4200 Spyder sticky switches

John,

On my 4200 coupe I tried cleaning with kitchen cleaner then white spirit which didn’t seem to work then very cautiously used synthetic paint thinners not cellulose which did the trick.

Its safer and easier if you take the vents out, I found that the small rear and front side ones just pulled out by holding the flaps, but the front centre two needed three plastic clips to be released on the inside of the outer ring. Two could be reached through the flap with my finger nail but not the third as it would not turn so I got a thin 50 mm  nail and filed a flat point and bent it at about 45o 12mm from the end and this could reach the third then it can be carefully pulled out. You can of cause use the nail or wire to do all three. Only release the clips a small amount as the plastic hinge is a bit delicate.

Ian.

John,

I don’t think so as they look fine .

I didn’t rub to much with fear of damaging the plastic and it does not dissolve the sticky as you might imagine.

So with quite a bit of sticky still on I then sprayed on a good kitchen cleaner several times and washed off  and it disappeared.

Maybe more time spent with kitchen cleaner alone would do the job.

Not yet looked into the chrome part.

Ian.

Hi John, I’ve had a similar issue with the air vents but my switches are in good shape.

I understand the chrome flaking off the vent rings is a common problem, replacement is possible but a cheap DIY alternative is to buy a chrome pen from Amazon (2mm nib is best), remove the vent, the surrounds and then remove the existing chrome with fine emery cloth before re-chroming using the pen, not quite OEM finish but good to most eyes. Whilst the vents are our remove the coating using “Goo gone” or similar (takes about an hour per vent) and then spray with Plasti Dip, the finish is as good as OEM and will last. Again i was lucky as my side vents were affected, these remove easily, the centre dashboard vents are much harder to remove, i would not attempt personally for fear of damage.

re the buttons i know there are a couple of companies in Europe who will refinish the buttons if they are removed from the car, packaged and sent via a courier such as UPS, I believe the service to be IRO £700 for a Coupe set to be refinished.

Hi, I understand these guys are very experienced but i have not used them myself;

https://www.carplastix.com

And these guys maybe worth a try

https://www.restauramosbotones.com

I’m not aware of any one in the UK offering a similar service. I’m sure we’d all be interested to see how you get on.

Hi, John,

I know, i had the same reaction! Maybe it would be cheaper to buy a new button set, from the research I’ve done Scuderia still supply them

https://www.scuderiacarparts.com

I’m unsure of what the cost may be but i may check out of interest!

please let us know how you get on.

Paul

– Yes the surface of the steering column cover also went sticky on our 4200 spyder – again Rob sorted it using alcohol wipes. For removable parts he found meths worked just as well but with less effort – he just didn’t want meths running everywhere!

Good luck

Roland has just renewed my centre dash grille and the top half of my steering column shroud. They are indistinguishable from new. I had previously bought a new lower steering column shroud from Meridien Modena and what Roland has done matches perfectly both in colour and texture.