1996 Collector Edition Corvette

[Basement Paul]

And the old "unhook the battery for a minute" didn't work?

-BP

[wxo]

Nah, but I wish it had fixed it. I wonder if unhooking the battery ever fixes anything.
On my drive this afternoon, I did notice something interesting, though. The "Passive Keyless Entry" light, which is on most of the time, blinks randomly. Before I tackle anything else, I'm gonna get out the shop manual and trace this circuit to see which grounding point is used. Maybe it needs some TLC.

[wxo]

The shop manual has a lot of good, detailed theory of operation on the Passive Keyless Entry in addition to diagnostic information to work with. I will be following up on those in the near future.

In the mean time, I've turned my attention to the convertible roof and weather stripping. I was thinking about farming it all out, but changed my mind a bit. I decided to change all the weather stripping myself which would leave the work of replacing the roof to a professional (if I can find one I trust). I did some searching on the web and found a place in Michigan that manufactures their own weather stripping. They appear to have a good reputation for quality. They are Corvette Rubber. I ordered a full set for Silvia.

[wxo]

1990 thru 1996 C4 Corvettes have a storage compartment in the driver's door. The lid of this compartment serves as an arm rest. It is spring loaded shut, but will snap into the open position. Well, when I had the driver's door panel off a while back, I noticed that the screws holding this lid in place were loose, so I tightened them and saw that their tightness was a bit tenuous because the screws had lost some of their bite into the plastic lid. I knew that some day I would have to address this. That day is here. Not too long ago the arm rest lid came off.

When I pulled it apart, I saw that the plastic posts molded into the bottom of the lid were seriously compromised. They were crumbling apart. I saw that there were new non-OEM lids available for $125 and higher on eBay and other outlets. I thought that was a bit expensive for this part, so I tried to figure a way to fix it myself. My first try with JB Weld Plastic Mender failed miserably so I decided that I should conserve my valuable time and get one of the new ones. When the replacement showed up, I went to work, using the minimal and poorly illustrated instructions. The parts I received were redesigned from the original and very frustrating to get lined up. In the end, The screw holes in the top and bottom parts of the lid were out of registration and I just would not work. Back it went!

So now I'm back to trying to figure out how to fix this myself. After one more failed attempt, I'm working on my latest idea. I found a piece of thin-walled stainless steel tubing that just fits over the short plastic posts. I cut them to size and will be filling them with original JB Weld. This should support the outside walls of the post to prevent the screw from displacing the plastic and make a tight place for the screws to anchor and keep the two main pieces of the lid together.

[GMJohnny]

WXO,

I think your stainless tube idea is sweet! I’d surround a small nut in
the JB Weld. If you put a bolt in the nut when you apply the JB, you’ll
be able to hold it straight so it will be perpendicular to the armrest.
Just a thought! JB is your friend!

GM

[wxo]

Too late with the nut idea, GM. It is a good one, though. Right now I plan to drill and tap the JB weld. I believe that should give me a solid foundation upon which to fasten the hinge.
Old cars are a challenge to repair. These parts are probably 18 years beyond their design limits. The upside is that it keeps the rust off my old brain.

[GMJohnny]

We’re on the edge of our seats awaiting the finished product!

GM

[wxo]

Two down, two to go...

I'm going to try to avoid the stainless tubing on the other two. They are just anchor points to fasten down the opposite side of the back of the lid. Not much strength is involved compared to that of mounting the hinge.

[wxo]

I got it all together this morning. Everything seemed to fit well. All four screws are holding solidly. Unfortunately, when I attempted to mount the unit to the door panel, it would not settle into place so that the lid would operate correctly. I believe my stainless steel posts are a bit too high. Now I have to figure out the best way to grind some material off the top of the two supporting the hinge.

[wxo]

I managed to shorten the hinge posts a small amount and it did improve the operation of the door somewhat, there is still impediments to it's movement open and closing. It seems to "catch in places" and not settle in place. Unfortunately, the shorter posts also now requires shorter screws. Additionally, along with the heat involved in shortening the posts with a grinding stone, the process of assembling and disassembling is wearing on the threads in the JB Weld. This minor repair is taking on a life of it's own. Another C4 ownership benefit

[wxo]

I give up!! I decided to put everything back together, install the door panel and drive the car. The lid/armrest sits about 1/2 inch high from its normal closing position and if you open it, it won't stay open. It springs back to the almost closed position. It simply doesn't work like it did when this all started. I plan to just live with it until I can find a good used replacement. I've see some come through eBay. In fact there is a really nice one on eBay now, but it's for the passenger side. Oh well.

[wxo]

Well, that didn't take very long. Found it on eBay this morning:

[Basement Paul]

eBay is awesome!

-BP

[wxo]

In preparation for reinstalling Silvia's door panel with the replacement lid, I took some time to reattach the water barrier that would not stick to the door any more. The last time I had the door panel off, I got in a hurry and tried to reattach it using a tube of butyl rubber I had bought especially for that purpose. However, I failed to remove the old adhesive and it didn't stick. So this time I cleaned all the adhesive from the door and the water barrier and them applied the butyl rubber adhesive. All looks good now. I'm ready for my part when it arrives later this week. It's coming from Nebraska.

[wxo]

The used replacement part arrived yesterday and, "RATS", it turned out to be almost as bad as my original.

The eBay seller quickly agreed to the return and paid for the shipment back. I think he knew what he was selling.
This is turning into a marathon job. At this point, I'm thinking of installing my original patched up lid. It should work fine as an arm rest while I look for a suitable replacement. Time is on my side.