Removing centre console - Great "How To"

What a fantastic "How To"

Very clear and easy to follow

and the console came out as instructed :-)

Thank you

Ha- try putting it back

Oh no - don't say that - I am worried now.

Carpets are coming out next lol

Yes when putting it back remember that the housing for the little fan on the back of the console, about 1" diameter, needs to locate in the hole where the loom comes out, otherwise it will appear not to "fit"...

It's worth checking the fixings behind too for the push-button switches in case they've deteriorated....

Great tips thanks will look out for that

I find that the centre console is relatively easy to fit back as long as the radio player is not still on it.

^^ Yes indeed, when I last removed one I left the radio in and it seemed easier to remove that way, but definitely a thousand times harder to put back with the radio still in place.

I've just done this and taken some pics along the way which I'm sending to PeteP - hopefully they'll go a little way toward replacing the excellent pics in the how-to which Photobucket managed to trash.

I'm also replacing the indicator stalk unit and will do the same.

For the indicator unit – there’s still a PDF copy of the how-to which has all its photos present here, although the cropping’s not ideal …

That's brilliant Tony, are these accessible through the forum or do you google them?

I couldn’t find the link through the forum, so I used Google. I’m sure there was a link on this site somewhere though, to hosted PDF copies of lots of the how-to threads. Can’t recall where though, and the site search doesn’t help.

Here’s a handy tip. If you put site:fiatcoupeclub.org filetype:pdf into Google, you get a list of all the PDFs hosted on this domain.

Like this.

Dead helpful having those as reference, now that Photobucket have killed a lot of the how-to threads. In fact, I’ll go post that somewhere more visible. Might help folk out.

*** UPDATE with pics *** It is nearly ready to put back

Still not sure whether or not to simply polish it or spray it...

What do we think?

I took the sticky stuff off the centre console last night. Surprisingly easy with nail varnish remover form Lidl. I don't think I can get the existing surface to look good by just polishing so I will be spraying it mat black.

Not sure if I currently have the motivation to do the ash tray and the hand brake console but I will help my son do it if he wants as he will be taking it over some time soon. However, the weather has to get better before I do non-essential car tasks. The preparation for next month's TüV test have been chilling enough

BBR...did mine recently using nail varnish and a kitchen scourer...didn’t take too long if you use plenty of nail varnish.

I used some very fine emery paper to sand the surface to give a nice ‘matt’ finish that looks great without the hassel of repainting. The ‘naked’ finish looks quite factory and easy to rub over to re-Matt it!!

I’m sure painting will also give a better result than the old sticky stuff!!!

Cleaned back mine in June 2010 and painted it with a Satin Black polyurethane and it still looks like new.

Definitely wanna give the 'naked' finish a go - maybe a little polishing first though



Seven years with one paint application is great - but not sure I want the hassle

I redid my old one, stripped it back sanded it down then sprayed it gloss black.

Frankly if I'd known I could have polished it, I would have stripped it back, sanded it down then given it to a mate with a polisher. The spraying was a nightmare for someone who was completely inexperienced!

My thoughts exactly

Sprayed mine with a Baufix Car line an from Lidl in matt black. 4 thin coats and I'm relieved that the end result seems acceptable enough:

[img]https://s20.postimg.org/5atobmict/20180305_082506_1.jpg[/img]

Just got to reconfigure the radio.

That looks great

Thanks BBR!

It feels much nicer to be in too especially as the buttons that had disappeared into the dash are now operable again!

TüV is due so heated rear window switch had to be fixed. I guess I had to do the painting at the same time I have done a load of small tasks to make it ready and it is running really well again; smooth, stable and fine brakes at and from 110 mph on the Autobahn on Saturday, so quietly confident that the test on Wednesday should not be too bad but you never know with a 21 year old FIAT!

Halford's matt black on mine; two coats if I recall correctly.

VHT Hood Bumper and Trim on mine.

One day's work to do the complete job of removing, cleaning, painting and refitting.

Whilst out my mate replaced the heater tap, which was the main reason for pulling the console out.

Gave mine several lights coats of paint and used the whole spray can for the job.

Had difficulty removing mine completely but was sufficient to remove all the buttons, radio etc so gave it a good thorough clean with meths. Really surprised how fairly easily all the gunk came off. I then polished it with Meguiars black plastic cleaner and the results are excellent - probably close to factory finish. Not a lot of expense and a bit of elbow grease and say goodbye to that sticky mess and say hello to a shiny fresh console Catch me on the shopping channel every Tuesday for more great cleaning ideas..