HulDug22

Just purchased an 82 in great condition. Trying to get it back to stock condition and I have a question about the console side panels. On my car they are very nice looking plastic panels with the same quality and texture as the dash panels. All other 82s I have seen have matching carpet panels. Is this some option for 82? Or just a well done mod?

Tried to insert pic......

gbvette62

It's a well done mod.

77's had vinyl covered console side panels, 78-82 all had carpeted side panels.

Welcome to the Forum!

0Willcox Corvette

Someone put blue 77 panels in your car. They don't look that bad but you could buy just the carpet and cover them.. or if you purchase a new carpet set the carpet section for the console is included.

Willcox

HulDug22

Thank you GBVette62 and Wilcox ! Looks like some carpet work is in my future. Want to get it back to stock. Found an 82 Radio to install, but still need orig 10 Ohm speakers both frnt and rear. More carpet work needed in back to replace the aftermarket boomers! But, it's a labor of love!

chiefttp

Hulldug22,
If you go back to the original carpeted panels, here's a trick I discovered. The top edge of the cheap cardboard stock panel has the cardboard exposed. This causes the cheap cardboard to become visible if the panel drops a small amount over time. Paint the top edge of the cardboard panel the Same color as your carpet so it's less visible..the other option is to try and wrap the carpet over the top edge, but it's such a snug fit that it's difficult to do. This particular design is pretty poor on GM's part back then.
PS, very nice 82!

HulDug22

Chiefttp, thx, im thinking about applying the carpet panel directly to the blue plastic consoles to avoid using the cardboard. The panel shape might be different though, thus my carpet shape would be non stock....trying for originality.

DUB

FOR WHAT THIS IS WORTH:

I do interior work like many others but what I have found that regardless of what the side console strip is made out of...it is critical to make sure that it is modified to fit under the lip of the shifter plate along with the rubber hand brake console cover. When I get the fiberboard or 'whatever' to fit and locking in correctly. I then apply the carpet. And with the side console strip being CORRECTLY fitted...then the chance to the edge of it being exposed is not here. I trim the carpet right to the edge. LITERALLY.

I can say that the replacement fiberboard strips you can buy are so 'jacked up' and cut wrong along the CRITICAL top edge...they are a joke and who ever is trimming them MUST be drunk.

DUB

HulDug22

So the carpet edge is then underneath the shifter plate and the brake console cover....correct? Thus avoiding carpet edge exposure. Thx for tips!

terry82

I took the cheap looking carpet off and put leather on mine .factory correct is not always best I,M.O

0Willcox Corvette

When the cars were new there was a fitment issue...

I have my original 78 (24K miles) here and the panels are 100 percent original and fit like crap where the shift plate meets the parking brake console.. The reproductions have the same issue so making panels the same as GM to me doesn't classify as "a Joke"!

The original panels were a joke. And.. If you ordered the side panels from GM there was an issue with the fitment just like the originals and just like the reproduction panels.... so ....if there was a joke it was the OEM panels.. Do you make the reproductions better than original... Maybe, but that doesn't seem to be the case and something we all have to deal with.

The trick is to flush the carpet upward and then fluff it to hide the area between the shift console plate and the parking brake console. When you install the carpet to either the OEM or the reproduction panels it's best to flush them upward which will give you the needed "fluff" to conceal the issue.

Willcox

chiefttp

HulDug22,
here's a picture of my issue, if you look the top edge is exposed and where the panel kicks at the junction of the shifter plate and rubber console is poorly fitted..this was my old car, my new one is much better
the problem is the shifter plate and the rubber console have a very small lip on their outer edge. the lip is what covers the side panel top edge. the lip is so small that any shifting, by even an 1/8th of an inch will expose the cheap *** cardboard. GM should have made the lip with a larger overhang and this would be a non-issue. It amazes me that something like this passed through testing, design, and common sense, and was OK'ed by GM...Your idea about keeping the leather panels but carpeting them is a good one, but I would leave an 1/8th" of the leather exposed at the top, and that would be the part that slides under the lip..I see a lot of test trimming, fitting, in your future but with the leather part at the very top, the cardboard won't be exposed

DUB

Willcox, regardless if the panels are by/from GM or some one else....if they are trimmed like a drunk did it...it is a 'joke'...no matter how you slice it.

JUST LIKE how some of the fiber board rear compartment doors are also JACKED UP and not right due to the bezel for the doors do not fit well.

Keep in mind I am NOT commenting on the parts you sell due to i do not buy either one of these parts mentioned from you. SO it is NOT a refection on you. Lets just get that perfectly clear. But we also know there are not a lot of companies making this stuff also.

And regardless if they are made to exact standards which are screwed up like what GM had back then. One would only figure that IF there was problem in these parts...then they should be corrected...because it is not like the hyper critical judges will be in a person car with a micrometer. HENCE...why I call them a 'joke'.

DUB

HulDug22

Thx, I like the stock look WITH carpet, so it's a must do for me.

HulDug22

Just removed the console side panels. They are definitely covered with leather. And Well done! The Excellent shape will make it very scary to cover with carpet....having second thoughts.

terry82

I like the look of leather so much better .