Alfa 4C AirCon Knobs

moe 18. März 2023 21:03

Finally, here is the detailed view of the knobs including the last design tweaks.

moe 18. März 2023 21:02

Combined with the carbon fiber center console, this looks way better than the original.

moe 18. März 2023 21:01

That is already a big leap forward, but due to the size of the knobs, this still looks quite massive… thus, a little bit of design tweaking by plotting foils with carbon fiber look, results in this.

moe 18. März 2023 20:59

After fixing the Allen screws, things should look more or less like this.

moe 18. März 2023 20:59

moe 18. März 2023 20:58

For the larger knobs, the original plastic knobs are mounted again and the stainless caps are pulled over them (if you decided to go for the recommended wooden pieces, now is the time to put them in position). To avoid any scratching on the bezel underneath, you can glue some window foam (1mm width and height) on the bezel.

moe 18. März 2023 20:52

With everything prepared, the panel including the knobs can be assembled again: the panel is clipped in position and the screw is fixed again. Then the center knob can be simply pushed in and is functional already.

moe 18. März 2023 20:50

The smaller center knob is completely prepared by fitting a suitable cap with a diameter of 30mm over the inner plastic piece (the outer one is no longer needed).

moe 18. März 2023 20:49

Recommendation: I have sawed some wood to fit in the knobs and fill out all the gaps to make it a round circle again. Thus, the cover gets a grip around all 360 degrees (and is not just clamped at two spots at 180 degrees).

moe 18. März 2023 20:44

As most of those caps for banisters are much higher, they need to be sawed to the right height with a metal saw. Usually the hole for the screw is positioned way too far to the bottom and, thus, will be cut away. That’s not too bad, as the Allen screw is too large anyway. Therefore, we need to drill another smaller hole and cut threads in there. I used an M4 Allen screw which fits nicely.

moe 18. März 2023 20:37

moe 18. März 2023 20:33

Over this, now a nicely fitting cover can be mounted over the cheaply looking plastic knobs. I used stainless steel caps for banisters to build some nice(r) knobs for the 4C. The diameter of the larger knobs is 40mm and we need a height of approx. 20mm… that still leaves enough space for the plastic knob to fit in (you can further reduce the height by a millimeter or two for a more filigrane look, but with 20mm we are on the safe side).

moe 18. März 2023 20:21

To unmount the knobs one or better two of those hooks need to be pushed inwards. This effectively releases the knob that, once removed, looks like this.

moe 18. März 2023 20:16

In the corner the mounts that hold the clips can be seen nicely. At the same time, one of the larger knobs is dismounted on the picture. At the bottom of the knob, we can see how this is mounted: one of multiple small gaps or holes can be seen. The plastic hooks from the construction underneath slip in here and effectively fix the knob.

moe 18. März 2023 20:11

Now the panel can be removed and pulled the larger knobs, that remain mounted. With the panel cover removed, behind it looks like this.

moe 18. März 2023 19:33

Thus, after the screw has been removed, it is easiest to remove the console by pushing your fingers at the bottom corners into the gap between the console and the bodywork behind. Then firmly pull out until the clips underneath are disengaged. Once they are disengaged, stop immediately (not to break anything) and do the same at the top corners.

moe 18. März 2023 19:27

After the center knob is dismounted, a screw directly behind that knob can be accessed. This is the only screw that fixes the whole air conditioning console as the rest is just clipped in.

moe 18. März 2023 19:23

The inner plastic piece can be dismantled similarly easy by just pulling it out of the outer plastic cover that forms the knob.

moe 18. März 2023 19:21

To dismount, the smaller center knob needs to be removed first. That’s reasonably easy as there are no screws or clips or something like that: after firmly (!) pulling with the fingers, the center knob comes off and looks like this.

moe 18. März 2023 11:59

moe 18. März 2023 11:58

After I have successfully mounted the carbon fiber center console (described in the following blog: https://me-blog.eberlein.tk/Alfa+4C+Center+Console), the knobs for the air conditioning, or heater knobs, look even cheaper and plasticky. Thus, I will now address the looks on that, either… here is the starting point.