Started fitting some of my elegance trim plastic at the weekend. Started off with the easy bits - both side kick strips - but the B pillar strips were a bit of a pain to get off.

Everything went "fairly" ok - snapped the bonnet pull handle off due to it being superglued on (long story ) so I need to get the bit that the handle mounts to off the wreckage. The rest went OK, but i still need to pluck up the courage to take the centre bit out, due to having to remove radio, vent controls, ASR switches etc. (and more to the point, get it all refitted with busting anything)

I am liking the black much more than the blue though. Just need 2 front seats from a Fabia sport now.

11 weeks to CZ, will it be done by then

The black is soooo much better than the blue. Will be nice if you get it all done J, well worth the effort imho.

What do you mean by "the centre bit"? If you mean the bit that goes between the front seats just tug it towards the floor and it will pop out at the front. Remove the gear ****, couple of screws under there, couple of screws under the front ash tray, another couple under the back ash tray. Carefully unclip the ashtray light and the ciggy lighter cable and your done!

what effect will this have on likely have on performance - or is to make the Mongrel more of a Czech Chick magnet?

I doubt it will make it any more of a magnet

Tom - I'm referring to the whole bit which the head unit, aircon controls, ASR switches etc all go in. I did the centre column in about 5 minutes now I know where the torx screws are, and also my gearknob is just jubilee clipped to the metal bit, so I just turned it inside out and undid it (and did the reverse on refit)

Black does look nicer, but the passenger side B pillar has a crack in it so long term I'm looking to either super glue it to "make good" or get a new replacement from somewhere. I could also do with replacement "T" bits that the seatbelt top bolts in to (with the sliding adjustable bit in it)

So you have a black dash but a blue middle bit? I can see why you want to change!!!

At the moment, the only two remaining blue bits are the centre dash bit, and the trim the headlight switch goes in. The under steering wheel trim requires some "extra" work as my NOS switch is located securely in it, as is my LPG switch in the flap to access the vagcom port.