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I did the 6 speed swap recently and now I need to figure out what to use for a center console. What about any of you guys who have put in a 6speed? What have you used? Any ideas would be great, and pics would be even better. I am open to suggestions.
ive always liked the way they did it on that concept silverado ss a couple years ago. Sorry cant find any pics though
heres one of my buddys old truck, he built it himself. it is now "DJLunchbox's" truck over on FSC.
I haven't done anything yet myself but would like to, I just have been working on other aspects and I am saving things like this for last
Is the shifter in all that bad of a spot? I imagine it is hard to work out the console thing but what about shifting. Is it in a good spot for making quick shifts? i think the best thing for the console would be to mount it like it is comming from under the dash. kind of like the camaros are or any car with a center console for that matter. You can mount your radio right under the dash and a small screen under the cd player. that would be great for single cab guys that ahve screens that way you dont have to flip a screen down from your visor or mount it to your dash. Put the cd player in there with a screen and a few beer holders infront of the shifter and i would imagine you would still have room to put an actuall storage compartment (beer cooler) behind the shifter. Thats kind of what i had planned for my truck when i do the 6 speed conversion. It would also cover the old shifter hole and you wouldnt have to replace the carpet. Just a thought though. Im sure others woudnt prefer the screen so just put a 6 disk cd player and a few gauges ( air ride adjustment switches and gauges) in the spot infront of the shifter where the screen would have been. If you have seen the consoles in the camaros you probably get the idea. Almost the same thing just bigger and home made. However making a console that big would kind of separate you from the passenger. You would even have room under where the screen or disk changer goes to put another compartment (small nitrous bottle). I could kind of draw it out for someone if they wanted me to but i dont know how to put it on here. Le me know what yall think :burnout:
As far as shifter location, it is perfect. I just need a longer stick. I am really thinking of getting one of those swept back shifters, not too much longer just a slight curve back. I have a stock stick now, and 1,3,5 are a little hard. Not impossible, just have to stretch a bit. I am looking at some different consoles from other vehicles, but I think I am going to have to go the custom route. All of the consoles I have found sit too high where the shifter is, or they are too narrow. I like that one in the pic that was posted, but I would have it come back up a bit at the front and put some usefull space there. I will keep everyone updated if I come up with something.
I made a shifter for an old truck of mine out of 1/2" stainless steel tubing. All you have to do is weld some stainless threads from a bolt in one end and then bend the stick how you want, cut the bottom to length, flatten the bottom end, put some holes throught it to mount it and youve got a custom shifter. I tack welded a washer on it that i drilled out to fit around the stick so it would hold up the leather boot. The stainless polished up really nice and i had a cool shifter. However it was hollow and i only used it to shift into 4wd so it might give a little hitting gears. if you want to go for a cool look you can heat it when you bend it and it will have a blue colored heat marks kind of like stainless headers get. Just a thought on the shifter. :burnout:
You can use the Hurst Shifter Sticks that were orginally made for the 4 speed shifters. I have one that is 13.5" tall with about a 2" pull back, I turned it around backwards and it works fine, I will try to get a pic.