Kerin's car's A/C isn't working, so I spent the morning figuring out what was wrong. Afterward, I positioned the hinge pin retainer, drilled it from the inside out, then countersunk the hole for a screw.

I also fabricated this little latch release. It's the fairly long flat strip. It will have a button mounted to the outside face of this strip, protruding through a hole in the side of the center arm rest compartment. When the button is pressed, it will press on some metal tabs which will be mounted to the back side of the latch, thus unlatching it.