Center console armrest repair

[SN95GT50]

The center console in my 1997 Mercury Mountaineer has a 3/4" split in the vinyl where my elbow rests. What is the best way to repair? I seem to remember a repair stuff that you apply kinda like finger nail polish to repair it, is this my imagination or, where can I get it to match in color? Is it possible to replace the entire vinyl piece and lastly, can I get a new lid all together?

Whats my best option and where do I go to get it?

Thanks,
John

 

[FROADER]

Here's a good write up on how to recover it. http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=164801

IMO, this would be better than one of those other repair kit jobs. Good luck!

 

[Glen4X4]

Somebody created a thread on repairing those armrest lids. try a search of "console repair" or "armrest repair"

 

[xplorx4]

I bought mine from this guy. Pretty easy with good directions. Material matched perfectly.

http://www.fixyourford.com/#Order Console

 

[ghh97eb]

Hi,

This repair was one of the first things I ever attempted with my '97 black-and-tan Eddie Bauer. I took off the lid from the center console and unscrewed the bottom piece from the top piece to get the damaged tan vinyl cover off. I re-upholstered it myself by cutting a piece of black leather grained vinyl that was similar in size to the damaged piece, folded it onto the top piece of the lid and stapled it from the underside, just to hold it in place. Then I screwed the bottom piece of the lid back on to the top piece and re-installed it onto the center console. All told, it took about 20 minutes and cost about $8 or so. I never liked the tan lid cover anyway, I always thought that black would look sharper, so I was actually happy to have to do this fix. This is the only thing that I have ever re-upholstered (although the second fix I did was to stitch up a 2 inch split in the seam of the leather for the driver's seat, and that too was pretty easy).

Best of luck!

 

[SN95GT50]

I picked up a repair kit off eBay, didn't want to bother with trying to match the color. revinyl4 was the seller id, it came to just over $20, a little more pricey than buying it myself. I am happy and that is all that matters, eh!

SN95GT50

 

[Super Snake]

I just received my repair kit from the same site revinyl4. The color match is perfect. I'll be doing the work this weekend

 

[PalmettoXLT]

As stated above, the repair is pretty simple. Just unscrew the console lid from the hinges, I'm pretty sure it's only six phillips screws. Then just unscrew the rim and take the leather off. I took mine to an upholstry shop and they did it with the exact color leather. Only cost me about $25 and you can't tell the difference. Thats the way to go if you want a professional job.

 

[Steeda90GT]

What size staples did you guys use?

 

[Turdle]

I ordered 2 of the kits and the color is dead on--

 

[Super Snake]

What size staples did you guys use?

I used 1/4"staples with 1/2" crown