Now that the faceplate of the center console is ready for paint it’s time to refinish and prep the shifter surround. The original has a textured plastic finish to it. I want it to match the face plate so I’m going to give it the same treatment. I also drilled a hole in it a long time ago for the electric fan override switch that’s now on the faceplate so the will give me a chance to repair the hole. So step 1 is to fix the hole. I get a scrap piece of plastic and use gorilla glue to put under the console. Then I use bondo to fill the hole. I’m also going to bondo the entire piece so I can get rid of the texture and have a super smooth finish that will match the faceplate. Here is the hole I’m fixing. 
I applied a liberal amount of bondo. 
Then began sanding it down and applied the first coat of primer. 
Now to sand it down, then hit it again with high build primer, then sand it down. Then repeat the process until its perfectly smooth.
Click here for the next step!