How would you go about restoring a center console?

[Chillin014]

I hear you. I was using some filler on the car playing around with an area that needed repair. I thought I was doing a good job, it felt pretty smooth, put some primer on it and it didn't really look that great at all, lots of low spots. I dont know how many layers of filler is normal of if I'm putting too much/not enough.

 

[454muscle]

Ok another tip: Use a straight edge, like a ruler, glide it over the area. Even on a curved surface, it will give you an idea of what areas are low and need filler. Apply filler. Sand down. Use ruler again. Sand down or appy filler. Repeat until perfect.

 

[youngdeezy]

I know, I probably should have just got that neon console that was suggested. Worst case scenario, at least Ill have gained some experience with fiberglass.
thanks

no worries you have to learn somehow and like you said "experience gained" and to me thats priceless. your methods dont have to be professional as long as the finished product is good. keep going at it. your console build im sure is helping someone else in the world right now.

Ok another tip: Use a straight edge, like a ruler, glide it over the area. Even on a curved surface, it will give you an idea of what areas are low and need filler. Apply filler. Sand down. Use ruler again. Sand down or appy filler. Repeat until perfect.

good simple tips man. these tricks he told you will work...try them out.

on another note, I just came up on a few other parts that are broken and will need some help in the cracked areas. Im gonna try to make it as simple as possible, take a few pics and post it up when im done.

 

[Chillin014]

Agreed. Yeah that straight edge sounds like a good idea. Why didnt i think of that? I know i've seen it used before.

Yeah post up your pics when you finish. Always nice to see what people are doing.

 

[youngdeezy]

this was my 1st time trying out crazy glue to put all the pieces back together. anyhow crazy glue worked well on models and things like that so i gave it a shot this time around.

as you can see the back of the console had the most damage. i taped the back side, heres the front shot

i layered the front side with tape for extra support while the backside was drying out. after the glue was dry to the touch i then applied a thick layer of 2part epoxy to the backside and let it sit over night.

the next day it was like morning wood hard as a rock.

after that i installed in back onto the rear of the console and applied 2 part over the cracks
to fill any gaps that didn't get filled by glue.

now the fun part sanding. so far so good, the rear of the console is connected now its just 1 large piece like factory
i tired to get a couple of angles so you can see how smooth it is.

i picked up some bondo filler....i never used this stuff so i'll see how well it works out. the console is almost ready for paint. the next layer will be bondo and sanding again to make sure all holes are filled. if it looks good this step....im done, if its bad i'll sand more.

Im not into body work and things like that, i lean towards the mechanical side of things. im sure there is a better way but for me this seem to work fine and was pretty easy to do so im just passing on my tips. the 1 thing i know for sure is, there's a few different ways to repair this type of stuff but this method made the areas i fixed 5 times strong than any factory area on the console so im quite sure it will never crack again. I'll get the rest of the pics up next week because the next few days im slammed with person matters so the car stuff has to wait a couple days

 

[Chillin014]

you have a lot of faith in the glue man! I hope it holds. I have such bad luck with that kind of stuff. Bondo filler is neat stuff, takes some practice though. I keep getting air bubbles in mine so when I try to sand it smooth I have all these little spots that need to be filled. Here are some pics of where I'm at...it's about ready for paint. I got some rustoleum textured paint which looks like it'll look okay. I'm afraid to spray it a flat black and have it show every tiny imperfection. I keep forgetting I need to buy a cup holder insert. I can't decide if I am going to do one or squeeze two on there. I have the option of a removable cup holder thing that mounts in the armrest I used on my Maxima when it was in there so...I may only go with one insert.

 

[montecarlo-ts]

some tricks ive learned using bondo: mixing it you dont want to stir it you want to spread it on a non porous surface, a piece of glass or something, not on cardboard. spread it out flat then scrape it back up onto the spreader and spread it flat again untill its mixed, that will keep most of the air bubbles out. if you still have some theres glazing putty made to fill scratches and things like that. its easier to work with once you have a good sanded layer of bondo and dont need another layer, its more fluid and easy to sand. when your fixing a dent you want to remove all the paint around the area giving yourself room to work. the trick is to go from good metal to good metal using something like a paint stick to start with learning. you can dust the repair with a black spray paint while you sand to get an idea of where the high and low spots are. once you have it fixed you want to feather the paint edges with 180 so theres an inch or so of each layer of paint showing to give it a smooth surface to prime. doing that will take away the ridge that would be there untill you built up enought paint to hide it. after the first coat of primer you should sand it with 220 then reprime, finish that with 400 and it should be ready for color.

 

[Chillin014]

Thanks for the info, i thought there might be some putty for that, but hadn't checked yet. That would save me a ton of time.

For doing body-work, it sounds like I've pretty much been doing it how you described. My car has been painted so many times...I think 3. So the paint build up is ridiculous. I dont want to have to strip it back to bare metal but I wonder if its going to be okay to put another coat on top of what is there.

 

[montecarlo-ts]

you might already know but incase you didnt, repairs on the car with bondo you should go down to bare metal. as far as painting you dont want to go over a certain mill thickness. i cant remember now what the number is but building to much paint up isnt good. 3 seperate colors of paint you might be getting to the limit if not over already depending on how thick each coat was before. if the rest of the car is fine i wouldnt strip it and just fix the small areas. the correct way would be to strip it, maybe not to bare metal but take a few layers off so its in a good mill range when repainted.

 

[Chillin014]

Yeah I did know to bring it to bare metal for repairs. They seem pretty thick, I think there is some sort of magnetic gauge to check, I'll look into it. If i have to sand the whole car down a few layers...what a pain...