70 Coupe custom interior trim?

[Mike F.]

My 70 Coupe has the Custom Interior Trim option. It appears to have all the original parts, carpets, etc.
The parking brake console was cracked, so I ordered a new one from Al Knoch.

The cracked consol that I pulled out was black plastic, the new one from Al Knoch is covered in black faux leather.

Is the cracked plastic one original to the car or should it have had a faux leather covering?

Al Knoch's console looks great, just wondering if I got the correct part?

TIA,
Mike

[Terry M.]

Re: 70 Coupe custom interior trim?

As far as I know the original 1970 parking brake console is painted black; no material covering at all regardless if DeLuxe interior or not. Having said that, there are others on this board who know a lot more about interiors than I do.

I recall something about the original plastic color, but I can't remember if the original color is a tan brown or if the early reproductions are tan brown. Someone else will have to refresh my memory now that I have raised the issue.

[Kenneth T.]

Re: 70 Coupe custom interior trim?

My 71 deluxe interior, wood inserts on the doors and center console, cut pile carpet on the floor and door panels, leather seats, has a plastic cover at the parking brake, painted the color of the interior. In my case dark saddle.

Ken

[Tom H.]

Re: 70 Coupe custom interior trim?

I had a 70, years ago. Deluxe interior. I'm sure it had a plastic brake console.

[Michael D.]

Re: 70 Coupe custom interior trim?

If memory serves, consoles had vinyl covers over a thin foam. Contact Al Knoch; he can probably tell you what is correct.

[Reba W.]

Re: 70 Coupe custom interior trim?

The brake covers did not change for custom interior. All were plastic interior color.

[Alan S.]

Re: 70 Coupe custom interior trim?

Hi Mike,
The original parking brake console on my 71 is as Terry remembers... a light tan color plastic, painted black in my car's case.
It's now showing 6 small dimples on the outer side where the parking brake lever slide bezel studs are mounted.
Regards,
Alan

[Jerod M.]

Re: 70 Coupe custom interior trim?

Hi Mike,
The original parking brake console on my 71 is as Terry remembers... a light tan color plastic, painted black in my car's case.
It's now showing 6 small dimples on the outer side where the parking brake lever slide bezel studs are mounted.
Regards,
Alan

I'm guessing the judges can sniff out the reproduction black ABS? plastic consoles a mile away as compared to the original consoles, which were made out of a tan colored fiberglass material?

[Alan S.]

Re: 70 Coupe custom interior trim?

Hi Jerod,
About the ABS/plastic issue.
I considered a reproduction plastic e-brake cover but noticed that the moulded grain pattern was was quite different than the grain on my 71. I think that would be noticed even before determination of the material could be made. I believe it would be obvious if the console had vinyl on it but not so obvious that it were ABS.
The grain difference was enough reason for me to restore my original cover.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Regards,
Alan

[Bill L.]

Re: 70 Coupe custom interior trim?

My 70 is plastic and painted black. Bare plastic is a tan sorta color.

I see NOS consoles on ebay on a fairly regular basis. I bought a repro for comparison and it is really not very good.

If you find an NOS console and have power windows, the location of the P/W switches is shown on the underside.


Bill

[Michael W.]

Re: 70 Coupe custom interior trim?

Mike,

If the console in your pictures is the new one, the leather grain you're seeing is molded plastic and not a covering of some sort.

It's possible the piece that you're removing was also a repro and not the original.

[Jerod M.]

Re: 70 Coupe custom interior trim?

Alan,
What technique did you use to restore the texture loss from the seat belt tethers rubbing the sides?

[Alan S.]

Re: 70 Coupe custom interior trim?

Hi Jerod,
I was VERY fortunate.
My car has only 46K miles so the tether had just worn the paint off the cover but let the grain pretty much intact. Also, since my interior is black, a bit of paint proved to be a solution since it's pretty difficult to get a good, clear, look at that part of the cover.
On a couple of other places in the interior I VERY CAREFULY used the tip if a #11 x-acto blade to 'etch' the grain back into an area of a part that had been rubbed too smooth. You have to be very gentle. The blade puts the 'lines' back into the material, but also raises an 'edge' that needs to be dealt with. I used some 1500 paper to smooth the rough edges without removing the 'lines'.
Good Luck!
Regards,
Alan