993Dave

I have observed in a number of pictures here a condition that is also present in my car: the hunk of plastic on the dash that surrounds the ignition key has faded to an irregular and unattractive medium grey. Danny posted a picture of his dash in the recent "new shift ****" thread that illustrates my point. I'll let the obvious question of "why would Porsche use a plastic for this part that is inferior to the rest of the materials used on the dash" go for now, and simply inquire whether anyone has hit upon a solution to bring that part back to a proper condition. Armor All didn't help me. I did a search and didn't find anything relevant (that's not to say a discussion of this issue isn't in the vast Rennlist archives; I just didn't manage to find one). Any thoughts would be much appreciated ... and Happy Thanksgiving!

s2racer

i haven't used it, but i think wurth has a product for restoring black plastic parts. not sure of the name, but i'm sure i've seen something in the catalogs.

mike cap

Dave,

"Forever Black Bumper and Trim Dye" will do the job. I have used it on rubber, vinyl and plastic and it will bring the piece you mention back to new. The dye is thin, and is applied with the applicator in the kit. Just be sure to mask around the key "surround" and use towels underneath. You will probably need two or three thin coats. This is a good product. I have used it on the plane and several cars and it works as advertised. The kit includes a pre-cleaner, which you need to use - especially with having applied Armorall.

Several of the Rennlist suppliers sell this product. I think I got it from Perfromance Products.

Happy Thanksgiving to you too.

jnor10

Why don't you just replace the plastic piece with a new one? I did this on my prior 911SC and as I recall, you just unscrew it (CCW) and and screw on the new one.

Jeff N.

Rob 97 993c2

just get a new one .. my shop tried to paint it and it would not hold any paint base coat. The part costs under $5.

Terry Adams

Second what mike cap said about Forever Black.

993Dave

Thanks for your input, everyone (the Arena Red/Classic Gray crew is out in force, apparently). My impulse is to refurbish rather than replace, since the part evidently will deteriorate anyway. I'll give Forever Black a try. Thanks to Jeff, though, for pointing out that the part comes off so easily. That will eliminate the need for all of the masking Mike suggested, which, in my case, is a very good thing.

I'm going to hijack my own thread for a minute: for you Classic Gray guys, do you have gray or black steering wheels? Down the road, I'm thinking about getting a black three-spoker to replace the gray original wheel. I think it will look fine against the predominantly gray interior (including upper and lower dash), but I wondered if you guys had made a similar change, or had black wheels to begin with, and how that looked.

Have a great holiday, folks.

Terry Adams

I would not disturb the harmony of the AR/CG color combo with a black steering wheel. Unless it was CF. Just my personal preference.

David in LA

I have seen replacement surrounds in carbon fiber on eBay in case anyone is interested...they were a bit pricey IIRC. I replaced mine sometime ago with a solid aluminum CNC's one which also allows you the option to semi-permanently affix it via a break-off allen screw. The surround is easily removed and I have been informed that prior to DriveBlock, this was how many Porsches were stolen...if you unscrew it (done easily by hand) you can see that the ignition contact points are easily accessable.