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Which interior parts are metal? Relates to how to polish and clean them

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ecarfan

Well-Known Member
Moderator
New 1.5 owner here. In cleaning the interior I'm unclear on which parts are metal and can tolerate a metal polish.

Door unlock handles: obviously chrome, so they can be polished.

Door pulls, the silver part: aluminum? Mine have tiny dark spots on them. Not sure how aggressive I can be in attempting to polish out those spots.

Center console top surface: aluminum or painted plastic? Sounds like aluminum when I tap on it.

Center console knobs: not sure if they are aluminum or plastic.

Gear shift knob: appears to be aluminum.

Gear shift shaft: definitely steel. Chrome plated or just highly polished? I think the latter.

Wide silver tray (instead of a glovebox): appears to be aluminum.

Pedals, brake and accelerator: aluminum?

Forward wall of driver and passenger foot wells: aluminum?

Thanks!
 
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The door pulls (silver part) are not metal but plastic, I've removed mine on my 2.0.

The center console top surface (assuming you are talking about the part that is on top of the dash and surrounds the air-ducts) is "sensosoft" or plastic with a "soft-feel" plastic top layer. If you are talking about the storage tray which is an aluminum looking shelf that runs from drivers side to passenger side below the airbag in the pre-2.0 (b/c in 2.0 it has a glove-box on passenger side) that is aluminum.

I don't have gear shifter so can't help there and we have different center consoles but mine I believe are aluminum knobs so maybe the same on yours.
 
Thanks for your feedback. Since my 1.5 center console (where the gearshift is) is totally different from your 2.0 I think the upper surface is different.

I didn't realize the silver colored door pull covers are plastic. If so, I don't understand why mine have scattered, tiny black spots on them. I thought those spots might be from oxidation. My understanding is that the previous owner of my car kept it in a climate-controlled garage at his home in Florida. He sure didn't drive it much: 12K miles over 6 years.
 
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@Jaff, thanks for the suggestion, but actually I have no exposed carbon fiber parts on my Roadster except for the standard roll bar piece that everyone has.

@MLAUTO, thanks for the suggestion to use a cleaner and not a polish.

So is the top piece on the center HVAC/gearshift console aluminum or plastic, do you know?
 
HVAC: the flat part where the knobs are attached to is aluminum, the rest is plastic and so are the original knobs. Its more ore less the same for the steering wheel. The momo stamped base is aluminum the rest is silver painted plastic again. Tray, pedals, the extruded profiles like the tray (it is a riveted, glued and cured part of the chassis) foot well and deeper under the carped are all aluminum. Most of it is actually aluminum. When there silver with multiple curves in the surface big chance its plastic and just for finish. Watch out with the silver paint it is only a thin layer, same for the black door panels. Its possible to rub true the "black" finish/paint to and expose the under laying plastic that is much darker. The shifter stick you can unscrew from the base and see what is going on there to in closeup.