Design-Time
A2OC Donor
I have had my A2 for a couple of week now and it’s is fantastic! My only disappointment is the dreaded climate control button damage. I looked at a few A2’s and everyone had the same problem. The button damage really stands out and spoils an otherwise mint condition car.
I have trawled this site reading just about every thread on this problem.
New Part:
I thought I would replace the unit until I saw a quote for £500 ish. (not an option).
eBay:
Next I thought of would be a second hand unit of eBay but currently all are above the £40+ range and you don’t know how good they are.
Breakers Yard:
Another option was breakeryard.com had an interesting offer from King Spares in Manchester bought a mint unit from Craig. When it arrived he had overcharged my debit card and the buttons were damaged and worn out. (This is another story).
Refurbish/Repair:
Final option was refurbish/repair! I have tried to match the paint using the colour references I found on the other forum threads with no success. So I have had some paint mixed up to match the buttons in matt finish. I have two sets of buttons. One set from my 2004 A2 and a lone set from a 1999 A3. I have noticed a very slight difference in the shade of black. I suppose your never going to match it perfectly because of batches of paint and sun exposure etc. Next problem will be the symbols on the switches. I scanned them in and recreated them as artwork. (See Attached). I will now have them made into a dry transfer sheet.
My idea is to use them as a mask/stencil. I have drawn the outline of the switch so when positioning the symbol it will be in exactly the right place. Next step is to wet and dry the switch then apply the symbol, mask/stencil. Spray the button and leave to dry and then using low tack tape remove the dry transfer... Wolaaaarrrrrr perfect button in theory .
Problems
If this turns out to be a successful project I was thinking of offering it as a A2 kit to purchase on eBay for example.
The kit would contain:
My questions are:
Let me know what you all think.
Regards
Darren
I have trawled this site reading just about every thread on this problem.
New Part:
I thought I would replace the unit until I saw a quote for £500 ish. (not an option).
eBay:
Next I thought of would be a second hand unit of eBay but currently all are above the £40+ range and you don’t know how good they are.
Breakers Yard:
Another option was breakeryard.com had an interesting offer from King Spares in Manchester bought a mint unit from Craig. When it arrived he had overcharged my debit card and the buttons were damaged and worn out. (This is another story).
Refurbish/Repair:
Final option was refurbish/repair! I have tried to match the paint using the colour references I found on the other forum threads with no success. So I have had some paint mixed up to match the buttons in matt finish. I have two sets of buttons. One set from my 2004 A2 and a lone set from a 1999 A3. I have noticed a very slight difference in the shade of black. I suppose your never going to match it perfectly because of batches of paint and sun exposure etc. Next problem will be the symbols on the switches. I scanned them in and recreated them as artwork. (See Attached). I will now have them made into a dry transfer sheet.
My idea is to use them as a mask/stencil. I have drawn the outline of the switch so when positioning the symbol it will be in exactly the right place. Next step is to wet and dry the switch then apply the symbol, mask/stencil. Spray the button and leave to dry and then using low tack tape remove the dry transfer... Wolaaaarrrrrr perfect button in theory .
Problems
- It don’t work!
- When you remove the transfer paint comes off.
- Solvent eats in to the Transfer.
- Colour matching.
If this turns out to be a successful project I was thinking of offering it as a A2 kit to purchase on eBay for example.
The kit would contain:
- Tin of 400ml Soul Black paint
- One sheet of dry transfer symbols (enough to two panels)
- Torque screwdriver for very small bolts.
- A tool to make popping of the buttons easy (yet to design).
- Full instructions on the removal of buttons and refurbishment.
My questions are:
- Is this a good idea?
- How many people would be interested.
- Could I expand it to other Audis and VW’s
Let me know what you all think.
Regards
Darren