Painting centre console - ashtray/armrest - Page 1 - Boxster/Cayman - PistonHeads UK

Anyone on here painted their centre console, just the part that runs between the seats? I looked at a Speed Yellow 987.1 with this done as a factory option, and I thought it looked good. The ashtray lid on my meteor grey S is starting to peel, so I'm thinking about painting the console and lid body colour. I'll do the prep, but get my brother to paint it. He does custom paint on bikes and cars for a living. He will do a far better job than I ever could.

Mark Pearce @ Stirlings painted my blue 997.2 before I got it - I think it looks absolutely stunning. He also painted the back of the seats - really breaks up the tan interior. Will post pics of you want (before and after) - big fan of Stirlings and Mark's work!

I went one better and did all the interior plastics on my 986. It's a "SportDesign" with a textured matt silver finish and it was looking very tired in places. Just to be clear, I didn't paint anything that wasn't already factory painted but I was very happy with the end results.

Getting a spare console to paint is a good idea. I saw the post with the full plastics repaint. Looks like a massive job! Fortunately I only need to do the console, as the rest of the interior is like new (full leather)

Could it be wrapped?

I spoke to my brother about painting the console - no problem. He has got the primer and clearcoat, just need to get half a litre of colour - about £30. I've looked at the consoles for sale on eBay, and most of them say they just fit a specific model year. Are they playing it safe (saying what model year the console was pulled from), or is the console the same on all years of 987.1?

Hard-Drive said: I went one better and did all the interior plastics on my 986. It's a "SportDesign" with a textured matt silver finish and it was looking very tired in places. Just to be clear, I didn't paint anything that wasn't already factory painted but I was very happy with the end results. Looks good. Did you consider doing the plastic strip that runs under the passenger airbag? Or is removal too awkward?

Thanks. I had a look on eBay, and the cheaper consoles come with no ashtray. Mine isn't really that bad, so I want to keep all the original parts with the car. Bought a complete console, and will order the paint next week.

I had my 986 interior painted speed yellow. Not to everyones taste but I personally love it. Photos show it partly refitted (not everything has been fully screwed back together). I would love to get my 987 interior painted too. Edited by giltranator on Saturday 16th May 21:16

thegoose said: Looks good. Did you consider doing the plastic strip that runs under the passenger airbag? Or is removal too awkward? I didn't consider it as all I have done is repaint what had originally been factory painted as part of the "Sport Design" pack. I do want to keep the car original, due to some vague misguided theory that one day an unmolested Boxster might be worth a few quid as more and more get modified. The paint I used, Dupli Color textured metallic, was the very closest I could get to the factory finish. That said, the speed yellow car pictured above looks great...really cool.

The spare console arrived yesterday, so today I've stripped all the electrical bits out, and started to remove the rubberised paint. Taking forever! I've tried all the solvents that I've got in the shed. It's a tricky balance finding something that's strong enough to soften the paint, but gentle enough to not harm the plastic too much. I'm getting reasonable results with acetone, wiping it on with a cloth, then rubbing with a dry Scotchbrite pad.

I finally got the time (and the weather) to fit the painted centre console today:

giltranator said: I had my 986 interior painted speed yellow. Not to everyones taste but I personally love it. Photos show it partly refitted (not everything has been fully screwed back together). I would love to get my 987 interior painted too. Edited by giltranator on Saturday 16th May 21:16 Looks absolutely brilliant, thinking of doing mine (ocean blue metallic) along the same lines,how difficult fiddly was it to get the parts trim out? Ans what process did you do for the prep,paint etc.