The plastic repairs were complete and the time had come to paint the console.  I did some research as to whether I should paint the console or use some type of dye to color it.  The results were that I should use the same interior paint that I used to paint the dash and doors.  This would make for a good color match.  The trick to getting the paint to stick to the console was in the surface preparation and priming.  Here is a good article I used as a reference.

To begin I spent a fair bit of time making sure the console base was clean.  Since it was 45 years old there was no telling what it had been treated with.  First I scrubbed it thoroughly with a toothbrush and some Simple Green cleaner.  I went over the entire base several times to make sure it was clean.  Next I filled a bucket with warm water and dish washing detergent and scrubbed down the base using a brush to make sure I got any treatments such as Armor All that may have been used in the past.  Finally I wiped down the console base with wax and grease remover.  That was about as clean as I could get the base.

I decided that I would not attempt to redo the flocking in the storage compartment, so I used painter’s tape to mask it.  Then I applied two coats of adhesion promoter which I had purchased at the local auto parts store.  The directions said to wait no more than three minutes between coats, and to apply the color coat within ten minutes of the last coat of adhesion promoter.  So that’s what I did.  I applied four or five very light coats of the color over the adhesion promoter.  It came out pretty well and was a good color match for the old broken base when I compared the two.

After the base dried over night I reinstalled all the old trim pieces.  I had to replace the plastic light housings as the old ones were in pretty bad shape.  I made sure all the wiring was good and that the bulbs lit up.  It doesn’t look like brand new, but it came out fairly well.  Check out the pictures below and decide for yourself.