Console

Another flaw in the Gen II Vipers is the center console.  It's a large molded PVC piece, but it's only got four tiny posts under it for support.  If you lean on it too hard, it will crack.  If it cracks and you don't fix it, the vinyl covering will begin to tear.  Mine was cracked, and the vinyl was just starting to tear by the e-brake boot. Here you can clearly see the problem.

After doing much research, I decided to use fiberglass as my main repair material. Polyester fiberglass resin does stick to PVC, though it relies more heavily on a mechanical bond than a chemical one. Plus, I had everything necessary already. The first step was to do a whole lot pre cleaning. These consoles are notorious for being covered in mold release compound. I used mineral spirits, followed by acetone to clean the surface, then repeated the process a couple times. With that done, I roughed up the whole bottom side with some 36 grit sandpaper. This gives the resin some "tooth" to grab onto. Then more cleaning. Then I planned out where I wanted to put the fiberglass. I decided that since I'm doing it anyway, I may as well use it for reinforcement too. I went shopping in my fiberglass scraps box and laid out overlapping layers of mat where I wanted it.

With that done, I set the mat off to the side and started the lay up process. It's pretty simple, put a piece down, work the resin into it, work the bubbles out of it, and repeat. If you mix it right, you should have 20-30 minutes of work time before it sets up. When I had all the layers down down, I still had resin left so I added even more layers.

All told, there's almost 1/4" of mat over the whole thing, with it approaching 3/8" thick in some areas.  This thing is now almost solid enough to stand on.  I also put a piece of plywood on the trans tunnel to add some support across the e-brake recess.  No pics of that, but really, it's just plywood.