New to CTS world, interior question
 

Hey guys!

I just joined your community by purchasing my first Cadillac yesterday: a 2005 CTS-V. I love the car but it needs just a touch of tlc.

The wood trim around the navigation unit seems to be faded badly and needs to be replaced. Is there anywhere that I can find replacement trim or do I have to go to the dealership? Also, was there any other interior trim available besides the wood grain?

Thats all for now, Thanks!

It's probably a stick-on aftermarket unit as none of the V's came with any wood trim, fwiw. Not sure about the 'regular' CTS' as far as what was available, but if they had wood available, suppose it's possible the PO swapped it or something.

Like JNR already said, the V's didn't come with wood grain.

When I got my 05 ctsv it also had the wood trim crap. I took it all off the first saturday I had.

How can I take it of w/o messing up whats underneath? I dont wanna tear up my factory interior by trying to remove it. Whats the best way?

A hot day. It will be really soft just grab a corner and pull slowly. The easy ones are the front vents and doors.

yeah, I started messing with it a little bit, this looks like it could take hours...

It will take some time. The real pain is getting the adhesive off after the woodtrim overlay is off. But it will look 10x better afterwards.

Use a heat gun / hair dryer to soften up the glue and then pull it off.

yeah, I was just thinking about that. Im going to head to walmart and try to find a heat gun right now!

I got my heatgun from ACE hardware a long time ago and it works like a charm still after 4 years. I did the heat gun but had to use pilers because the overlay was to hot for me to get a hold of but I probably could of used a glove.

Well the heat gun seems to be working...Any tips for what I can use to clean the residual adhesive off of the interior with? Maybe alcohol or something?

goo gone... its a citrus based cleaner that will remove the adheasive residue..
http://rvtravel.com/blog/rvnow/uploa...one-775962.jpg

POST PICS of the UGLY fake wood trim

http://photos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos..._1699945_s.jpg

here is a pic, hopefully it posts

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?id...803570&theater

ill try to get a better one later

Definitely use a heat gun and Goo Gone and lots of patience, results will be worth it.

so i finished removing all of the fake wood crap today and started with some goo gone. Some areas are ALOT easier to clean off than others. Im having a really hard time around my navigation and heat controls.

Is there a certain method that you guys have for doing this to save some time?

Do you just spray on and start scrubbing right away or do you try and let it sit for awhile? Do you just use a regular towel or something else? This stuff is really stubborn!!

I haven't done what you are trying to do, but generally letting goo-gone sit a bit can't hurt. Just be careful that it doesn't run all over the place.

I like nice wood interiors, but those stick-on kits rarely look good. I suspect you'll be pleased when all traces of it are gone.

Do you have one of those steam cleaners, or access to one? Steam works pretty well and the home units are generally not hot or powerful enough to melt the plastic; but they do work well enough though.

You may just need to apply the goo gone a few times as some of that glue is pretty stout. I use rubbing alcohol most of the time to remove residue, but sometimes plastics don't like that...Even so, when I do, it usually takes a few applications to remove all the residue.

Probably wouldn't be any easier, but WD40 works, too. i'm sure Goo Gone works just as well, though I have never used it.