Nickel plated interior knobs

Nickel plated interior knobs

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speedracer800

Original Poster:

101 posts

119 months

Monday 27th November 2017
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I never liked the anodized finish on the alloy bits inside my DBS. I decided to acquire a complete second set of these pieces and then have everything nickel plated and polished and /or brushed finish. This includes all the knobs and bezels as well as the alloy trim surrounds on the air vents.

Finally making some progress on this project of mine. I got the interior torn apart and the knobs / bezels installed on the fascia.. I'm not afraid to say this is not a job for the faint of heart. By far the most challenging job I've taken on in regards to any of my Aston Martin's.

Removing the pieces isn't so bad.. It's taking this fascia panel apart that's the challenge. Primarily gaining access to the "joystick" and its surrounding trim piece. I realized it was going to not be easy when I first got going on the planning of this. Aston Martin offers all the other knobs / bezels for sale through parts but not the joystick (as I call it). I knew then that it wasn't really meant to be removed and serviced.

I actually picked up a scrap fascia panel on ebay before starting this to take apart to not only acquire a donor joystick but to also gain some practice and familiarity before tackling my own parts. This proved to be a good decision as all of this has become much more than I bargained for. I hope the end result is worth it. Took this opportunity to install the glass switches as well.

Just a few pictures of what I've got done so far..

speedracer800

Original Poster:

101 posts

119 months

Monday 27th November 2017
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shuzzy

294 posts

213 months

Monday 27th November 2017
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Wow! That looks fantastic. I have another issue with mine, the display screen is scratched and it is quite noticeable. Always annoys me when I look at it. Top marks for pulling this off.

mrpseudonym

285 posts

115 months

Monday 27th November 2017
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shuzzy said:
Wow! That looks fantastic. I have another issue with mine, the display screen is scratched and it is quite noticeable. Always annoys me when I look at it. Top marks for pulling this off.
+1 on the display screen. I have tried plastic polish and all sorts of other unsatisfactory remedies. I tried gently to remove the volume knob without much success. #speedracer800 with all your new found experience, can you give us any tips. Do the knobs just pull off?

M5MarkM

1,534 posts

170 months

Monday 27th November 2017
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Great work, looks much better!

bogie

16,344 posts

271 months

Monday 27th November 2017
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mrpseudonym said:
shuzzy said:
Wow! That looks fantastic. I have another issue with mine, the display screen is scratched and it is quite noticeable. Always annoys me when I look at it. Top marks for pulling this off.
+1 on the display screen. I have tried plastic polish and all sorts of other unsatisfactory remedies. I tried gently to remove the volume knob without much success. #speedracer800 with all your new found experience, can you give us any tips. Do the knobs just pull off?
That does look fantastic, although im not sure I have the patience .....

I had some light scratches on the screen when I bought my car used (1 owner, but someone seemed to have cleaned with a cloth that scratched)

Meguiars PlastX took the scratches out ok, but real difficult to get around the knobs, would like to know how they come off too ....

speedracer800

Original Poster:

101 posts

119 months

Tuesday 28th November 2017
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Thank you all for the kind words.

With the exception of the joystick, the buttons do pop off. However it requires quite a bit of force to do this and I can't imagine trying to do it without having the fascia out of the car so you can support the module on the back side that accepts the buttons. You need to use a pretty hefty plastic pry tool but they do pop off.. Very hair raising!

speedracer800

Original Poster:

101 posts

119 months

Tuesday 28th November 2017
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I'll post some more pictures when it's all back together. I had the alloy shift handle polished as well to match the finish.. As well as the shifter surround Trim piece (nickel plated).

My DBS has piano black waterfall and console panels so ive got them with my Detailer for a good polish before reinstalling. Also going to add some paint ceramic coating to the piano black to protect in the future.

speedracer800

Original Poster:

101 posts

119 months

Tuesday 28th November 2017
quotequote all
shuzzy said:
Wow! That looks fantastic. I have another issue with mine, the display screen is scratched and it is quite noticeable. Always annoys me when I look at it. Top marks for pulling this off.
Quite cheap and easy to replace that screen with the fascia piece removed. I believe a new screen is only about 70gbp. I replaced mine while having everything apart.. They scratch up very easily no doubt.

speedracer800

Original Poster:

101 posts

119 months

Tuesday 28th November 2017
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I should mention that I have a complete set of knobs.. Including the "joystick" available if someone is interested in doing the same with your car. That joystick can't be had through Aston Martin parts.

Shoot me a Pm if interested.. I definitely won't need these.

dbs2000

2,681 posts

191 months

Wednesday 29th November 2017
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Just out of interest, how did you get the joystick out? I had the same part from my old V12V in pieces, while I didn't have a spare to be a little more exuberant, I couldn't figure out how to remove it smile

Dobie177

250 posts

131 months

Wednesday 29th November 2017
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speedracer800 said:
Quite cheap and easy to replace that screen with the fascia piece removed. I believe a new screen is only about 70gbp. I replaced mine while having everything apart.. They scratch up very easily no doubt.
Really? I didn’t realise you could replace Just the non-glare screen. I’ve previously searched the used parts catalogue and only seen an option to replace the whole control fascia at an exorbitant cost. Where did you get the non-glare screen from - presume OEM and sourced via dealer?? Thanks


speedracer800

Original Poster:

101 posts

119 months

Thursday 30th November 2017
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dbs2000 said:
Just out of interest, how did you get the joystick out? I had the same part from my old V12V in pieces, while I didn't have a spare to be a little more exuberant, I couldn't figure out how to remove it smile
I know exactly what you mean. I could never have figured it out without buying the sacrificial fascia piece I had to bust up to figure it out.

Once you get all the modules and other bits that are screwed on to the back of the fascia piece removed you have a little bit of access to the back side of the joystick. There's a couple hidden tabs that are very difficult to access that once released will allow the joystick assembly to be pulled straight out. There's then a roll pin that needs to be pushed out which separates the alloy pieces from the plastic retaining parts. Very difficult to explain.. But if anyone is interested in taking this on in the future I'd be happy to post some pictures etc to help you through it. I also still have my donor fascia which is a great help to have around while doing the job.. Happy to lend it out.

speedracer800

Original Poster:

101 posts

119 months

Thursday 30th November 2017
quotequote all
Dobie177 said:
Really? I didn’t realise you could replace Just the non-glare screen. I’ve previously searched the used parts catalogue and only seen an option to replace the whole control fascia at an exorbitant cost. Where did you get the non-glare screen from - presume OEM and sourced via dealer?? Thanks
Here's a couple pictures of the screen as well as a shot of the part number. It just pops out of the fascia but again you really need to have access to the back side of it to get to it properly. Hope this helps!

speedracer800

Original Poster:

101 posts

119 months

Thursday 30th November 2017
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Dobie177

250 posts

131 months

Thursday 30th November 2017
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It does help! Thanks speedracer - I’ll be on to this the next time my DBS is in for a service.

And I love what you’ve achieved with your nickel knobs (if you’ll excuse me for saying so!)

speedracer800

Original Poster:

101 posts

119 months

Friday 1st December 2017
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Going back together. The vents were finished with a brushed nickel finish.

a98pmalcolm

213 posts

76 months

Saturday 2nd December 2017
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Looking great

speedracer800

Original Poster:

101 posts

119 months

Monday 18th December 2017
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Seats and door panels are off to the trim shop for this diamond quilted stitching as the DBS Ultimate Edition received.

speedracer800

Original Poster:

101 posts

119 months

Sunday 21st January 2018
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Making some more progress on my interior overhaul. Interior pieces have been sent off to the trim shop. The seats, door panels and rear stowage area panels received a diamond quilted stitching pattern to mimic the "DBS Ultimate Edition". Seats are not quite done but the other pieces are going back together now. I'm pretty happy with the results!

Lots of work to get here but well worth it in my opinion.