How to Make Custom Center Consoles

Custom center consoles can be made of wood or fiberglass, depending on the complexity of the design you want. Custom wood consoles are basic designs and can include accessories, but are not usually heavily modified. They can be painted but look more professional when covered in fabric material. Custom fiberglass consoles can be made into almost any design and can be painted with solid colors or graphics. Custom center consoles can take several hours to complete, depending on the design and finish you use.

Instructions

Wood Console

1

Use cardboard pieces to shape a mockup of the console you want. Use scissors to cut the cardboard to the exact size needed and use tape to temporarily hold it together. Remove the tape once you are satisfied with the mockup.

2

Place the pieces of cardboard on the MDF board and use them as templates. Trace around the cardboard with a pencil and cut the shapes out with a jigsaw.

3

Put the console together and use a hammer and nails to secure all of the edges. Hammer the nails so that all of the nail heads are even with the surface of the wood and not sticking out past the wood.

4

Spray a thick coat of adhesive onto the console and on the backside of the foam. Let each piece become tacky and place the foam on the console. Let the adhesive dry for thirty minutes.

5

Apply a thick coat of spray adhesive over the foam and on the backside of the fabric material. After waiting five minutes, place the material over the console, cutting out any sections were cup holders or stereo equipment will be placed.

Fiberglass Console

6

Place large foam blocks where the center console will be. Use a rasping tool and knife to shape the blocks into the desired shape of the console. If more than one block is used, glue them together with a hot glue gun.

7

Unroll the fleece and cover the newly shaped console with it. The fleece should completely cover the entire console with no area of foam block showing through. Cut the fleece so that at least two inches is left to fold underneath the bottom of the foam blocks.

8

Coat the fleece with resin by applying it with a paintbrush. The resin needs to soak the fleece and dry until tacky or for about twenty minutes.

9

Cut and place the fiberglass mat on the resin covered fleece material. Make sure to cut holes in any openings intended for cup holders or stereo equipment. Press the fiberglass mat firmly so that every section of fleece is covered.

10

Apply body filler to any parts of the fiberglass that are not smooth. The body filler will be sanded smooth, so fill any low areas or gaps in the fiberglass. Allow the filler to dry for thirty minutes.

11

Sand the filler with 220-grit sandpaper until it is smooth and level with the surface of the fiberglass. Go over the entire console, including the filler and the fiberglass, with 600-grit sandpaper. Once this is finished, use 1000-grit sandpaper to lightly sand over everything one last time.

12

Spray a thick coat of primer over the entire console and let it dry for thirty minutes. Apply four to six coats of paint, keeping the coats thin to avoid runs. Let each coat dry for five minutes and let the last coat dry for at least six hours before handling it.