advice please

[Tony Russo]

Does anyone have any advice on painting the center console in the tc. Such as what kind of prep work needs to be done, is there any special paint that needs to be used, etc, etc. Any advice would be awsome thanks.

[07tc559]

i really hope they answer you...because i want to know how to take it all apart and what kind of paint to use...:up: good luck to both of us..

[2dot4]

Pull out what you want to be painted and take it to a body shop for a base coat/clear coat. Anything less and it will scratch and flake and look nasty.

Spend the money and do it right. Most body shops also warranty the work.

[The_Game]

Pull out what you want to be painted and take it to a body shop for a base coat/clear coat. Anything less and it will scratch and flake and look nasty.

Spend the money and do it right. Most body shops also warranty the work.

Def tru! My buddy painted his stuff white. He sanded it down, primered it, and than used white paint and it started to chip like 5 months later! Just better to spend the money for something right to make it look good for shows!!

[strike69]

As far as taking out the center console it isn't that hard. If you drive a manual tC.(i'm not held responsible if you crack any of your parts or break anything) This is as far as I know, you may want to find more people who take their interior apart more, but this if what I do in my car.
-Start off by unscrewing the shift knob.
Pull directly from where the bottom of the cubby is and the shift boot and light accessory should lift up.
-Disconnect the 12v wire and that should leave the part where the shift boot was open.
-From there with a little bit of force you should be able to take off the plastic around the e-brake
-After that pull directly back from where the little cubby is to remove the waterfall thing or whatever you call it. Work you way up the sides and it should slide off.
-Open up your arm rest and I think there is like a little carpet on the inside of that, lift that up and there should be 2 screws, Unscrew them. At the bottom where you first started disassembling there will be 2 screws, Unscrew them and the rest of the center should come out.
-If you plan on color matching your gauge plastic thing IDK what it's call all you do, it lower the steering wheel all the way and then pull straight back,be careful though not to break any clips.

I may be a bit off on pulling out the rest of the middle, because the most I have taken out is the waterfall,shift boot area and the e-brake thing.

As far as painting there is a DIY somewhere on here, but I think it was for painting the interior of the xD

[scionxb.org]

This company (http://www.patterntek.com/) does some awesome work. Very durable and show quality work.

Kevin (DoubleDiamond) can tell you all about them. PM him if your interested or contact the website for more info. Kevin is sponsored by them!

http://www.patterntek.com/images/show.asp?type=product&id=94&maxwidth=450&maxheight=350

[Jc07tC]

Def tru! My buddy painted his stuff white. He sanded it down, primered it, and than used white paint and it started to chip like 5 months later! Just better to spend the money for something right to make it look good for shows!!

no offense but he must not have done a good enough job prepping it then..

i did mine in my matrix like 1 year and a half ago maybe and theres nothing wrong with mine.no "professional" paint either just the duplicolor you can buy at walmart or whatever.

heres a couple pix
http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w275/JcDiddy87/The%20Trix/IMG_4801.jpg
http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w275/JcDiddy87/The%20Trix/IMG_4802.jpg

and then heres my tc

http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w275/JcDiddy87/tC/IMG_6409.jpg
http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w275/JcDiddy87/tC/IMG_6060.jpg
http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w275/JcDiddy87/IMG_6347.jpg

[Tony Russo]

ya i was gunna use automotive paint to match the exact color of my tc cuz i have some from when i did my spoiler so i figured that would work a little better........(jco7tc) did you sand everything down first or did you just prime it and paint it?

[Jc07tC]

sanded it down first
until all the silver was gone

[Jc07tC]

so what i did was..

sand
prime
sand
color
sand
clear
sand
rubbing compound
wax

just make sure you do multiple THIN coats
when you first start doing your color it wont completely cover but its ok
just take your time prepping it

[Tony Russo]

ok thanks for the advice i appreciate it

[$]

take your time and don't rush...follow directions...make sure it's cleeeeean. And when it's that clean, clean it again.

[Go4shoped]

i'd say the hardest/most important part was taping off the parts you dont want painted.

i didnt really have a choice in painting mine. damn spray air freshener got on the plastic and pitted it. black dots EVERYWHERE.