Console placement help needed

68 wildcat

Active Member
Hi All, I have a 68 Wildcat 2 Dr. and am in the process of installing a Custom Sport interior. The car was/is column shift and I need to find out the correct placement for the console. The distance from the lower back seat to the end of the console would be great (see pic) I've been working on cleaning and resealing the floor etc. Dirty work, but satisfying. 67-68 Wildcat would work.

Gary


.P7300016.jpg P7300017.jpg
 
Did you solve the location concern? In the picture, it almost looks like it has a shape to fit the curves of the floor.
 
It does to a degree. Once I had the front seats mounted correctly, I reached for the shifter and set it at a comfortable distance. Doesn't seem to be many of these 68 Wildcats left, so I have to make it up as I go.
 
If you are going to have a floor shift through the console the shifter linkage will dictate where the shifter lever is. The hole in the console for the shift lever movement will determine where console is placed.
 
Completely agree and realize I may have to tweek the location if and when I find my elusive floor shifter linkages. 2+years and still searching. May have to find/rent a set from another 65-68 Wildcat apart for resto and have it replicated. Only problem is that no one else seems to be crazy enough to take one of these on. Heavily modifying a cable shift set up from a Skylark may be an option, but not my favorite job on my back under jack stands.
 
I did not realize it was the same console in a '65. I do have one in my yard. Measuring the way you have from the back seat, it is about 11". It measures just under 10" from the flat of the firewall. The car is unrestored, and seat upholstery may not sit exactly as new. It puts the tach housing lip directly in line with the lower heater control, but the dash is, of course different:(
 
I can only speak to the shifter linkages as someone told me they are the same from 65-up. Not sure about the rest of the console but pretty sure 67-68 is the same, but as you pointed out 68 is the year for the dash change up. Thanks for taking the measurements! It matches pretty closely to where I mounted it. If you ever decide to part your car out Or ever have the linkages out, I would love to borrow them to replicate;)
 
I am not familiar with a 68 Wildcat. Does it share a frame with any other GM product. If your transmission is a Turbo 400 maybe parts from another GM will also work on your car?
 
I'm new to the car and don't know what if anything interchanges. The transmission is a SwitchPitch which is an early version of the turbo 400.. The frame is conventional and the same size as an Electra of that year, but I have no idea if any other GM product uses the same frame. Full size GM's no matter what make rarely had floor shift automatics. Shifter parts from a 1968 Riviera won't fit as Riviera was still using an X frame.
I would imagine any GM floor shift parts are hard to come by. This is what it looks like...P3260005.jpg I need the rod and boot going through the floor, the pivot and related bits
and the rod going to the transmission including the piece on the trans.
The search continues...
 
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