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Got the Ashcroft Centre Console installed

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console
10K views 17 replies 11 participants last post by  ashtrans 
#1 · (Edited)
I put in the new Ashcroft center console this weekend. I am really pleased with the quality. The fit was good and the plastic is good quality. The plastic is thicker than the NAS 97 original. The only thing I dont like is the missing cup holders. It has an indention for change or an Iphone instead. No lock on the cubby either.
 

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#2 ·
Man I would really miss those cup holders! I wonder why they did that, if youre going to make something, make it better!! did you come up with other vendors offering a replacement? Your replacement doesnt look like it has the same textured feel. how long did it take to install?

Did you find anything left from the PO? lol!
 
#4 ·
did you come up with other vendors offering a replacement? Your replacement doesnt look like it has the same textured feel. how long did it take to install?

Did you find anything left from the PO? lol!
The texture is really a pretty close match. My gear shifter is a bit faded so that may be the problem. Ashcroft is the only one making these. With shipping it was a bit under $700 US. It only took me 10 minutes to replace. I pulled the orginal out to go into my 110.
 
#3 ·
Very nice. I may post this up in the other auto conversion thread to complete it.

Cup holders has basically been a US thing for forever. Our obsession with them is uncanny. While cars and trucks made here have had them since the 80s, they didn't really start popping up in vehicles imported from the UK until the 90s it seems. The '97 cup holders were seen by many as basically useless because of their size, and Ashcroft had figured a phone tray would be more usefull (he's also from the UK haha).

I don't think it looks bad at all! Very clean looking.
 
#5 ·
Reese_D90 said:
The texture is really a pretty close match. My gear shifter is a bit faded so that may be the problem. Ashcroft is the only one making these. With shipping it was a bit under $700 US. It only took me 10 minutes to replace. I pulled the orginal out to go into my 110.
Making the 110 auto?
 
#13 · (Edited)
Me, too. I think that was a miss in the design. The missing cup holders eliminates those who seek to keep the original appearance.
Think you've missed the point behind the kit, it's really for 'UK' owners that want to convert their manual to auto, mostly TD5's these days and get something that looks nice & 'factory'.

It's interesting that LR owners in the UK generally (from my experience) don't mind too much if it's not exactly as it left the LR factory.... as long as it's functional & isn't going to fall apart after 5 minutes use were happy. The 'factory' look seems to be a US thing... bit like cup holders.

Just my 2c/p from an ex-pat living in BC ;)

Also, under UK motoring laws you can end up with a 5yrs in prision if found guilty of causing an accident whilst text, phoning, drinking, eating or putting make-up on.... whilst driving.... maybe that had a bearing on the design too.
 
#8 ·
I am convinced that the only way to be truly happy with a center console for the auto's is to make a new one from scratch. Was thinking about framing a new one in 1/2" square tubing and creating sheetmetal skins that will screw into place. That way you can access sections without completely removing the whole thing. Also, I want the flexibility to place radios / cup holders in differnt places. For the cubby, I really want it to be much deaper with a false bottom for valuables / weapons.
 
#9 ·
The phone space is a good idea, but with so few choices to place a cup it's nice to have them. Only three of my 100+ coffee/travel mugs/cups will fit. The cup holders in the cubby lid are almost as usless. Still...nice to have. I bought the folding holders for the rear but have yet to install them.
 
#18 ·
Hi Reese,

glad you are pleased with it,

I think it's fair to say the rest of the world care a little less about the cup holders and I don't think they worked very well on the stock design anyway, I find the phone tray more useful, also another reason for dropping them was we had to make the mould also work to make the shorter Puma type console which has a different dash, with the phone tray we can just chop the front off to use for the puma but this would not have worked with the cup holders and one mould was expensive enough,

Virtually all of the ones we use and sell go into hardtops so we dropped the lock, it didn't seem necessary,

The development of this was a very very long story which I won't bore you with, but we ended up finding the guy that originally did the genuine one for LR in the 1990's but the mould was scrapped long ago, we changed the process from RIM to vacuum forming like the genuine one and also changed the material to a textured ABS and once formed they are cut to shape using a CNC 4 axis router for perfect repeatability, it's been a long road but we are pleased with the result,
 
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