Repainting console
 

I have a 2000 Boxster S and the console and arm rest flaps are pretty scratched and nicked up. Has anyone had success repainting these? If so, what type of paint did you use and specifically what preparation before spraying did you do? Thanks!

armrest flaps? You mean the hinge for the lid on the console or the actual lid?

I am thinking of repainting the plastic console and the hinged plastic pieces on each armrest.

each armrest? Do you mean the door pocket lid? I had no idea these cars had arm rests in them.

The pieces on your door that you're referring to are called map pocket cover, storage pocket lid, door pocket thingys, etc. Arm rest flaps work just fine. :)

Your car has what's called a "Soft Touch Interior". The plastic trim pieces are coated with a thin layer of a soft substance that scratches, flakes and mars easily, leading to a dogged out interior. Porsche did this to the Boxster starting in MY 2000. Other manufactures have also used the same goop.

Unfortunately there's really no way to protect them or clean them up once they've been dinged up. Myself and several of the other guys her on the board have replaced them with earlier '97-'99 pieces that lack the "protective" coating. I've also experimented with stripping the coating with various success. I've read stories of guys successfully sticking them in the dish washer and removing the coating that way, softening the coating up w/ a heat gun and stripping it off, etc.

If you commit to stripping the coating, be careful that you completely remove all of it and prep the surface before painting, as any coating that you paint over will eventually scratch or peel off.

For me, after dealing with the situation on several cars, it's least painful for me to just purchase the earlier non-covered pieces new from Porsche or trying to find good used pieces off eBay.

Good luck! :cheers:

I have the same car, same problem. I've been considering recovering the "flaps" and center console with leather. You can DIY or send the parts off to have someone else do it (see Pedro's Garage TechnoLeather). Not too expensive.

Has anyone else use Pedro for this service? I already have the Porsche black leather interior -- will this match nicely?

A lot of guys use platidip.

You can use any spray paint though, but if you want it to stick you need to use the sem plastic prep spray (it has a real name but I forget). It will make all the difference in your outcome.

I remember seeing someone actually padding those "armrests" and covering them in leather. They turned out really nice. If I didn't have plans for RS style door cards this is what I would do, along with plastidipping the console.

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I painted my center console with Duplicolor silver and it came out well. I've done a couple of things withe armrest covers. For one, I stripped all of the soft touch crap off and covered them with leather. Sourced the leather from a $20 jacket @ Goodwill. Second, I've done them in carbon fiber. a bit more involved, but not too difficult.
http://986forum.com/forums/uploads02...1652490072.jpg

I followed an online thread and did the scratched up grey console on my car in 'Arctic Silver', really Testors silver metallic model car paint. The stripping process was time consuming but not terrible. I used warm water and scotchbrite pad for the heavy lifting and made sure I each piece was clean prior to painting.

As for the paint process, I wiped each piece with denatured alcohol and a tac cloth. The testors paint is a plastic paint that does not require multiple coats or a clear top coat.

After a year, the paint held up very well. I did remove my console this last winter to do a couple of touch ups from the seat belts during the initial installation. I'm very satisfied with the look and durability of the finish. I know its not the same as a professional job but I doubt anyone would be able to tell without me sharing that it was a DYI job.

The paint I used on my console was Testors 1830 'Diamond Mist'. I picked it up locally at Michael's.

Just to give you another example of things you can do, here's a before/after on the center console on one of my MY 2000 cars with a soft touch console. There's an automotive paint shop here in town that can mix up factory colors in a spray can for interior application. I've had them mix up Arctic Silver (shown) and Guards Red for different projects. About $25 for a standard size spray can - I'm pretty pleased w/ the price and the results.

You can see from the ideas posted above, there's a lot of options you have to make a unique console and map pocket covers that will class up your interior.

Redtele,58 That console looks great! I'll have to take a pic of mine...I don't have the contrasting trim but still came out great for under $10 worth of paint!

I've also removed the seat hinge trim pieces and scraped them clean. They were buggered up grey but I repainted with black as I didn't want to have the bling of silver metallic.