Road Runner Nest

Hi all. I just bought a 73 Roadrunner that originally had a front bench seat. It had a column shifter to begin with, but the previous owner yanked the bench and put in what I first thought were Toyota seats but are actually from an Eagle Talon. I can't imagine having a bench seat in a big block car, so my question is this. At the moment there is a B&M shifter on the floor. I'd like to put in an O.E style console and shifter, so if I can get all that, are there marks or cut out lines on the tunnel so I'd know where to put everything? Has anyone else done this? Any advice is greatly appreciated.

I'm not aware of any marks, indentations, or any OTHER kind of indicator in the floor that will show you where to locate an OEM-style console. If I'm wrong maybe one of the other guys can correct me. But what you need to do is find a junker that has the brackets for the console and take measurements as to their location. Then get them out of that car (or fabricate copies) and weld them to your floor. As far as I know every auto on the tree car will have the stamping on the floor where you cut out the hole to acess the shifter to the trans. Of course, you'll also need all those floor shifter parts that you mention... Good luck!

Looky what's in the service manual. Okay, it's for my '71, but you'll be looking for any '71 and up console (although a '70 will work too). In the red circles are the brackets I was talking about. Unfortunately the generic floor in this illustration doesn't help a BIT as to the brackets actual location on the hump...

That's awesome, thanks Bruce. I was supposed to be getting another Runner with a complete interior which I was planning to swap, but the deal fell through at the last moment. I was was a bit bummed, but this black one still rocks and I'm certainly not complaining. E-mail me for pix, and see if you can imagine a bench in this thing when it's done. Gregstpie@aol.com

Oh, and notice the slotted holes in the brackets where the screws for the console mounts. Obviously the location of these brackets wasn't an exact science... I just sent you an email cuz I'd love to see pics!

Seems like I'd have to get the shifter placed first by it's location to the trans, and then fit the console around it?

I think that's probably true. If you had all the hardware for the shifter mounted, then the console HAS to fit in a certain spot for the shifter to mount to it... and then the brackets have to be in certain locations to allow that, etc, etc...

Here's the FSM illustration for the floor shift. Notice where the boot attaches to the floor on the "torque shaft assembly". That's where the circular stamping on the floor is for the shifter. That's probably the key to locating everything for you.

Heres a photo of where the brackets are welded.you should be able to get them pretty close from this.
BRIAN

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Hey...bench seats in big block cars are very cool....here's mine...if I were you, I'd think about going back!

The 70 console is almost better than the 71 and up, just because of the place to put hte seat belts - did people really need four ashtrays back then? I would think to mount the shifter and then the console would be the easiest way to go and maybe the only way. That's probably how the former owner did it in my car. No doubt. I'd go with a bench -- more room for the lady friend! But, there could be more sliding when going around corners I guess. I feel the deluxe bench that should be in my car may be cooler than the buckets. The buckets do look a lot more sporty. But if you figure the cost of getting seats, shipping them, and getting upholstery, a bench doesn't sound too bad, eh? Then again I'm a huge fan of keeping things original, and my wallet closed. If it's an automatic, though, I wouldn't worry about the floor shifter, because I think I've actually only gone through the slapstik three times in three years - it's something to add to the coolness. WAY more power than necessary in Drive. I was thinking about going back to column and putting in the center armrest, because the console isnt' the most comfortable thing in the world.