156 Ashtray Delete & Console Repair

[Beatle]

The ashtray on my 156 was trashed when I bought this car, and the ciggie socket in the 156 (and in my GT) doesn't hold a 12V power plug firmly (Euro sockets seem to be shorter, and slightly larger diameter).  On removing the console section around the gearshift I also found that the plastic was badly cracked, plus the plastics had gone tacky as is common with these cars.

So I embarked on a task to repair the plastics as best as I could, delete the ashtray entirely to make the space more useable, and add a standard Aussie ciggie socket to take the phone charger.  Note the car cost me $1800.  If it was a pristine example I would have sourced original replacement parts and added a power socket elsewhere, but thought I'd experiment as I had nothing to lose.......

You can read how I cleaned up the tacky plastic here:  http://www.alfaclubvic.org.au/forum/index.php?topic=20087.0

Basically, I started by covering a lot of the cracked plastic areas with Araldite, even taping over some holes/missing sections and filling with epoxy to re-form the basic contour of the plastic.
Then I added a brace across the sections where the ashtray normally screws through. The brace was Sikaflexed, screwed in place, and two holes back-drilled to take the fixing screws

Lots of trial fitting was required to ensure I didn't add extra thickness that would affect alignment of the console on re-installation.

Next I carefully shaped and cut a piece of black carpet to fit, eventually gluing it in place with contact adhesive.  Patience is not one of my strong points, but you do need to carefully shape and cut the carpet, and plan the gluing procedure carefully for best results, getting it square and pushed fully into the contours and corners .  I was also careful to not get adhesive on the visible side of the carpet.  Shiny plastics and the aluminium brace were scuffed with emery cloth and cleaned before gluing.  I also needed to allow a few millimetres along the bottom edge of the carpeted section so the factory rubber tray insert would still slide in neatly.

The results significantly exceeded my expectations    You can see in the photos below how ugly it is on the hidden side, but it works.  There are two visible screws, effectively unnoticeable from the seated positions.

I coated the carpet with contact cement even on the non-contact areas to add some extra rigidity to the unsupported sections of the carpet.

The connector was cut off the old ciggie socket, earth and power reconnected to the new socket.  The third wire is the now-unused courtesy light power wire (cut long in case I need it in future).

[Beatle]

Pics showing the brace.  A piece of aluminium angle, carefully bashed to fit the not-right-angle of the plastic.
The small retaining screws were cut off near-flush but I didn't need to be too accurate.  The carpet provides enough tolerance to cover a few minor bumps.

[Beatle]

The critical part was getting the carpet stuck correctly along the bottom edge.  Once it came into contact, it stuck, so if it wasn't 'square', i'd end up with bare sections and ragged edges.  So I applied contact adhesive (gel) on about the lower third of the carpet, but only about 10mm up the plastic.   Once I was satisfied with the initial alignment, I then systematically applied adhesive to the plastic up about another inch or so, allowed to dry for a few minutes, pushed the carpet home and made sure it was fully into the corners.   When I finally got to the top, I trimmed the carpet to final length (this section is hidden) and glued the top edge.  Then went back and reapplied pressure across all the contact surfaces to ensure adhesion, then overcoated the hidden edges and unsupported carpet sections.

[Beatle]

I cut the hole for the cig socket with a step drill after the carpet was glued.

[Beatle]

It's not readily visible in these pics, but the console plastics came up a treat after a wipe over with 303 protectant.  They were greyed a little from the cleaning process to remove all the sticky gunk (completed prior to any of the araldite repair work.

[Beatle]

....and by deleting the loose ashtray parts, adding some strategically placed anti-rattle foam tape, spraying white lithium grease on the tranny shifter selector parts, and correctly screwing the console back in place, I've removed approximately a gazzillion rattles and squeaks from the car,...give or take a few