Here's a link to my pic's Roof Repair

 

I may have missed it somewhere, but what are the roof panels made of?
I'm guessing fiberglass?

Mine has what appears to be tack weld marks, so I always thought they were metal.

 

Weld marks?
Can you post a pic?
Maybe you have bubbling paint too.

 

Mine is very obvious. It is two rows of "bubbles" from the drivers side to the passengers side. Very uniform and obviously a factory defect. It is getting worse as time goes by.

 

this is kind of crazy, I never had these things before and a couple weeks ago about 3 small bubbles have popped up. I hadn't read this post yet and thought Id just have to live with it.

To those that have had it fixed are you satisfied with the body work? like the paint match and finish, Im just a little hesitant to have it repainted.

 

Yeah, tack weld marks. If you've ever seen sheetmetal that has been factory tack welded it has these small depressions where the metal is bonded. My marks are in 2 neat rows from the drivers side to passenger side. One row is about 1.5-2 inches from the front and the same from the rear. It's only noticable if you look at it from a low angle and look at the reflection in the black paint. I'm guessing it is actually caused by the glue making it slightly uneven.

If you look at my earlier post, I said I had about 25-30 little bubbles. (Update: I counted, 32 bubbles total, all between 2mm and 4mm.) The bubbles are much easier to see. You don't have to look at a shallow angle to see them. On a black car, the bubbles look like white or light colored dots.

I never took a photo specifically of the bubbles, but I found an older photo where one is visable.
Here it is:


Here is the area in which the paint is kinda uneven. It extends to the top and down the other side. I'm guessing this is where the panel was glued on and the glue is causing the unevenness.


When I can borrow a digital camera. I'll take some close ups.

I talked to a dealer today and got a report on my specific 99 TA from the VIN. The door sticker shows the car was built in May of 1999, but the VIN data shows the "sheet metal coverage rust through" protection started in 10/23/99 and extends to 10/23/05 and up to 100K miles. Exactly 6 years and 100K miles. So mine should be covered under the warranty.

Another idea I had for those who want to fix it without spending a lot of money out of their pocket or have no warranty. Strip the paint down to the fiberglass (I think it is?) and then use fiberglass resin to bond some sheetmetal on the top. Then paint over that. The glue gasses should not cause any damage then. I could do something like that myself except for the final painting. Anyone have any idea if this fix would work?

 

Those bubble lines in the paint (which line up with the glue path highlighted in yellow) are damage from the glue eating the plastic roof panel.

 

I didn't highlight the glue path. I highlighted the wavy patterns. Does it match the glue lines?

Is the roof plastic?
ABS?
Fiberglass?
Can anyone say?

 

Yes

Check out the TSB.
You can find it here:
https://ls1tech.com/forums/showthrea...=bubbling+roof
(In Redy2Go WS6's post)

Dunno...all I can say is that it is not metal.

 

Just got off the phone with GM customer service. They deny any knowledge of any of the document ID #s or TSB #s I gave them. What is up with that? Is the dealership in Palm Bay Florida any good, who do I need to talk to there? Anybody know of a good GM dealer in the Ft. Lauderdale area?

 

Well, here's my situation thus far.......

Took in my WS6 to Coggin in Olrando (bought the car there new in 2000). They inspected it & then had to get in touch w/ the zone rep. The zone rep. had them offer me a 50/50 payment. I told them that anything beyond 100% covered wasn't going to work. BTW, my car has been out of warranty for about a year & a half now. So, I ended up calling GM customer service. They told me that they can't do anything for me now, but to go ahead & get it fixed & then send in all my paperwork along w/ a description w/ what was wrong & they would see if they could reimburse the rest. I figure that i might as well do that & hope for the best w/ customer service after the car is fixed & paid for.

Now, if they refuse to reimburse me after the car is fixed......we're going to court. Not only will I sue for the 50% i had to pay, but will also sue for time lost, court fees & whatever else I have involved w/ this. I've read up on alot of GM paint court cases. There have been people that have owned there cars for many years (all cars were out of warranty) & have sued GM over defective paint. Most of the poeple have won to. The fact that this is a defect that usually doesn't show up until after the warranty, really works in our favor. In my case, the fact that GM even offered me a 50/50 payment shows that GM is admitting responsibility for this defect. Everybody knows damn well that GM isn't going to give you a cent for a problem that they have nothing to do with.

Sorry for the rant, just really frustrated in the fact that GM is willing to lose a long time customer over $400. I was born in Detroit & my family has been a GM family my whole life (dad & uncles worked for GM & my wifes dad & uncles worked for GM). Every vechicle we have owned from since I can remember has been GM. Not saying that I should receive any special treatment. I would just like to think that a company you throw your support to should take care of you when a problem like this arises.

Anyway, for those of you looking to get this fixed & are out of warrenty. Just keep bitching. You won't get GM to pay for it unless you bitch & bitch. GM has what they call "Special Policies" for some TSB's. I'm not sure if this TSB has one or not. Couldn't get a straight answer from the service manager. The special policy is pretty much an extension of the regular warranty to allow for a free fix on certain TSB's. Another term for these special policies is secret warranty. If you don't know about secret warranties, just google it. You'd be amazed.

Well, this has been a long enough post......good luck to everybody that is trying to get there roof fixed.

 

I just took mine to the Dealership for roof repair since it had bubbles galore. How long should it take them to finish it. They said they needed 4 days. Why?

 

CMACC. why are you saying you are out of the warranty period? Paint should be 6 years or 100K miles, surely you haven't got that many miles on your 2001.

01MUSSL, have you seen the web pages that show them having to remove and replace the roof? Then there is painting. It could even takes weeks.

 

Well, I was told that the paint itself was not warrantied for 6 years. Any type of rust through corrosion is though & this is not in that catagory.

Here's the thing though. They say that paint defects are not warrantied for 6 years, but there are some articles on the CAS website that says otherwise. The only thing w/ those articles is that they were written in 2001 or earlier. I'm not sure if that still is the case. Here's a link to the GM letter explaining it's new stance on defective paint (written in 1993 though). http://www.autosafety.org/article.php?did=727&scid=99

I have no idea if GM still has that stance w/ paint defects though. It would be worth it to take that letter w/ you when you take your car in though just to see what the dealership says about it.

BTW.....I was quoted 3 or 4 days to fix the roof. I should have it back by Friday. I'll let you guys know if I do get it back & if it looks good or not.

 

The sail pannel is some type of palstic. I'm not sure if its ABS though.

 

HEy CMACC, I took mine in Monday. I should have it back Friday too. Mine is black. I thought I read on the TSP that it takes 2 hours. Hopefully I'll have it back before the SLP Show in Cali.

 

There's noway they could do this job in 2 hours. They have to remove the old roof panel (which isn't that easy of a task from what I heard), then install the new roof panel then paint/clear. That's definalty a multiday process.

Did you get your's fixed free of charged? (if you don't mind me asking).

When you get's yours back, post some pics so we can see the quality. I'll try to get some pics up Friday or Saturday also. Of course if I see some overspray or **** like that, the car won't be coming home w/ me.

Good luck man!

 

Mine will be covered by warranty. At first the Dealership was hesitant but when they saw the car and the mileage they got on the ball. What's funny is that they had never seen bubbles in the roof. It was a new case for them.
I'll throw some pics up when I get it.
Good luck to u too.

 

What warranty are they covering it under? The 6yr/100,000 corrosion warranty? Or the regular 3 yr. warranty (assuming it was still w/in that warranty period)? They told me over & over that this wasn't covered under the 6 yr warranty. Even the people at GM customer Service told me that.

 

All TSB's are covered under the 3yr/36,000 mile warrantee, so by all rights the dealer nor GM have to fix your car, if it is out of warrantee.

Now, there are dealers willing to break the rules when you have a very low milage car, that is out of the warrantee by time, but that is not a stead fast rule.

The 6 yr 100,000 mile warrantee is ONLY for rust through, and since over 75% of our car is a plastic, composite, or fiberglass that warrantee is kind of moot . . .