Batboard

Hello all!

Just picked up a real nice '95 Caprice (9C1, LT1, ex-MN State Patrol slicktop, 106K miles, very little rust) - for $500 I figured at worst I'd have an extra set of tires and a nice drivetrain for a future project

Anyways, this one has the 60/40 split bench. I'd like to put in some sort of mini-console that can hold two radios/heads (an MCS2K and a GM300), and a pair of KVC-5A vehicular chargers. But I'm not sure what products I should be looking for. Any of you seasoned veterans care to elaborate on what you used "back in the day"?

It'd also be cool if anyone had a picture(s) of Caprice installs with bench seats. Every one I've seen so far (in person or in pictures) has had buckets and a full console between them.


--Keith

Rip the bench out and put in bucket seats. Bet you didn't think of that.

Seriously though, cheap Caprice parts are all over the place now and finding a set of bucket seats should be trivial. If you have a blue interior all the better. Put out a feeler ad on Craiglist and/or start hitting up local junk yards. You might even luck out and find someone willing to swap their bucket seats for your 60/40 bench - keep in mind that for a lot of people that space in between the seats is a hindrance.

If you absolutely must hang on to your bench seat your only real drop-in option is going to be a tree mount screwed into the transmission hump. Havis at one time made a 7'' console that was designed to drop into the ashtray space in a Crown Vic (C-VS-700-CV) but it's discontinued and wouldn't mount to a Caprice without some custom bracket work. Ditto for this guy: http://www.havis.com/products/DISCONTINUED-32269-0.html

If you need anything else feel free to ask - my daily driver is a '95 9C1 with dual batteries, upgraded electrical, split custom trunk mounting platforms, and a Havis angled-series console.

I'm thinking back in the day, we took the havis mounting plate for the bucket seat console, slid it under the bench and used a steel plate to basically extend it forward in front of the bench. then mounted a 8 or 10 inch havis c series to the plate in front of the seat with a u bracket. Its all a bit fuzzy but I know we had a few detective cars that were caprices with bench seats and a small havis up front.