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Questions about '97 Thunderbird center console

8K views 29 replies 13 participants last post by  Rodeo Joe 
#1 ·
I own a '95 Thunderbird that I recently swapped over to the superior (for lovers of drinking Coke while driving) '97 center console with the cup holders (need to finally install the other vent tube underneath). I also added the '97 cigarette lighter/black box under the stereo (had to file down a second notch in the surround to convince that thing to go in).

My question is about the little box with the spring-loaded door. It is nearly useless for anything that I need (I can't even fit my cigarette lighter phone charger into it for storage) and it very easily slides out (there's a molded slot on the bottom that centers it). It seems to me that there had to be other options for that space besides just a little box next to the cigarette lighter. Were there any options for it, any planned? I'm trying to figure out how to modify it to become a cell phone holder (or maybe put a couple gauges in there or something stupid like a compass, anything is better than a little box that can't even open all the way) but before I do I'm just curious about stock choices for that void.
 
#3 ·
You can put a DIN cubby in there, that's what I did. I drilled a hole in the back of it and put the cigarette lighter there. Not sure if it's still available but there used to be a blank cover available that snapped over the cubby and people added gauges that way.

Joe
 
#4 · (Edited)
The purpose of the black box is it’s an ashtray, nothing more. The 94-96 console top had the ash tray where the 97 cup holders were so Ford moved it and the lighter into the lower DIN slot to appease the smokers. The stock choice in 95 was the VMM with an extra array of dummy lights(low washer fluid/fuel/coolant, door ajar and optionally, traction assist. Factory cubby hole FTW.

If you want a compass get a gentex auto dimming rear view mirror out of a 00s Buick or Cadillac.
 
#7 ·
An ashtray? Seriously? Ok, looking at it with the door open, there are 2 sets of plastic ridges, one on each side, that seem to be the perfect width to hold a burning cigarette. Interesting.

So that would explain why it comes out so easy, so it can be emptied out? Seems so over-designed just for that but I buy it. Too bad, I was hoping it was some Ford forward-thinking modular design that would accept all sorts of inserts, like a car version of Moto Mods for Motorola cell phones. Or at least a simple open box option.
 
#6 ·
I like the storage of the din cubby. Since I got a giant phone year or two ago it's too big to fit, but I put other stuff in it now. Wallet usually goes where the Altoids are lol.... Now I have a suction cup windshield mount for the cell phone and I really like it there; it's right in view for gps and music.

Oh and the pic doesn't show it but I do have the 97 cup holder center top
 

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#29 ·
I like the storage of the din cubby. Since I got a giant phone year or two ago it's too big to fit, but I put other stuff in it now. Wallet usually goes where the Altoids are lol.... Now I have a suction cup windshield mount for the cell phone and I really like it there; it's right in view for gps and music. Oh and the pic doesn't show it but I do have the 97 cup holder center top
I like this cubby setup, somebody recently stole the ashtray out of my wife's T-Bird. While hunting a replacement I ran across this post, gotta get it, especially seeins how neither of us smoke. Would you happen to know where I can get One?
 
#10 ·
A 1974 Cadillac Eldorado seated 5 in front, 5 in back; everyone had a seatbelt, an ashtray, and a cigarette lighter.

And I could cross my legs with 4 other peeps in the back, lol.
 
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#14 ·
The Green VFD displays are blue, and have a yellow or green filter over them.

Try Kapton tape.

Or lighting gels for stage use are pretty east to get in small torn pieces. :)
 
#17 ·
Only accessories I remember my parents using in the cig lighters sockets back in the day were radar detectors and portable tire inflators, and even those I think may have been 00s accessories for them, cars were really just one purpose devices until the last 15 or so years. Those old Nokia et al phones usually had their own matching charging tray bolted into the dash and tapped into a 12V line independently like a car alarm install would.

It wasn't even a matter of it being offered, every MN12 that rolled off the assembly line had a cigarette lighter placed in the socket as standard. My Cougar was a non-smoker car and has the original, and its mint too from lack of use:) I don't think car companies started referring it to a 12V outlet with a cover in place of the lighter until the mid 00s?
 
#18 ·
I started to see new cars with "Power Plugs" in the 00's, when smoking started to go away.

If I wanted a cubby, I'd put in the factory one; I see them a lot at the yards in the older ones.
The Black cougar had the lights, the Red one has a cubby.

Only the 97's got the ashtray there, right?

The black one now has a panel I got from racecougar with a wideband in it, and the Tbird is getting one soon. :)

I'm going to throw some switches with covers in there too; I'm not sure I've got the nerve to do a brake light disable switch.
One in my subaru used to save me a bunch, lol.
(Kill Lights, kill brakelights, hide while cops speed past, go other direction, lol.)
 
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#19 ·
Well, I found a use for the ashtray (door). I just went to Fry's and took a look around their cell phone holders for cars. One of the air vent options looked like it would work on the lip of the open ashtray door -

https://www.frys.com/product/8419658?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG

With the ashtray door open I figured I could cram this onto the edge and then put my cell phone in horizontal. It works better if it's upside down so the slider (the rounded end) extends down instead of up (and blocking part of the stereo). It seems pretty solid and, of course, with my luck charging is annoying because the cable coming out of the bottom of the phone will hit the other end coming out of the charger in the cigarette lighter. But I can angle the phone a tad so that they just brush. It looks great, the ashtray door sets a perfect angle for reading the face of the phone (for GPS directions). I wasn't fast enough to use the phone to take a picture of the phone in the holder, hahaha. Not bad for $7.
 

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#20 ·
While it works for now, I'd be concerned about the long term effects of this and potentially damaging the door.

Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk
 
#22 ·
Nice stereo! I have almost the exact same model. Absolutely love it.

The phone holder? Meh. I would work at it a little more so the open ashtray doesn't look like an open ashtray. Cover the opening with a black plastic piece or something.

Al
 
#23 ·
Ya, it's a solid stereo.

Once the phone is sitting in that holder horizontally you can't actually see any of the open ashtray. And the door is angled such that it's perfect for viewing the face of the phone. I might try to come up with something that swaps into that box area (remove the ashtray completely) but for now it does the job better than most of those online options on Amazon.
 
#24 · (Edited)
I'm new here and I've never posted so hopefully I'm doing this right. But I agree with Kenz, I like the open bin. I would have used a dashboard ashtray unit but it was just too small to use it for anything and the door (while very sturdy) got in the way. I upgraded my '96 console to the '97 console with the cup holder and I lost the cig lighter outlet...which I wanted to power stuff and I wanted it to look factory. So I merged the two. I took the lighter receptacle out of a dash ashtray unit and with a little bit of cutting and manipulation, got it to fit inside the right side of an open bin unit. I blocked off that side of the bin and covered it with some heavy black leather looking material that matches the console lid so imo...it looks pretty factory. Now I have most of the bin and an outlet. I don't smoke and never will so I don't need the ash tray. Just a thought for those looking for another option. It works really well for my needs.
 

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#27 ·
That’s what sold me, full RGB adjustability to get it juuuust right. My tip, don’t set it by “key and display”, if you do that and try matching it to the clock the keys are too vivid, if try matching the gauges the display is too light, so adjust them individually. These are the settings I found worked best with this head unit...

Key: R26 G52 B13

Display: R20 G52 B13

You’re welcome :D
 
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