Yet another sticky parts thread . . .

After having to deal with black goop on my hands every time I drove my 348, I decided it was time to act. I had seen many threads regarding de-stickifying interior bits, but none that were comprehensive. So I decided to take a DIY approach, take some before/after pics and document my lessons learned. I know that Robbie at Stickynomore does a fantastic job (I’ve seen his work) and most recommend simply sending parts to him, but this thread is for those who prefer a DIY approach.

This winter, I’ve refinished all sticky interior pieces except for vents and the door handles. I started with the center console then the steering column cover, and just finished the small triangular covers on the doors this past weekend.

After a bit of research, I settled on the SEM line of products. To me, their products have a solid rep and they offered a refinishing “solution”. So, during the refinishing process, I wound up using the following at various stages:

1. Easy-Off Bbq grill cleaner – Why you ask? Because that’s what I happened to have in the garage.
2. Denatured alcohol
3. SEM Plastic Soap (#39362)
4. SEM Plastic & Leather Prep (#38353)
5. SEM Plastic Adhesion Promoter (#39863)
6. SEM Color Coat (matte black)
7. 3M wet/dry sandpaper (320, 600, 1000 grit)
8. 3M pads (grey, and white)
9. Toothpicks (to get the goop out of corners etc)
10. Expired credit card – makes and excellent goop scraper yet is softer than the plastic that Ferrari uses
11. Bunch of shop rags
12. Latex gloves (you don't want some of this stuff on your hands - especially the Easy Off)

Below are the "before" pics of the steering column cover along with the goop all over my hands when I removed the parts. Basically, all the parts in my car (except for the A/C vents oddly enough) were just as goopy as the parts in the pics below. It was to the point where I couldn't touch anything because the crud would come off on my hand and then get onto the tan leather seats etc. Plus, the goopy surfaces had turned into dust/dirt magnets.

. . . to be continued
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First step was to use the Easy-Off. I sprayed it on and washed it off using the 3M white pad, which contains no abrasive. Next step was reapplication of the Easy-Off and some digging with toothpicks to remove the goop from hard to reach places. This removed all the paint from the bottom piece leaving bare plastic all ready for prep. I have no idea why but the top piece was different. The paint was extremely stubborn. The goopiest stuff came off with ease. The stuff underneath didn’t. So, I first used the 3M gray pad then wet sanded using progressively finer grits of sandpaper and denatured alcohol (which dissolves the coating). Stripping the goop etc from the the bottom piece took all of 10 minutes. I must have spent an hour (maybe more) removing all the goop/paint from the top piece.

Next step was to use a clean 3M white pad and scrub the parts with the SEM soap. This removed any lingering residue, oils etc. After that, all parts were cleaned with the SEM plastic prep and wiped down with a lint free cloth following the instructions on the can. Last step before paint was to apply a mist coat of SEM adhesion promoter, wait 5 minutes, then apply a wet coat of the adhesion promoter. After the wet coat, the part is ready for paint within 20-25 minutes.

The color coat was SEM matte black, which seems a very close match to the OEM finish (perhaps a touch flatter). I sprayed a mist coat, waited 15 minutes, then applied several coats allowing the part to dry 20-30 minutes between coats. Most of the parts I refinished have 5-6 coats. I then waited several days for the parts to dry and the surface to harden before reinstalling but I really think only a day would be needed.

First and 3rd pics below are parts with the Easy Off, along with the black goop washing off into my slop sink. Second pic is of the triangular pieces that mount on the door and cover access to the exterior mirrors. They were stripped of the coating, without abrasive, and are in their natural plastic state.

. . . to be continued
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So how did the parts come out? Well, IMO, I thought everything came out great. See below. I took all pics in this post and previous posts with my phone. The parts actually look better in person than they do in the pics. I might have to borrow my wife's camera and post some better pics if folks are interested.

Now, for lessons learned and problems encountered:

1. For some reason, some of the parts must have had some sort of residue/oil etc in the plastic no matter how well I thought I had prepped. The problem can be seen right away as soon as the paint is applied as the paint will tend to wrinkle. I didn’t have any major areas do this, just a few to be annoying. First, I tried re-cleaning and re-spraying. This didn’t work. Second, I wet sanded (using water this time) the offending area down to bare plastic starting with 320, 600, 1000 grit sandpaper gradually feathering in the bare surface into the painted surface. I then cleaned with plastic prep and sprayed with paint (skipping the promoter step since the sanded surface has sufficient “tooth” for paint to adhere). This second solution worked perfectly.

2. Take your cleaning the parts. It’s tedious but careful prep work saves re-work.

3. Refinishing the parts doesn’t take long – until you encounter a problem (like stubborn coating or an apparently “clean” plastic surface that simply isn’t clean enough. I didn’t record how much time it took me to refinish all the parts so far. For me, time required was more than I would’ve liked, but less I originally thought it might.

4. The plastic pieces are old and can be very brittle – especially the center console pieces. Be careful when working with these. I actually cracked the piece surrounding my ash tray cover. A buddy of mine had a plastic welding kit and repaired it for me, but it took quite a bit of work afterwards with a super sharp woodworking chisel plus sanding blocks to make the repair unnoticeable.

I didn't like the look of the pieces when they had been stripped to bare plastic. In some cases, I used an abrasive, which forced me to repaint the pieces. In other cases, I didn't use any abrasive but found the plastic underneath to be a bit too grayed out and mottled for my taste. You mileage may vary.

My next project is to refinish the door handles and the A/C vents. I’ll probably have the door handles powder coated for durability. The A/C vents will take some time. When all is said and done, I might simply send these to Robbie at Stickynomore. Anyway, I hope this thread helps someone out.

Mark
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Thanks for the compliment Robbie. Yes, it's quite a bit of work but not so much that a DIY'er can't handle it. It's more time consuming than anything, with a lot of time just spent waiting around for solvents to act and paint to dry. Most of the time is spent on the "problem" parts (i.e. those that crack just by looking at them, or have something in the plastic that prevents new paint from adhering properly etc).

I'm not sure how you'd reduce your turnaround time to much less than 4-5 days without sacrificing quality.

 

I bought all my stuff from TCP Global. This was my first experience with them. No problems with the order and everything shipped promptly. Their prices seemed as competitive as anyone else's. Eastwood also carries some of the SEM products but not the complete line and their prices are higher than TCP Global. 'Hope this helps.

 

Mario,

If I remember right, the SEM soap, plastic prep, adhesion promoter and satin black paint came to around $60 shipped. I had the sandpaper in my garage but that'd probably come to another $10 or so. No idea what a can of Easy Off costs but probably $5. Add in another $10 for the 3M pads and a can of denatured alcohol and my materials cost was roughly $85. The above probably includes enough material to refinish the interior of 2-3 cars, except for the paint. I haven't refinished my A/C vents as yet and it's likely that I'll need another can of paint (at $11/can) to finish the vents.

As far as labor, it's tough to say as I didn't keep track. I did a lot of my refinishing in between other things that were going on. Cleaning the goop off the parts didn't take that much time EXCEPT for the trouble parts. These latter parts took up a lion's share of the time. Like I said in one of my original posts, the steering column covers gave me fits. Actually, the bottom piece was easy. Cleaning all the old coating off the top piece was a b#$%h (rhymes with witch). No idea why.

Anyway, once all parts were completely stripped, final prep and painting was very straightforward - except for the few parts that had paint adhesion problems. That said, fixing this problem was pretty easy as well (gently wetsanding down to fresh plastic starting at 320g and feathering it in with the surrounding paint by using 600g and then 1000g wet/dry paper, then clean with plastic prep and repaint).

If you just want to refinish your steering column covers, I can't see how it'll take much more than 2 hrs collectively - and that assumes you'll have issues. Refinishing the console is harder as the parts are more delicate, plus there are a lot of nooks and crannies. Like I said in an earlier post, I might just send my A/C vents to Robbie at Stickynomore as I'm not sure I want to deal with cleaning the nooks and crannies on these parts.

I might wind up fabricating an aluminum piece (painted to match the plastic) to replace part of my center console. I never use the ashtray but wouldn't mind having a few cupholders.

 

Thanks Tripp.