hi guys, has anyone de-stickied the center console piece with the window switches and hazard lights in it? I have mine out and i have worked on it with both neutrogena wipes and isopropyl alcohol 70%. It is less sticky than before, but it's still a little sticky. mine is painted in blue scuro like the rest of the interior, so I am wondering if the paint color has something to do with it. I attached a picture of the part I mean but it's the back before I detached the switches and other stuff with my pick tools. I can hit it harder with more concentrated alcohol, but i don't want to peel off the blue color. It's not so sticky now that i can't live with it. I am thinking also of putting a layer of plasti dip over top of it the way it is now. Image Unavailable, Please Login
A few here have mentioned using Goo Gone Automotive. I bought some and have not tired it. I'd love to break down and pull out all the sticky parts and send them off, but so many of them! What a major PITA. My switches sound about where yours are... the annoying stage. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Nice red refinish but looks like you’re about to need the Sticky Rx button fix kit. Easy fix and did mine a short time ago.
I did mine, also in the colour of my interior (Sabbia), with acetone free nail polish remover. It is no longer sticky. The same material is used in the boot for the shelf guides and the vent - all these are pretty difficult to take out so care with cleaning is required.
Just got done with mine… Elbow grease and a 6-pack. Hands were sore after doing ALL the buttons in a weekend while my better half was away with friends. Part of a total refresh on a new to me FF. Just wrapping up some details on the project before I provide a full write up on what I learned and how it turned out. The buttons cleaned up great though. Window buttons and trim surround, just like the rest of it, took part makeup remover wipes and part soft plastic scraper. I also broke down every console cluster, so for this one I removed the hazard button but couldn’t figure out how to remove the actual window buttons. I didn’t feel like snapping anything that weekend so I left them and pulled off a miraculous mask job for the later clear coat. After hours of hard wiping and fingernail skimming on different panels, I remembered about a pack of electronics picks (used for opening our key fobs) and used them to scraped the goo after I had wiped buttons down with make up remover. They are a very soft plastic and caused no damage. Then another wipe to remove the sticky balls of goo I had just created, then another one make sure I hadn’t spread around residual goo. After that I wiped everything down with a damp microfiber, then a dry one. Next day I created a poor man’s paint both with terrible ventilation and went to town with a high heat engine enamel and a resin type clear coat. Anything with writing or tan colored just got the clear coat, which was great for this window component. Only a few of the larger panel backings actually needed the black repainted. I’ll try to post photos of each product I used Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Thanks for the replies guys. I think I am just going to keep hitting it with wipes and see if I can make it better. I’m also curious what happens if you encapsulate the sticky with something on top. Mine looks alright as is, just slightly sticky. Other buttons are stripped just working on getting the clear coat perfect. I did it once with plasti dip and it looked really good just need to perfect my technique some. Pic shows the hvac panel with the plasti coat. Some bubbles in a few spots so I’ll peel and do again. Image Unavailable, Please Login
I used borax to take out all the sticky stuff and it works great! Dissolve borax in warm water and soak the parts for half an hour. The sticky stuff can be easily wiped off.
HVAC panel was maybe the most satisfying result from where it started… someone put a sticker over a bad fix. Face, meet Palm. Ended up sanding down to bare plastic and repainting. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
looks good. any tips on getting the little "auto" button out of the temperature button? I found two little clips on the back but I can't get it out bc it bumps on the front side.
Tiny flathead screw drivers made for sunglasses. Used two of them on a few pieces to get both clips out of the way before they came out. It’s a nerve racking process but better than new in the end.
okay thanks. I used flossing leads wrapped around them and pulled but I couldn't get it out. I will try again. I also used a plastic fork with two prongs broken off so it would fit but it was too wobbly.
I just finished getting rid of all the sticky on my 458 overhead console. As mentioned in this thread, borax was the best solution to get rid of all the goo. Soak it for 10+ minutes and the goo melts away and will not harm the lettering. Note that the buttons are white plastic painted in black with the lettering etched in so that it is illuminated. Harsh chemicals will rub the paint off. Below is a before and after, I used black Plastidip for panels and flat clear for buttons. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
I just did my whole interior. I found that for the black pieces borax worked great getting the sticky off. For colored ones it wasnt as easy. Had to really scrub and actually re-painted ones that were blue on my car (Door top vents and steering column surround). Had to get a custom paint mix from the local auto paint supply store. $75 for a rattle can but looks great now. For the matte clear I tried a bunch of different products. The best I found was SEM color coat low luster clear. Its made exactly for this type of thing. A bit on the pricier side but the finish is excellent.
I ended finishing the buttons Friday night and putting the car interior back together and installing the new battery yesterday for an fca event. I liked the shiny black on the small hvac knobs so I left that (weird I know). I removed with iso 70% and decorated with matte clear plasti dip. It turned out really good. We’ll see how it holds up over time Image Unavailable, Please Login
