Hi, whats the deal here with the 2 different shapes?? I have a vl exec and a vl calais and both have the deep side skirts at the front which flush up to the carpet perfectly. I have two other consoles which have the shallow side skirts. They still fit but dont flush to the carpet. Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

S1 and S2. Different shifter.

yeah, thats the only thing i can think of..... never noticed anything like that before....good find

Yeah i was thinking that too, will find out 4 sure. bit of a 'gotcha' to watch out for when getting a console of ebay etc. But the tunnel shape must be different too, because the front retainer hooks clip into the console the same, but the side skirt comes nowhere near the carpet?? It's not just the front edge thats different, the whole sides from in front of the shifter [where the bludge is on each side] to the front of the console is different, esp. the drivers side.

Stupid question: which is the series one and two in the picture?

The one on the right with the deep skirts should be series I - perfect fit in both my '86 vl's

It's not really a Series 1/Series 2 thing. There were a bunch of running changes made to all models at different dates. All the consoles changed in December 1986, as did the type of carpet used. My guess is the early carpet had a deeper pile so the console didn't need the extended side pieces as it sat deeper in it. As Holden cheapened VL's up during their model life that would stand to reason. They were losing money hand over fist with the engines so they had to make up the shortfall elsewhere. Both mine have the deep sides (Feb 1987 and March 1988). The early one is the shallow one (pre December 1986).

hmm...doesnt add up to me, the shallow one misses the carpet by 25 - 30mm, thats a lot of carpet and both my vls are '86 models with the deep one - the plot thickens!

Ok, the evidence I have so far strongly suggests its a series I/II difference. My vl exec - '86 model with beige interior and almost without a doubt the original console, has the deep sides. A series II I've looked at has a perfect fitting shallow sides console. The part number for the deep skirt console is 92024320, which appears in the early edition parts manual The part number for the shallow skirt console is 92032315 and does not appear in the early parts manual. Here's a pic of another interesting difference I've noticed at the rear of the consoles. I have a few of the shallow skirt consoles and none of them have this extra panel or any evidence that one was ever there. Here's another pic of the drivers side skirt showing the different shape. I'll be pulling the console out of the sII to check why it's different Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

Okay, forget what I said earlier. I didn't notice just how different they were until I saw your side and rear shots there. Both mine are the shallow type. The last parts book (Nov. 1988) lists 92024320 as used until 31/11/86 and 92032315 used after that date. No idea why the change though. Maybe the deeper ones were rubbing/squeaking at the dash as they aged a bit. As they all only mount with those three rear screws it must have something to do with different carpets or underlays used at the Nov '86 upgrade that necessitated a shallower console. Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

has to be to do with the longer shifter...or did the V8 ones have a higher mounting shifter...... got no idea, nut trying to think of a few...

Ones not from a vk is it??

Quote: Ones not from a vk is it?? I think the vk is a different shape around the handbrake area. These two are identical except for the skirts. The brown one is from my exec. and the grey one is from a vl berlina Quote: has to be to do with the longer shifter You could be right there.....

The console in my car appears to be the shallow type, the car was built in 87 and my console doesn't touch the carpet at the back but sits pretty well flush everywhere else. Could it have something to do with the arm rests in some models?

Quote: my console doesn't touch the carpet at the back ya, they seemed to have deleted the small angled plastic filler at the rear on the later console. By arm rests, u mean the centre storage compartments? The base console was always the same. You could make a exec console into a calais console by popping the plastic inserts for the hinge and clip, bolting on the storage bits and cutting a hole for the power window switch assy.

Quote: Originally Posted by VLHDT 86 ya, they seemed to have deleted the small angled plastic filler at the rear on the later console. By arm rests, u mean the centre storage compartments? The base console was always the same. You could make a exec console into a calais console by popping the plastic inserts for the hinge and clip, bolting on the storage bits and cutting a hole for the power window switch assy. Yeah, after having a quick read through the parts manual, I noticed that. I can't see why they would delete that bit at the back though. I had a look at it in the daylight and it actually doesn't fit snugly the way round, up the front where there is that bend is a big gap. No idea why that would be though, I would expect series 1 to not fit well, then series 2 to be improved. It would be intresting to fit a series 1 console to a series 2 VL and see if it still fits nicely. Say, got a Grey series 1 console you could donate to me for educational purposes? Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

i am sure they do fit perfectly, there is nothing different bar the cable and it doesn't come into contact anyway..

Quote: Originally Posted by Jonno Say, got a Grey series 1 console you could donate to me for educational purposes? Got one right here. Come and get it. Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

Mine's a series 1 Calais (July 86) and that gap between the skirt and the carpet has always p!ssed me off. Just looks cheap. Anyone wanna swap a blue shallow skirt console for a deep skirt!!! I might start hunting around for one. Only prob is that series two blue interior is slightly darker, so it may be hard to find... or i'll hafta paint it!

Quote: Mine's a series 1 Calais (July 86) and that gap between the skirt and the carpet has always p!ssed me off. Same for me too until I discovered the shape difference!!! I was dead lucky, b4 i knew what was going on, i picked up a fairly nice grey console off ebay and it just happened to be the deep skirt type. It wasnt till a couple of days after I got it that I noticed something odd/different looking about the front of it. Did a comparison and "Ah-ha"!! oh btw, if u paint it make sure to apply a couple of light coats of clear plastic primer first, or the paint will not stick! I got a paint shop here to scan a flat piece of the underside of the grey console and they came up with a very good satin finish paint mix that's near impossible to pick a difference to the original.