OK, this is a pretty straight forward deal. Ive only had my 8 for about 2 weeks now but there were a few things that i though needed a change real quick. Here is one of them.

Here is a relatively quick and easy, not to mention inexpensive, way to change the color of that center dull aluminum console without painting. This will give you the option to return it to staock if you need with just a few minutes of your time.

The head unit and window gaurds , nicely wrapped in a Piano Black Finish, seem to make the center console out of place, although that may just be my opinion. Needless to say, I decided to go with a Piano Black for the console as well. You can do this with any color, and if so desired, to match your cars exterior, or whatever.

1. Go to your nearest Sign shop or even get online, and buy a few feet, about
36" from a 24" roll will do, of your desired color of vinyl. Oh, and ask then for cast vinyl, it will conform and can be stretched so is far easier and last longer than the calendered type. If you stop in to the shop, you can grab a color chart and get an exact match to your car, I have the same color for my Nordic Green, just waiting for my eyelids, and then Ill just wrap 'em instead of paint them, easy and a hell of alot faster :D

2. The next step is to completely dissasamble the center console, it took me about 15 minutes following the service manual... Here is the link http://smrmicro.com/rx8servicemanual/
the pages are 141 & 142 in the body section to the left, just type them in above and youre there.

3. Now the fun part. haha...
Clean each piece to be covered very well, including the crumbs and dust in the pieces that you never see. I made the mistake of not doing this and some of the crap got stuck on my vinyl, and still went ahead and finished the job becasue i was all out of vinyl, and it wasnt realy noticable at all in the end.

4. Lay down each piece of the console trim and cut out a strip of the vinyl larger than the piece laying on it, so you can over-lap and pul all the bubbles out later. You should be able to get all the pieces taken care of an habe half the sheet left, incase you make a mistake you can do another.

Here is a before shot of the front portion of my center console....

 

5. Now that you have your strips you are ready to start the process. I used a few different methods of applying the viny, and different directions over time, and found that if you attatch it at the bottom and pull upward you can do each piece with very little effort, fewer bubbles and less time. Here is how you should attatch it and begin pulling...


... although you can experiement and do as you choose, you can apply and pull the vinyl alot more than you think.

 

6. Now just stretch the vinyl of the console section that is exposed. Work your way down the piece and lift and pull out the wrinkles and/or bubbles as you go. You dont have to worry about making it PERFECT, but get any bigger bubbles out, lets say 1/8" or larger. As you go, you will have to back-work your areas, kinod of like painting, when rolling, you go back and pick up your lap marks and then continue. Just keep stretching and pull up and away from the piece and then wrap it over the edge.

In this picture I chose to try to wrap it from the right to left, this method worked fine but was alot more difficult the starting from the bottom as mention before. As well as making it easier going from the bottom, it gaurantees that the vinyl will go on straight and you dont have a coverage issue.

 

7. Continue to pull and back and fourth until you have covered the entire area, pushing out the air bubbles as you go. Like i said before dont worry about the real small stuff, here is where you can fix it. Once you are done and you have the corners wrapped as well, take a sharp pin, I used the tipof my Xacto Knife, and push a tiny hole in the bubbles that are left behind. Then just push your finger with quite a bit of pressure, and the bubbles will practically be gone.

Any bubbles that are still left or that are extremely small will be heated and stretched out on their own in the heat of the car after a few days.

 

8. Now that you have one piece completely finished, move on and do the same to all other pieces. Remember to care care to wrap the corners well also. You will see the edges so you want them to look clean as well. Remember to pay close attention to where the E-brake is, you can kiind of see in the console when is is assembled, try to pull the vinyl a little further down when you are stretching at this point. After everythins is done, just assemble the pieces and clean up the fingerprints and you have an Awesome color matched center console.

Here are a few before and afters...

I will [ost a pic of it installed, but i started at night and didnt hae too much light outside for a good pic, I was using my phone as it is, so I didnt want an even crappier shot, haha.

If worse comes to worse and you mess up, just pull the vinyl off and either try again, or put it back to normal. It only cost a few bucks for the vinyl and then there is your time, which isnt much at all. I think it took me 2 hours start to finish.

If you have any questions lemme know.

 

Looks good man , i might try this.

 

I took all these pics with my phone in the evening, Im gonna get some good pics with my camera tomorrow, it really looks so much better matching the window button trim and the head unit.

 

brilliant in its simplicity.

Thanks

 

Updated pics? Looks like a pretty sweet idea...

 

Yeah, I will put some up tomorrow, I kinda got sidetracked, I actually redid the all, just for the sake of trying it with a wet application... It worked alot better that way.

I also have put in for a Vendor spot for graphics, if anyone is looking... I do all custom stuff, ill keep everyone posted on the verdict.

 

that looks really good.

 

Some high quality pics would be nice.

 

Take a look at the pics....
they turned out great.

https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.p...=1#post2595325

 

have you had any issues with it bubbling and coming off? I noticed that area gets quite warm and especially if its in the sun

Cheers
Kyle

 

That's pretty cool. I'm gonna have to bookmark this and maybe do this eventually. I've been thinking of painting them, it'd be nice to not do something that permanent

one question: Does it look like it could have come stock from the factory like that, or does it look like it's something you did yourself? I'm kind of a fanatic about things not looking cheap/homebrewed

 

How did this mod last for everyone else? Mine started getting a few small nicks here and there. I guess the good thing about this mod is its as easy as pulling off and sticking back on.

 

wow very nice

 

Makes me wana try to.... maybe orange...

 

This looks promising. I've only had my RX-8 (black 2009 GT) for a few weeks, but the silver trim bothers me. I've ordered some Avery A9 black vinyl from signwarehouse.com. It will be a few weeks before I get around to giving this a try, but I'll post pics when I'm done.

 

wow imma do this great job man

 

Man....this is still under my to do lists...

 

Where can i get my hands on big sheets of vinyl? was thinking about doing some exterior parts.

 

Check your local sign shop. They will often sell you a swath for a bit of money if you ask.

 

Alright, ill look into that. Thanks

 

totally wish i had thought of this sooner.. mine is looking pretty "weathered" and this is just what she needs.. nice work