After recently discovering the ‘stickies’, I reached out to a few owners to see what they suggested as the best course of action. The recommendations varied from applying a coating to cleaning with solvent. All of these would have involved a major effort on my part and also ran the risk of damaging other parts of the car, especially the leather on the dash. I also figured that once things start becoming ‘stickie’ it is only a matter of time until it all becomes ‘stickie’. Thus, if I’m going to fix things, I should get it done properly.
Luckily, another contact has extensive experience with this and suggested a interior cabin refresh, including refurbishing all the trim pieces. This would also include laser etching the graphics back onto the trim, which I had also been considering as some of my switches were becoming worn and faded.
Downside is that the car needs to be away for a couple of weeks to have all the trim pieces removed, sent away to be reconditioned and then re-installed. During the same time it was suggested to do a full interior detail, which I agreed with. It makes sense to do this while the trim pieces are off and the car is in pieces. It was something I have been meaning to do myself but just never had a location in which I could do this.
One of the areas where the wear and tear is most obvious is on the door handle, buttons and grip. Part of the refreshment process will be to also tidy these up which will be great as these had been areas that were starting to annoy me.
There are far cheaper ways to remove the ‘stickies’ but I’d rather get it done properly and completely so I don’t have to worry. Also getting the interior detailed and tidied up during the same time also makes sense and was something I was going to do. Given that the inside is where you spend the most time with the car it makes a lot of sense to get this done and time away from the car is a small price to pay for this. Also, doing this will add to the value of the car and let’s be honest, after 25+ years of use it could do with a once over!
I’ll have more to share as this process progresses so stay tuned.
Love the F355 