WashTruBlu

Thanks Dale, thought it was a little more appropriate then the last one.
They have these posted on west valley, between Tukwila & Kent.

Super Glide

I thought that sign was a myth until I finally saw one.
That is the stupidest wording I've ever seen on a traffic sign-----------implies racing and crowds to watch are ok after 5 lol
Surely, it hasnt been tested in court yet, although Dale tried on his ricer flyby with broken coolant bypass hose---------lets go to Kent!

Skritch

Well heck Steve, that's what I thought it meant..... , here I was thinkin' it's a noise ordinance thing, you know, no loud irritating 4 cylinder buzzing sounds masked by fart cans and no loud deep throaty V 8 sounds as well before 5 AM and after 10 PM.

I figured racin' was OK along those stretches other times.......


Looks like nobody can watch though, sez racing attendance prohibited. Probably figured somebody would start sellin' tickets to watch and the city wouldn't get their cut.......

Bad as L

Downside to that is....no wise-crakin witnesses with cameras and can openers to see the coolant hose come off

203Cree

Lookin good Scott!

Couple things I figured out doing mine. It's much easier to install the console frame and console seperate. Looks like you've got that under control tho.

If you're in the same boat as me and didn't get the two bolts that hold the console to the frame in the rear, they're 6mm x 1.00

Be careful with the heat gun on your seatbelt cover. It heats up quick and will deform if you're not paying attention.

You're gonna love that thing when it's done and installed. LMK if you decide to put in a switch panel, I've got a little trick that will set you right up and look hella clean when it's done. I'm sure you remember how mine looks, but here it is agiain...

Without A/F guage....


With A/F guage....

Skritch

Thanks for that info Rob. I got the diameter figured out but hadn't worked on the length yet. I'll be needin' fender style washers too.

That may have already happened to me. I heated it up and bent and twisted but not happy with how it came out. Another article indicated it wasn't really important as it doesn't show anyway. Doesn't work for me. Gonna investigate the Expedition passenger side inside seat belt to see if it'll work and have a better appearence. They're only around $25 bux and probably cheaper at the place we get our parts from....

This I'm interested in knowing about. Would like to see what you did. I have the same plan for the front HVAC panel/hole in planning a gauge install.

203Cree

The switch panel is easy to do. Take the stock control and pull off the knobs. Then pull the back off of it so all you're left with is the face plate. Get something to cut out the holes where the knobs went. Now you have three evenly spaced open holes with mounting tabs to play with.

Get some thin guage aluminum and cut it to fit over the face plate of the HVAC controls, or what's left of them rather, lol. Take some silicone and sandwich the two pieces together. Turn it upside down on a drill press and center a hole saw over the hole where the knob was and drill it out for what ever size you may need. Once the holes are cut, paint it which ever color you choose to paint it, then install your switches and bolt it into place using the stock hardware.

You now have a switch panel that will look clean as hell and is extremely sturdy, and you didn't have to ruin the pieces to your console to put in switches.

Skritch

Thanks Rob ! That's just what I came up with and it's in process. The mounting provisions for those HVAC and audio panels are set at an angle so I decided they needed to be kept. Gutted them and using the face with appropriate aluminum cover as you said. Thanks !!!

Skritch

Finally, progress ! I'll just use this post right here to thank 3 people. Jon, thanks SO MUCH for making up the 2 pieces of aluminum that are used for the HVAC cutouts in my console. When Jon posted up his pic with the Aeroforce gauge he actually made up 3 aluminum plates. .125 thickness with a lip machined all around the edges down to .050. A little massaging and they fit right into the cutouts and allow the OEM face to still attach and hold the aluminum plate in. The aluminum plate gets sandwiched between the OEM face of the HVAC controls and the console.

Thanks to Rick, who started on the same project Jon did for me. Unfortunately, Rick was involved in an accident which will require some healing time. Rick did make up an aluminum plate to cover the audio controls face plate for me. Pretty thin stock at .016. IT worked perfect !

Thanks to RIDE THE aka Eric back in Virginia. I had a "better" idea for the inboard seatbelt which used the Expedition seat track. I ordered one up and the wrong part came in the right box ! Naturally, it was over the weekend and knowing Eric is involved with Ford I sent him a PM showing what I had. He answered right back telling me it was the driver side and "oh by the way" I"ve got the correct one and I'll send it to ya. Call it a late Christmas present he told me ! Got it today (1/4/08) and it's been fitted to my seat. This is, to me, a MUCH better way of taking care of the seat belt for the passenger seat than what has been suggested in other how to's.

Thanks to ALL three of you guys !

Skritch

Now then, the progress...

Picture of the console all together one more time. It is nearly ready to install for the final time !


One of the two aluminum plates Jon whipped up for me...


Here's the HVAC control face, the aluminum plate Jon made, and another powerpoint that is going in the plate. This sits at the very back of the console and is mostly not seen. I did find having another powerpoint would be desirable for me so...


A picture of the HVAC control face showing how the mounting tabs are angled to the face.


Backside of the rear console piece with both OEM faceplates screwed in with the aluminum plates sandwiched between the controls face and the console.


The outside of the rear console piece with the aluminum plates installed and painted. I looked around at my inventory of bomb cans and finally decided on the can of black wrinkle paint. Shot'em, let them dry for a day, and here's the result.


Rear console piece with the powerpoint installed.


The Expedition inside passenger seat track. The seat belt buckle is bolted to the seat track via a heavy bracket that is attached to the seat track itself. This makes for a much cleaner installation.


A closeup of the seat track/seat belt.


Passenger seat installed with seat belt.


Some might say that attaching the seat belt buckle to the seat track is not a good idea. Can't say one way or the other but it's how the drivers seat belt buckle is attached from the factory so I'd have'ta say that it's okay. Picture of the driver seat.


Picture of the passenger seat pan with seat belt buckle and center console installed. The color mismatch in the console and the dash always looks real bad in photos but the mismatch is not as bad as these photos make it look.


Closeup of seat belt buckle showing sufficient clearance between the console and the seat belt.


One more shot of the console from the drivers side. I'm thinkin' this is the last time for fitting. The next time the console goes in it will be for good ! Well, at least for awhile....


The seat belt issue. Other how-to's advise to heat up the plastic housing for the seat belt from the passenger side to take the 90 degree twist out of the plastic. Also the bottom of the plastic housing must be cut off. Additionally, the seat belt buckle for the center seat is in this same plastic housing and can't be removed without taking the twist out. Others have commented it doesn't come out very good but you can't see the heated and untwisted area anyway. Here's a pic of the OEM seatbelt that has been heated to untwist the plastic housing, had the bottom piece cutoff, and the extra seat belt buckle removed.


Using the Expedition seat track is a MUCH better way to take care of the seat belt issue with this conversion.

At this point, I'm thinking it may be easier to pickup an Expedition passenger side seat from a junkyard, oops, that's last century lingo, rather an auto dismantler. Getting a complete seat assembly including the seat tracks and seat to floor mounts would be less expensive than ordering up all the parts. I'm guessing a passenger side manual (not power) captain chair from a 2000 to 2002 Expy would do the trick.

SLVRLTNG

Looks great Scott. I recovered my console lid this week in the matching Alcantara black. Also had to send my Aeroforce gauge back to Ohio for a re-flash. I couldn't get it to read ignition timing or fuel trims no matter which combo of parameters I used. Lew has been great to deal with on the matter and hopefully it will be back soon. I even figured out how to hook one of the analog outputs to my WBC to read a/f.

When you going to take your seat in for surgery???

BTW how's the weather up there, really windy down here

203Cree

Looks great Scott! You went a different route with that back piece than I did.... a much easier one, lol. I suppose I should've thought of that before going to all the trouble to do this instead.....







You are SOOO going to love that thing once it's in for good. I can't believe that I drove mine for so long without it. Ford really should've made em this way to begin with, it just feels that natural and right. Good work on it buddy!

Skritch

Hey Rob, that looks REAL good ! Took the "smooth" approach to the back piece. That looks equally as good but you're right, it's a bit more work. Looks SHARP though !!

That's one of best things about this board. Problem solving by different people across the nation and world. Being able to see what they did to resolve a given problem. A number of my ideas came from others that have done the conversion.

And you're right about lovin' it ! Sittin' in the drivers seat with the console installed just feels right.

RIDE THE

Looks great Scott. Can't wait to see the finished product.

The large hole in the bottom of the console tub is from a factory DVD unit being installed. There are only a few of these out there. The CD changer does mount to the passengers side of the console tub.

I just completed a console for someone and I ran into the same problem.


I just took some spare flat plastic from a CD changer cover to make a patch in the floor of the tub. I just made a brace under the skeleton and screwed the patch to the brace.




Hope you don't mind the HiJack but here are a few more things to look at with the console swap that might help you out along the way.

Seat frame side bolster:
Helps keep the seat cushion in place. Without the support the seat feels mushy on the edge.

Original seat frame:


Bolster cut off:


Welded onto the new seat frame:




Rear console bracket cutting:

This will make it so you don't need to notch anything along the back wall (sub box or storage box) or if you cover the back panel. I have to do this with my consoles because you cannot remove the cover to give it enough room to go down and slide forward to lock into the rear floor bracket.



I was concerned that this would not secure the console enough and it would move or make noise. Not the case at all. When it's bolted down it feels like any other Expy/ Navi out there. It also makes it easier to remove the console since you do not need to remove any of the back panel parts.



I completely cover the rear panels on my consoles. To me, it just seems to flow into the console lid. That, and it is much less work to do in the end.





I do like your patch panel with the power point location.

__________________

Skritch

Thanks again Eric for that seat track ! Thanks too for including a few tips you've found from the ones you've done !! I knew about the seat frame side bolster rod. The trick for the rear floor mount for the console looks to solve a minor issue as well !

VERY much like that covering for the storage compartment lid.

See ya in September somewhere in Mid America.....for L Fest 6.