DIY Sticky Interior Repair using Degreaser and Elbow Grease

Hey Labman.
The top part is attached with a little bit of adhesive to the leather. I slowly peeled the leather away from the plastic. It should come off without any damage to the leather.

The VIN plate also comes off easily so take that off before stripping the gooey paint.

As far as removal of the door handles/lock/buckets, take a look at my thread (post 16).

http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/360-430/364556-430-sticky-door-handles-macarbon.html

Good luck!

 

Perfect! Thanks!

 

One more question...did you reattached the leather to the top shroud upon assembly and what did you use?


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Sent out parts to SNM. Robbie had then done for me in a day.! I'm very happy the way they look now. Thanks for all the help on this thread. Door handles were a bit challenging though.




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I just finished doing the sticky bits on my 360. I took my time, it's not a technically challenging job. I read Trent's write-up and basically followed his lead. I didn't have any greased lightning degreaser, so I took whatever degreaser I had in my cabinet of chemicals and tried a few different ones. I ended up using "Gunk Engine Degreaser". It worked ok, but still required some elbow grease to get all the gook off. The whole job took about 3 hours or so. I also didn't use paper towels. I used some old garage rags, (I wash and reuse them many times), but after this, you'll need to throw them away. I also must note that I wore gloves, and turned my rag often, until it was no longer picking up the black gook. The parts look and feel great now. Many thanks to all the contributors to this thread!

 

how has everyone gone about restoring the white symbols, ie, arrows on the vents, the "lock" on the handles etc?

 

I used blue painters tape to protect the leather, keeped everything in place except
the A/C vents easy to remove, then gently rubbed with isopropyl alcohol from
Walgreens,useing this method I never lost any white symbols.
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Still looking for a replacement method for the white symbols. anyone?

 

Rizzo308 has them

 

Did you repaint this after or is that the bare plastic?

 

Here is a thread many may find helpful

http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/technical-q-sponsored-algar-ferrari/520454-understanding-ferraris-sticky-interiors-technical-guide.html

 

I did mine last night. About 1hr to do it with simple green Motorsport. What a pain in the ass. I already put it back on but I noticed from the picture I still have to do some detailing. I missed a little goo... It's a speck so I can do it on the car.. The stuff I got is good and no issue with carbon fiber or plastic.

 

I did the same for my window vents just with Griots leather spray. Worked great on the sticky on the dash part.

The column I used simple green Motorsport degreaser. Worked awesome

 

I have read this post with great interest as I have struggled with the sticky bits in my 2004 360 spider. EVERYTHING was sticky! I spoke to the folks at StickyNoMore and StickyRX. They are both very nice and they produce a great product in their own manner. But, I am a DIY guy. I went shopping today and bought Greased Lightening, denatured alcohol, Meguiar's Leather Cleaner and a couple of other degreasers. The folks who have tried denatured alcohol seemed adamant so I started there. And, SUCCESS! I took the ash tray out and wiped it down. It took about 10min and it came out like new. I then turned to the window buttons. I didn't remove them but they wiped clean. I moved on to the door handles and then the vents. Then came the buttons and the glove box lock. Finally, I did the steering wheel covers. Everything came out great and, importantly, I DIDN'T REMOVE ANYTHING. Lastly, I did the paddle shifters. Unfortunately, the denatured alcohol stripped them to the metal. The "up" and "down" remained but the paddles stripped to a greenish brushed metal. I decided not to repaint them and installed them as cleaned and I must say, I am happy with them. As to the vents, the arrows will come off with the denatured alcohol. But, I managed to avoid that by doing the whole vent but for the arrow. I did a couple of swipes over the arrow at the end and it removed the sticky stuff and left the arrow. However, a couple of more swipes and it would have taken the arrow off...I learned by taking a bit of the arrow off on the first vent I did but the other four came out fine (preserved).

In the end, for $6 of denatured alcohol and $4 of clean rags at Home Depot, and a few hours of work, I got an outstanding result - and saved $3k-$4k. It is isn't 100% perfect but it is a solid 98%...

Good luck! It can be done DIY.

 

Reviving this old thread, hopefully participants are still viewing...

I read through this thread, but might have missed this important point:

when you clean off the goo for panels/switches with backlight icons, do you lose the icons? My main concern is the HVAC panel + switches, the "sports button" panel + switches, and the windows switches + panel. Those all have graphics and if removing the goo reveals non-black paint underneath, there's no way to spray enamel over it without covering the icon (unless you do a very good job of masking...)

Has anyone besides the OP sprayed enamel on the cleaned parts? Or everyone just cleaned and left the pieces bare?

 

Yes - Icons will be lost.
Sticky RX have several vids explaining the process incl laser printing of the icons.

 

Oh. I had understood that any decals would be lost, but wasn't clear on the backlit icons, since those work by having a clear cutout from the stick plastic layer... What happens after you remove the sticky plastic in those cases? The whole button is translucent?

Thanks.

 

I recently cleaned up my stickies with 91% rubbing alcohol, which took off some of the painted arrows on the round vent rings, but did not take off the numbers on the HVAC rotary switches. To me, it seems safest to use that rather than anything harsher.

If you're (more careful than I was), you may be able to remove the stickies without damaging the painted arrows. I managed to save them on a few of the vent rings after I realized that it could be done.

On my car, pretty much every rubber coated surface was sticky. If you're careful, you can remove the sticky stuff from the console plate that has the round rocker switch for the mirrors, but it's hard to keep from removing the painted indications.

Last weekend I did the switches and plate on the lower left of the dash that has the ASR, mirror defogger switch and Sport switch. I was able to remove the gooey mess without taking off the ASR, Sport or mirror icon.

So far, I've done every one of them except the vent plates at the base of the windshield. It looks much better, though not as good as actual refinishing (saving that for off-season/winter), and at least neither I nor my passengers have to worry about that tarry stuff getting on fingers or clothing.

 

Awesome info everyone! Thanks for posting the great write ups.

 

My buttons are all OK. Vehicle (360) is 15 years old. I live in New Mexico, but the car spent most of its life in SE US.

 

Wow, sticky right out of the box? Thanks Ricambi for that info. I did mine in place for my 348. Just down to plastic and follow up with protectant. Greased Lightning and towels. And a credit card scraper is great. Soft enough not to scratch the plastic and faster than cloth alone. It will peel off like icing. Some lettering will remain even on level surfaces. The vent labels are the tough ones, and door locks. Did my mirror button panel on the 360. Came out great. I worry about the vent unit tabs. Not sure a glue gun will really work for that, or even plastic welding if a tab breaks. I have made a couple spoilers out of pva but they need reinforcement like metal sprue. Like the modern body shops do now. Staples may work or drill and stitch with fishing line. Crazy but who knows?

 

Here is a video that illustrates the risk of trying to clean the parts:



And, here is a follow up of when we completed the work

 

handy video on removing ac vents.no broken tabs

 

That’s amazing. My car has spent half it’s life in Canada and has average mileage (22k miles) but still just about everything was runny.
Most of it cleaned up well with just rubbing alcohol or oven cleaner on the stickier stuff. The door handles are the hardest part. A spray of matte black paint makes it look like new.
I’d farm it out if my car was one with appreciation potential...but she has a checkered past, so every thing must be on a budget...and I’m not that picky. Most ppl who’ve been in my car don’t know what it is. It’s been called everything from a Testarossa to a California. Seriously.

 

Doing the 'in-dash' switches in the CF dash (F430)
Since the switches go in the holes, Ferrari put felt around the switches, I assume for a firmer fit

Apparently it bunches up and I am guessing will be difficult to reinstall properly

Anyone find something that works better than the felt?

Apparently once you push one end in, the other end bunches up

I also have a replacement one that has nothing so need to cushion it


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