Soft touch remover > Sticky button magic

JitFD said:
Ive got my QPV centre console and steering column shroud upper/lower apart at the moment to de-sticky. Whatever is on there is on good. I'm just gonna send them off to a mate of mine that runs a bodyshop to sort out. I did the same as you and removed the sticky stuff from the round buttons quite easily. and even the smaller trim pieces it came off quite easily. I spent 15 mins with acetone on the centre console and was barely making a dent in it so i gave up

Edit - the centre console isnt actually that difficult to remove. its a little fiddly getting the shifter to separate and i accidently removed the wrong tabs. What annoyed me more was how all of the captive threads on the underside of the console were splitting apart
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Is there a guide on removing the centre console? I can live with the steering column upper shroud at the moment as it only attracts dust and not finger prints, and although still sticky to touch, is not manky to look at. The centre console however - ughh. It's not particularly sticky, just that the soft touch is all scratched. I've also read that you have to be very careful with the gear indicator display thing where the D/N/R etc is quite fragile.
Eb
 
Ill try and put a guide together in a bit when I get back if the weather permits. With regards to the gear indicator thing, I used alcohol and it rubbed the old print off. I found a seller on ebay selling a new sticker for it and it fit perfectly
 
so first thing you need to do is remove the vinyl bases in the cup holder behind the shifter. removing those vinyl bases (i used a pick to pry out one corner of it first) will reveal two bungs covering two allen head bolts. Theres another allen head bolt in front of the 12v socket (under the "ashtray") in the console. There might also be one under the shift indicator piece. undo all of these. Once those screws are out, you can pull the rear of the console up. Then it gets a bit fiddly. Theres some metal tabs that hold the shifter surround to the console. You need to pry these out so the shifter surround can come out. Its hard to explain but youll understand what I mean when you see it. Once the shifter surrround is free, its just a small matter of unclipping any electrical connections and the trim should be free (it comes out with the leather surround and then once you got it out you can unbolt the plastic from the leather surround and then strip it down to prep.
 
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A.S. Motorsport said:
So we've got something new on the shelf,
A friend of ours and the shop detailer has after tons of tinkering managed to do a specially formulated compound for Maserati/Ferrari/Lamborghini soft touch paint.
Luckily I've got tons of trashed Maserati bits to experiment on.

Alright so this cleaner reacts with the transparent "soft touch" clear coat layers and acts as a removing agent without touching the lower layers.
This makes it possible to remedy sticky buttons and trim DIY you'll just need a good quality microfiber cloth and some spare time.

At the moment we're selling it in 250ml bottles which should get you very far in a interior, pictures below if 4200/3200GT trim and a few QPV/612 bits.
€29,95 a bottle, and you'll need a bunch of common microfiber wipes.

I do need to check with my shipping agent if we can just fly over chemicals the UK.

View attachment 97726View attachment 97727
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Can you share a link to your product? I'd like to give it a try.
 
Removed the steering column shrouds and tried the Goo Gone. Just about starting to soften the surface -tedious. So tried oven cleaner (CIF) = result! Spray on, leave a minute or so then rub with finger or sponge and then rinse off. All traces gone. Will use on all larger areas which can be removed and then plan to do buttons later.
 
RodTungsten said:
Removed the steering column shrouds and tried the Goo Gone. Just about starting to soften the surface -tedious. So tried oven cleaner (CIF) = result! Spray on, leave a minute or so then rub with finger or sponge and then rinse off. All traces gone. Will use on all larger areas which can be removed and then plan to do buttons later.
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Hi Rod
I did mine with Autoglym Vinyl and Rubber care which worked well with a bit of elbow grease. What I will say though is anything that removes the sticky gunge will remove any emblem etched on the part, so be careful near the emblems.
 
Aware lots have been removing the sticky stuff, but has anyone done a DIY of repainting them with another soft touch product?
 
Nibby said:
Hi Rod
I did mine with Autoglym Vinyl and Rubber care which worked well with a bit of elbow grease. What I will say though is anything that removes the sticky gunge will remove any emblem etched on the part, so be careful near the emblems.
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Just done the dash top diffuser and CIF removed the white dot & circle indicators - easily replaced. Interesting that so far all stuff removed was black but the diffuser coating must have been clear and washed off much faster.
That’s it now - will use the car until the winter when I will strip out the buttons and decide how to do them.

CIF oven cleaner is lightning fast in shifting the coating. Plastics unaffected so far (apart from some scratches revealed which I might try some Tcut on).

May leave the parts matt or try a silicone spray to brighten them a bit.
 
RodTungsten said:
Just done the dash top diffuser and CIF removed the white dot & circle indicators - easily replaced. Interesting that so far all stuff removed was black but the diffuser coating must have been clear and washed off much faster.
That’s it now - will use the car until the winter when I will strip out the buttons and decide how to do them.

CIF oven cleaner is lightning fast in shifting the coating. Plastics unaffected so far (apart from some scratches revealed which I might try some Tcut on).

May leave the parts matt or try a silicone spray to brighten them a bit.
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Yeah I sort the white indicator out that I erased, at least that grill in the windscreen isn’t collecting dust now which the sticky gunge attracts. My buttons went extra bad after a heater matrix leak and I stripped them down to white and sprayed them matt black and used Andy4200 stickers. They look infinitely better.
 
Well I decided to try and do my centre console in situ as I couldn't bring myself to start trying to dismantle anything. Using my magic liquid, a microfibre cloth and some elbow grease...


Sticky buttons-7.jpg

Before
Sticky buttons-10.jpg#

After
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Well chuffed! NB I ensured that I did not touch the gear selector indicator as I have read that this is just painted and since it is recessed, though it might be sticky, I left it well alone. I also didn't touch the cigarette ashtray cover (I slid it out of the way). The P on the parking brake is not affected (by my stuff at least) but I made an effort to not rub too hard there. The plastic used to form the console and the handle of the centre arm rest feels rubbery rather than smooth plastic so there is still a slight tackiness when you run your fingers across it. (Same as the top of the steering column cowl and the surround of the door switches. However aesthetically, so much better now!

However my luck has run out as I started on the head lamp knob which was also very sticky. I tried lightly scraping the gunk with my nail and unfortunately this is the first bit that is not made of dark plastic. The dark grey colour is paint on the surface and the paint has gone very soft too. The underneath plastic colour is a much lighter grey so the knob would look very out of place if I removed the stickyness. What have others done?

20240620_081431_resized.jpg

At first I was concerned about getting my solvent on the leather of the centre arm rest but actually it had no ill effect so I could use it liberally on the handle without being worried about discolouring the leather

Eb
 
On the brink of buying a GranSport which is in great condition except for sticky buttons, sticky seat controls and sticky air vents (and anything else of the same material). My Maserati specialist told me that there is only one company in Europe that provides replacements at a cost of £4-5K because they are individually lasered to show in the dark what you have selected which makes it suddenly expensive. He also said that the residue sticks to the fingers and can over time damage the interior. However he is a perfectionist and I am not. I've been through the threads and found DIY solutions for air vents and seat controls but question how long they last as this is an unstable material - 'new' buttons ordered from Maserati but probably manufactured nearly 20 years ago proved to be as sticky as the ones they were supposed to replace.

So what I am looking for is a practical and cheaper solution. I should add that I am cack-handed and am happy to give the work to somebody else who knows what they are doing.
 
Make up remover wipes. Not the stuff in bottles. Neutrogena is the best but I used garnier and it worked brilliantly. It leaves no residue and a nice matt finish. It does not cut into the underlying paint layer
 
tmc0011 said:
Make up remover wipes. Not the stuff in bottles. Neutrogena is the best but I used garnier and it worked brilliantly. It leaves no residue and a nice matt finish. It does not cut into the underlying paint layer
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Did mine about this time last year and they are exactly the same as when I did them. Worth the £3.99 to try it out.
 
There are 2 companies in the UK that will do the whole set for under £1500. There is also one in the Czech Republic.

Doing it DIY is long and laborious and you do risk removing the thin paint on the switches in the GS (Ask me how I know). Vents are easy, but the rest is a real pain.

Seat backs are best replaced with carbon fiber ones.
 
Thanks for this safrane. I will do the vents myself. Can you let me know the names of the UK companies you mentioned?
Thanks Ian
 
Slowly getting used to this website. Apparently there are two companies in the UK who can fix the sticky buttons but I don't know who they are. DIY solutions seem suitable for air vents, seat controls, etc. but not for driving mode buttons. They are apparently not cheap but a fraction of the price suggested to me by my Maserati specialist. Help please!
 
Roland at Stickplastics is one, excellent but not cheap and he can be a little hard to get hold of
 
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