D.I.Y. Armrest repair

[NK2007]

So i finally got around to fixing my armrest. Heres how i did it:

First, remove the vinyl and begin breaking off the top layer of plastic.
You will notice that the stock pad is attached to the top layer of plastic, then it is melted and pressed into the bottom layer. It is pretty easy to brake off with some pliers.


This is what the bottom looks like once the top is removed:


I then took my sander and flattened out the ridges with some fairly coarse sandpaper:



I then traced and cut out the bottom shape on some thin particle board.


This is how it's assembled:


Some holes and countersunk bolts to match the holes for the rubber things in the bottom plastic piece:


I went to the local fabric store and picked up some high quality outdoor vinyl for cheap (yay for holiday sales!) There was a noticeable difference between the cheap stuff and some nice stuff. The cheap stuff was really stiff and didn't like to flex. The quality stuff was soft and pliable. And it supposedly has a warranty.

Cut out your fabric a little bigger than the stock foam piece:


Staple the fabric to it. This is a lot easier than it sounds! It's much easier with two people. In my case my grandma just happens to be in town... she helped me stretch it and make the corners smooth.

staple in this order

1920**7***3***5**910
18*************** 11
*******************
1*****************2
*******************
17*************** 12
1615**8***4***6**1413

Hopefully that makes sense. The big thing here is to stretch! If you don't there will be wrinkles in the fabric.

For the corners, start by putting one staple in on the side of the corner, then slowly stretching and folding the fabric over to make it smooth, adding staples where necessary.

Go back and fill in any spot where the fabric is stretching wit staples.

It should now look like this:


Trim the excess fabric and flip it over!


Here's a picture of the smooth corner:


Here it is bolted to the bottom plastic piece.


And in the car... The color difference isn't really that bad. This was taken at night, and the flash reflected differently off the suede and vinyl. We shall see how it appears during the day...


Snort your coke line and sit in your chair, enjoying your new armrest!

(gotta love powdered sugar christmas cookies... can always count on them making a mess!


After doing this, I realize i need to remake it with the wood base larger, and possibly more padding to cover up the raised plastic part on the base. If i have time tomorrow i'll give it a shot, and post up new pictures.

Anyway, let me know what you think, and hopefully this helps some of you out!

Oh yea, random picture of my dirty car as i was working in the garage:


~neill

[VTAudiA4]

Great Job. Looks really good and thanks for making a DIY. Little off topic though. Is that an OEM Rs4 bumper? If so how much work did you put into it to make it fit? Im in the process of purchasing an oem rs4 and will attempt it to put it on my non WB A4.

Edit: I also think it would be a good idea to buy some foam an insert that as well for some more padding.

[The Russian]

oooo good thinkin, lots great man!

[geeky]

I dont have a center arm rest :( its actually really annoying too

[Stone825]

I don't think that is from powdered sugar cookies 0_0 lol

[NK2007]

Yes it is oem rs4.

To be honest, I can't say exactly how much was done to make it fit, because i bought the car with it. However, it has never fit perfectly. The bottom has always hung really low, and a couple weeks ago i let my dd drive my car, and he pulled over a parking curb and when he backed off, it broke a piece off, and cracked it.

This has given me the opportunity to fit it better, and i bought a plastic welder to do so. unfortunately, it turns out the bumper is not abs as i thought, but instead urethane, and therefore cant be welded. So as of right now i took a die grinder to the crack to narrow the bottom of the bumper a little, and just taped it. I need to invest in some good epoxy of some sort to fix it. I believe i will also cut the sides of the bottom and narrow it there when i get this epoxy.

What i do know:
The bumper rebar is attached to the bumper, and the headlight squirters have been saved.

There are only two points of attachment on either side... both go into the fender. These bolts are a pain to get on and off, and the holes in the plastic bumper are bent/stripped out easily so be sure to make a bracket that fits and not just use washers like the previos owner did.


There appears to be body filler in the corners, and along the top of the bumper on the sides by the fender. I assume some modifications were required here. It's kinda hard to tell, but what i really need to do is just buy another bumper (maybe an s4 one) put it on, and strip this one down and redo it right.

I'll see if i have any pictures of the bumper off. If not, i'll pull it off this weekend when i do my clutch and grab some pictures for you.

[NK2007]

Edit: I also think it would be a good idea to buy some foam an insert that as well for some more padding.

It is already using the stock foam, but i am planning on picking up some more when i redo it.

[arorem]

nice write up. There is a DIY section that this could be moved to.

[biketsai]

Nice!
Btw- how much did it cost for those seats to get done?

[NK2007]

I don't think that is from powdered sugar cookies 0_0 lol

what can i say? gotta *twitch* get *twitch* my fix *twitch*

nice write up. There is a DIY section that this could be moved to.

Thanks! Like i mentioned before, there are a couple things i want to take care of before i submit it for the DIY section. Hopefully tomorrow if not the next day i will have a new armrest made.

[NK2007]

Nice!
Btw- how much did it cost for those seats to get done?

Thanks,
and again, i'm not sure, PO had them in his built S4 (they are leather and power and heated, but heat isn't hooked up, hopefully another diy soon ) When he rolled the s4 in a corner on a local track, he almost didn't walk away (one of the headrests still has the blood stains!)... anyway he transfered them to the A4.

[NorCal1.8T]

Nice write up i wanna do this to my armrest because its coming off on the passenger side. Could i use the same fabric over again, just do it your way? And please add to your DIY once you make smaller improvements to it, im gonna use your guide for sure!!!!!!!!

[NK2007]

You could try using the same fabric, but mine was dirty, didn't match my leather seats (it was still the a4 pleather), and ripped. Its really up to you.

[destrolock]

Great write up. One thing I cant figure out though is how to get the damn armrest top off. Care to elaborate?

Thanks!

[NK2007]

Great write up. One thing I cant figure out though is how to get the damn armrest top off. Care to elaborate?

Thanks!

First remove the fabric. You should then see the seam in the two plastic parts. Basically they melted the top part, and stuck it to the bottom part.

What I found that worked great is a pair of channel locks. By first flexing the bottom plastic piece a little by hand,the bond is broken. Then grabbing the top with a pair of channel locks, break off a piece at a time, repeating the steps as necessary. It took a little while to remove all of it, probably a good 30-45 minutes, but take your time and it should all come off.

Also, be careful as you are breaking the top off, as there are several round posts that stick out of the bottom piece. If you are not careful, it make break all the way through the bottom piece. For these, I simply broke off the top plastic around it, and went back and smashed the pin, and wiggled it back and forth until i got a clean break.

Another way i was planning on removing the top would be to take a hacksaw in between the two layers, but i found this was not needed.
Hopefully this helped!

[destrolock]

First remove the fabric. You should then see the seam in the two plastic parts. Basically they melted the top part, and stuck it to the bottom part.

What I found that worked great is a pair of channel locks. By first flexing the bottom plastic piece a little by hand,the bond is broken. Then grabbing the top with a pair of channel locks, break off a piece at a time, repeating the steps as necessary. It took a little while to remove all of it, probably a good 30-45 minutes, but take your time and it should all come off.

Also, be careful as you are breaking the top off, as there are several round posts that stick out of the bottom piece. If you are not careful, it make break all the way through the bottom piece. For these, I simply broke off the top plastic around it, and went back and smashed the pin, and wiggled it back and forth until i got a clean break.

Another way i was planning on removing the top would be to take a hacksaw in between the two layers, but i found this was not needed.
Hopefully this helped!

Awesome thank you sir.

[flynnr]

any recommendation on how to remove the armrest lid from the whole armrest assembly? it looks like there is just the plastic 'C' molding toward the back acting as a hinge, but how do i seperate teh two i feel like im going to break it

[NK2007]

There were screws on one side of the hinge. I removed the screws and was able to slide the lid to one side enough to pop it out.

[flynnr]

got it thanks

[alen]

Dude much props to you for writing this up. Will definitely use it as a reference.

Thanks!

[flynnr]

sorry for all the questions about this but i am just getting ready to staple.

what do you mean by this

"1920**7***3***5**910
18*************** 11
*******************
1*****************2
*******************
17*************** 12
1615**8***4***6**1413"

i dont really understand.

[volfan98]

I think he just means to follow the numbers in order - look where the 1 is, then the 2, and so on. Imagine that the entire thing is the rectangle of the armrest. Does that make sense?

[flynnr]

OOOOOO... so the 12 and 14 arent really a 1, and a 2, its a 12 and a 14... see i looked at it like do all the 1's first, then go to the 2s and so on ha. yeah that makes sense now i think. ok thanks

does it seem like i get it now? ha

[NK2007]

Yup! Thats it.

I still haven't gotten around to remaking this(new clutch + fw went in last weekend), but it has been working fine for me.

What do you think? should this be moved to the diy section?

[flynnr]

yeah i think so. i just followed your diy / looked at your pics and re did mine. i had a rip the whole length of mine and it really pissed me off. so tacky

mine looks great now though. actually pretty much like oem. very impressed with the outcome actually. thanks a lot!

NEXT i have to figure out my seat. and then my interior is perfect! (except clearly needs to be cleaned, ah def. one thing that sucks about winter)

EDIT: here are 4 pics i took of the arm rest after i put it back in the car!

1) here is a passenger view


2) rear / back passenger view



3) looking down on it (here you can see that i stretched harder in some spots on accident... its kinda hard to tell how hard to pull and hold the fabric and put the staple all at the same time ha... but really it doesnt look too bad i dont think)



4) rear / back drivers side view




hope these help convince more people they dont need to spend $75 on an armrest cover! this took me an hour total to do!

[sandera4]

Great Job,

Can you tell me how to remove just the armrest lid from the storage portion?

S.

[U_know_me]

19'20'**7***3***5**9'10
18*************** 11
*******************
1*****************2
*******************
17*************** 12
16'15**8***4***6**14'13

Maybe edit your original post with this. I was super confused at first, but then again I am about as smart as a sack of hammers sometimes.

[B5 Quattro]

WOW.
Thanks for showing us.

[nizmosx]

i have a black s4 leather armrest with no cracks or tears for sale at the moment. if anyone is interested, i can ship it out.

[Bordom]

Can this be done with the pre-facelift 96 center armrest?