Good day all,

So I recently found my cup holder was cracked as they usually do and I ordered a factory new one which is reinforced I guess on the later models, it’s awesome, BUT…..it’s unpainted so pretty much matte not a dealbreaker but my OCD kicked in and I would like to paint the entire piece of the dash as it’s tattered and has a few spots from who knows what so I’m looking to repaint. Factory it looks like they painted it a…..I don’t know? Gloss? Satin?? I know it’s not matte but has anyone painted this piece to match and had awesome results? Any suggestions on finish type?

I am going to use SEM plastic paint with I believe the adhesion promoter but just not sure on the finish…..

Any suggestions from my fellow yotatechers would be incredible!!

Here is a few pics so you can see what I’m dealing with:









have a super rest of the week,

Disco.

 

Where do they usually crack and where's the reinforcement that the newer/replacement cupholder has? Curious to know if my '94 Japan-built Xtracab has a revised version. I know I've loaded it pretty heavily by mounting a cheap phone cradle to it because every time I put the phone in there, I do so one-handed, stretching the heavy spring that holds the phone tightly. However, the way I've got it rigged, the cupholder is like 97% in the closed position so there's no leverage on it.

As for the cluster surround, I figured the stock color was the result of the polymer color used when it was injection molded, rather than being painted during a later step in manufacturing. Similarly, I was thinking the surface texture was just shaped by said mold.

 

So the old cup holder cracks either on the left or the right side, usually left side cause the driver always has a cup bouncing around, it cracks right at the back of the assembly where you really can’t see it unless you shine a light or take it out, the new one doesn’t have the little metal hinges that fold down, I compared the two and it’s definitely thicker on the point that my old one broke. I will snap a pic of the old one where it broke for reference if anyone is interested later.

the surround definitely has a paint of some sort on it, it you look at the last pic I decided to be silly and mount a phone mount by my clutch cancel button and it ended up not a user friendly place, pulled it off and the paint came with it……hence that little square of missing paint.