Shifter Trim Refinishing

[fbgh2o]

Shifter Trim Refinishing

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The finish on the U-shaped silver trim that surrounds the shifter boot on the 996 (1994 C4 I my case) can start to bubble and lift, as you can see from the pictures. While I had read that it would require a full replacement the boot assembly (over $250) as the trim is an integral part of the boot assembly, I decided to try to remove and repair it. Trim removal from shift boot assembly It is possible to separate the trim from the assembly. Six plastic studs are molded into the back side o

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• Author
  fbgh2o
• Category
  Carrera (996) - Common Fixes and Repairs
• Submitted
  01/09/2010 06:23 PM

 

Edited February 20, 2010 by fbgh2o

[SH-GT3]

Excellent work.

[Gary H]

Nice write up and good job!

[kgoertz]

Thanks fbgh2o for the DIY!

I just finished repainting my trim and I thought I'd post my results and some tips I learned.

I'm very happy with the results. It is almost perfect and much, much better than before. I'm thinking about painting a few other interior pieces next :-)

I took the same approach as the instructions but with a few differences:

• The paint I used was Testors Lacquer Diamond Dust (1830MT) on the recommendation of another rennlister. I really like the metallic look
• I didn't use a primer but I did have some adhesion promoter based on another recommendation. It seemed to work really well.
• I tried using a Dremel with a cylinder sanding disk to remove the paint. It worked quickly, but it also scratched the surface which required quite a bit of sanding to clean up. Sadly I only learned that after the first coat. See next bullet.
• The metallic paint really, really shows any surface flaws. I thought the trim plastic was perfect but after the first coat I realized it wasn't
• I found that 400 grit wet sandpaper was about right to smooth the surface and remove paint due to overspraying. 1000 grit worked well to remove dust and imperfections between coats
• Painting took a little practice. After my first attempt I found the best approach was to use very light coats. Spraying too much easily resulted in runs. But since the paint dried in 20 minutes it was pretty easy to do 5-6 coats
• The paint was fairly soft even when completely dry. I decided to coat with about 3 light coats of a lacquer clear coat. It worked great and brought out the finish even more
• Since I painted the back of the trim the little posts that held the trim to the leather boot wouldn't quite fit. I had to sand them down, and then use a bit of glue to attach it back to the boot

I'm very happy with the results. Next on my list is to try the same paint on the ashtray delete I just ordered.

Note that I had the white balance set incorrectly in my first picture but I corrected it for the final shots :-)

These are the final trim just before installing

Edited March 20, 2013 by kgoertz