DIY: Floating Console Modification

[Time2Fly]

Problem is. the mustache plate is not aluminum like the rest of the parts. Bead blasted steel will look quite a bit different in luster than aluminum, and also difficult to keep from picking up rust compared to a polished surface with polishing oils etc creating a barrier.

What about getting it remade in stainless and bead blasting that? Or just spraying the steel mustache with a satin clear coat?

 

[Tomwa]

Frankly it's a pseudo wear item. You could get it remade in titanium (and smaller piece generally speaking) and it wouldn't affect the function of the part. Rub a little moly-grease (VERY little, don't want it marking up other stuff or caking with dust) and you might never tell it rubs against other stuff much.

 

[Emiro]

Like I said, this ain’t for everyone. I’m glad we can all have different takes on cars.

The whole thing top to bottom polished looks fantastic IMO. If I could have ordered that way I would

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The entire piece, from top to bottom, looks fantastic in my opinion. If I could have ordered it this way, I absolutely would have. Unfortunately, I don't have the tools or experience to pull it off, but if someone else does, go for it! By the way, this is how the designer originally envisioned it, and it's likely the best possible execution of the exposed gear lever. Ultimately, the company chose a different direction, not prioritizing the design elements as much. These pictures really do look like art.

 

[Tomwa]

The whole thing top to bottom polished looks fantastic IMO. If I could have ordered that way I would 100%. I don't have the tools or experience to do it, if someone does, got for it! This pictures looks like art

To be fair, that was a concept render. The lower linkage doesn't *exactly* look like that even if you had it polished up. It would look quite similar though.

As far as "experience" to do it. Very little needed. The great part about polishing something up is, if you mess up and leave chatter marks or something, you just go back a step and use a slightly more aggressive compound and smooth it out.

It would take a while, but you could polish the whole thing with a dremel. Probably better if you had a bench grinder/polishing wheel particularly for the larger parts like the base and the shift lever/reverse sleave, but you could with a dremel, and other than polishing compound and maybe some fabric dust there's no real mess to concern yourself with. So you can do it in a house/apt sitting at a table maybe something to help "hold" the part in question in place (just a simple plastic clamp or mini-vise) and your time.

I guess since polishing requires you keeping your eyes on what you are doing an audio-book or some music would be your distraction from boredom. You might actually be surprised. Lots of folks find these kinds of tasks really satisfying. You get to see very visible and somewhat immediate results of your efforts, a bit like power washing.

 

[kitkat]

The whole thing top to bottom polished looks fantastic IMO. If I could have ordered that way I would

View attachment 54353

The whole thing top to bottom polished looks fantastic IMO. If I could have ordered that way I would 100%. I don't have the tools or experience to do it, if someone does, got for it! BTW, this is how the designer envisioned it and likely the best possible execution of the exposed gear lever. The company then decided to go other route not taking the design elements as primary priority. This pictures looks like art

A dremel and a lot of patience, and this could be yours.

 

[Eagle7]

That polished image looks like a satin sheen instead of a mirror polish. It would be easier to clean and spray everything with a satin finish clear coat, or if you want shiny, use KBS DiamondFinish Clear.

 

[kitkat]

This opens up the market for any of the existing elise/exige shifter manufacturers out there to make something for the Emira.

*hint hint*

I saw this one in an Elise yesterday at Menlo Park Cars and Coffee:

 

[Tomwa]

@GRP You have this in inventory? It looks like it would be a direct swap in.

Test fit for the community? >_>

 

[John777]

@John777 let people like what they like. Thoroughly unnecessary comment.

Exactly.. your comment. I'm asking a question. Where did I say people can't like what they like?

 

[Six Speed Stephen]

This opens up the market for any of the existing elise/exige shifter manufacturers out there to make something for the Emira.

*hint hint*

I saw this one in an Elise yesterday at Menlo Park Cars and Coffee:

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Pardon my ignorance, is this just a more visually attractive mechanism ?

 

[Time2Fly]

@John777 "Why? [Shaking My Head]" reads as dismissive, not curious.

 

[kitkat]

Pardon my ignorance, is this just a more visually attractive mechanism ?

Yes, but for the elise / exige. This shifter is expensive and had better feel than the OE one.

 

[Tomwa]

Yeah I would suspect that while it looks visually improved in a number of ways, the primary intention is some kind of improvement on bearing slop and precision.

Also seems to have 2 mounting holes for one of the shifter cables, so there's probably some intention to that.

Honestly it's really VERY similar to the Emira shifter assembly, so it would be curious to see the diff in a car.

 

[erich]

Just finished up this mod, looks great with the tan interior!

Thanks @kitkat for all the work in figuring this out. It looks awesome!

 

[Tomwa]

Makes me wonder what the lower printed piece would look like wrapped in brown matching leather.

 

[kitkat]

This plus carbon buckets with tan leather from tillet is some dream interior stuff right there.

 

[seriously]

Just finished up this mod, looks great with the tan interior!
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Thanks @kitkat for all the work in figuring this out. It looks awesome!

Looks great! I actually like how it looks in that OEM-ish black plastic. Offers a nice contrast to the gloss black, silver and Tan.

 

[freefall_junkie]

Just finished up this mod, looks great with the tan interior!
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Thanks @kitkat for all the work in figuring this out. It looks awesome!

Looks great with tan. Again, well done kitkat for showing us the way.

For anyone asking why, a bit of a reminder that the floating console is clearly what Russell Carr and his design team originally intended as this is how it looked on the Emira launch car. The mesh was forced on them later by nannying safety regs in some markets. I remember poring over that car in great detail at a launch event in Glasgow in November 2021 - seems like a very long time ago now. The exposed gear linkage was by far my favourite design element in the interior so I was disappointed to see the mesh on the production cars.

 

[digilotus]

This is a fantastic thread and set of instructions @kitkat, thank you!

I now need to buy a 3D printer and print the finishing piece in red to match my red leather. If that doesn't look quite right, then covering it with black alcantara might work well, too.

 

[Porter]

It really is just exceptionally cool. Many thanks again @kitkat for developing this 3d printed model, making it available to those without a 3d printer, and above all for putting up with my many, many messages along the way.