Shifter Trim Repair / Refinishing Results - Pictures and Description

There have been a couple threads recently on this topic, so I thought that I would document my attempt to refinish my trim ring around the shifter. The finish on the U-shaped silver trim that surrounds the shifter boot on the 996 (1999 C4 I my case) starts to bubble and lift, as you can see from the pictures. While I had read that it would require a full replacement the boot assembly (over $250) as the trim is an integral part of the boot assembly, I decided to try to remove and repair it. Trim removal from shift boot assembly It is possible to separate the trim from the assembly. Six plastic studs are molded into the back side of the trim to hold it in place in the boot assembly. Starting at the open end of the “U”, I pushed from the backside and lower part of the trim. It took some time to work them free and separate it. Go slowly, be firm, but gentle. Removal of old trim finish The trim is a piece of U-shaped plastic covered in a foil-like silver finish. It is this finish that was bubbling. Starting where it had bubbled up, I used a sharp knife to peel the old foil off. This can be time consuming because the foil adheres quite well where it is not bubbled. Using a sharp blade (razor or x-acto) flush against the surface allows you to peel back the foil enough to use your thumb and forefinger and pull it off in small to medium-sized strips. I also found that if you do this at the edges of the tri, you could get larger edge to peel off. You want to be careful not to gauge the surface as this will likely show through when you paint it. I removed 100% of the foil from the visible portion of the pieces, all of the edges, but could not get about 15% to 20% of the foil on the inner (concave) portion of the trim piece to come off and did not think it was necessary to spend any more time. Refinishing Preparation - Very lightly sand the outer surface of the piece with 220 grit (I did not have any 360 or 400) to rough up the surface and smooth any knife marks. Wipe it down with a damp rag to remove the sanding dust and then wipe with a rag dabbed in a small amount of acetone to clean the surface. Prime with Dupli-Color grey primer – 3 light coats. Finishing – Finish with 3 coats of Dupli-Color VW Diamond Silver (P/N 8802029) and 2 coats of clear coat. (I took the trim to the store and VW Silver was the closest match). Reinstallation The trim piece simply snaps back into place. Conclusion The silver is a pretty close match (the picture is not representative). The new finish lacks, perhaps, a bit of metallic lustre, but is much better than what was there. Total time was about 1.5 hours, but it took about 8 hours with paint drying time.

Nice work!

Very nice job!

Good job! Thanks for the write-up and pics!

Sharp,so easy a caveman could do it !

Looks really good!

Nice job and great pics...thank you!

I have a better color match for the interior silver trim. its a Plastic-kote spray can at auto parts stores Bumper and Trim silver metallic, #1897 I painted several of my interior pieces to match the stock parts

wow, that looks WAY better!

Well done, Fergus!! Looking forward to seeing it in person soon. ...Rickker

nice work

Thanks for all the kind words Not available in Canada and I would suggest that you would be hard-pressed to tell the difference in person.

Nice work Canuck. I just noticed the other daymine was starting to bubble and was thinking of doing the same thing. Is it time yet to update the sig and the avatar by the way??

Job well done. Do you know of a good leather dye for your leather? I've got the same leather interior but it seems my steering wheel is getting used much more.

Good point... Done. No I don't, sorry.

Impressive results in the end. Looks professional. I'm looking to add that trim piece to my 996, as I simply have the black shifter hood but no trim. Does anyone have a part#? Am I able to add it on if it didn't come equipped from the factory?

nice work!

Be-utiful work. But since know one has made the comment.....a 1994 C4? No wonder it was falling apart....

How difficult is it to "lift" the trim? Does it just snap off where the six or so tabs are on the bottom of the trim?

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I just removed mine last night. It takes a bit of force but I was able to remove them all without any damage. The tabs are just little dowels that pull straight up. I used a butter knife to get underneath the trim for a few of the tight ones. I purchased a can of Testors "Diamond Dust" model spray paint on the recommendation of another thread here but I haven't started the painting task yet.

Looks great. I've repainted a few of my trim pieces as well. Similar process to you. One difference is that I use SEM Plastic Adhesion Promoter instead of a primer coat. It is amazing how much chip resistance that gives the refurnished part.

Good job, looks much better than before. Thanks for the how-to as well.

I just finished repainting my trim and I thought I'd post my results and some tips I learned. I'm very happy with the results. it is almost perfect and much, much better than before. I'm thinking about painting a few other interior pieces next :-) I took the same approach as the instructions but with a few differences: The paint I used was Testors Lacquer Diamond Dust (1830MT) on the recommendation of another rennlister. I really like the metallic look I didn't use a primer but I did have some adhesion promoter based on another recommendation. It seemed to work really well. I tried using a Dremel with a cylinder sanding disk to remove the paint. It worked quickly, but it also scratched the surface which required quite a bit of sanding to clean up. Sadly I only learned that after the first coat. See next bullet. The metallic paint really, really shows any surface flaws. I thought the trim plastic was perfect but after the first coat I realized it wasn't I found that 400 grit wet sandpaper was about right to smooth the surface and remove paint due to overspraying. 1000 grit worked well to remove dust and imperfections between coats Painting took a little practice. After my first attempt I found the best approach was to use very light coats. Spraying too much easily resulted in runs. But since the paint dried in 20 minutes it was pretty easy to do 5-6 coats The paint was fairly soft even when completely dry. I decided to coat with about 3 light coats of a lacquer clear coat. It worked great and brought out the finish even more Since I painted the back of the trim the little posts that held the trim to the leather boot wouldn't quite fit. I had to sand them down, and then use a bit of glue to attach it back to the boot I'm very happy with the results. Next on my list is to try the same paint on the ashtray delete I just ordered. Note that I had the white balance set incorrectly in my first picture but I corrected it for the final shots :-)

Really nice work. I'm having my new sport seats color matched to my exterior (violet chromaflair) and want to get the trim ring sprayed the same color. Basic guide on getting the boot assembly away from the console (before removing trim from boot)?

Looks good I did mine last year. I purchased a new leather boot and painted the pattern indicator Now i need to get some paint or dye for parking brake

I'm glad I stumbled onto this thread, since mine looks the same and has bugged me for years. Will be redoing mine as well. Thank you.

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Quick tip, be careful separating the trim piece from the boot in the cold. It is fragile and will snap.

I can't find this VW Diamond Silver paint anywhere. Is there another option or different/updated part number?

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Testors model paint at hobby shops, I think it is actually diamond silver lacquer. Good on plastic because it's good on models.

I think the VW code is L79A for Diamond Silver, the rarest VR6 Corrado color.

https://rennlist.com/forums/996-foru...l#post10686747

Thank you all very much!

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This is proper work! Noice!

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Thanks for taking the time to right up the details. Agree about the foil -- while some of it will come off, there are sections of the foil that seem to be literally impossible to remove (not helped by the plastic that can be fairly easily gouged beneath it). That's the only really difficult part of the job -- otherwise it is a pretty straightforward repaint process.