No Sticky No More

OK your thread title scared me.... as I thought you were saying Sticky No More was gone.

The Ricambi HVAC piece is a great fix for a universal problem, but the vents and switches and door latches etc etc prove more of a challenge.

 

Not yet...

 

I dread the day when my HVAC panel gets sticky and I have to get the panel from Ricambi. From all opinions, it is an excellent solution, but it drives me nuts that the typeface on the numerals is different.

If they run out of stock, I hope the make new ones with a matching typeface. (I mean, it's not the end of the world. Still looks good. Probably more of an indication that I need some psychiatric help or something )

 

Never noticed that before. Wish you hadn't pointed it out. I'll bet there are alot of us OCD/ anal retentive types that will now obsess about this. Thanks alot

Lol.

 

Panel looks great!

How do the knobs come off of the HVAC panel? Just pull them off?

 

Never noticed that either...and I'm anal retentive!!! So it can't be that bad.

 

Crap. I'm going to try to forget that I heard this :-/ twitch.... twitch.... twitch ;-)

 

I am in the process of de-stickying my 355 at the moment and I have found there is a lot you can do yourself.

No.1 top tip,; get some "Goo Gone". You can remove the surface with isopropanol (rubbing alcohol) but that leaves the plastic looking dry whereas Goo Gone leaves it with a lovely sheen that needs nothing else on it. Goo Gone is also safe on the switch graphics and won't damage the paint under the sticky. I removed all the vents, which seems to be impossible without damaging the tabs (anyone know how to do it without damage?), but they have to come out even if you're sending them off. I repaired the tabs with plastic superglued to the back of the tabs to support them. The door switches pull off easy enough. Get a big pack of cotton buds (Q-tips) and workshop paper roll. I dismantled the direction veins of the vents. Rub the sticky off, slowly, slowly catchy monkey. For the little hole the tweeter plays through I used inter-dental (0.6mm) brushes, those little brushes you use to clean between your teeth. I took great care to work around the recess with the arrow graphic around the dial. on the R/H vent I couldn't manage it so it simply has no arrow now. The plastic is left a nice satin finish that is smooth to the touch and looks great. The isopropanol works faster, but as I say, the Goo Gone leaves the plastic looking better.

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I also did the steering wheel shroud, but that was the first bit I tackled and was much too aggressive using cellulose thinners. This was a mistake, but all is good now as I went on to paint it with plastic primer and "plasti-dip". Plasti-Dip is 'soft touch' rubber finish very similar to the OEM finish but with one major difference. If it gets damaged, or for any other reason you want to remove it, it will peel off in one big piece.

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You can see the colour is very good compared to the original seen here on the control box. I have been lucky as my HVAC control box has not gone sticky so that is staying as it is. I wasn't sure what to clean the Plasti-Dip with, but as it is a rubbery surface I tried Auto Glym Tyre Dressing and that works great. The panel around the gear stick was stripped, cleaned off and then painted with Plasti-Dip. In the photo the switches look a different, which they are as they are bare plastic, but in reality they look fine.

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Plasti-Dip is available in 'clear', so I think I'll get some to test and see if it can preserve the surface of panels that have not gone sticky yet. It's worth a try. I shall try it on my Fiat Coupé which has the same finish.

Anyway. This is what can be achieved by the DIYer.

Andrew

 

You may end up regretting utilizing plasti dip

 

Previous owner of one of my cars used Plasti-Dip. It has gone sticky.

 

Plastic dip may Be ok for a while on that piece but I made the mistake of doing my switches.
I used my car a lot for about 3 years and it wore off the drivers side window switches. Other switches if not used every day lasted but I sent out to Dave because I was getting to the point in my life I did not want to,be fixing sticky s every 3 to 5 years.

 

That was my point

The real name of that product should be "Plasti-Temporary-Dip"

 

Mne never got sticky just wore out from use

 

In 2012, things were tricky. Not long after, I sent all my stuff to STNM and it was all good. Having done some other interior refinishing in the interim, yes you can do a lot. Plasti-dip would not be my choice, but there is dedicated paint that is shockingly good. I used SEM paints on a bunch of parts on an old Audi, but I would still send my 355 stuff to STNM. Cost effective.

 

It's a shame to hear that Plasti-Dip also goes sticky after time and wears off easily, but for now it looks good and I am putting my car up for sale so I had to do something and I can't wait for, nor would I get the return on the cost of, STNM. However I hope my success in stripping the vents and switches will be helpful to others, especially my recommendation to use Goo Gone rather than rubbing alcohol. Perhaps I should paint the panels with a 2k satin or matt black. What is (or are) SEM paints? It'll only take seconds to remove the Plasti-Dip.

 

SEM is too glossy. Removing the factory coating is always best done with isopropyl alcohol.

 

I refinished one interior with bumper paint, having removed the factory coating with alcohol, and it seems to be holding up well - but that was when I was between jobs and had no kids, so I had the spare time. I am happy with the finish, but to get a good result takes time. A lot of time.

The other interior (that has been Plasti-dipped) will no doubt go off to Dave at some point when I get the time to remove it, sometime in the 2020s!

 

If you are going to refinish then yes, but if you are going to leave as bare plastic (as I have done with the vents) then Goo Gone leaves it looking better in my opinion.

With regard to Plasti Dip, it is never going to be a permanent solution and nowhere near as good as STNM but it might get you looking smart for a while, but I now see they have a primer (which I didn't know they did) which claims to increase adhesion by up to 400% and they also have a sealant;
https://www.plastidip.co.uk/product/dip-care-dip-sealant-500ml
which should make it last longer, and if perhaps it stops Plasti-Dip going sticky then perhaps it would also work well on factory finish and stop that from going sticky, or at least extend its life. There should be some oficial product to use on OEM to make it last longer.

 

The primer stops it from peeling off but as i said above ona window switch like mine that gets used many times during a drive it simply wore off within 3 years

 

I suppose if you’re not extremely detail oriented and not very particular, some of these solutions are fine. If, on the other hand, you want it done right, look amazing and will last then bite then bite the bullet and send your parts to Dave at Stixky RX. Yeah, it’s a pain, but once it’s done, it’s done, and looks amazing.

 

I prefer to use the Plasti-Dip stuff on things that I can get to and know that they are going to need repeated attention - i.e., the 348 interior door handles, TS removable top latches, 348 console pieces without graphics. Anything else I would leave to the professionals.

 

The quality from the professional vendors is tough to beat in a DYI project, but I’ve found that “Krylon Camouflage (K04290007)ultra flat black with fusion for plastic” is a near perfect color match.

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