tarzancoe

Good lord. Really?

petonic

I'm trying to figure out which to which point you're being smug about. Is it:

1. The fact that folks want something that looks good and is durable?
2. The fact that this treatment is not made by Porsche?
3. The fact that others see potential utility in this?

You're in the 996 forum, not the 991. If you don't like the pattern originally chosen, that's fine. To each their own (I'm not crazy about it either but whatever -- many folks would never choose a speed yellow Porsche).

Your other posts seem to offer good info and perspective, as opposed to this comment, so I'm sort of genuinely interested in what you don't agree with here.

jeffm

This is a pretty cool process and have seen it used on an episode of Wheeler Dealers. There happens to be a shop that specializes in this located about 5 miles from my house. They charge $0.71 per square inch, but this also includes all the prep, base coat paint, final clear coat and buffing.

I think this would be a cool process to have some trim parts, etc..updated. As the center console seems to scratch easily, why not? My only concern on the console would be the multiple curves and what they would look like with a pattern applied on top.

I say Go for it!

rxjohn

Well I haven't done anything yet other than completely remove the console and buying another console for$80 on eBay. Contemplating on painting it myself. I have Sanders ready....

May contact a local auto interior guy.

Nonetheless, I'm gonna have fun.

kgoertz

I painted several of my interior pieces last year with an artic-silver-like colour. I ended up painting the shifter boot horseshoe piece, the radio trim, aluminum guages, and the ashtray replacement part. All looked great for the first few months, but even with a clearcoat the shifter boot horseshoe became quite scratched. The rest still look pretty good except for a few pin-sized bubbles. My guess is that these were due to silicon still on the plastic pieces (or something similar).

I have my console out at the moment since I'm installing a new shifter and I wouldn't mind cleaning it up. So if you find a good DIY solution please let us know.

rxjohn

Well, here I have 2 consoles. I'm going to start sanding the black one. I do want to completely peel off the coating/paint. Then decide... may paint...wrap.. I don't know!

alpine003

For the adventurous, there are DIY wet transfer printing kits available as well and many videos on YouTube on the process.

Here's just one: http://www.mydipkit.com/index.html

rxjohn

Update,

Decided to try painting. Only pained 2 side pieces. Here's what I learned.

1. Final product will only look as good as how you prep the console.
2. Unless you know what you're doing, don't use a power sander.
3. That plasti dip surface coating porsche uses is pain in the *** to strip.
4. I used the following sand paper grits. 100 - 800 - 2000 to sand it down.
5. Will it look as good as a brand new factory console? No.. but it will look much better than the way it looked with that sticky and scuffed up dusty look.


So I'm spraying 3 coats of primer. Once dried, sanding it again to remove bubbles etc. Then putting 3 coats of paint on it. It actually looks pretty good.

Primered.




Primer and Paint (Carbon Mist) (the piece behind the cans is finished)

tarzancoe

You are right, apologies. I'd stick to paint/clear coat, leather, real carbon.

petonic

@Tarzancoe: No worries. I was genuinely curious as I'm facing the same thing with my seat rear's.

So far, I'm thinking that the paint/clear (re: recent post) is very difficult and not that durable. I'm thinking the wrap is probably the best combination of durability, and ease -- forget about cost.

alpine003

With a non glossy wrap at least I don't have to worry about my kids scratching up the seat backs. CF or other pattern wraps should hide any scratches even better.

Painted seat backs look good too but just won't work in my situation.

sandersd

You do realize they make a special paint and primer for vinyl trim pieces? The primer is specially formulated to adhere to vinyl. I used it to repaint all the exterior plastic on my 2000 F-150.

alpine003

SEM is one of the better choices and the ones professionals use often.

I learned my lesson a long time ago with Rustoleum and will never use it again for these kinds of things.

rxjohn

Here it is. Carbon Mist - dark console with Silver Forged Hammer finish.

Deleted the ashtray. Also removed the handbrake and painted it.

Pretty easy overall. No more sticky stuff on the Center Console. And I have an extra console... might try different colors.

Also, you can see the Lloyd RubberTite floor mats.

rxjohn

And goodness gracious... Lloyd Rubbertite + New Paint smell in the car make for some unpleasant odor.