Center Console/Arm Rest (by "Firemarshal" Bill Waite)

After driving our new MINI for a while, I realized what I really missed in my Classic (1973) Mini was a cup holder and some place to rest my right arm while driving .  I looked at other Minis, searched the Internet for design ideas, and eventually came up with and built this center armrest that incorporates a small storage box (for a cell phone, a box of Altoids, a few Sony mini-discs, etc.) under the hinged padded top, an adjustable cup holder (it'll hold up to a 32 oz. Big Gulp), and relative ease of accessing the seat belt connectors.  It fits snugly between the seats with no need for clamps or screws to hold it in place.  It also lifts out easily and rotates forward automatically when either of the seat backs are tilted forward.

Tools: 

a)     Hand held saber saw and/or band saw.

b)     Electric hand drill and 5/32 drill bit.

c)     Portable router and/or router table.

d)     Several bar or similar clamps.

Materials:

a)     ¼ sheet of ½ inch plywood.

b)     1 yard of vinyl fabric (I used black).  Usually sold by the yard, which is 54-inchs wide.  This material may have a thin layer of padding on the back.

c)     Armrest padding – 1 to 1.5 inches thick, approximately 10 ½  inches long and 5 ½ inches wide.

d)     Two – 1 ½ -inch long hinges.

e)     Two 9X12 inch packages of sticky-back “Presto Felt” (sold at Wal-Mart for 87 cents a pack). 

f)      A dozen or so 1-inch long, #6 wood screws.

g)     Adjustable cup holder (sold at Wal-Mart for under $4.00).

h)     Contact cement.

i)       Spray on glue (optional).

j)       Paper patterns

Pattern pieces:

On the Templates Page you will find the full-size templates for each of the pieces in a .pdf format ().  Just print out these pages on your printer and then cut and tape the paper pieces together to make the full-size patterns for each of the 7 pieces.

A & B - Sides (2)  (18 X 13 inches)

C - Center brace (cup holder will be mounted on this piece) (3 5/8 X 7 inches)

D - Storage box, front (3 5/8 X 4 inches)

E - Storage box, bottom (3 5/8 X 7 inches)

F - Storage box, rear (3 5/8 X 3 5/8 inches)

          G – Storage box top/armrest (10 ½ X 5 ½ inches)

Directions:

1)     Lay out the paper patterns on the plywood and cut out parts A & B only.  Sand away the rough edges.

2)     Fit the two side pieces (A & B) between your seats to insure they fit your particular car for height and shape.  Adjust the pattern as needed.

3)     With the two side parts (A & B) in place between your seats, measure the width between them.  Parts C thru F should match this width, which should be about 3.5 inches.

4)     Cut out parts C thru G and sand away the rough edges.  Note that part G (storage box lid and armrest) is wider than parts C thru F and the corners should be rounded.

5)     Route the outside edges of both sides of parts A & B and sand smooth. 

6)     Lay one of the side pieces flat and lay out the positions of the storage box parts D, E, and F on the inside of the side pieces, and then mark their correct location in pencil. 

Note that part D will need to have the top and bottom edges angled to sit flat on the bottom part (F) and match the opening of the storage box at the top.  Cut or sand as necessary.

7)     Pre-drill the screw holes inside the pencil marks with the 5/32 drill bit and temporarily attach the storage box bottom, rear, and front to both side pieces with the 1-inch screws.

8)     Fit the partially assembled unit into your car to insure the correct width and that you have good access to the seat belts and emergency brake handle.  Adjust if necessary.

9)     Disassemble the unit and lay the side pieces A & B on the vinyl and trace their pattern onto the vinyl.

10) Cut out the traced pieces 1/8 inch inside the traced pattern line on the vinyl.

11) Use contact cement or spray-on glue to attach the vinyl to the INSIDES of pieces A & B.  Note, the edge of the vinyl should come up to, but not over the routed edges.

12) Reassemble the storage box pieces D, E, and F to the side pieces A & B using a little glue this time and the wood screws.  Note, the heads of the wood screws should be just a bit below the surface of the wood.

13) Fit the assembly in your car and mark the location of the center brace piece (part C) so that the parking brake is still fully functional, you have good seat belt accessibility.  This piece should be close to level.

14) Remove piece C and use glue or contact cement to glue a piece of vinyl completely around (top, front, bottom, and rear) it, but not on the edges that will mate with the side pieces.  Trim the edges if needed.

15) Mount the center brace (part C) in between the side pieces with four screws (pre-drill the holes) in the position marked in step 13.

16) Cut one or more strips of vinyl the exact width of the inside of the storage box and glue it on the inside and outside of the storage box, making sure you also cover the top edges of pieces D & F.

17) Lay the unit on its side and trace the pattern of the side pieces onto the vinyl.  Cut out the traced pieces 1/8 inch inside the traced pattern.

18) Glue the vinyl pieces onto the outside of pieces A & B.  The only wood that should be showing at this point is the rounded edges of the two side pieces.

19) Cut the 9X12 inch piece of sticky-back felt into 1 ½ -inch wide strips (each strip 12 inches long).  Before you cut all the strips to width, make sure the width of the strips will completely cover the edges of the side pieces.

20) Peel off the felt backing and carefully lay the felt strips down on the edge of the side pieces, pressing it on so that it completely covers all the rounded edges of the side pieces and overlaps onto the vinyl by at least an eighth of an inch.

21) Glue the armrest padding onto the storage box top (part G) and trim if necessary.  An electric carving knife works great to trim the padding to the shape you want.

22) Center the armrest piece G (padding side down) on to a piece of vinyl that is at least 2 inches longer (on both ends) and 5 inches wider (on both sides) than the armrest.  Wrap the sides around and/or glue or staple the vinyl to the bottom of the armrest.  Fold the ends in and over onto the bottom of the armrest.  Trim as necessary and staple or glue in place.

23) Mount the two hinges at the back of the armrest so that the lid lifts up and to the rear.

This armrest works great in my Mini with the late model (Rover) adjustable seat backs, however, you may need to modify the pattern somewhat if you have older or different style seats.  There is no charge for the plans on this web site, and I will take no responsibility for your final product, but with very few modifications, these plans should work in most any Classic Mini.

I would also like to offer a special thanks to Ryan Potter who helped put the template pieces into a .pdf format.