Mirrored "footplate" in 328s and how to clean it? | FerrariChat

Mirrored "footplate" in 328s and how to clean it?

Discussion in 'Technical Q&A' started by Mike328, Jun 10, 2005.

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  1. Mike328

    Mike328 F1 Rookie
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    #1 Mike328, Jun 10, 2005
    Hey gang,

    The mirrored "footplate" attached to the center tunnel console by the accelerator pedal on my 328 is kind of dirty, and I was hoping to clean it. A quick search didn't bring up any hits. Does anyone have a good way to clean this?

    Ideally, I'd like to get it looking as sharp as Scott's, shown in this thread (five posts down):

    http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=62423


    On a side note, other than looking cool, what's the purpose of the footplate? (Protect the console leather from your right foot?) What material is it made of? What do you actually call it?


    Thanks,

    --Mike
     
  2. ernie

    ernie Two Time F1 World Champ
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    #2 ernie, Jun 10, 2005
    Mothers Polish and elbow grease.
     
  3. Mike328

    Mike328 F1 Rookie
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    #3 Mike328, Jun 10, 2005
    Thx ernie--is there just one mother's polish? Do you have the name of the proudct you used? I've got tons of mother's stuff but nothing I think would do this job right...
     
  4. ernie

    ernie Two Time F1 World Champ
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    #4 ernie, Jun 10, 2005
    I would just use the Mothers Chrome polish. I used it to shine up the fuel injection rails on my 348. I comes in a little round container and is a paste.
     
  5. Mike328

    Mike328 F1 Rookie
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    #5 Mike328, Jun 10, 2005
    Anyone know what this plate is actually made of?

    I think mine is going to need more than polish... I think I need a solvent or something. Mine has some pretty serious glue / residue buildup going on, but I don't want to just go throwing acetone on it :).


    Thanks again all for any more help,

    --Mike
     
  6. Darolls

    Darolls F1 Veteran
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    #6 Darolls, Jun 10, 2005
    I believe it's stainless steel.
     
  7. dhs-9

    dhs-9 Formula Junior

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    #7 dhs-9, Jun 11, 2005
    Is the foot plate cosmetic or does it serve any purpose
     
  8. MARQ

    MARQ Formula 3

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    #8 MARQ, Jun 11, 2005
    Stops your shoe from rubbing against/marring the leather on the center console.
     
  9. zebra308

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    #9 zebra308, Jun 12, 2005
    took my center console out and removed the plate for polishing. The plate seems to be made of stainless steel. I used a polishing compound to clean it. It has some scuff marks that I can't seem to polish out, but I don't think they will be noticable when the plate is re-installed. It looks way better than before.
     
  10. Mike328

    Mike328 F1 Rookie
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    #10 Mike328, Jun 24, 2005
    Follow up:

    Thanks to all who responded to the thread.

    As of a few months ago, the footplate was covered in the original plastic, but it was starting to wear and looked pretty rough. I took the plastic off, and it left behind a weird, sticky, glue-ish residue.

    A small amount of very carefully applied Acetone removed any surface residue from the plate in two minutes or so.

    I then used a fair amount of Mother's chrome polish (as suggested above), rubbed it in thoroughly, waited for the haze, and then buffed it out.

    Result: The footplate is beautiful, clean, and like a mirror. The drilled aluminum Hill Engineering accelerator pedal looks great in the reflection!

    Thanks again all.


    --Mike
     
  11. f355spider

    f355spider F1 World Champ
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    #11 f355spider, Jun 24, 2005
    Other good metal polishes are Wenol and Flitz. FWIW.
     
  12. MARQ

    MARQ Formula 3

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    #12 MARQ, Jun 24, 2005
    Wenol is some unbelievable stuff.
     
  13. Nuvolari

    Nuvolari F1 Veteran
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    #13 Nuvolari, Jun 24, 2005
    The plate is definatly stainless steel. Hand polishing works ok but if it is a mirror finish you are after you can't beat a polishing wheel. A wheel will do hours of hand work in seconds and acheieve a better result. Take it to any choming shop and for $5-$10 they'll mirror polish it. Cheaper than buying the polish and faster too.
     

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