Learned a couple things the hard way, pics

[95BlueStallion]

I decided to drastically change my interior. After pulling my center console (with broken mounting tabs), i went to town cutting out some bracing that was under the head unit. It appeared to just be a mounting location for some Mach 460 equipment, but turns out it greatly supports the dash. I wanted the new carpet to lay up under the dash, but now my steering wheel bounces a bit when I hit bumps. I can see my whole dash shimmy when hitting bumps actually. I will weld a couple little braces underneath to resolve the problem, but thought I would share incase anyone decides to get crazy and redesign their interior like i did. Im still planning new seats and a different steering wheel to complete the changes. My camera sucks, and the car was in my garage, so I apologize for the low quality pics.

Then I decided to try the new 5.0 emblems, and it turns out our front fenders have two holes under the stock GT badges, and the only way to cover them both would put the badges way out of place. So now I have a little hole showing, but you dont notice it from a distance... The big hole in the fender is under the bottom right corner of the 5.

 

[BlackVert]

of course, the only opinion that matters is yours. if you like it ...

this way, it has a sort of retro look to it, which is kind of cool. but if it were my car, i would keep the center console.

 

[Black95SVT]

i like the center console delete, looks clean.

 

[95BlueStallion]

of course, the only opinion that matters is yours. if you like it ...

this way, it has a sort of retro look to it, which is kind of cool. but if it were my car, i would keep the center console.

Thanks Chris, I saw someone do it to a fox, and really liked the retro look. The only thing I miss is having the center console to lean on. Otherwise, mine didnt line up right having broken tabs, and it just squeaked a bunch.

Thanks for the compliment Black95SVT

 

[sn-95matt5-0]

nitrous purge in the small holes in the fenders may be cool

 

[95BlueStallion]

nitrous purge in the small holes in the fenders may be cool

Thats an idea. Now I just need nitrous! I guess I could tell people they "were" nitrous purge holes if someone notices them.

 

[JJ95GTID]

Man, I've been thinking about how to do the console delete and make it look good.
That is really clean looking.
Nice execution.

 

[Venom351R]

Thats cool never seen that before looks good. I put to much stuff in mine to take it out lol

 

[mustang03ally]

Hey even with all you went through to change it, it looks good! Very unique style, I know I haven't seen many Mustangs with a delete console! Give you props for being creative!

 

[95BlueStallion]

Thanks again everyone. I will be digging up this thread to update it when I put in my new seats and steering wheel, and after I weld some braces under the dash.

 

[95BlueStallion]

Oh, i weighed the empty console, bolts, and the metal i cut out and it came to 16 lbs. A little bit to add to the other reductions Ive done.

 

[Adam95GT]

Oh, i weighed the empty console, bolts, and the metal i cut out and it came to 16 lbs. A little bit to add to the other reductions Ive done.

I like it but i need somewhere to rest my arm... I considered doing the same thing and sided against it.

 

[ProKiller]

that is really neat but i wouldn't be able to survive without the center console to lean on. I think it would be awesome if you got seats that had armrests.

 

[95BlueStallion]

that is really neat but i wouldn't be able to survive without the center console to lean on. I think it would be awesome if you got seats that had armrests.

Lol, who says the middle seats from a Dodge Caravan arent sporty?! I actually thought about how I could rig up an arm rest on the right side of my driver's seat. Trust me, I miss the armrest portion of the center console. We'll see what I come up with.

 

[Chythar]

The sheet metal frame inside the dash is really cheap, thin metal. As you found out, it doesn't support much. There really isn't enough metal there to add any cross bracing. Here's a link to my Cobra conversion thread where I pulled the frame out of the dash. You can see there isn't much there at all, especially when you cut out the center section.

 

[Adam95GT]

Lol, who says the middle seats from a Dodge Caravan arent sporty?! I actually thought about how I could rig up an arm rest on the right side of my driver's seat. Trust me, I miss the armrest portion of the center console. We'll see what I come up with.

Ford focus arm rest?

 

[95BlueStallion]

Ford focus arm rest?

Looks like that would bolt to the floor right where the E-brake is. I doubt Ill end up using an arm rest just to keep it clean, but it is taking a bit of getting used to as I leaned on the console for the last 3 1/2 years. I ended up ordering a pair of black Summit sport seats. I couldnt find any complaints about them, and you cant beat the price. The next step up is Corbeau, which is double the price. Then you are up over $1K for Sparco and Recaro and such. Kinda takes the muscle car look away when you have super high end seats anyway. Thats what Im telling myself anyway.

 

[95BlueStallion]

Youre right about the metal Matt. I plan to weld a couple little pieces of exhaust hanger that I have laying around from the underside of the dash to the floor. If I paint them black and keep them tucked back up in there, I dont think they will be very noticable and should stiffen it back up good enough.

 

[SublimeRT]

That is awesome! I didn't think I'd see anyone else do that. I am in the process of deleting the console myself. I've had old Mopars without the center console and just love the look/feel of it and the shifter just sticking out of the floor. I'm just having trouble finding bezels for the shifter and especially the e-brake. It's nice to see that the new carpet has enough material to go up past the shifter towards the firewall....I was afraid it had a cutout for the shifter like the stock carpet. Which bezels and boots did you end up using? Lokar has a e-brake bezel that looks like it might work.

 

[95BlueStallion]

That is awesome! I didn't think I'd see anyone else do that. I am in the process of deleting the console myself. I've had old Mopars without the center console and just love the look/feel of it and the shifter just sticking out of the floor. I'm just having trouble finding bezels for the shifter and especially the e-brake. It's nice to see that the new carpet has enough material to go up past the shifter towards the firewall....I was afraid it had a cutout for the shifter like the stock carpet. Which bezels and boots did you end up using? Lokar has a e-brake bezel that looks like it might work.

Thanks man! I really like the way its turning out. The carpet is the molded style from American Muscle:

Ford Mustang Floor Mats, Mustang Carpet at AmericanMuscle.com - Free Shipping!

The boots are from Redline Goods:

Shift boot store - RedlineGoods leather shift boots

The shifter bezel is from UPR, and I dont think you could really use one around the e-brake. The base of the e-brake is really big, and its on the edge of the tunnel where a bezel wouldnt lay flat. I cut out a hole in the carpet, then trimmed one of the rear floor mats to fit over it nice. The boot is tucked under the floor mat, and it gives it the layered carpet look like the muscle cars. One last thing, the carpet doesnt fit quiet as well as the stock carpet does, another reason why I did the floor mat trick. There are no holes in it, so that part is nice, but it doesnt lay quite flat over the tunnel, and is tight around the gas pedal. I had to slit mine to make sure the gas pedal can go to the floor.