E series engine doghouse

The wood trim is available either from Ford or from customizer houses, it is an after market product for the dash and for the cup holder sections, alignment of the trim is important so that it looks good, used to install them on the old SAAB vehicles and VOLVO many moons ago.

In the picture of Travelin2 it shows the offset to the right of the dog house and the different distance from the passenger seat to the dog house and the bigger distance of the drivers side, by moving the passenger seat back and higher we gained more room for my wife's feet to pass trough and the drivers side too, we have the same cup holder the original one was really small just two cup holders and an ashtray with a really small cubby hole.

navegator

Okay, now I get it. I went out and looked closely and now I see that I don't need to change the engine doghouse, just the cupholder attachment. This one that we have has lots of good storage but makes ingress-egress difficult.

Our 2007 E350 rig shown here has a fancy wood grain cup holder.



I was able to fit this gray cup holder on my engine cover of which fit perfectly. Unfortunately I was not able to find one in the same plastic taupe color, nor a source to put on the wood grain finish. I like the storage much better on this one.

The dog house itself is the same what changes are the different cup holders and "glove box" attached units to the dog house, they look as if they are one piece but are two separate units, the cup holder is attached with 3 plastic round buttons that look like top hats and are inserted in holes that are key holes, pull hard enough up and the cup holder pops out.

In some cases to work on the engine the cup holder has to be removed and then the dog house if the passenger seat is not removed, on my 2001 I have to remove the cup holder in order to remove the dog house, I have the biggest cup holder with a big "glove box", they will not come out together not enough room with the seats.

Units with the wood trim need very careful handling in order not to crack the varnish "plastic" coating on the wood do not twist the wood at all.

navegator

Seems like i heard once that there were 3 different doghouse covers that were used.

Dusty

navegator wrote:
The dog house is one piece and the cup holder and storage is a separate unit, what I have done is to lift the seats by 3 inches with a square channel and install the passenger seat 4 inches to the rear this allows the passenger more room and easy access, I also installed a hand hold on the dash board for the wife to move to the back and get snacks or go tinkle.

The engine and transmission are off set to the right from center so there is less room on the passengers side to move, moving the seat back gave us the added room to pass and a higher and more comfortable seat rather than sitting inches from the floor, if you do the lifting make sure that the bolts and nuts are grade 8 and made in the USA, Chinese stuff does not meet standards for this application, make sure that the square channel is also thick and sturdy.


navegator

Thanks navigator. I will see if I can find a bottom section with the cutout. I was hoping we could maintain the trim around the cupholders and such because it is a matching woodgrain with the dash. The fact that that top is transferable is great news.

The dog house is one piece and the cup holder and storage is a separate unit, what I have done is to lift the seats by 3 inches with a square channel and install the passenger seat 4 inches to the rear this allows the passenger more room and easy access, I also installed a hand hold on the dash board for the wife to move to the back and get snacks or go tinkle.

The engine and transmission are off set to the right from center so there is less room on the passengers side to move, moving the seat back gave us the added room to pass and a higher and more comfortable seat rather than sitting inches from the floor, if you do the lifting make sure that the bolts and nuts are grade 8 and made in the USA, Chinese stuff does not meet standards for this application, make sure that the square channel is also thick and sturdy.

navegator

Thanks guys....so the way I understand it, it is a two piece affair?

x2, If I remember right there is a spring clip on the bottom of the 'cupholder portion' I'm not sure if the actual doghouse portion was changed with the redesign in 2008? I would like ( but not a high priority) the slimmer style as well, so periodically check around.

Edit: Just checked, its one spring clip under the middle of the add on portion.

Ken

In the older dog house style the center console detaches by pulling up, it attaches at 3 points and can be exchanged for a different one, ours had the small unit and I purchased the bigger unit, the dog house it self is standard, just the storage unit is different.

navegator