Armrest:

Last night I decided to actually fit my Armrest rather than have it just sitting on top of the centre console.

I used a spare centre console I bought (with no crack at the top of the handbrake). Decided to go to B&Q to source a bracket and also get a few bolts, whilst I was there I also decided I needed a drill and some drill bits and ended up spending £41 just to fit the armrest :o (oops - at least I can use the drill in future).

I originally thought of putting a bracket inside the cup holder and reinforcing it with another bracket 'inside' the centre console joined to the back. The brackets were too big but as the cup holder part is curved it was very a sturdy surface to bolt a solid bracket to.

So firstly here's the 99p armrest I bought it from eBay from a Rover 416 in the position I wanted it. It's a solid plastic armrest which I wasn't too fussed about, might change it to a softer one in future if I can find one on eBay.



Then with the £8.99 Leather cover fitted. As you might see in the next picture this was pretty much cut 'to size' and had no real slack to secure it properly. The colour isn't too far off my seats just the camera has made it look slightly further out. Once it's been on a while it might dull down a little more.




Right, on to last night's job.

I drilled holes in the bracket and fitted it to the armrest (this is where you can see the bad fit of the leather) Just using a £2 wood to concrete bracket in pretty much the same colour as the armrest leather.


I then cut a slit in the new centre console to fit the bracket through.


Then with the bracket and armrest fitted (I put the bracket slightly higher than the centre console so that the hinge opened fully):


The bolts were put through in the cup holder and like I said it's very sturdy, I had to put a nut on each bolt before fitting the bracket so it was set back and leaned forward slighty; if it was straight the cup holder would not sit properly on the centre console:


There is a little excess I will remove later when I have access to a dremel/file to get full access to the cup holder.


Then here's the centre console fitted to the car, I quite like this way as I still have access to use both the cup holder and the tray behind it, plus the armrest should stop the centre console from 'cracking', which I know they like to do!:

Gauge Pods:

I bought a cheap A-pillar twin Gauge Pod and have had it fitted with electrical tape for a while Thought I'd fit it properly using a single bolt which I'll paint a darker colour so it doesn't show up as badly.


Hole in the back for the wires:


Fitted (AFR will be going in there too) You really can't see the screw unless you're head's against the windscreen:


I also fitted the Steering wheel centre (and another pic of my Gauge Pods fitted).