Center Console Recover/Upgrade and Function First Console Riser Kit Install

I love my 996, but like a lot of people I always have an itch to make a car �my own�. I bought this particular car because besides being the model I wanted and having reasonably low mileage for the price (C4S, 72k miles when I bought it), it had the Boxster Red interior. Despite my love for the Boxster red, it was a bit TOO much with the center console and all other trim pieces in red to match. So I set about a (in my opinion) epic interior update/mod for my car. My goals were: --clean up the center stack --change the color of the center console --improve the shifting quality and feel Some of you may have seen ads posted by Luka from Function First for his new Console Riser Kit. I saw that and I fell in love. I�m a bit of a sucker for mods that make your car *feel* like more of a race car, and his kit fit the bill. I ordered his kit when he discounted it for Black Friday, and then began the disassembly process (because my kit was ordered in Boxster Red, it had a 1.5 week lead time). Conveniently, I needed a lot of pieces out anyways because I was installing an IMS Guardian (see my other thread for info on that). I had also spent time looking for a spare center console to use as a core. I found one from another rennlister (kalio12) and had him ship it to me. It was beat up, but I knew that when I was getting it. I decided that rather than repaint it, I wanted to do it in carbon fiber. However, I didn�t want this to become an excessively expensive project � and I also wanted the console to match the main color of my car, which is Arctic Silver. I came across some interesting fabric from a place called Destrons Garage. Essentially, the stuff is fake carbon fiber, but made from fabric. It looks similar to a high quality imitation CF vinyl, but stretches FAR more easily, and without the need for heat. The guy that sells it recommends you install it with 3M Super 77 adhesive spray (more on that later). I had a friend come over and help me glue the fabric into place. I masked off the parts I didn't want covered with fabric, and then sprayed it completely with adhesive. After letting it set for 2 minutes and removing the masking, my friend and I started stretching the fabric over and around the console. It went fairly well until we got to the portion of the console that has the relief for the E-brake. The fabric did not seem to like going from a convex to concave curve. After MUCH manipulation, I was able to get everything smoothed out. I came up with a fairly creative way of keeping pressure on the curve, and after letting it set overnight, the result looked like this: Not bad, but I really wanted it to have the �look� of a real carbon fiber. I had two rattle cans of clearcoat. One was a really high quality can (from AutomotiveTouchup.com), and one was a pretty low quality can of auto clearcoat from the local autoparts store. I foolishly grabbed the cheaper can and started spraying. Initially, it looked pretty good! Unfortunately, some chemical in that cheap clearcoat did NOT like the adhesive I had used � and while it looked good for about 5 minutes, when I came back I found that the fabric had lifted up in numerous places. Dejected, I was about ready to rip the fabric off, toss it in the trash and just paint my console to match. I was telling a guy at work about it who just so happens to work in the composite shop, and about 5 minutes later we were mixing up some crazy 2 part Loctite brand adhesive, and vacuum bagged the console to make sure that stuff set. After the adhesive cured, I pulled it out of the bag and it was perfect. I took it over to clearcoat again, this time using the high quality stuff. These pictures are 1 coat in; I ended up putting 4 or 5 coats on. Once the clearcoat was dried, I spent a couple of hours wet-sanding and polishing the finish. I started with 1500 grit sand paper and wet-sanded til everything was smooth and level; I then moved onto polishing compound, by hand. Then, I used a random orbital buffer for the final step using Griot�s Stage 3 polish. I also got bored one evening and took the plastic piece off of the shift **** I had. It was originally arctic silver, but had some scratches in it. I peeled up the plastic piece with the shift pattern, and then covered the plastic piece with the silver CF fabric. After 4 coats of clearcoat, I cut out the center, used epoxy to glue the shift pattern piece back on, and viola � the shift **** looked like new! By the time this was complete, my Console Riser Kit from Function First had arrived. I had one last little project to do before installation was complete, which was to relocate the heated seat switches. Here�s a picture of my original center stack. I have a 2 DIN Pioneer DVD/NAV unit, so the climate control unit was already relocated to the center stack. In addition, there was a hardwired radar detector from the PO, heated seat switches, and two aftermarket switches to control the backup camera (another PO addition � were it me, I would have just wired it to the backup lights but after seeing how complicated the wire routing was from whomever did the install � I left it as is) The Function First center stack I bought accommodates the Climate Control unit, and I had confirmed with Luka prior to purchase that I could probably fit two 1 inch round switches in the unit if I drilled the holes, so that took care of the rear camera switches. However, I had to figure out where to put the heated seat switches. Because of the IMS Guardian install I did in conjunction, there was only one blank spot on the radio surround trim. I decided to route the switches back to the center console, and put them behind the window controls in the ash tray trim. Now of course, the wiring wasn�t long enough. I spent way longer than I expected extending the 2 5-wire harnesses. I hate, hate HATE crimp connectors � so I took the time to do it correctly, soldering the wires together and using heat shrink to keep everything sealed up. Now that everything was done, I set about installing the Console Riser Kit. Luka has a fantastic set of installation instructions on his website, so I won�t bother rehashing those steps here � they�re pretty much dummy-proof. I will say, the biggest take away from installing his kit � I have NEVER seen any kind of aftermarket kit for Porsche (or any other brand) that is so well executed and built. Fitment on everything was perfect, and the quality of all the pieces of the kit is second to none. Every part of the kit is SOLID � I have way more faith in the parts in the kit than any OEM trim parts that Porsche ever made. Hats off to Luka for the incredible kit. When I first bought it, I was a little skeptical of the price � now that I have it installed and I�ve seen the quality, I think his kit is a bargain. Anyways � installing the kit only had one minor hiccup, though not due to the kit itself. In a last ditch effort to make the car as �racecar� as I could, I bought a used Numeric competition shifter from another rennlister. The bolt holes on the Numeric unit are VERY tight, and the bolts from the console riser kit wouldn�t fit through � so I took a drill and made them about 1-2mm wider. Not a big deal really. Once the install was complete, I snapped back into the red leather center console trim pieces and stood back to admire my work. I won�t lie � I�m extremely excited about how it looks. I guess anyone would be when they put the amount of time into it that I did, but everything looks and feels exactly how I wanted it to. Here are some before and after pictures: That black piece in the last photo will eventually be wrapped. By the time I got to snapping that piece in, I was tired of having my car apart so I put it in and decided to come back to it later. I am in love with the improvements. Beyond the cosmetic upgrade, the combination of the Numeric shifter and the console riser kit yields the most spectacular shifting experience I think you could have in the 996. The 2 inch rise really does leave the shifter in the perfect spot for shifting when your hand comes off the steering wheel, and the Numeric shifter is exactly what people say � extremely precise, and with a rifle-bolt like action. Any questions on the recovering or Console Riser install, please ask! At this point I realize this is a stupidly long post so I don�t want to go on much more.

Nicely done. I am waiting to install my riser kit. Looks sharp. Semper Paratus shipmate!

Super nice! Was the original red center console wrapped in leather? I'm doing something similar to my grey car, but swapping the center console to a black leather one from a GT3, along with a lot of black leather OEM parts, carbon fiber gauge surround, hazard switch and ignition switch surround. Actually wrapping my radio parts in black leather myself, and need to find the horizontal stripes in CF and air vents in black leather or carbon.

I think someone had some CF air vents listed in the classifieds - I'll see if I can find the link for you. The original dash was just painted, not a full leather wrap. I did keep it though - while I have no plans to sell, I figured it would be nice to take it back to original stock if a new owner so desired. Your setup sounds nice!!! Post pics when you're done!

Your post in not "Stupid" or "Long" Its FANTASTIC! Thanks for the great detail and pics!

Wow a really great job. That just looks fantastic. It looks like it was a fun and very rewarding DIY. Very impressive.

If you have full leather interior, is the center console also wrapped in leather? If so, what about the ash tray? Mine is full leather but not the center console. Only the front sides of the console are leather.

Nicely done! I've just installed the kit and I'm very happy with the fit, finish and function. Better than OEM quality in most cases! Agree that once you see the kit in person, the price is a non-issue. I have a complete writeup of a "standard install" that does not do all the cool custom wraps here: https://rennlist.com/forums/996-foru...e-install.html In case you just like pics here is the image gallery https://plus.google.com/photos/11751...49397503431937

That's a really nice match to the red carpet. Very well done on FF's part!

Awesome job and nice choice on the center console wrap! Everything looks really nice in the Boxster Red interior!

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Thanks for the positive comments everyone! About 2 weeks out from installation and I'm still loving the upgrade and the kit. The CRK really makes everything just feel more natural. It's actually quite awkward when I drive our other car, a Mazda 3 - I find myself missing the shifter from time to time because it's just "not where it is supposed to be!" From what I understand, the full leather interior option did not included the center console. I think the alcantara/leather wrapped consoles were either a GT3 option, or all aftermarket.