Topic: 350 SE console removal

[powerglide]

I am trying to remove the console from my 1977 (British delivery) 350SE. Here is what has happened so for:

1. Removed font seat guide rails on the tunnel side of each seat
2. Removed phillips screws at rear
3. Removed phillips screw on passenger side (LHS) at front

There will be be another screw on the driver's side at the front, but this seems to be covered by the footrest for the driver's left foot, and I cannot see how this can be removed to permit access to the remaining screw retaining the console. If the footrest is bolted or screwed to the floor, then this fixing will be covered by the engine exhaust pipe heat shield underneath. Can anyone familiar with this problem advise on the easiest way of gaining access to this remaining console fixing screw, and also any other points that I need to know?

I would also like to know what speakers should be fitted to the parcel shelf.  The present (inadequate) speakers are Blaupunkt simple paper cone 5 1/4 inch items that were evidently dealer-fitted and mount by 4 screws to the parcel shelf board only. The recesses pressed into the steel underneath the board on either side have provision for a speaker of similar size with three fixing screws only (I have never seen a car speaker with only three screw mounting points).

[nathan]

hi power,
the drivers side screw is covered by the foot rest as you said. to get the foot rest off, there is a hole on the foot surface where you need to stick a screwdriver though to undo the philips.  you actually have to puncture through the carpet to get it. i know, its painful!. then u get access to the screw. dont forget the screws at the top of the aircon control section (where fan knob and switches are) - there are two screws inside this top bit of the console just below the centre vents (all the stuff on the console there needs to come out)

[powerglide]

Aha - tricky Teutonic thinking again!  Many thanks Nathan for solution. I can ease a small phillips driver thru the carpet and the hole will not be too big.  I don't actually need to remove the entire console from the car if I can lift the rear section of it just barely above the tunnel, but I read on another post that the console needs to be first drawn to the rear before lifting it up. In this case then all the screws need to come out. Do I have this right? You describe screws 5 and 6 being at the top on the face of the console. I am hoping to be able to leave the controls knobs and sliders in situ and deal with the atrocious rear speaker wiring job done by some bogon that is the main problem. Possible?

[nathan]

Heh Power,
i think u will find they all need to come out! i was wrong, there arent two bolts in that top bit, there are 4!! u can clearly see the holes for two, but there are two screws hiddne in the corner top too.  removing all that stuff is actually pretty easy though.  as for the screw in the foot rest, its reasonable size, the head on the screw must be about 5 mm so its not a piddly one.

[powerglide]

WONDERFUL pic, Nathan! - many thanks.  The footrest came out easy, just as U described. It's made from a shaped block of wood, so don't let anyone tell U that W116s dont have real wood! (ha ha).

My 350 SE has less stuff behind. The main issue is to get the wiring to the speakers routed properly.  This involves the rather quirky fader mounted on the console that is really superfluous given that most 4-speaker systems have a fader already.

Hidden by the footrest was a tab with one hole attached to nothing. I bent it to see ifn there was a hole underneaththat it should be fixed to. There wasn't, but it snapped off in my hand as it was plastic, part of the moundeed console under structure. Lesson learned there.

This still does not expose the remaning mounting bolts. Clearly the console has been out before as it has not been refitted properly, resting now a few mm rear of the correct position. I would like to be able to get to the fader switch with a driver without having to undo all the heater and aircon controls.Am I dreaming?

BTW, your photo reminds me why I have a 350 and not one of those amazing 6.9s: sooo complex!

[nathan]

PG, dont be scared by the pic, it really is pretty easy to get that stuff back in...mainly its just plug and plug some more stuff in.

all these dashes seems to 'creep' with time and create a gap thats obvious at the top bit below the air vents with the glove box open. it doesnt mean someones had it out before.

from memory u also need to take the front seatbelts out dont you, as they are bolted into the console on the rear transmission tunnel between the rear passengers legs?

[powerglide]

More thanks, Nathan. I'm making progress, but I can't see how u get access to the 2 bolts (holes shown in ur pic).  Seems I have to get the heater & aircon controls as well as the panel supporting out first, but can't see how all this comes out.  I have the glove box, ash tray, radio and switches for the sun roof etc out, but the panel stays in and I can't see the bolts and screws holding the console to the dash at the top.

[nathan]

PG,
i only have this crap pic from when i did it 4-5 years ago.
you have to take all that stuff out, its not that hard.
first, pull the two (aircon, and fand knobs) straight out...dont be scared, they will come out (use a rag over some pliers if needed), they need a bit of force.
then undo the two (only one if you dont have aircon) 17mm? bolts...pull out the central black bit aronud the knobs.
you then need to remove the levers for the heater flaps (simply pull them out, not too tough). then gently pry the plastic surrounds out...be gentle with these - there are no screws but they have small clips on them which will bust if you are hamfisted. i think from memory do the bottom then the top or vice versa.
finally, there are two phillips screws at the bottom. in my crap pic you can see what where they are screwing into at the bottom of the pic
good luck
nathan

[powerglide]

More thanks, Nathan - you are a hero! Your description is very clear, esp the part about the fragile plastic clips - I busted a couple elsewhere not being careful enough.  And the pic shows it all beautifully.

The M116 appears to come apart quite easily once you understand the proper disassembly order (I guess this applies to all W116s).  Right now the car is at the body shop getting a few minor rust spots fixed (bottom windscreen both sides, lip of rear wheel arches), and fixing the mess made by the bogon who installed the after-market towbar (now gone). These need fixing to make it all water tight.  And I am trying to source a new windscreen the correct thickness without that dreadful black border (who thought up THAT idea?).

I want to fix the present radio-CD installation that could even have been done by the same bogon that did the tow bar.  The wires are set up routed through the fader control on the console OK (probably original dealer fit), but I was planning to bypass this and just use the radio CD fader. Also, as I posted elsewhere, it is unclear what speakers will fit the rear parcel shelf, but 6-inch units appear too big; the Blaupunkt single paper cone units fitted were for a Bpunkt radio (no cassette) that is now gone, and are not suitable for the adequate modern radio-CD head unit now fitted.  Any advice to offer on this?

The car is a fairly nice UK-delivered (no ADR 27A) M116 SWB auto with K-Jetronic, sun roof, 6 1/2 inch alloys, fast glass and air, and just 100,000 documented miles.  And I notice that W116 prices have bottomed - W126s appear to be the new bargain model for those that can live with plastic bumpers and an alloy block.

[TJ 450]

Yes, all those parts can be quite fragile. Still, if it was a more modern car, things would be broken even before you touch them.

The rear speakers are a proprietary design, but you can fit 5 1/4" speakers in there. However, it may involve some irreversible modification such as drilling extra holes. As stated in the "350SE rear speakers" thread, you should watch out for overall depth.

Tim

[powerglide]

Thanks for the comment, Tim.  I can use 5 1/4 inch Pioneers and mount them to the parcel shelf board using the original Blaupunkt plastic clamshell mounts, ie, they should be a one-for-one replacement.  If the sound is inferior, I'll drill the shelf - 4 holes either side won't be the end of the world.  BTW, I wondered reading the string on speakers why the 'doof-doof' brigade haven't thought of using the first aid box cutout for mounting a sub.

I'll post some pics when it's all back together.  Quite a bit more work to be done such as fitting cruise control which it doesn't have - no need in UK where it is seldom the traffic lets you get into top gear.

[powerglide]

4 months later (baby now 5 months old!) I have the console out - those two phillips screws hidden in the top are a trick to find (one is simply missing and the part of the concole material it held down is broken off.

Next question: how should the fader control on the console be wired? - it's a mess, and the console was out before because it has been put back incorrectly, forced, and is damaged as a consequence of the forcing (bogon car sound fitters don't understand the teutonic mantra that there is only one correct way to build - and dismantle).

The more I work on this car the more impressed I am with the W116.  It is not as expensively built as my (now deceased) finnie, but pretty much is the best car I've worked on built since 1974 when most other manufacturers stopped designing and building cars properly.

[s class]

Once one starts doing mechanical repair work on these cars, one quickly sees that almost all other cars are junk in comparison. 

[powerglide]

Baby now coming up to second birthday, and I have had the console ALMOST back in, but it has to come out again because something is still preventing it moving fully forward.  I have not removed the driver's seat (RHD), because someone more experienced advised me that there will be trouble when it comes to replacing a driver's seat fitted with a height adjuster - which it has.  

Question #1: I really need to get the console all the way out so I can see what's preventing it going back in, and can I do this without removing the driver's seat?

Question #2: What is the advice on removal/replacement of the driver's seat fitted with a height adjuster?

For me this has been a TREMENDOUSLY helpful post - thanks, guys!

[I now have the baby seat anchor installed, and I would like to get the car back on the road before baby is too old to need it!  I just need to get the console and all its wiring sorted, then a detail of the interior, and it's all done: one quite nice, sorted-out Milan brown K-jet 350SE that goes like a rocket.  The few rust spots were cut out and welded up, paint touched up, tow bar removed and holes filles, new windscreen and seal, entire FI system overhauled including tank removal and clean, new HD battery, new calipers and discs, new brake hoses, radiator rebuilt, grille fixed.]

PS: Nathan, I notice the Demons seem to have made less progress than even me in the last 2 years ...

[pompy]

Sweet!

How about some pics?