Center console modification journey

I�ve stated elsewhere here in the forums, the soft touch paint on the center console was the worst mistake Porsche made in the interior of the 996. My car has the full leather interior and why the center console isn�t cover is beyond me. Since the day I got the car it�s been on my list to change, and today, I started the process. ive spent the last year collecting bits and pieces and a spare console. Since I�m covering it I only needed one that wasn�t cracked and got one for $30 on eBay. I�ve decided that covering it in leather wasn�t going to properly tickle my fancy, I couldn�t decide what to do with the ashtray. Do I keep it or go with the delete? I couldn�t decide on either, so I decided to get rid of it altogether. I�ll be relocating the window switches to the horseshoe as I�ve got two blank spots. The first step is to remove the old soft touch paint. I scoured the forums and YouTube and the Googler said the best way was to use alcohol and a green scouring pad. I found a combination of that and some good old 220 got the job done, but it took about two hours to get it right. I had to spay special attention to the inside of the center console bin as I�d it too is painted in the stuff and I am going to be repainting it in �alumalook�. The next step was to �fill in� the ashtray. I needed something that was stable in all conditions and possibly sandable. The best I could come up with was some solid vinyl trim pieces from the Home Depot. I was able to cut and epoxy them together into a rough shape that filled the spot that wasformerly by the ashtray. On the bottom side there are two holes in the ashtray support. I pre-drilled two holes in the vinyls and used some screws to anchor it in. Next was Bondo time. While the Bondo cures I put a couple of coats of primer and a coat of �alumalook� in the console storage bin. Next up will be a few more coats of color and clear in the bin, some sanding...and then onto the leather. Stay tuned!

I recovered mine in leather as well and went with a center stitch. Worlds better now. interesting choice in removing the ashtray. Why not choose the delete kit?

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I�ve been following your thread. There are several reasons why I totally deleted it. First, if I were to stitch the center console, I�d have more stitching options. I could do two or even three lines, but I don�t know if I�m going to do any. Second, I�m changing some things over to alumalook. I couldn�t find an alumalook delete and the task of striping the soft touch paint off of another and getting it right was just too daunting. I hope to eventually end up with a double din screen with a silver bezel, relocating the climate control down with a silver bezel, and painting just the bezel on the remaining storage bin. I also have an alumalook horseshoe for around the shifter. Lastly, if I can get away with not stitching it, the console will look like it came from the factory, but less busy. Really, this is just an experiment. I�ve never done any of this, hence my use of eBay parts. I haven�t touched anything original. If it works I can box up the originals. Once this is done I�m considering recovering my extra �pads� in red. The ones on either side of the console, plus the arm rest and the rear pads. I�ve also got a turbo shift **** that would get a red boot. So far, I�ve run into a major stumbling block. The car is Guards Red and I can�t find leather anywhere that matches it. In fact, any help anyone can offer on finding some �Guards Red� leather would be great!

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Question for you, did you have to trim any of the edges to get them to fit? To account for the leather? Looking at some of my pieces there are gaps, but I don�t know if they are enough to account for the leather. For instance, the piece that goes by the e-brake.

No I didn't need to trim any plastic to get it to work. I used a thin vinyl and it all turned out pretty good. Now if your leather is thick, then yes, I imagine you'll need to dremel out some plastic to make the gap larger.

Another couple coats of clear and the �alumalook� center console bin will be done.

Here it is with the accessory pieces from the donor console. Next is a little more prep work for the leather, then the leather.

After a while I�m back at it. I covered the piece that sits on the side of the e-brake.

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Nice job, keep the updates coming Thanks

Made a LOT of progress. Here are a couple of in action pictures culminating in a mock up in the car. I went to relocate the window switches only to find that the window wiring goes under the shifter. It�s a little too late in the day to start removing the shifter. It appears that mine goes under the carpet as well. If anyone�s relocated their window switches to the dash, any pointers would be greatly appreciated. I also managed to break the locating tab for the ebrake cover, I�ll figure that one out later as well.. Here are the pics, if anyone wondered how Porsche should have delivered the center console, here�s my rendition- and the more or less finished product:

That is gorgeous. My dream console raises the whole thing about 1 inch, so the batwing disappears...it also has cupholders in it.

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That would be nice, but this alone challenged my abilities. Other than getting rid of the ashtray/switches, everything else is stock.

That looks REALLY nice!

Very nice. Where did you get the leather and how is it attached? If you haven't done it already, add the upgraded hinge for the oddments tray cover. It's around $35 and is way better than the original. (Plus adds 27 hp)

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I got the leather at Global Upholstery Supply. I will warn anyone considering this; The leather the factory used to cover interior bits is MUCH thinner than what they sell. It�s more akin to the leather used for the seats. This makes it very difficult to do what I did and required trimming plastic to get things to fit right. That being said, it looks identical in texture to the rest of the leather in the car. The color is a bit lighter but I�d attribute that to the car being almost 20 years old. It�s more than close enough. I used contact cement for the entire job. There�s a couple of YouTube videos on how to do it. You start by picking one spot and glueing a line. Then you glue another inch, then another. You also have to pay attention and plan the orientation of the leather as it only really stretches in one direction.

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I was going to comment on the thickness of the leather. The stuff that Porsche used to cover vents and accessories was almost paper thin. It must have been difficult to get the stuff you used to fit properly. Did you have to do anything special to get it to wrap without wrinkling? Heat? Moisture? Great job, it looks really nice

Looks good... since I put new leather everywhere else I decided to go a bit more trashy (classy trashy?) in mine... Hydrographics.

I like it. Did you do it yourself or did you send it out?

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No, I sent the console, along with pretty much every other interior plastic piece, to a local shop. I think if I was doing a single small piece I might give it a go, but I didn't have the patience to remove all the soft touch paint or the vat to handle big pieces. Plus, while the basics of hydro dipping are pretty easy, doing it well is more of an art. I ended up using L&S Customs on Metric in Austin, if anyone happens to see this thread. Michael there is talented. Here's a blog post I made with more details... http://porsche.rossie.net/all-about-hydrographics/ The hardest part for me was finding a decent shop in Austin to do the work. I swear, it's like some of them are just fronts for meth houses. Here's a couple pics of the guys at L&S doing the work... This is the little dash light sensor cover.

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There's a mod for that to raise the center console and delete the batwing. Can't help with the cup holders though. http://www.function-first.com/produc...-riser-kit-996

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Not any longer, it has been discontinued. :-(

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I did trim/shave/sand all the points where two pieces came together. I think that for the piece of leather I had this job was about as much as it would take before having trouble with wrinkling, bubbling, etc.

I finished the first stage of my center console modification journey. The center console is in and the window switches are relocated to horseshoe. I finished after dark, so the pic isn�t the greatest. A NOTE to anyone who would attempt to do this, I bought a Boxster center console. Although the center console itself is the same and I believe carries a 996 part number, there is an extra part behind the center console that extends to the back seat that is unique. More importantly, the rear �side pads� are unique to the 911 and there is an extra leather covered piece on the top. That being said, stage two is to cover the side pads, the console cover and the little piece behind it, and refinish a turbo shift ****/boot in �Guards Red� leather. I�ve got two problems; I need the rear pads and I can�t find leather in �Guards Red�. If anyone can help... Here�s the picture:

Another note; if you�ll notice the surround for the climate control is silver. I also have plans to �modify� the upper center console. Eventually, I�m going to relocate the climate control to the bottom section and I�m going to replace the CD/radio with a modern unit. Most of the modern units come with a bezel which I will also finish in �alumalook� and the remaining storage bay will have its bezel refinished in �alumalook� as well.

What an incredible job! My hat's off to you! I'm in the process of trying to figure out what to do with my seal gray interior, and midnight blue outside. I've been toying with, painting it the same color as the body, seal Gray, or maybe some other contrasting color like black, or silver. I never considered covering it in leather. There are some real good leather shops here in San Antonio, I might look into that.

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Yup, sadly they are no longer available. The Function First console riser kit is one of the best usability modifications I�ve done to my 996 (first place would go to the Numeric shifter and third place would go to the Rennline adjustable accelerator pedal). Nice work on the console. I wish I had your skills and patience.

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I have little skills and even less patience. What I do have is the willingness to try something like this and accept failure, lol. I think the neat part about this would be the fact you can buy a part on EBay and just try it. Since you�re covering it in leather (and sanding) you can buy a really beat up part and give it a go. I got the console dirt cheap because it was all scratched up, but mechanically sound.

I orbital sanded most of my center console�s slab sides but could not attack the top narrow edges around the shifter base, or the �valley� where the parking brake resides. Something flexible is needed or attack it by hand. May look for sanding block/pads next.....

scotchpads?

Thanks for all of the great tips on the stripping and repainting/recovering of the console. I have the tiptronic console and wondered if anyone has a tip on removing the center silver piece with the PRNDM on it? I know this has to come off, but my gently prying is yielding no results and I am concerned I am going to break something. I need this center piece to come off in order to properly sand or cover this piece. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

When I painted that piece on my console, I just masked off the silver area with painters tape. I wasn't able to see how it comes off either. I painted the rest in black Plastidip. It looks good and has held up well.

I have tip also, and painted my center console. Agree with WYOVINO, just tape it off. If you try to get it apart you'll break it!

Completed this job came out great, thanks for all the tips! I tried multiple methods but what worked best for me was the oven cleaner and blue kitchen scrub pad (on the back side of the sponge), spray it on wait then scrub with water as needed, reapply more oven cleaner if still stubborn, soft paint came off right down to the plastic. Then 400grit wet sand to rough it up. Was getting front bumper repainted so had body shop paint it body color (metallic grey). So have not reinstalled it yet, what kind of paint protection film (PPF) have people been applying to protect it from scratches by the seats/seat-belts?

Black moleskin on back of receptacles.

IIRC, there was a Wheeler Dealers episode where they refurbished a 996 center console. The shop shaved the leather to about 1/2 thickness, and even more at the edges so they would blend. Season 10 episode 160?