had Power...Everything!  Anyway.....

The Grey/Black interior is much better than the all Grey or Black and Tan interior that some 95-99 Eclipses and Talons got saddled with.  

However, it's but definitely not as cool as the all Black interior some 99 Eclipse's got.  I think the 99 OZ Rally Edition Eclipse was the only model that featured a factory "Black" interior, but I could be wrong.  Turns out it wasn't all Black, but had Black Door Panels and Inserts.

Some owners modified their interiors by painting them Black.  Some of them actually turned out pretty good. 

99 Mitsubishi Eclipse O.Z. Rally Edition

OEM 99 O.Z. Rally Edition Interior.  Not Completely Black From The Factory

Modified Interior With Painted Pieces

 I'd love to have something that in this car.  Actually, I would really love to have this car running and driving, so I guess my dream interior can wait....for now.

Anyway, my car came with some black interior pieces, to include the Center Console. 

Which was in pretty good shape, except for one..two, tiny little things.  Perfect, except for the 1.5 in Analog Water Temperature Gauge SOMEONE decided to install in front of the shifter.  Oh and there was a hole drilled for the LED used for the alarm I pulled out in my last post. 

This Is Why I Hate People

Fantastic.

The Gauge "Install" ruined what was otherwise a good condition Black Center Console, and it made the Gauge almost impossible to see while driving.  

Try looking past your shifter, at a small needle on a cheap 1.5 inch "Wal-Mart Special" Water Temp Gauge while driving.  

Sounds like a great way to drift into a telephone pole at night

I thought about installing a small Digital Voltmeter Gauge in place of the Water Temp Gauge, but decided to just replace the ruined Center Console with another non "Swiss Cheese" part.

Hunting High And Low

  It turns out, trying to find a decent 2G DSM Black Center Console in Wichita, is kind of hard.  I struck out at the ONE Pick and Pull type junkyard here in town.  Actually, I did find one but someone decided to break it in half while removing something else, instead of pulling it off clean.  The only other 2G in the yard, had a Grey Center Console, which was in perfect shape.  Of course.

  Tried hitting up local DSM Groups on Facebook, with no luck.  Struck out on finding one on Craigslist or car-part.com as well.

You're My Only Hope...Sort Of

I decided to hit up Performance Partout for the part. Great guys and easy to deal with, even if they do the Devil's Work.

Performance Partout is a business in New Jersey that buys DSM's, Galant VR-4's and other Import Cars specifically to part them out.  I hate that complete and mostly running cars get bought specifically to get stripped and then crushed, but there is a demand for parts, and these guys fill that void. So to speak. 

Some cars are wrecks,  complete "Basket Cases" or "Rust Buckets" that would probably never see the road again. 

 Stripping these cars help keep the "Good Ones" on the road.  Right?

Again, I know logically that there's a need for this to happen to these cars.  The company is only filling a vital need for DSM Owners all over the world.  I couldn't find the parts locally, and they had what I needed.  

I will definitely need to use them again in the future.

It doesn't mean I have to like it.

It's Here...

My Center Console arrived after a small delay.  It turns out that they had a problem finding a  Black 2G Center Console as well.  Go figure.  

For Your Protection

It Made It Safely

It wasn't perfect, but it didn't have a small hole carved out of it in front of the Shifter, so I wasn't too worried.  

These cars are OLD now, and the plastics from that era haven't really stood up too well over the years.  This is in NO WAY a complaint about the part that I received.    

The few things I spotted could be fixed, or swapped with parts from the other console.  Just a little bit of work.

Cracked

The first thing I noticed was one of the Mount Points for the Console was cracked.  I hit the cracks with some gel type Super Glue to try and draw the pieces back together.

Kind Of Glued Together

After the glue had time to set, I spread a thin layer of Automotive Goop on the bottom of the mounting point.  The Goop hardens into a tough, temperature resistant and flexible coating which is very useful in fixing all sorts of broken things on cars.  I've used this product many times, and it will help hold the glued pieces together once the console is installed.

Gooped!

Put The Tools Down

The next thing to tackle was the Storage Bin under the Arm Rest for the Center Console.  The Previous Owner had evidently attacked the bottom and the sides of the Storage Bin with what looks like a Hot Knife and carved a hole into the Bottom and the Sides of the Bin.  Probably to install an Aftermarket Component of some kind.

Yup...Still Hate People

Probably, after realizing how STUPID this looked,it was "fixed". A small piece of Contact Paper was cut to fit to the bottom of the Bin to keep items from falling through the hole and under the Console, I assume.

Luckily the Bin in question just snaps into place, and was quickly swapped out after thoroughly cleaning the one that hadn't been attacked by a Hot Knife.

No Holes

Armrest Bingo

The original padded Arm Rest that came with my car had a broken Latch, but an intact Storage Pocket under the lid.  The new Arm Rest had a functioning Latch, but no Storage Pocket Lid.

Since the new Arm Rest was in better shape, both of them were disassembled and the parts swapped to make one GOOD  Arm Rest for the Center Console.

Switcheroo!

Clean Up

The Center Console, Cup Holder, Ash Tray and Shift Boot were cleaned up to get rid of the years of accumulated dirt, junk and other garbage present.

The Cup Holders, Ash Trays and Storage Bins were placed in the sink and soaked in hot water with dish soap.  They were rinsed,  wiped down with paper towels, dried and cleaned with Armor All Cleaning Wipes.  

The Shift Boot was removed and wiped down with a damp paper towel, and then cleaned with the same Armor All Cleaning Wipes.  

The Cigarette Lighter assemblies were removed from both Center Consoles and showed signs of corrosion and flaking paint under the metal trim rings.  These Rings pressed into the plastic Center Console pieces popped out fairly easily with a Flat Tip Screwdriver.  Both of these pieces will be repainted before re-installing the Console into the car.

Needs Paint

Reassembly

It's Done

"Cup Holder" Lol

Once everything was cleaned up, the parts were swapped onto their respective consoles.

The "Good" Console will go into the car once everything in the interior is finished.  I still need to pull both seats out and install the spare set of carpet that I have.

  The "Bad" Console will stick around for awhile, at least until the other one is installed in the car.

Unfortunately, I've learned that it's sometimes better to keep stuff around..."Just In Case."

I swear that's just not my "Inner Packrat" talking.

Damnit.


Alpha, Mike, Foxtrot...