The gauges were purchased and wired up earlier, but everything else was done this past week in the evenings after work. We designed and built the new center console ourselves. I re-fiberglassed the center console to work with the layout that we wanted. The whole front panel pops off with the four round plastic panel plugs near each corner (you can see three of them in the photo). The black loops that protect the toggle switches were made from 1/4 inch brake lines and a tube bender. Primed and painted semi-gloss black. The toggle switches are some nice looking paddle type switches that I found on a 4x4 website. The little LED's that help you find the switches at night were found on a boat supply company's website. The cubby hole is a Mustang radio delete option purchased from the local Ford dealership. The gauges are autometer, purchased from summit and fitted with blue LED lighting. Jaime handled all of the padding and upholstery. The shift boot is the design we sell through our website. The shift knob is made out of delrin. Delrin has many of the same characteristics that industrial metals do, such as brass, aluminum, zinc, and stainless steel. Some comparable properties include stiffness, dimensional stability, impact resistance, and structural strength. But what it really does well is stay cool in the summer and warm in the winter. It is always comfortable to touch. I purchased delrin rod from a plastics company on the internet. Cut it down to the proper length with the jig saw. Drilled and tapped the proper size threading in the base so that it could screw onto the car. Purchased a matching size bolt at Ace Hardware, screwed it into the piece of delrin, cut the head off, and then stuck it into the drill press so that I could shape it with sandpaper. The feel is great, and the shape was molded after the "hardbar" shifter that is used in the racing C5R Corvettes. Very nice to pull and push. Soon we'll get a lathe and be able to do the basic shaping a lot quicker and more precisely, but this works for now.
The new cubby hole is a bit ugly, but it is placeholder until we're ready to put a stereo in the Pantera. Once we have a nice stereo, I think it'll look great. The toggle switches don't have labels yet. We are having our own custom labels printed. They should be here next week. Lots more to do, but this was a big step towards finishing our interior.
