Honda Fit (GE8) Factory Center-Console Armrest Installation

Pry the small center cap out of the stock armrest with a flat-head screwdriver; it pops free easily, so keep it if you plan to resell the original pad as a complete unit. Undo the armrest's main fastener with a 14mm socket, then back the stop bolts out with a 14mm wrench (a deep-well socket may reach them, but plan on the wrench). Lift the stock armrest away.

Bolt the supplied block-off plate into the vacated armrest mount using the plate and bolt from the kit. Check the orientation marking on the plate before tightening so the correct edge faces the front of the car; on this kit the thicker edge points forward. Press the plastic plug into the plate until it clicks into its locating slots.

Lift the felt mat out of the rear cupholder and back out the Phillips screw hidden beneath it with the #2 driver. Ease the trim cap next to the parking-brake lever off with a flat-head, working the tip into the slot closest to the lever. Pry the cupholder up from the slot nearest the shifter. On each side of the console front, loosen the plastic push rivets a turn with a flat-head and pull them free, holding light outward tension on the trim if a rivet spins instead of backing out. Set the parking brake, turn the ignition to ON, and shift an automatic into a gear that lets the shifter clear the console. Lift the console from its rear edge and draw it up and rearward off the shifter and brake lever. Do not pry on the sides, which crack easily.

Unbolt the parking-brake cable mount with a 12mm socket. Fit the kit's mounting bracket in its place with the tall leg of the angle pointing toward the rear of the car, and torque it back down with the 12mm socket.

Locate the drill points cast into the underside of the cupholder base and the rear of the console, each marked with a circled X. Punch the center of every mark with a center punch so the bit cannot wander; accurate centering here is what keeps the armrest aligned with the console. Pilot-drill each location with the 1/8" bit, then open the cupholder-base holes to 5/16". Cut the two console-side holes with the 3/4" spade bit or hole saw, running the bit at speed and feeding it straight in so it does not snag and split the plastic.

Slide the armrest into the console with its metal tang toward the rear. Turn the assembly over, seat the black spacer over the two plastic pegs on the front cupholder, and secure it with the two plastic screws. Fit the metal backing plate, which seats only one way, using two of the 10mm bolts from the kit.

Confirm the parking brake is up and an automatic is still in gear. Lower the console front-first with the armrest raised, guide it over the shifter and brake lever, and press down on the center until it snaps back into place. Drive the remaining two 10mm bolts through the holes you drilled, pressing down on the armrest to line the holes up, then push the rubber grommets into the openings to cover the bolt heads.

Snap the parking-brake trim cap back into place and refit the front cupholder. Reinstall the plastic push rivets last: seat each rivet body fully before pushing its center pin, because pressing the pin early locks the rivet before it is fully home. Return the shifter to Park and switch the ignition off.