loyolacub68

iTrader: (16)

Depressing = the sail panel recall thread

waldershrek

iTrader: (1)

My hood and spoiler paint is just fine, however I do have the roof bubbles. They are small and not really noticeable but my fear is they will continue to get worse. My car was a Florida car until I bought it (I'm the 2nd owner) and brought it back to NY. My buddy had his '99 Z do it early in it's life but my other buddy's here in NY (4 other friends also have Camaros ranging from 98-02) do not have this problem. I'm not sure where my buddy's '99 came from originally although I do know he bought it new.

My first impulse was to blame sunlight and/or heat. Since all of the NY cars that I know of don't have the problem but I can't be 100% since I'm not sure where my friend bought his '99. It does make sense to me though that the adhesive doesn't mix well with heat which in turn creates gases which then bubble the paint.

The friend that has the '99 actually works for a Chevy dealer in the body shop and has offered to take my car in and have it taken care of but I just didn't have the time last summer. He said he would do the work personally and it might cost me $100. Apparantly they take the t-tops out, tape some plastic over the openings, cut the sail panel off, and then put a new one on. It is quite a project and makes a mess.

2001somws.6

iTrader: (1)

Yeah it does make a mess. I seen it done on my 01 v6 camaro but the t/a was really dirty after the job.

loyolacub68

iTrader: (16)

Go through the BBB to get this fixed under the 6yr/100k paint warranty.

waldershrek

iTrader: (1)

Yeah well people with anything but an '02 would be screwed either way

02 BLK WS6

iTrader: (11)

2000 SS with 126K and has little bubbles. It's not too bad and hardly noticable unless you look for them.

sawedoff

iTrader: (3)

I have a 99' Z28 hardtop with no t-tops. It's a 1SC code car as it's a 1LE. I have a complete new top for this car as a spare. This type of flaw is really inexcuseable this day and time with a global market competition that we now have. It's just jacked up.

Mine is also bubbling right in the vicinity of where the glue was applied at the factory. In fact you can see the glue outline.

Here's the GM Part number for the hardtop no t-top roof. GM OEM #12515662 It's a big package that it's in from GM and is extremely lightweight.

This part number will get you the correct hardtop only roof. I had no problem getting by freight either. Anybody with a body shop can install it too.

If anybody has questions, just shoot me a private message, and I'll be glad to assist as best as I can.

loyolacub68

iTrader: (16)

Argue discovery. GM never let you know about the problem so there was no way for you to know. You would have went to get your car fixed under the warranty had you known there was a problem. GM was aware of the problem as early as 2003 and did not tell anyone. The only way we found out was because some ls1tech member got his hands on a service bulletin.

Blue's_Z28

iTrader: (2)

Well, if it makes you feel any better, I spent the day today at a Mercedes repair shop that I used to manage. I was showing the guys the bubbles in my sail panel, they've gotten much worse over the last 4 months, and they told me Mercedes is having the same issues on a couple of cars, especially on the door trim of the "B" pillar. Don't know if Mercedes has addressed it or not but if it can happen to a Mercedes it can happen to any car.

waldershrek

iTrader: (1)

^^^Mercedes isn't anything special. They use the same materials as the rest of the manufacturers.

liquidsmooth

iTrader: (1)

http://www.gmpartsdirect.com/ Has the roof on sale right now for like 390 bucks. Good luck to all those that need it fixed.

Blue's_Z28

iTrader: (2)

Yes, I realise that, as having managed the shop for 6 years. But, if it can happen to something famous for it's "German engineering", I prefer the term "over-engineering", it can happen to any car.

Schnell

GM is just a bunch of bastards when it comes to this problem. My dealership denied up and down that a TSB even existed, that was until I did the research and found it. I went ape **** on them and the best they would do is for me to pay $300 and they would cover the rest. In my endless dealership problems, they even burned (with a buffer) the new top/paint and it needed a repaint. After that repaint the moron dealership got bubbles in the clear coat and didn't get them all out.

Here is the TSB.

waldershrek

iTrader: (1)

Is there any way to make that TSB into a .pdf file so it can be downloaded and printed? I'd like to have it in case my buddy isn't able to pull through with his dealership for me.

Keenov

iTrader: (5)

The sun brings them out. Mine are so bad, that everytime I take it out in the sun, the adhesive drips out of the bubbles :/

loyolacub68

iTrader: (16)

It is already in the thread as a pdf.

waldershrek

iTrader: (1)

I must be blind then

03 BUSA

iTrader: (25)

So there is no way to fix this other than to replace the panel? I have wet sanded lightly the past 2 summers and got away with it but keeps coming back. You would think after 10 years (98) the **** would be done leaking through? Will it ever stop or will it just contiinue forever? And why can't if be sanded all the way down and repainted? Thanks for the info guys. I just have too much done to the car to ever take it back to a dealership and let them have it to fix it so I would prefer to get someone I know who paints to help fix the panel by just repainting it. It only does it on the drivers side though.

2001somws.6

iTrader: (1)

There is no other way to get rid of the bubbles other than replacing the sail panel. Its the glue under it.

RPM WS6

iTrader: (3)

It's actually in the "original" sail panel/roof thread stickied at the top of this section.

Do you know the build date of your car? It should be on one of the stickers on your driver's door jamb (in MM/YY format). So far, I've found that the only '98s to have this issue were the very late build cars. I'd like to see if that holds true with yours as well.

Mine is an 03/98 build, and I've never had even the slightest hint of bubbles or wavy paint. I'm trying to track down when exactly GM either, a) changed glue, or b) stopped using the proper primer on the underside of the roof. Seems like it must have happened some time in the '98 model year, since '97 and before have no issues, '99+ all have issues, and '98s sometimes have issues.