In addition to the missing carpet piece from the mid-section where the shifter is housed, the center console of the Volvo had stains of what smelled like WD-40 all along the sides, presumably from residue dripping after being applied (not by me) to the heater controls directly above it. Vigorous cleaning with Armor All vinyl cleaner and protectant only served to make the dark areas surrounding the stains even darker, thus highlighting the stains even further. So, once again I'm doing this the old-fashion way ... the old blood and guts routine. Doing this proper would entail removing the center console and respraying it black with vinyl paint, refurbishing the hardware for the lock box, and installing new carpeting material in the console's trays. I had to remove both seats in order to remove the center console from the vehicle, which revealed an unpainted section of the floor panel showing the original "British Racing Green" color of the Volvo as seen here in the photo below.
Volvo 1800E Center Console:
| Center Console Removed:
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Some new stainless steel screws and an hour with the rotary tool while waiting for paint to dry rendered the lock box hinge looking brand new.
Lock Box Hinge - Before:
| Lock Box Hinge - After:
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A couple of coats of black vinyl paint and the unsightly stains were all gone from the center console. The only piece of the puzzle that's still missing are the new carpet pieces which I have yet to source. I'll be driving all over town this week visiting auto upholstery and carpet stores to see if they can match the original dark brown carpet that I had in there and if they have any remnants they would sell to me, as I'm not interested in purchasing a 10 x 12 feet piece of carpet just to get at 12 square inches! If all goes well, the console should be back in the Volvo next weekend!
Before:
| After:
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2 comments:
U thinking of respraying the car back to it's ori colour ?
Nope ... I like it in yellow, and if I do repaint it it'll be in red.
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