Console Repair

[Teado]

Hi all,

This last weekend I decided to fix my arm rest and shift boot / knob on my 86 MK1. I've owned the car about 2 weeks now and am wondering how I managed to go without it for so long.

I was a little intimidated by the vinyl, hadn't worked with it much before, but it really wasn't too bad.

As you can see in this photo, the boot was in bad shape and the shift knob has seen quite a few gears. The elbow pad was cracked and weathered.













I added another foam layer under the elbow pad and glued it down, adding to the cushion.

Next for my brakes and struts...

I was hoping to have a Toyota symbol engraved on the center of the vinyl before I put it down, but I didn't want to wait that long.

[Timon]

I would have to say you did a hell of a job on that. I like the outcome. How did you redo that arm rest? Did you get a new one and add your extra cushion to that?

[Teado]

Thanks. The arm rest is a piece of metal with tabs that fold underneath at each corner. I just took the vinyl off of the existing piece and removed all the old adhesive and made sure the foam was smooth before I added another layer of foam. I should have taken pictures of that part, but I was kind of "caught up in the moment". I let the foam sit as it wanted to and didn't stretch it over the metal. Then I cut out the vinyl to fit and stretched it over, holding it while the adhesive did it's magic. All in all it was pretty easy and well worth the 14 bucks in parts!

[HeartbreakMR2]

I'd say. Looks great, better than some professional jobs I have seen.

[PHOENIX]

Thats amazing! Great work.

you should get another piece and do a nice write-up on how to do it so other people can do it themselves.

[Timon]

When is it they stopped doing this cushion on the center console? From the looks of it your car is between 84-86 since your e-brake is on the driver's side. My 87 doesn't even have the indents for anything right there, let alone a cushion.

[Teado]

My car is an 86, and the pad that is originally there doesn't have much padding, it's mainly just vinyl with maybe 1/8th of an inch of foam. My elbows decided for me to add some extra, so that's why it looks a little more "poofy" than oem. Who ever owned the car before me had heavy elbows which is where the old crack was...

[canadam]

I did the same back when I had my '86. It really makes the interior look a lot better. Good job

[Beau Corso]

on your 86, if you remove the "shifter plate", the little plate behind the shifter telling you which gear is where, anyways, if you remove that, it says Toyota MR2 molded in the plastic underneath.

and the 84-86 had the mostly plastic center tunnel cover with the little elbow pad that had the vinyl covering it. on the 87-89 the whole tunnel cover was covered in a stiff vinyl/rubber.

[canadam]

^ I think it was discovered that not all cars had that, but it's worth checking for!

[Teado]

Originally Posted by toymdngn

it says Toyota MR2 molded in the plastic underneath.

That sounds cool, I'll have to check next time I have it off. I was thinking about running some speaker wire through the tunnel, so I'll take a look then! Thanks for the info

[Dance_Business]

great work!

[DarylP]

Is that a tan interor with a black center?

[Teado]

Originally Posted by DarylP

Is that a tan interor with a black center?

Nope, it's a 22 year old black interior with a new black center, flash over-exposed the black...

[Mista 2]

With a very short shifter and the H pattern removed it is a pain and the TOYOTA MR2 is raised and it scratched at you hand ( Mainly when thrashing it though)

[Teado]

I was hoping that the new shifter knob would have had the threads a little deeper, or rather the stock knob had shallow threads, so the current shifter was a bit lower to the console, but alas the threads were the same depth so... they are the same height.

[2restomod]

Nice job. There was a guy on the old board who used to embroider (sic?) the mr2 chicken on that pad. I don't know if he's still around but that really looked cool on my old '86.

[ac604605]

I just completed something similar this weekend. Shift boot, arm rest, and that storage compartment up by the headrest. I actually used duct tape on the arm rest, and it worked better than glue. I'm going to try and fix the cover on the stereo and climate control console this weekend, If I do I'll post some pics.

[ac604605]

Ok about that center cover over the stereo and climate control. It seems like the vinyl cover on it is nothing more than textured tape. Does anyone know of something similar I could buy? Mine is in horrible shape and held un with an assortment of nuts and bolts; it looks like death. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[Teado]

I would think pulling another cover from a wrecking yard... would be the easiest.