Retro-fitting a jumbo box / centre armrest

[chr1staylor]

The only thing that’s really bugged me about my car lacking the jumbo pack was the lack of an armrest. I had one in my last car and really missed not having anything to lean on on that side. This turned into quite an obsession and I’ve spent far too long researching what’s needed and how to retrofit one, and finally this weekend I sorted it.

The required info is spread all over the place, so I wanted to draw it all together here in case anyone else is interested.

As I was doing this I wanted to take the opportunity to install a second 12v socket inside the jumbo box, and because there’s no aircon ducting underneath the armrest centre section I’ve fitted there was plenty of room to recess the socket into the base of the storage area. Thread on that can be found here: http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/203322-fitting-an-additional-12v-socket-inside-a-jumbo-box/

(When I say "centre section" I’m referring to the whole moulded piece running along the tunnel that goes over the handbrake and gear lever.)

There are some useful additional photos on this site showing what points you need to access to get to the torx screws at the front:

http://translate.google.co.uk/translate?u=http%3A//www.skodaoctavia.cz/clanek/demontaz-stredove-konzole-montaz-aux-zdirky&hl=en&langpair=auto|en&tbb=1&ie=UTF-8

original: http://www.skodaoctavia.cz/clanek/demontaz-stredove-konzole-montaz-aux-zdirky

To remove the old centre section:

Firstly you need to prise the gear gaitor base up (open the ashtray lid to get your fingers under the front of the gaitor base up pull up, working your way around the sides, gentle force will be enough) to get to the two screws securing the ashtray, which you can then slide out, ensuring you unclip the power cable for the light when you remove it.

Once the ashtray’s out there are another couple of torx screws behind it that also need removing to enable you to remove the side panels in the footwells.

IMG_1165 by chr1staylor, on Flickr

Removing the side panels is a bit of a b4llache, there’s only one torx in the footwell holding each in (in addition to the ones mentioned above), but there are also a couple of really awkward clips to wrestle with. I managed to get the passenger side out fully, to get to the screw holding the centre section to the upper centre section, and just bent the driver’s side out far enough to get a torx driver in.

IMG_1164 by chr1staylor, on Flickr

Once you’ve unscrewed all the joins at the front, you can prise out the mini storage area at the back of the centre section, behind the big cup holder, to access and remove the remaining 2 torx bolts.

Once the whole section is loose, raise it a little to enable you to get your hands underneath to unclip the plugs for the central-locking rocker and 12v socket.

Once they’re out you just need to remove the small blank in front of the handbrake and you should then be able to completely remove the existing centre section, with some wiggling. Get it over the handbrake first, then the gear lever. No need to remove the rigid gear gaitor base either, with some careful angling it’ll fit through the gap.

IMG_1168 by chr1staylor, on Flickr

Fitting the armrest assembly:

This is what it looks like:

DSC02931 by chr1staylor, on Flickr

(Credit to Brimma for pic)

The armrest assembly itself is located with a couple of small torx bolts at the back (the same ones that are used to hold the rear of the non-jumbo centre section down), and then bolted to the handbrake subframe, which itself is bolted to the tunnel, so it’s very solid.

I didn’t have any suitable nuts/bolts to attach the frame to the handbrake so had to nip out to local hardware place to get a couple. 10mm bolt head/nut, 6mm thread dia, length of ~25mm ok, no longer than that though or the bolt ends will push down into the tunnel.

These:

IMG_1171 by chr1staylor, on Flickr

Can see one fitted here:

IMG_1172 by chr1staylor, on Flickr

And the two torx bolts at the rear:

IMG_1173 by chr1staylor, on Flickr

Once the armrest is bolted down, you can begin to fit the new centre section over it, in reverse of above removal. The rear sides of the jumbo box centre section are very flexible and can be manipulated easily to fit round the armrest frame. There are a couple of points at the back where you can use a couple of small torx screws (the same type that seem to be used all over the car, handily) to attach the centre section to the armrest frame.

Once it’s in place you can begin to fit the rear section which houses the vents (though useless in my case) and another storage tray.

IMG_1175 by chr1staylor, on Flickr

Et voila:

IMG_1176 by chr1staylor, on Flickr

IMG_1177 by chr1staylor, on Flickr

It’s taken quite a bit of patience and persistence to get all the required parts, as they are fairly thin on the ground, and usually split up. The only centre section I could find (on an unsold completed ebay listing, I had to contact the seller who relisted it for me) had ivory carpet attached, so I had to sort that out first, using a can of Autoglym carpet dye. The small rear part with the vents in did come with it, but was missing the hinged storage box that sits underneath the vents, so I had to order one of those from Skoda for ~£15.

Then managed to pick up the armrest from a member on here.

Think it's cost just about £100 for everything, inc parts for the 12v socket.

I found the following site very useful for seeing how everything goes together, and for getting part numbers for the remaining bits and pieces I needed, the rear ashtray etc.:

http://www.auto-parts.spb.ru/cat/au/au.mycat?SelPg&t=px0wGn4dMBo4HTAa5UdYI5ZcaTz0REy/P9YwGpJCsCqnXTJlRjE4lrcxGAenPTCTqk4T35V7kbqhkmCc9FGynQ9ns3CTGVkyjtjxWWzZbK2ZWBKw7VKpS_1UQ/zXbSYSn/G4sxSFPvvEJAOub7kiO7ZNVV96ANehsRelo6tPZBwKW1SxbVPMtS6gu9LFJX4Vy2XpL8oY5e_4GTTbPcslBSykEoaPVQ5Ia3iw

Functionally it’s perfect, extra 12v socket works great and will come in v.handy for powering stuff in the back, like my son’s PSP, but aesthetically it’s not quite there yet, as the colouring of the dyed carpet isn’t anywhere as dark as it appeared indoors, nor quite as uniform as I thought. Will have to come up with a solution for this while it’s in situ now.

Couple of people to thank for various bits of info/kit: Fikes75, TimmyBoy, Brimma.

Quite a few more pics on my Flickr stream:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/51707969@N04/sets/72157626981584219/with/5897672530/

Cheers,

C.

[Brimma]

Nice job Chris......might have to do mine sometime

[chr1staylor]

Nice job Chris......might have to do mine sometime

Cheers fella. feel free to ask any more Qs you may have.

Good job.

How much were the vents and where did you get them from?

The rear vents came with the jumbo box centre section I bought from ebay, but if you have a look at the site I mention above, you can see they are part no 9 on the diagram:

http://www.auto-parts.spb.ru/cat/au/au.mycat?SelPg&t=px0wGn4dMBo4HTAa5UdYI5ZcaTz0REy/P9YwGpJCsCqnXTJlRjE4lrcxGAenPTCTqk4T35V7kbqhkmCc9FGynQ9ns3CTGVkyjtjxWWzZbK2ZWBKw7VKpS_1UQ/zXbSYSn/G4sxSFPvvEJAOub7kiO7ZNVV96ANehsRelo6tPZBwKW1SxbVPMtS6gu9LFJX4Vy2XpL8oY5e_4GTTbPcslBSykEoaPVQ5Ia3iw

If you call a skoda dealer and quote part no 1Z0 819 203 (+9B9 for black) they'll be able to give you a price and order them.

[Wardy]

Good work Chris - looks like a good result

This has reminded me that I need to swap my fabric armrest for my leather one! As mine had one as standard, what would you advise; to remove the whole rear centre section and unbolt the entire assembly for the current fabric armrest, or could you spot a way for me to just change over the top of the armrest?

Thanks,

Steve.

[chr1staylor]

Good work Chris - looks like a good result

This has reminded me that I need to swap my fabric armrest for my leather one! As mine had one as standard, what would you advise; to remove the whole rear centre section and unbolt the entire assembly for the current fabric armrest, or could you spot a way for me to just change over the top of the armrest?

Thanks,

Steve.

Hey Steve,

Yeah, swapping the armrest cover was something I was definitely going to do, though in the flesh the fabric one I've installed is much darker, so doesn't look out of place, so am leaving it for now.

I found this one on Superskoda: http://www.superskoda.com/skoda/octavia-ii/octavia-ii-04-09-leather-cover-for-jumbobox-white-stitch

I'm sure it's possible to just remove the top part, it'll be a right faff for you if you have to remove the whole centre section. I've definitely seen a post on here describing how you can take the armrest apart, I think it was from the link in Gaff's post here: http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/119676-annoying-squeak-from-jumbo-box/page__view__findpost__p__1503965

but because of the way the forum layout's changed the link no longer works. If you happen to know how to fix the link that would help, or you could trawl through Gaff's posts until you come across the original... or you could just PM him to find out how he did it. In fact, by this he must have some pics somewhere.

Hooray, due to my incredible search skills I've found the post in question: http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/109705-creaking-jumbo-box/page__view__findpost__p__1373354 with pics in.

I'd also fire off a speculative email to Superskoda to see if they have any fitting instructions for the one linked above.

[dainott]

Good work Chris - looks like a good result

This has reminded me that I need to swap my fabric armrest for my leather one! As mine had one as standard, what would you advise; to remove the whole rear centre section and unbolt the entire assembly for the current fabric armrest, or could you spot a way for me to just change over the top of the armrest?

Thanks,

Steve.

Yes wardy you do lol

[Wardy]

Thanks for that Chris, appreciate the effort

And dainott -

[Lee Thomas]

Thanks for this guide, I did mine yesterday! Luckily the guy from ebay sent me the ducting for air aswell so have working blowers in the back aswell, result! He also sent the oringinal bolts with the snap nuts so didn't need the m6 bolts I bought, oh well!

Thanks again

[chr1staylor]

Thanks for this guide, I did mine yesterday! Luckily the guy from ebay sent me the ducting for air aswell so have working blowers in the back aswell, result! He also sent the oringinal bolts with the snap nuts so didn't need the m6 bolts I bought, oh well!

Thanks again

Great stuff, glad you found it useful.

Am surprised you managed to connect the ducting to the front though, was there just a blanking plate there that you could remove?

[Lee Thomas]

Yes exactly that. Pull the compart infront of the gearstick out, and towards the back there are 2 rectangular down pipes which are capped. Just push fit the ducting in place and away you go. It splits into two to go around the gear stick, and ends just infront of the little lifting plate in the jumbo box itself.

When I opened the package I was surprised to find the ducting there, I thought it'd make me some cash back on ebay at least (didn't think I could use it) but yes, there a blanking plates there ready to accept it.

They also blow on all settings, so whether the fans are pointed at feet, windscreen or on the face, the rear blowers always blow (obviously unless you close the vents to blank them off).

[KBPhoto]

Luckily the guy from ebay sent me the ducting for air aswell

So you were the lucky winner! From the guy in Scotland I presume...

[Lee Thomas]

So you were the lucky winner! From the guy in Scotland I presume...

Yes indeedy I was. Yes, West Lothian.

For £118 delivered I think I got a decent deal (including the ducting). I had offered him £130 when it first went up and he turned it down, saying he wanted £150 so I won on both accounts!

Only problem was the whole thing was disgustingly dirty (although somehow not scratched at all!) and the armrest material is light grey and again very dirty. I'll either be re-covering it or asking skoda how much a new Onyx black fabric 'bit' is.

[KBPhoto]

He initially accepted my £85 delivered offer after the initial sale didn't go through.

The he bottled it and delisted - to your benefit.

Clean it up and enjoy.

[Lee Thomas]

He initially accepted my £85 delivered offer after the initial sale didn't go through.

The he bottled it and delisted - to your benefit.

Clean it up and enjoy.

Ahh bugger mate, didn't mean it to sound like I was bragging or anything! Sorry you missed out on it!

Will do

[chr1staylor]

Yes exactly that. Pull the compart infront of the gearstick out, and towards the back there are 2 rectangular down pipes which are capped. Just push fit the ducting in place and away you go. It splits into two to go around the gear stick, and ends just infront of the little lifting plate in the jumbo box itself.

When I opened the package I was surprised to find the ducting there, I thought it'd make me some cash back on ebay at least (didn't think I could use it) but yes, there a blanking plates there ready to accept it.

They also blow on all settings, so whether the fans are pointed at feet, windscreen or on the face, the rear blowers always blow (obviously unless you close the vents to blank them off).

Bah, if I'd known it was that easy I would've sourced the ducting!

No way I can be bothered taking it all apart again to fit it now!

Edited 28 June, 2012 by chr1staylor

[KBPhoto]

Hey, no worries over the price.

I didnt want to pay that much, you did. All's fair and square.

Had another eBay special lined up as a guy was breaking an Elegance spec Octavia. He was going to accept £95 if I collected it.

I was up his way, but ran out of time so had to pass on that. Don't think he had the ducting though.

I've seen Golf ducting at £20-25 new, but that is much shorter than the Octavia one.

Even at £118 you got a reasonable deal as it's not scratched.

[Lee Thomas]

Hey, no worries over the price.

I didnt want to pay that much, you did. All's fair and square.

Had another eBay special lined up as a guy was breaking an Elegance spec Octavia. He was going to accept £95 if I collected it.

I was up his way, but ran out of time so had to pass on that. Don't think he had the ducting though.

I've seen Golf ducting at £20-25 new, but that is much shorter than the Octavia one.

Even at £118 you got a reasonable deal as it's not scratched.

I'd been searching for breaking Elegances for a while, my eyes nearly popped out of my head when I saw the full kit on there!

Make that £135 all in, went to Skoda yesterday and ordered a brand new black fabric top section for £17 (I was expecting it to be alot more than that!).

Happy with it all, even if I did slightly damage my 12v socket getting it out of the old centre section (what a pain in the arse they are to remove!).

[chr1staylor]

I'd been searching for breaking Elegances for a while, my eyes nearly popped out of my head when I saw the full kit on there!

Make that £135 all in, went to Skoda yesterday and ordered a brand new black fabric top section for £17 (I was expecting it to be alot more than that!).

Happy with it all, even if I did slightly damage my 12v socket getting it out of the old centre section (what a pain in the arse they are to remove!).

Why did you need to remove it, didn't the new centre section come with one fitted?

[Lee Thomas]

Why did you need to remove it, didn't the new centre section come with one fitted?

The 'new' one was from a 2006 car, it had different a different connection and had a green ring around the top (my MY10 car has a gloss black ring around it).

[KBPhoto]

Mine arrived yesterday & I'm reviewing all the info here in advance of fitting it. It's from a Yeti & going in an Octavia so fingers crossed.

It looks brand new apart from slight damage to the rear vent surround. Will probably be unnoticeable once fitted.

Has a 12v socket (inc. gloss black ring) with plastic dummy lighter & lock switch. The rear vents still have the Skoda part sticker on the outside.

For £125 + delivery I'm chuffed.

Will be putting the MDI socket inside and fitting an illuminated 12v sleeve while its out and also running BT cables under there rather than behind the dash. Unless anyone knows better!

[charltones]

Big thanks Chris - I just got a 10 plate Octavia yesterday which had this conversion done, but whoever did it had forgotten to connect up the 12V socket. Thanks to your guide I was able to disassemble everything and plug the socket in. Saved. Now I know how to do it I might wire up the aux socket and put in the air ducts.

[Nikonite]

Just wanted to say thanks as I finally got to use this guide today, would have struggled with them front screws without. 

[KellyVRS]

Hey

Sorry if this is a silly question (I'm a women)

I have a 2006 Oct VRS which I want to put an armrest into

I have found a listing on eBay (can't attach a photo) which is armrest and metal part below armrest only.

Will this work?

I need to find a man in my life who is handy with cars :-) saves me doing it myself

Kelly

[Nikonite]

You will need the complete armrest including plastic centre console, rear vents, ashtray and heating pipes from the front of the car to the rear vents to do the job properly. You would be better off doing what I did, find a breakers with the armrest in and take everything including the mounting nuts.

[BenTaylor121]

Just did my jumbo box/ arm rest today, thank you for guide works a treat!

Had a small bodge on the rear screws on the armrest as the originals wouldn't fit so ended up bolting instead.

Thanks again chris!