How close is it to original?
And how hard to do a console?
Have a 68 with a couple dents in the front section i want to straighten, and the rear half is faded.

you could straighten it and then touch it up with paint the clear it. the rear part might clean up but a matching the grain might be impossible. I in painted some scratches and looks gerat

Mark, you have the same interior Ivy Gold I have. Looks good!

Was the original burlwood painted on or was it a overlay? If the original burlwood is faded and or chipped, are the kits that you can buy from Classic or Year one very good quality?

There's a few threads from a few months ago on that. I am quite happy with my applique, check the prev threads, info's all there.

Here's a picture of one with the applique;

Jim, that actually looks nice from a dist. but I can not imagine what this would look like in person. I just can't imagine that stuff making the bends and the edges etc. All I can ever imagine is that crap from the 70's that people uesed to put on darn near everything, used to be call contact paper?

I put one on a console in a 69 that I sold. As far as the edges and bends it looked great. And from a distance of 10 feet it look very good. The only drawback is, up close it doesn't look exactly like what you are used to seeing.

I am going to try to grain and clearcoat mine before tearing it apart for a vinyl applique.

Go for it vik...I too am darned happy with mine...you have to really pick close to see the application.....beats $800 a pop for an A1 original...

I was looking at my dash the other day where it is pealing back a little. Is the applique paper thin? On my dash it looks like there is something else under there like a hard board or something.
Does the applique kits come with the holes already cut, or is it one big piece?

It does come with the holes already cut. NPD sells it for about $20.00

The material is quite heavy...you may be looking at the original metal burl panel underneath. I found the adhesive very good, make sure you use plenty of silicone polish remover to wipe/prep the original suface as somewhere down the road someone likely used armour all on it, and if not removed will cause the adhesive to be compromised.

Do you install it over the top of the original burlwood, or do you remove the org stuff first?
Can you find bigger pieces of the applique? As I want to customize my dash by removing the A/C controls and the center A/C vent, and install my gauges there. Are the pieces for the console bigger?

Yes, I installed over the existing stock burl. Not sure about your second question, you can buy the dash piece as well...but it will have the heater control cutout..

As far as a bigger piece to suit your application, that would be a question to ask the supplier...they may be able to get you a piece.

Well, here's an example of a poor Burlwood resto.....and for $1,200?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1968-1969...sspagenameZWDVW

racer, I just finished my dash redo a couple of months ago. The applique I used was around $100 and it came with the heavy backing. The holes come already cut but they aren't perfect. They needed a few small adjustments. Also the color was darker than my original. All in all after reinstallation I think it looks pretty good.
There are some suppliers that sell a less expensive applique but I have no idea what it looks like.

Robert

I wonder where that ebay guy got his, Mac tac ....

thats not resto, thats 'altered'....doesnt even look good...

Definitely not correct.
Never seen any that style/color.

BTY, think a console would servive ok being shipped wrapped with bubble wrap inside a card board box?

I like to use those hard corner pieces that come in the corner of an appliance box for stiffening/reinforcement. They are stiff and would stop flexing which would crack an old console. Go dumpster diving at your local appliance store to find them.

thanks nashvil, you can get the small paint bottles from duplicolor at any retail store. I used shelac for clear which dosen't work in the cold.its an easy fix. use a semigloss clear I had holes near the clock fior a gauge cluster in a slight angle can be seen. I used filler in the holes then mixed the color slowly untill i go the right base color the swirl in the black. the console has be recolored with a epoxi paint which will not come off. a new liner of the similar material feltwas installed using contact cement. and the shifter hole has been recolored with a oem paint color and the clock has been rebuilt by me and painted the same oem color.

68 all #matching 400 h.o 4spd to go

I forgot to say the console can be stripped. It has a laquer finish on it. I used laquer thinner and a clean cloth an slowly cleaned it. it removed the waxes and smoke and what ever contamination was on there.

Looks nice!

Nice job!

Looks good.
Any before pic's?

Looks very good, nice job.

Here is a photo of the console I built a few years back, with the help of several members here. Fellow member Quenton (PMI USA) provided the beautiful Burlwood Applique. Quenton is one great guy.



We didn't have the proper 4-speed shifter pieces at the time, and instead just used a generic boot.

Interesting 4 speed boot....I have the original boot bucket and the wrong flat shifter arm as you have, and the original owner had to notch out the front of the boot bucket to move the shifter forward...I'm looking for the original round shifter arm and then I'll replace the notched boot well.

I had my car at the show, the bugger looked it over and in a snotty manner, said "wrong shifter arm".....I said perhaps you are right, and when you have the "right" attitude, I'll chat with you..LOL

At any rate I too am happy with my applique...we will see how the sun treats it over time....

Dave, how sure are you that the flattened Hurst shifter arm is not right for our FGFs? I thought I had a correct arm, just not the original handle (Ball) and of course console shifter plate piece.

Well, I may be wrong, but that is what some sh!thead told me at the big car show...and I figured that the notch in the bucket was because of the different profile of the arm...ie a round one would not hit the front edge in first/third as mine does.

Anyone else know...I would like to put this one to rest, for the next time the individual comes around to blaspheme my bird

you never know what "they" will tell you....
I was at one show where the JUDGES! asked me what the "containers" in the trunk were... I asked him to point them out... those were the cocktail shakers = vibration dampeners...they had no clue!

67's had the flat one. 68-69 had the round ones. Maybe some early 68's had the flat one?

Mine is an early 68 (built October 67) Perhaps they used some extra 67 flats they had for a month or so...[censored] thing still hits my bucket tho.....

If it hits the bucket it's usually because it's not going straight up and down in the hole. If it's angled much at all it will hit. My 67 has the flat shifter but not quite right. It's angled and it just barely hits too. I need the correct flat shifter.....

My 67 has the original non Hurst(flat lever) shifter.
Remember reading somewhere(maybe HPP) that Pontiac switched to Hurst shifters in 68.
Dont rememder if they had the Hurst name on them, or round vs flat.
If i think about, i'll dig out mag's.
Seems to me it was the old FB and GTO year by year difference series they ran years ago.

Can you post a picture of your correct 67 shifter?

I'll try to next couple nights.

Have a couple of originals here. Both round. One dated 8 B 4 Hurst.

Also have an early '68, September car, could have looked at it yesterday. I'll check the pics and see if I have one.

great vikki, mine has hurst on the side of it as well..the previous owner notched about a half inch wide x 3/4 high on the well where it was hitting...and after rebuilding, rebushings etc...still needs most of it. Ill snap some pix tonight.

Interesting info here, and it seems late 67/early 68 had some production changes where multiple configurations could actually be "correct" due to mere manufacturing timing.

I researched my shifter linkage long ago and thought my "flat" one was correct for my 68. But I'll be happy to say its not original if someone can nail this.

To clear the record, are there folks out there that say the original FGF shifters did not have any true Hurst markings on them? I'll have to go back and look again but I'm certain this is not correct. I think many original Hurst FGF shifters were clearly marked HURST.