The console is from a '96 Explorer. I had to disassemble it to paint it because it was originally brown (I used a can of red ricer interior paint, it matched the T-Bird's red almost perfectly). The temperature sensor is from a 2001 Jimmy. I wired it into the clock/tripminder harness to get the acc/int lights/ground/speed sensor inputs, the dome harness to get the wiring for the map lights and I had to run a new harness out to the radiator support for the temp sensor. To mount it I had to cut a 3" X 5" hole in the headliner for the map lights. I stuck a small piece of 3/8" plywood in the hole and shoved it back between the headliner and roof to screw the console body to. I did the same thing for the front mount. Looks like factory:
Great job there Thunder Chicken.
Thanks :D
Didja notice the temp showing on it? 67 degrees! In Nova Scotia! In April! On a weekend!
:bowdown: Global warming
Good Job. If I didn;t know better I'd say that was factory (after all it should have been, right?).
If you have time, I'm sure many would appreciate it if you added this as a tech artical to your website.
After last winter, I think all of Canada deserves nice weather. Its 72*F and sunny here right now.
I didn't take any pics during the install (my 16MB smartmedia card ped out so I'm stuck using a 2MB one that holds like 3 pictures) but I will be doing up an article on it with wiring diagrams eventually
Thats cool. Good work man. I like it.
nice button on the visor :D
What can I say - that button has survived an '85 V6, a '91 V6, an '88 5.0 Cougar, an '87 5.0 Sport and is now in my '88 5.0 T-Bird. It's been around :D
Very nice! :bowdown:
Yes i did notice the 67 but it didn't click. It got up to 60 here yesterday. Not bad since we're only about 1/2 mile from the ocean and the coolness of the Labrador current.
I'm really gonna have to pick one of those up. Nice clean instal,man.
Looks great Carm. Only two things that can make it better...
Change the title and make this thread sticky. ;)
I've actually been thinking of making a whole section of stickies, almost like a sub-forum. We've got a few tech stickies in each thread, and I'm sure we'll get more as time passes. Once we end up with a whole page of stickies in a topic it kinda takes the purpose of a sticky away...
You could always make an FAQ/TECH area with just stickies.......
Hey man your dash is cracked.
(Sorry I'm bitter. Overhead console envy.) :D
Wooo, dad is not going to be happy when i gonna quit his console of his recent explorer.....
Nice Mod !!!!
Here's how to calibrate and set the magnetic variance of your overhead console, should you chose to do this install (thanks to gunkel04 for the pics):
More info: You WILL need sun visors from a factory sunroof car for this mod. Normal sunvisors have little "wings" that will get in the way of the console after it's installed.
Wiring diagram
Nice work. Are the two rooflines similar enough that you don't need to trim any part of the console?
The console was not trimmed at all. The rooflines aren't perfect, but they're close enough
That is a very sweet custom item.
You mean it actuly warms up in Nova Scotia?
I'd bet it gets colder in Ohio than it does in Nova Scotia - the Atlantic ocean keeps it fairly mild here. Unfortunately it also keeps plenty of moisture in the air, which means a snow/rain storm every other day in winter...
i've been meaning to let you know, i have a factory sunroof and i saw in another pic (i dont think it was in here) you had the "wings?" bent so the visors could fold back. i have the same visors in my car. so i suspect that older, 86 and back wouldnt have those and could be swapped in.
My original visors had the wings bent (broken actually, they're plastic inside and don't bend), but I installed a pair of visors from a factory moonroof car which don't have the wings. Is yours the factory power moonroof? If so, could you post a pic of how the wings clear the factory overhead console? It (your pic) might provide some insight as to how to mount the Explorer console without changing the visors
Wow, too bad that aint sunroof-friendly.
i'll try and get you a picture, but yeh that nice but sucks since i got a power moonroof. they looked exactly like the ones where the wings were broken.
I'm wondering if a 2000-2003 F150 console maybe a bit farther back might work with the standard visors. From what I can tell the very tip would have to be trimmed to match our roofline, but maybe it will work? Does anyone have access to one?
http://www.phoenix-image.com/Hydrographics%20Pictures/WebGalleryTrucksSuvs/pages/P1010068.htm
http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?from=R40&_trksid=m37&satitle=f-150+overhead+console&category0=
Inspired by the OP's success, motivated by the long desire for a useful overhead console, and tempted by the smokin'(?) deal on evilbay, I find myself with a problem - my wiring harness doesn't match the one in the thread.
Does anyone know how, or even if, these wires match up to the schematic posted in this thread? Is the 7.5A fuse still necessary? The console appears to be the same.
The wires I have are, clockwise from upper left:
[color]/[stripe]
1. light blue / red
2. dark blue / yellow
3. turquoise(?) / orange
4. black / light blue
5. light green / orange
6. grey / black (or is that black with a grey stripe?)
7. purple / red
8. black, which I'm guessing is the ground.
What year/make/model was your console from? I can look up the wiring info
I think it's a '97, but don't have the info from evilbay. The part number starts with "F37F" if that's any help.
F3's a '93, isn't it?
I'll check my wiring info for '93 and '97 anyway...
*EDIT* Ok, I've looked at my diagrams, and '93 matches your wire colours. The functions for those colours is shown in the image below. Connect "Battery saver input" to the CTSY LPS fuse in your car (hot at all times), and connect "Courtesy Light Input" to *EDIT* a wire that would have power when a door is opened (you will need to install a relay to switch the ground-switching door lamp circuit in our cars to a positive-switching system) /*EDIT*. "Vehicle Power" would be a switched ignition power (either ACC or IGN - I used ACC). "ILLUM INPUT" would connect to the dash light circuit. "VEHICLE SPEED INPUT" would connect to the car's VSS wire (or speedometer feed on any 85 or newer). Temp sensor feed and sensor return connect to your underhood outside air temp sensor (you did get one, didn't you?).
Sweet! Thanks for the help. Yes, I did get a temp sender.
Do you know if this console needs a polarity inverter like the later versions? I'm a little slow today, does "CTSY LPS" = "courtesy lamp"? Lastly, the fused connections use what rating?
I'm looking at the diagram, and yes, it does appear to need a polarity inverter (a simple relay will do it) for the dome light circuit. Guess I should've looked a bit closer before posting the wiring info above (I shall now edit that post).
Here's a diagram on how to wire a relay to switch polarity:
very good write up Carmen. i have one these i installed in my ranger and have another i may put in the bird, now that i see you clean awesome install
Nice install but would be pretty much functionless without the VSS on the 1984 Tbird I have.
If your 84 is fuel injected it should have a VSS. The VSS should be on the back of the speedo instead of at the transmission.
Well the speedo does have the cable. I am not sure what I would be looking for on the back of the speedo if that's the case because it looks pretty ordinary to me.
i dont have the vss hooked up to the OHC in my ranger and it works ok. its best to have it, but not needed.
There's definitely no VSS on the Tbird I have. The speedo is purely mechanical.
I actually found a overhead console at Pull-A-Part and I decided against doing it. It just didn't excite me once I realized I could do it if I wanted to. Weird that happens to me sometimes. As far as a compass and temp goes, I like the ones in the rearview mirror better. I really found no function for having an overhead console other than the compass and temp.
I am back peddling now. My 1984 does have a speed sensor. I presume it is there not for the speedometer itself but to supply the signal when the car is optionally equipped with tripminder and digital dash. Anyway, I got my Mustang speedo to work just fine with the VSS.
I just got the Explorer roof console and I see how it needs to be wired. I am confused though what function does the VSS signal provide for this roof console readout?
FYI... The temp sensor from the Explorer is located behind the grille/bumper area on the LH side of the radiator support near the LH airbag sensor. It is held in with a "christmas tree" type clip that pushes into a hole. The sensor itself is black and of course has the color coded wires in the connector dark blue/white and dark blue/yellow. Knowing this will help some people with the location where it is mounted so they will not have to look through other vehicles to find it.
Just found the answer to my own question... The VSS signal is there to compensate for wind chill on the temp sensor when the vehicle is moving. Some people have stated that it is not necessary to hook it up if you mount the sensor away from direct airflow. However, it's just too easy to connect to the VSS. The wire comes in on the driver's side of the tranny tunnel.
I got mine wired up today. When I got this unit I also grabbed the roof bracket from the Explorer. However it will not line up properly to take advantage of the unused mounting hole that are in the Fox body front roof beam. It sits the console too far forward and interfere's with the rear view mirror. I considered drilling different holes in the bracket to locate it further rearward but it still is not enough, plus you need room for the front clips on the console body to engage into the bracket without hitting sheetmetal so the console will sit flush. I am going to wait until I am ready to install the headliner and just mount it to that since the console is not heavy.
As far as the black/blue wire goes for the courtesy lamps to function when the door opens, mine has positive voltage with the door open and off when closed. I just tapped into the same color wire at the dome light wiring in the center of the roof and it works just fine with no relay needed.
Mine looks beautimous... So much so that I wish I had it for my Mustang but it has security system sensors in the maplight console and I cannot change it. Well, I can always opt for one of those mirror integrated designs.
(http://www.foxtbirdcougarforums.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=23477&stc=1&d=1276490072)
ooh, pretty :bowdown:
Did you paint it silver?
Yep sure did. It originally had a gray base and black face trim. If you follow my resto thread you can see the SN95 Mustang dash swap with the same contrasting color theme.
I couldnt read the button, what does it say? Good job by the way, looks real good.:bowdown:
Can you read it now? :hick:
OPEN, GARAGE, LAMP, MODE, LAMP
yeah, i can, i was figure out the garage button.
The garage button is such that you can open the compartment and mount your garage door opener mounted on the top inside with velcro. Mine has the original virgin unused velcro still attached. When you close the compartment with the garage door opener inside and positioned correctly you can push on the GARAGE button and it will press on the opener button inside.
The compartment also had a pop in plastic bracket to hold sunglasses which can be removed to mount the garage door opener.
BTW the picture looks funny like it is mounted on a ceiling of carpet... Like a 1970's conversion van... LOL!
looks good though, i meant to say i couldnt figure it out, just one of those days i guess
Ha ha I understand... I get those moments from time to time! It's a simple install if you don't have one already. There are a million Explorers in salvage yards so I had no trouble finding one.
I am however tempted to go back and look at some for Lincolns because I might find something roof mounted that will work for my 08 Mustang since I already have a forward roof mounted maplight with anti-theft motion sensors in place. I could also opt for a rearview mirror with that feature included. I had been looking in salvage yards for such, mostly in later model Cadillacs but no so luck yet. My Mustang has been on the back burner since I have been working on the Tbird. But then again the Mustang is a car I really don't desire to do too much modifying unless it just seems appropriate.