Console Lid Repair Procedure

Console Lid Repair Procedure

The following instructions detail the process of removing a damaged console lid to
replace the foam padding, console button, and button spring.
These instructions were written by white90vette from the Corvette Forum.
Thanks for the great info white90vette.

Someone had recently tried to open my console lid in the wrong direction and tore
the foam inside the lid. It was loose to start with and this made it much worse. I was
faced with replacing the lid ($150) or trying to fix it myself($20). I could always buy
the lid at a later time but the results used here were very good.

The foam was not it good shape and not really repairable. It had started to
disentegrate and leave powdered foam dust all over the interior. The console lid was
always popping up due to a broken latch on the button. My vinyl cover was in good shape.

Tools Needed:

·  Torx screwdriver #15

·  Medium philips screwdriver

·  Razor blade with holder

·  Small "C" clamps

·  Small vise grips

·  Scissors

Materials Needed:

·  3M Adhesive remover

·  Masking tape

·  Hot glue gun and glue sticks

·  Gel type Super glue (Krazy Glue gel)

·  Super glue remover(for your fingers)

·  2 foam sheets, each 1"x14"x14"

Parts Needed:

·  Ecklers #31482 button and spring kit, $11.95)

Step One: Removing the lid and hinge from the console.

First, Open the console lid and use the Torx #15 screwdriver to remove the 5 Torx
screws that attach the hinge to the console. Next, disconnect (or cut) the two wires
(black and black w/orange stripe) that run from the console up into the lid. This
controls the small light that comes on when you raise the lid. If you cut the wires,
you will have to repair these wires later so the light will come on. At this point,
you should have the console lid and attached hinge completely removed from the car.
You can now clean up any foam dust from the console and surrounding areas.

Step Two: Dissassembling the console lid.

The Corvette console lid is made up of about six main pieces.

1.  The outer vinyl covering

2.  The top shell

3.  The bottom shell

4.  The hinge

5.  The button spring

6.  The button

On the factory assembly line the outer vinyl covering is bonded to the top shell
at the edges and foam is injected into the cavity until it is full. This is like
injection molding with foam. Since many of us do not have this kind of equipment at
home we have to use a different approach to replace the foam.

First, turn the lid so that the vinly covering is facing away from you. Place on a
towel to keep from scratching the cover. Use a phillips screw driver to remove the
three screws attaching the bottom shell from the rest of the lid. The console light and
wires should come off with it. You should now see a hole in the center of the top shell
that was used to inject the foam at the factory. You can also remove the console button
and lift out the button spring. You might also see some small pieces of foam about 2"long
and 1/2" wide that are attached to this cover. Do not remove these.

Next step is to remove the hinge. Use a phillips screwdriver to remove the five screws
holding the hinge to the top shell.

Step Three: Removing and cleaning the vinly covering and top shell.

If your foam is old and rotten like mine was you can pull the vinyl cover off fairly
easy by simply tearing the foam slowly. Be very carefull and do not tear the vinyl cover.
Once the vinyl cover is off you must now remove as much of the old foam as possible
from the vinyl cover and the top shell. This is very important because we need clean
surfaces to attach the new foam. Use adhesive remover and a razor blade scraper. The
edge of the vinyl cover that will be reglued must be especially clean and free of old
adhesive and old foam. Was the vinyl cover using a mild detergent to remove the cleaning fluid.

Step Four: Glueing new foam to the top shell.

Now that the top shell is clean and free of old adhesive and foam, we can now attach
the new foam. I used 2 pieces of foam but you can also use a single piece. First, place the
top shell on top of the new foam and cut the foam so that it extends about 1" on all sides
of the top shell. This will give you a piece of foam that is about 1" larger than the top
shell for trimming. Next, warmup your hot glue gun. If you doing this outdoors in a cold
climate you might want to go where it is warm for this next step. Once the glue gun is hot,
apply glue to the outside of the top shell and attach the foam in 1" to 2" increments. Make
sure the foam is centered and is overlapping the edges by about 1". If you try to glue to
much at a time the glue will cool off and will not bond. Go slowly and press the foam
down as you glue it.

For the sides of the shell, apply glue and bend the foam to the curvature of the
sides. It really needs to be glued all the way to the edge of the shell.

Once the glue has dried, you can now trim away the foam around the edges of the
shell. The amount trimmed depends on how much you are able to compress the foam
when you put the vinyl covering back on and also on the density and thickness of
the foam you are using. I had to trim just about all the foam off along the edges
because my vinyl cover was very tight!

Step Five: Reattaching the vinyl cover to the top shell.

Now you have an outer shell with new foam and a vinyl cover. If your vinyl cover is
tight you may want to use masking tape to hold it in place during the glueing process.
Make sure the vinyl cover will go back on, you may have to do more foam trimming to get
it to fit. Remember, this is totally different from the way Chevrolet did it. After you
have the vinyl cover on the foam, tape it down and use the 'gel' type super glue. Apply
about 1" of glue at a time between the vinyl cover and the top shell. Apply glue to all
edges, working slowly. Use a small "C" clamp and/or small vise grips and some thin wood
to apply pressure to small areas. Do not apply to much pressure because the vinyl will tear.

Step Six: Installing the restored console lid in the car.

1.  Install new console button and spring.

2.  Reattach the hinge.

3.  Reattach the bottom shell.

4.  Repair wiring to console light.

5.  Reattach console lid to console.