How to; Overhead console recover.

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sewlow

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Tools required.
Headliner material. About 4"-6" larger around than the console.
A good pair of scissors.
Needle nose pliers.
#2 phillips screwdriver.
Some newspaper, & masking tape.
Spray glue. 3M #76, or 3M #90.
A small brush. A flux brush works well.
Small flat screwdriver, or a large needle.
Scotchbrite pad.
'Ronson' or 'Zippo' lighter fluid. (optional)
Clean work area, & a pad of some kind on the bench to protect the new material. Some foam or fabric or a blanket will work fine.


Looking at the console from the side that goes against the roof. Remove tthe ten phillips screws around the outer edge. Sorry, forgot to take pix of those. You'll see 'em. Bag 'em & tag 'em.

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Seperate the two pieces.

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At the front of the console, use the needle nose to remove the plug that is in the front mounting point. It's a cup within a cup. It can be pushed out from the backside, but that's a pita.

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Remove the old fabric. You can do this by just pulling it off, but this will leave a lot of the foam still stuck to the console. This is where the lighter fluid comes in. It's Naptha, & a great glue remover. Squirt it onto the fabric, a 1/4 of the console at a time & lett it soak in for a few minutes. Not too long 'cause it'll evaporate.

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Gm uses some kinda monster glue. It can be a major pain to get off. The scotchbrite & some lighter fluid will get most of it, but not all. That's O.K., the foam bonded to the H/L fabric will hide quite a bit of that. Just as long as there are no big lumps or bumps.

This is before it was cleaned up

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...to be continued...
 
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sewlow

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...cont...

O.K, now that it's cleaned up, use the tape & newspaper to cover the inner part of the console. This will protect the inner compartments from any glue overspray.

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Give the console a LIGHT coating of glue. Let it dry. Then give it another LIGHT coat. Again, let it dry.
While that's drying, give the fabric a LIGHT coat of glue. It' very important to spray a very light coat. Too heavy, & the glue will soak into the foam & cause it to collapse & stick to itself every time that you touch it from this point on. This will lead to permanent finger indentations. Let it dry.

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Set the console on the fabric.

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Apply a bit of pressure on one end to get the glue to stick.

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...to be continued...
 

sewlow

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...cont...

Lift the up the opposite end that's not stuck down.
Grab the fabric with your hand as wide as possible, and pull the fabric. Not too much, just till the sides begin to curl around the console a bit. Stick it.

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This what your looking for when it's pulled & stuck.

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sewlow

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...cont...

To get the corners nice with no wrinkles, pull the material at the farthest point from the corner, & wiggling slightly back & forth as you start to stick it down, making sure that there is no wrinkles as you do this.

Spray some glue onto a piece of cardboard, & using the brush, apply it to the outer groove around the perimeter.

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As that's drying, with the palm of your hand to stick the fabric to the rest of the outer sides.
Trim off the extra material so that there is about an inch of fabric left all the way around.
Starting at the center of a corner, use the screwdriver (or needle) to stick the fabric. But ONLY the width of the tool.

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Work from the center of the corner out. Do the wiggle thing to remove any wrinkles.
This is what it should look like, when you're done.

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Now do the other 3 corners.

...tbc...
 

sewlow

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Now, you can stick the material into the outer groove, The flat screwdriver works for this.

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Now, you can turn the console over. This is what it will look like.

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Cut a few slices in the material like this. DO NOT cut right to the plastic of the console. You can always cut it more. If you cut it too far, be prepared to start over!

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Trim the material so that there is about a 1/2" of fabric extra. Use the brush again to apply some glue to the plastic of the console. Using the same technique as the other side, tuck the fabric to the console all the way around.
Remove the newspaper.
Cut a SMALL 'X' in the front for the plug that was removed at the beginning. You can feel for it with your finger. DO NOT cut to the edge of the hole. The material will stretch enough that it will wrap around into the hole when you replace the plug.
Replace the other part of the console with the screws. I like to start from the center of the long sides & work out to the ends. Like bolting on a set of heads.

Finished console.

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TA-DAAA!!! Pat yourself on the back. You're now an upholsterer!
 
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sewlow

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For you guys that are using some other material other than real H/L fabric, such as a camo without the 1/8" foam bonded to it, it's the same procedure, but with a few more steps. You're gonna need some 1/8" poly foam, available at foam shops or upholstery shops. You have to be a little more careful when applying the glue to that as it will suck up the glue even more than the H/L material. Since the foam will be glued on both sides, it will have a tendency to get the compressed finger prints even more. When doing this, I can't stress the importance of light coats of glue enough. Let it get very dry before messing with it.
 

Rewind

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Great wrrite up!!!!

Ever though about doing a u-tube video of it?
 

sewlow

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LOL!!! That would be cool, but I did this by myself with no-one on the camera. In some of the pix, I had to set it up on a tri-pod, hold the material, & the console, make sure that I was getting a good pic, then hit the shutter release with a pencil in my mouth!
Video would probably be easier, but would need a bunch of editing.
 
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