Because of the snow and cold we've had this winter I wasn't able to take my 599 out, or even spend some time in the gararge detailing it.
This made me antsy, and so I decided to finally take care of a minor issue that had been irritating me for a long time -- the paint was shipping off the keyfob. This is a common issue, and usually starts right around the hole where the key attaches to the keyring.
Here is a small writeup for others:
Step 1: Disassemble key.
The back (with the emblem) pops off easily; insert a small screwdriver in the slot and pop it off. While it is off, you might want to replace the battery and save yourself from later issues. The front also snaps off, but needs a thin blade inserted between the black casing and the front to pry it off. Getting the rubber button bits out needs a small blade, and you carefully pry it out. It didn't seem to be glued, simply press fitted.
Step 2: Remove the emblem
Getting the emblem off was easy enough. I initially tried wedging a blade under it, but it seemed clear that that would scratch either it, or the caseing. I ended up drilling a small hole through the back of the casing, and then simply pushing it out from behind (obviously, don't drill through the emblem itself!)
Step 3: Sand off old paint
I used some 600 grit paper, placed on the sponge side of a (dry) Scotch-Brite Non-Scratch Scrub Sponge. This seemed to have just the right amount of "give" to remove the paint without changing the shape of the key.
Step 4: Prepare for paint.
After cleaning the sanding residue off with isopropyl alchohol I prepared them for paint. It was too cold to paint them outside or in the gararge, and so I did it in the utility room in the basement. I raised them off the paper with some playdough and then gave them a quick spray with SEM 39863 Plastic Adhesion Promoter.
Step 5: Paint
I gave them a quick spray with white primer. Without this, the red would come out too dark, and not "pop". I then gave them 8 coats of Ferrari Rosso Corsa / PPG 322 paint, goodly waiting between each coat for it to dry fully. Ok, that's not actually true, I got impatient and only waited 20 minutes between coats. This means that the parts are taking forever to fully dry, and are still not done.
