Panel replacement is the ONLY option if you want the problem solved for good.

Only way to get a panel is used or through 6LE.

 

I'm hoping you are right. Please keep us posted because it defies logic that there is nothing on the planet that can keep the adhesive from oozing. If there isn't then the Military should get a hold of that glue and weaponize it

 

Good luck getting a hard top off! After what I went through to get my T Top panel I would not want any part of that. Just depends on how much work you want to do I imagine.

I have all the old glue off the car and the new panel, both will get fresh coats of primer, sail panel will get epoxy primed on both sides then painted black before it goes on the car.

 

Can you post pictures of this fix?

 

Has anybody used a 6LE fiberglass panel? How was the fit? Did you have to do any serious reshaping of the panel?

 

well it was pretty bad when I got the car,so I strip it,prime it seal it,and within 36hrs its back,not as bad but is visible after the work,been told,not to strip it again,put it out in the sun as much as possible,and when seems to get done doing it's thing,just wet sand the clear until smooth and re-clear,anybody else had success with this?,gonna wait and see how much it comes back before I do anything else

 

I'm amazed how many people can't read or comprehend that it's the panel that is permeated with the vapors. It cannot be sealed and replacement is the only solution. But here we are with 88 pages and yet there are still people "trying it out".

 

I've given up on even mentioning that any more. There is so much research, information and experience in this thread that if people choose to ignore it then they can learn the hard way.

Someone above mentioned trying a gel coat, I highly doubt that will work either...but time will tell.

 

Now this is only my opinion, but if this stuff is causing a chemical reaction that causes the gases to bubble to the surface then eventually it will have to run out. Unless, our cars have miraculously found out how to have a perpetual chemical reaction!

 

mine did it just as of a couple of months ago, doesnt matter what you do. I realized after i painted it, it was the bubbling due to the vapors i thought it was a bad paint job by the prior owner. I left it alone knowing you have to cut the top off and use different adhesive and buy a panel to do it right, too expensive and not worth it for a 2001 atleast thats the way i thought of it. GM didnt want to hear it at all past 8 years and your on your own.

 

You're right, it will stop, eventually.... But so far we're looking at 10+ years and they are still doing it, and no one has had theirs stop yet. Considering the amount of glue that holds these panels on and how little it really takes to bubble I'd say you'd be waiting a whole lot longer for it to quit.

 

Mine is done, followed the TSB. My panel was striped, epoxy primed, painted then put back on the car. I also had my 2 quarter panels repainted due to a few door dings. The sail panel is like glass, I also had him paint the 2 triangle pieces behind the windows.

 

Car looks outstanding.

 

Thank You

 

Whats with the attitude there bud? Most of us dont have piles of cash lying around just to spend on our weekend toy. And that certainly doesn't include the roof being replaced, which would be about $1500 - $2000 when it's said and done. It's not like that money is for go-fast parts, it's for a ******* ROOF that shouldn't be doing this BS in the first place. Kinda hard to justify spending that kind of money on something that isn't caused by my negligence.

So yeah, there will be people "trying it out" because there IS a sealant of some kind on this planet that can keep those damn glue-gases from escaping. It's out there, but we just haven't located it or thought of using it. It's 2012, not 1912. We have the technology to fix this without replacing the whole panel. Just a matter of finding out which product that already exists will do the job, that's all.

 

Just FYI, the fix for mine with a brand new GM panel was around $1,000, not the $1,500-$2,000 you are expecting. Not that it helps, but at some point, the price of trying new sealants until you find one that does work could end up costing more than doing it right the first time.

 

As mentioned above by Mr. Meents, if money is an issue then the last thing you want to do is waste it on "fixes" that aren't fixes. This is especially true if you aren't doing your own labor and paying body shops for repairs that won't last.

There is no sealant that is going to solve this issue. For the panel to be bubbling means that the glue has already eaten it's way into the material of the panel, and so the panel itself is damaged. No amount of sealing is going to change the fact that underneath all that sealant is glue that will continue to eat through the panel any time it's exposed to heat/sunlight. You'd have to be able to block the heat/sunlight to actually stop the process that's happening under the surface.

Think of this like a rusted body panel; you can prep and paint the visable rust on the outside of a panel, but if there is rot on the backside and water is able to get to it, then the rust will just come back through on the face no matter how much surface prep you've done. In this case, it's not rust, but there is a substance that is eating through the material from the backside, and it's activated by heat/sun, so no matter what you do on the topside that issue is still going to be happening under the surface unless you only drive the car at night.

When the proper epoxy barrier was used on the underside (from '93 thru most of '98), the glue was never allowed to work it's way into the panel in the first place. People have tried using epoxy primers on the top side of panels that already have the issue, and it doesn't last this way.

 

I don't suppose anyone has an uncontaminated hard top panel lying around, eh? My bubbling is getting bad enough to need addressing.

 

don't know if I posted in this thread yet, I paid $50 for the roof off of a wrecked car, $15 for glue, and $7 for spray paint:














Sadly the roof was off of a 99' car so it will probably bubble again down the road, but I couldn't look at it anymore

 

More then likely it wont bubble, somee 99's did it and some did not. If it has made it this long you may be OK.

As far as cost my used panel was $17.00, paint work and install including having my quarters repainted cost me $450.00.