Organizing the clutter this weekend and found a box with this console in it. I offered it for sale with the tach back in 2015. I sold the tach but still have the console. I don't see any damage to the plastic, the metal with the rocket emblem looks nice. The other metal portions have lots of dents and dings in them. Maybe from people dropping the seat belt buckle on it? Please check out the photos and let me know if you have any questions or want to see anything not clear in the photos posted here. Send me your zip or postal code if you'd like a shipping estimate before deciding if you want it or not. Price is $75 plus shipping, located in Medford Oregon.

 

Seems like it would be worth $75 for a cool wall hanger!

 

If this is still available I'm interested, thank you.

 

I replied to your email message. John

 

I’ve had a ‘66 Starfire since 1998 or so with this automatic console. The top plate is diecast chrome. Most all of them now have tons of pits and scratches. And dings, dings, dings. Design flaw or feature, wear should be expected with these parts. I had my top plate rechromed and I’m mostly happy with it, but it scratches too. A while back I scored an NOS (in the box) console box door with perfect chrome. But I replaced that original aluminum with vinyl. Here’s why:

The top plate is a beautiful piece, but Olds finished the plate and rear door with a very soft aluminum panel on top. These all got dinged every time someone took their seat belt off. 60 years of seat belt buckles is a lot of dings.

I’ve long since replace my easily-dented aluminum with a replaceable vinyl covering that I just cut to fit and swap out any time it starts to look ugly. About a year ago, I added Chevy Impala seat belt buckle holder on each side of my console to great effect. Now there’s a fitted perfect place to plug the seat belt buckle into and _not trash_ the console top.

The “knee knocker” tach was used in 64-66 Starfires, but console top changed a bit over those years. It was gone after ‘66 model year. The plastic and chrome casting didn’t change, but the shifter plastic, logo and window switches varied year to year. The shifter plastic letters changed owing to the change from the 394/slim jim combination in 1964 to the 425/TH-400 combination in 65/66. Just to confirm it, the tach Olds used in the Starfire was totally different from the one they used in the Cutlass/442 in those years.

Gently used Starfire tachs work just fine, but they’re not all that accurate. They can be off as much as 200 rpm from what I’ve seen. There is an adjustment screw, so if you have one, have a separate RPM measuring device, then match the Olds tach to it. On the buy side, generally I’ve found that if the tachs are in good cosmetic condition (notably they still have their pointy lens “nose”, they work mechanically. Maybe 5 or 6 years ago I had a company in North Carolina (?) replace my tach guts with modern electronics. They’ve worked great, as validated by my tweaky Bluetooth HEI distributor. Much more accurate than original, but few hundred to convert. Unless you really care about precision, save your $$ and live with the analog precision.

In 1964, the console top had a kind of rectangular-with-tips logo pressed in on top of the the aluminum. In ‘65 & ‘66 that rectangular logo was swapped for a rocket emblem, pressed into the same spot where the older rectangular logo was. Same holes too.

As far as I know the 64-66 plastic base parts - including the courtesy light lenses beneath the top did not change in those years. The side market lenses swap. The hard to find part is the rear courtesy light lens. I’ve never seen one of those for sale without having to buy the whole console.

In 1964 and 1965, if the car had power windows the switches were in screwed into cutouts on the console. In ‘66 the console casting didn’t change, but window switches were mounted on the front doors and rear quarters. So, if you’re really into it, you could console mount your window switches in ‘66, but you’d be cutting into the old casting and had better be a pretty precise cutter. When I retrofitted (added) power windows to my ‘66 Starfire put the window switches in the doors & quarters since it was A) factory and B) Easier.

These consoles are a great place to put and iPod to feed music to a glove box mounted stereo head unit. Great place to stash change for a parking meter, purel, masks if you like and a few $ for burgers or other. I ran a battery-connected USB charger in mine too just so I can charge up modern phones & what not, but hidden beneath the door so it looks 1966 when I want that.

Probably more about these consoles than anyone ever wanted to know, but perhaps this helps the seller and potential buyers.

Good luck and good hunting to all.
Chris

 

Chris, thank you for sharing your knowledge about these consoles.

This one is still available if anyone would like to purchase it. John