If you own an antique vehicle, you’ll know this story already. You’ve restored the mechanicals – the easy part, because metal things can be machined. It is the soft parts that are sometimes something like hunting snipe.
What is a snipe hunt?
It is a hunt for a thing that does not exist! Or something not far from that. You may have been sent on a snipe hunt when your were a kid. They did this to me – in Boy Scouts – when I was a kid. We occupied ourselves for hours trying to find what wasn’t there. Trying to hunt down a rare part for a car that hasn’t been made in more than 40 years is something like that. Particularly a soft part. More specifically, a part that was originally made by a process that is difficult and expensive to replicate today.
A part like the center console for my 1976 Pontiac Trans Am.
It is not the shape of this part that makes it hard to replicate. Shapes are easy to replicate today, especially now that 3D printing has become so inexpensive even a hobbyist can afford to make things this way. Almost any hard plastic trim plate for any popular classic car is easy to find, from a variety of aftermarket replicators. For example, I had no trouble finding a replacement radio trim plate for the factory AM/FM stereo I re-installed in my Trans-Am. It is indistinguishable from the original trim plate except insofar as it looks brand-new, with the correct chrome leaf around the edge. I also had no problem getting new control knobs for the original Delco radio and if I needed a new/old radio, it is easy enough to find those, too. Old radios are rebuildable, chiefly because they are made of parts that are readily available.
My console – well, the manual console I need to complete the conversion of my car from factory automatic to replication of what it would have been if it had been made as a manual car when it was put together at the factory back in ’76 – is not easy to replicate and that’s why it’s going to be a snipe hunt to find it. Specifically, it is not easy to replicate the soft, vinyl-like covering that GM (or its supplier) applied to the plastic shell of the console. It is not sprayed on. It is a molded cover that’s (somehow) pressed onto the original plastic shell. The result is very different in both look and feel than the replica consoles that are available. Put another way, it’s noticeable that the replica isn’t right – and people who own classic cars are very sensitive to that. A not-right part is a dead giveaway that the car is not “correct,” which is to say, original. The average non-car-freak isn’t likely to notice much less care. But to a person who is a car freak – especially a person who is knowledgeable about a particular make/model of classic car – the inauthenticity is incandescent.
For example, I get irritated when I see a mid-late 1970s Trans-Am that has the wrong callouts on its shaker hood scoop. The average car show attendee does not know the difference between “TA 6.6” and “6.6 litre” (and – yes, it was spelled that way). A Pontiac Trans-Am freak such as myself sees “T/A 6.6” – and sees an Olds 403 V8 under the hood – and gets irritable. Why? Because while many 1977-79 Trans-Ams did come with the 403 Oldsmobile V8 – a weird thing, in retrospect – only Trans-Ams that came with the optional, high-performance Pontiac 400 had “T/A’ 6.6” callouts on their shaker scoops. You can tell the “T/A 6.6” 400 by just looking at it – if you know what you’re looking at. Just as you can tell whether it’s an Olds 403 you’re looking at – if you know what you’re looking at.
It’s pretty much the same situation with the center console. People who know ’70s Trans-Ams can immediately tell whether it’s an original or a replica. The replica is even more obvious when – as in my case – it is installed inside an otherwise original interior that has the patina of authenticity that cannot be replicated.
So, my snipe hunt begins. It may take a long time. It might take no time at all. Everything depends on vigilance. On constantly checking eBay and suppliers of New Old Stock parts as well as the inventory of kooks like me who keep a stockpile of original parts laying around the garage. There is someone, somewhere who has the manual console my TA will eventually have.
This snipe hunting, by the way, is part of the fun of owning a classic car.
Yup. We car people are weird this way!
. . .
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Apparently there are some options for the replicating the overmold:
https://www.justdashes.com/pontiac/trans-am/1970-1981-pontiac-trans-am-firebird-center-console-restoration/
I’ve never done business with these guys, so who knows. I’d guess the overmold is going to be at least as expensive as the console.
I have heard they do excellent work. When I have the money, I plan to send them my 71 Charger dash.
Looks very nice as it is. Keep searching and if you find it great, if not don’t sweat it. Either way she’ll still be your baby and know she is loved.
Eric, for finding a usable console from a parts car, the problem you’ll find with ’70s GM vehicles is rust. Camaros and Firebirds were among the GM cars and light trucks that quickly developed rust then, so there are few survivors.
The story I’ve heard is that GM began using recycled steel in the early 1970s that had not been adequately melted/processed to get rid of rust, so some was trapped within the recycled metal. The panels would literally rot from within, not from one side or the other, so there was no fix except replacement. My father’s ’76 Suburban was thoroughly rotted by 1981, 5 years after he bought it new, and in the 1980s I saw surviving mid–1970s Camaros with fist-sized holes in the rear fenders from rot.
Good luck on finding that console. You’ll need it.
Hi Ek,
Yup, I’ve hear the same. My car is an exception – probably because it has not gotten rained on in 30-plus years and was never driven in snow. I’m also the second owner; bought the car when it was still just an old car (not yet an antique) and have kept it safe all the years I have owned it.
“ It is not sprayed on. It is a molded cover that’s (somehow) pressed onto the original plastic shell. ”
With all due respect, I wish you would take some time to understand why the costs of manufacturing cars keeps going up. One of the key cost drivers is the cost of tooling. The tooling needed to make the parts you’re talking about are not inconsequential.
There are two main process injection molding, slush molding. Watch the videos below and you’ll get an idea of the cost and complexity of this tooling, then think about what it would take to amortize the cost of that tooling and why it doesn’t make sense for the OEM’s to produce a limited production low end “economy” car like we once grew up with. As long as we have access to cheap credit and people buying more car than they can afford, there is no volume market for $20k economy cars.
https://youtu.be/2qM-Sp_3-Kk?si=74UZt99cv0LVklc7
https://youtu.be/KuMKOUW5xzo?si=iv0u9nDJO70XOnsy
Some older stuff from the 70’s was done in a multi-step, more manual vacuum forming process but it is pretty much impossible to use this process in mass production due to OSHA and labor costs. Still used by small independent restoration shops that specialize in repair of trim parts.
https://youtube.com/shorts/2hIDJZTsbTY?si=pAtJsxVO0vwo6956
This is the process you would need to use on a POS used part like Ernie pointed to.
https://www.justdashes.com/get-a-quote/
https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_ssn=jgwin12&store_name=transampartsdepot&_oac=1&_trksid=p4429486.m3561.l49496
Doesn’t help that most old school junkyard are no more. They would have things like that, no problem.
Today, most junk yard cars are rarely over 15 years old. Need something for a car from before the 1990’s? They don’t have any cars from that era. Scraped long ago.
When I was a kid back in the bad old 1980’s there were junkyards that had cars that could be 50 years old (and been in the yard 40 of them). Granted many of them no longer had many useable parts left, but those yard guys never crushed those old cars. There was a yard with cars from the 40’s, 50’s, 60’s and 70’s nearby that dad and I went to once in a while. The guy running it knew exactly what he had too (no computer, or even something on paper), you asked and he would lead you to it. Crazy…..and there were thousands of yards like that.
But back in those days those guys had low cost of doing business, so those cars could stay on. Not the case no more.
Today’s junkyard, if it can’t be sold within a few month, its gets scrapped and “recycled”. I think it’s a big reason whey finding parts is getting so hard. Parts that used to sit around (for decades in some cases) don’t get saved anymore.
It’s being done on purpose.
The anti-car agenda is very strong.
a bit of vinyl repair and a dye job, and here it is
https://www.ebay.com/itm/327106057478?_skw=trans+am+manual+console&itmmeta=01KPE36SB5A4HVTYYY1276QP02&hash=item4c290a5506:g:ILwAAeSwBeNp4NvA&itmprp=enc%3AAQALAAAA0GfYFPkwiKCW4ZNSs2u11xD2f%2FJEILuwBD%2BLa%2BVEJwClVFxAwHxsd519cCepNCKDltMyK%2Ffds5EKCneDpemQCRiZdTqQbuDJ4TOFn3n3DihUGderldM6fbo8nWqFzfPoyjLp%2BZAi5kg3iMrABYJy1NBO7i%2F2YYf9owIrxDEsPI8NrBxTicwPTgVlht6hJpnUVLk7UOnnRcZ47VzauMrlS5zDpwfU8x%2BzGG%2B7SoF7GuHkCFk7dpsgQZGGLZbSIQsZs5NyRnpM3bmEp6KrNExA51E%3D%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR9iVm8OzZw
Hell to the yeah, but a little too easy peasy. What fun is a clicking buy it now? There’s no hunt, no spotting it under a pile of mouse shit and old Rainer cans and offering the farmer $20.
Oops, looks like no power windows on that one?
Hi Ernie,
I saw that one, too! It’s in ok condition but would need to be refurbished (and dyed). The price he wants is really high, as is.
Painful as it is, Facebook marketplace seems to be the best source for obscure parts these days. After 10 years of searching for the one year only hood emblem for my ‘63 Comet, my wife found one in 10 minutes on there.
Just to be clear, there really are birds called snipes, The Wilson’s Snipe is the most common in the US. You hunt them with a shotgun in wetland areas, and they are incredibly hard to hit.
Good to know, Gary – thanks!
I knew that, which is why I got fooled into going on a snipe hunt one time when I was a kid.
And I tried to explain this to my parents, who didn’t know that particular factoid, and it didn’t go particularly well.
Ah, memories.
Gary, they’re about the size of a Robin.
Article about hunting Wilson’s Snipe: https://projectupland.com/migratory-bird-species/snipe-hunting/snipe-hunting-is-not-just-a-prank/
I feel your pain on pursuit of authenticity, however I take some offense when you say a non-car-freak wouldn’t care about some of this.
Thing here is I consider myself a car freak but in a mechanical modification way, not matching number sort of way.
I mean, sure, I appreciate concours d’elegance and show and shines. I understand the work it took to rebuild a showroom perfect car.
If you need me I’ll be in the shop squeezing power from a stroker and gluing metal making and remaking my 4WD camping rig. Or building Grambler shitboxes and Lemons rally cars.
Hi Anon,
Sure enough! THe thing I was trying to get across was that a non-original/not “correct” part will stick out bigly in an otherwise original/correct car, like mine. If this were a resto-mod I would absolutely go with the repro console. But, the rest of my car’s interior is original 1976 and so I must have an original/NOS console to match!
The way you’ve been describing this part, I think you’re probably going to have to hope for a “donor car” to become totaled. Let’s hope if something like that happens, the owner will be kind enough to have checked the donor box on the title…
Luckily for you Eric, although the Wilson’s Snipe is a solitary creature of wet fields and bog it does exist and can be found with diligent searching in its natural habitat.
In your case you are searching already in that console’s natural habitat of E-Bay, but I suspect you’ll have to expand the search to its nesting ground known as the swap meet. 🙂
By happenstance I procured the radio and tranny by asking around if anyone had any first gen Camaro parts for sale and they did so I bought them.
Keep searching and eventually you will find that console. Sadly I’m sure that it will be pricey as it’s a rare part so don’t be shocked when you find one.
Swap meets are fun and frustrating simultaneously. Take a shopping list but don’t harbor expectations of finding what you need right off. Ask me how I know. 🙂
Swap meets are like estate sales. Don’t forget the flashlight and gloves when looking through old dirty boxes and if you’re lucky you may find a bargain.
Swap meets are a whole different kind of fun. But you can easily spend a whole day pawing through greasy, dusty stuff and still come away with nothing you went for and several things you didn’t need. My last one I was looking for a pair of early 60s aftermarket mirrors. I came away with a Willys front clip, a fiberglass 27 T roadster body, and one mirror. Thank god for cheap storage!
I expect how most enthusiast business get started is someone is restoring their car and ends up buying anything they can find related. So they end up with 3 donor cars and a storage unit full of parts when they’re done. It’s a way to reduce the stash (which never happens) and make back some of the money invested (also never happens). Before you know it you’re the biggest F body resto house on the east coast.
Hi Anon,
Summoning Cher… if I could turn back time… The TA I used to own before I bought the TA I currently own was a four speed car. It had all the parts I’ve had to buy again to do the conversion to manual. Idiot that I am, I let the junkyard keep the thing after it got totaled by a dude who ran a light. All I have today is the black shaker scoop. I could have added all the four speed hardware, plus the console. But noooooooo!
Of course, that was a long time ago – back in the ’90s – when old Trans Ams were just old Trans Ams…
We all let go stuff because it’s not important at the time. I let go a GTO Judge that I totaled when I was 16…….. for around $1600…… a crime today.
I really needed the 1600 to get my next ride.
If it were today….. new frame, new factory RamAir III header that broke when the frame came up (if avail.), body work, suspenion is/was easy enough.
“If I only knew then what I know now.”
The problem with keeping all these cars. What do you do with them in the meantime? They end up left outside to rot. Even if you have a shed or garage, they can still be in horrible condition thirty years later.
And we could say the same thing today. Most of us are smart enough to know that limited run special edition cars ‘could’ become something a long time from now. An example today is my wife CT4V-blackwing. Special car, that they make around 1000/yr since 2022. That’s a little less than the 6000 they made of my GTO Judge, so far. In 20-30 years will it be considered Eric’s Red Barchetta? Probably, with ‘flying cars’ all around, hahaha.
But we’ll do what most do and trade it on something else.