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Shilac. It'll yellow over time but we had a bar with bottle caps resined over and it was left in the sun for 7 to 10 years and no cracks. The. Wood fell out from under it... As far as lasting the best way is to do right between coats. 000 steel wool and a good cleaning. Start thin to get a good bond. But otherwise nah it'll all be pretty similar
 
Discussion starter · #163 ·
I wouldn't use a water based finish high humidity will make it turn whiteish
My bathroom cabinets and doors have had it on for 14 years with no discoloring at all anywhere. Also gets direct sunlight.
This wood console appeared to have a oil finish. Not too good for having spills on but good for temperature swings.
 
Discussion starter · #164 ·
2nd console repaired

I repaired the red console tonight. I used 3/4" plywood for the mounting tabs. I ground off what was left of the old tabs to get a flat surface. To my surprise, the OE tabs were different heights by 1/4". A plastic shim fixed that.
I used tin to repair the top , as I did with the 1st console. After some cleaning, this console will be going in the truck until the wood one is repaired and refinished.
I need to find the red bucket seat center seat belts.:Insane: I'm pretty sure I took them out of the parts burb before it was scrapped.
 

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That's a good idea. Stronger than stock
 
Discussion starter · #166 ·
That's a good idea. Stronger than stock
From the factory, only 4 pop rivets hold the whole shell together. The tub and cup holder, all at the top, is what has to hold it all together:wtf: No wonder so many of them broke to some degree.
 
Looked good in the showroom. Must be right!
 
Discussion starter · #168 ·
Bucket seats and console begin

Tonight was the night the bench seat was coming out and the Flexsteel bucket seats were going in. Censored:banghead: or so I thought.
I started by getting my M10 thread chaser and chasing the threads of the seat bolts that were exposed on the underside of the body:thumb::thumb:. All the seat bolts came out pretty easy considering they have thread sealer on them.
The center seat belts had to be unbolted to get the passenger side seat out. These were easy because they were studs with nuts verses many have a t-50 torx head bolt that are usually tough to get out.
Before I started , I dug through the pile of interior parts that came from the burb that the flexsteel seats were in. At the bottom of the pile was the bucket seat seat belts:coolnana::thumb:
I gave the carpet a good vacuuming after probing for seat mounting holes that weren't there. I had to lay out for the holes and cut back carpet and padding before drilling the inside passenger side holes. I'll be putting nuts and washers on the underside to hold the seat.. No big deal.
:idea:I thought it best to mount the console before putting the new seats in That's when things turned for the worst. :thumbsdow:banghead: The 1 OE and custom wood consoles I have are all from Suburbans. The red OE console was from a extended cab truck. The center hump/tunnel in a standard cab truck is much differentCensored As the pics show, The red OE console is tilted pretty bad. The wood console is a closer fit and should be easier to modify to fit.
So, it looks like the next move is to make the wood console fit and make mounts for it , then do the repairs and refinish.
 

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Definitely the wood. Nice progress
 
Discussion starter · #170 ·
Working on the wood console

I only had to trim 5/8" off the rear of the console to get it to sit pretty straight.:thumb:
Next was to fab some mounting tabs for the rear. In the burb, it had 2 screws through the wood into the floor. Those screws were in the rear heat vent that is now tight to the tray in the rear of the cab. There was a plastic flex pipe that attached to the heater output under the dash. I'll be using that special distributor piece because the console blocks off the stock heater output. I'll be blocking off the output for rear heat. I cut and drilled a couple angle iron clips to bolt on the side and to the floor.
Next I started the repairs to the console. I pulled most of the brads out that were there yet with a side cutter. I started putting things back together with my air powered finish nailer. The board under the front cup holder will need to be finished before it can go back in and I need to fab a board for under the rear cup holders. That one was missing.:rolleyes:
I started sanding with a palm sander. It makes pretty quick work of getting rid of the stains :thumb::thumb: There will still be some hand sanding needed but not a lot.
 

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Take those rear vent and shoot em into the bottom of the seats. Boom heated seat options.

Are you gonna clear coat or stain it? A deeper. Colored stain will help hide those usage stain marks
 
Discussion starter · #172 ·
Take those rear vent and shoot em into the bottom of the seats. Boom heated seat options.

Are you gonna clear coat or stain it? A deeper. Colored stain will help hide those usage stain marks
Cloth seats don't get that cold. More trouble than what it's worth.
The console is mahogany wood. Fairly dark on it's own. I don't think the stains will come back after sanding them out. I plan to use the Minwax Polycrylic that I posted. I may go look to see what new products have come out before I start the finish. I do have over a quart of the Polycrylic.
A couple pics of the other wood trim I will be adding to this truck.
 

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Discussion starter · #173 ·
Seats went in tonight

:coolnana::clap: The flexsteel bucket seats are in! I love the feel and height. These bucket seats and the Flexsteel bench seats are not well suited for people over 6 ft tall. They sit higher than the OE seats.
I had a flexsteel bench seat in my 92. Bought it for $20:HiHi: from a tall guy that got sick of banging his head:banghead: on the roof. I'm 5' 8" and it fits great!
I looked for the missing piece of the console [under rear cup holder] to no avail:bawl: Looks like I'll be making a new piece. I wish I had some scraps of Mahogany plywood to make it out of.
 

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Damn they look. Comfy. But I'm. 6'2 and am tall in the body. The look like the seats in my G20 high top van. It's a 1992.theyre nice for the road but I'd like a bit more. Well at least wider bolsters as I'm built like a wall.
 
Discussion starter · #175 ·
Damn they look. Comfy. But I'm. 6'2 and am tall in the body. The look like the seats in my G20 high top van. It's a 1992.theyre nice for the road but I'd like a bit more. Well at least wider bolsters as I'm built like a wall.
Yep, lots of "conversion" companies use the flexsteel seats. They have bases to fit most trucks and vans.
 
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I wonder if my250 lbs would sag it enough that I wouldn't hit my head hummmmmmmm
 
Discussion starter · #177 ·
Tonight I put the heater deflector ? on after plugging the rear heat hole. I got comparison pics to see the difference better. The wood console will be very close to the heater output, so this is pretty much required to get heat to the floor.
Then it was back to sanding the console. I found the piece I thought was missing.:thumb: I got just about everything sanded. :thumb: Just some small hand sanding to do.
As I was sanding:idea: , I came to the conclusion that the console is not made of Mahogany. It is solid Walnut. I'm used to seeing Black Walnut and didn't realize this had the same grain but a lighter color. It is very hard and takes some time to sand scratches out of.
I might get started on finish tomorrow night. Going to look at other finishes tomorrow.
 

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Wow. I thought they used a type of plywood. Not something nice like walnut. As much as a I love red oak I know it's not an expensive wood. It's fairly easy to work and it's tight grain structure prevents cracking. But walnut is costly.
 
Discussion starter · #179 ·
I got sidetracked:whistle: for a few days but did get the hand sanding done:thumb: tonight.
I'm Selling off some old transmissions tomorrow and taking a couple 6.5s in as partial trade. One is a 96 and the other is a 99:Insane:. Both are long blocks with injection pumps on them yet.
I did find a much better finish to use on the wood console. It even states it is good for temperature swings:thumb:.
 

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Hate to ask. But can you take a hidden side and do one half natural the other stained. I'd like to see the difference?
 
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