Side sill paint bubble :(

[MAVPR]

I know this has been discussed quite a bit and I have read through old threads but please help me.....

After my 97 gts being sat in the garage all winter I noticed a small bubble right on the side middle of my passenger side sill. I pulled the sill and of course I have the old insulation that holds moisture and likes to corrode my beautiful sill . There seems to be a tinny pin size hole starting to form right where the bubble is.

My question is how can I go about getting this fixed?

Should I be looking to find someone who can weld the tinny hole and then have it repainted? Is this very difficult to do?

I will focus on fixing the problem now and then worry about how to stop it from coming back.

I am a bit gutted about this as my car has not a mark on it

Thank you for any help you can give!

 

[Chuck 98 RT/10]

Carbon fiber sills should be available in a week or two. Reasonably priced too. Replace your stockers with the CF and store the stockers if you're concerned about collectability.

 

[sniper1]

Carbon fiber sills should be available in a week or two. Reasonably priced too. Replace your stockers with the CF and store the stockers if you're concerned about collectability.

How much for a pair in 96'GTS blue ready to bolt on ?

 

[Matt Houston]

I know this has been discussed quite a bit and I have read through old threads but please help me.....

After my 97 gts being sat in the garage all winter I noticed a small bubble right on the side middle of my passenger side sill. I pulled the sill and of course I have the old insulation that holds moisture and likes to corrode my beautiful sill . There seems to be a tinny pin size hole starting to form right where the bubble is.

My question is how can I go about getting this fixed?

Should I be looking to find someone who can weld the tinny hole and then have it repainted? Is this very difficult to do?

I will focus on fixing the problem now and then worry about how to stop it from coming back.

I am a bit gutted about this as my car has not a mark on it

Thank you for any help you can give!

Just think of the bubbles as the original "patina" for your collectible GTS Coupe...
If you fix and repaint...you lose that "patina" and some of the originality! Do what Chuck said...take the stockers off and replace them with carbon fiber.

 

[plumcrazy]

Chuck, who is coming out eith the CF sills ? They might make a side exhaust conversion easier.....

I might be interested

 

[ViperTony]

Chuck, who is coming out eith the CF sills ? They might make a side exhaust conversion easier.....

I might be interested

Xvipers. I think they have a post about here in one of Dave6666's side exhaust conversion threads.

 

[MAVPR]

I am guessing by the response so far that it is quite a difficult fix?

 

[Matt Houston]

I am guessing by the response so far that it is quite a difficult fix?

If you search the threads, you'll find the sills are fairly easy to take off and put back on. The only tricky part is finding someone who can weld aluminum to repair the holes/corrossion.

 

[MAVPR]

I have searched the threads and I have the sills off, Just do not know how hard it is to find someone who is able to do a job like this? Is it very skilled?

I dont want to hand it over to someone only to have them make things worse :s

 

[Martin]

I am guessing by the response so far that it is quite a difficult fix?

I believe the recommended fix is to replace with the newer design - which has a cost of $US12,000 or so... Otherwise, you could theoretically fix the bubble by sanding down, putting in new aluminum material, removing the existing insulation, making sure the existing insulatin rivets can't touch the aluminum (prevent galvanic reaction), go over the interior of the existing sills to make sure other spots aren't about to corrode out (there probably are several spots that are through the metal or almost through), and ideally vent the sills to keep them dry inside.

I'm thinking of taking my sills off and replacing with the carbon fiber ones if they prove to be good. Those original sills are impossible to replace for a reasonable price and they're very susceptible to damage - if someone has a good replacement so that I can store the originals, I'm all for it...

 

[MAVPR]

Well $12k is not an option :O ...... I guess I will start looking to find someone who can do a repair. Even if I were to get CF sills I would still want my originals in perfect condition.

If I put them back on I may try leaving the Insulation out. I am running no cats and have heard they will be ok without heat shields?

 

[Martin]

Well $12k is not an option :O ...... I guess I will start looking to find someone who can do a repair. Even if I were to get CF sills I would still want my originals in perfect condition.

If I put them back on I may try leaving the Insulation out. I am running no cats and have heard they will be ok without heat shields?

If you're not running cats, you should be fine. I believe Dave6666 had a cool (pun intended) way to vent them, too. I'd probably think twice about drilling holes in the stock sills, though, because they seem to be worth a large percentage of the overall car's value...

 

[Dom426h]

I wannder if the CF ones will be cheaper than these?

http://www.autoformgroup.com/autofo...facturer_id=0&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=26

 

[Chuck 98 RT/10]

Chuck, who is coming out eith the CF sills ? They might make a side exhaust conversion easier.....

I might be interested

Here you go. Post 79 and 80...
http://forums.viperclub.org/srt10-srt10-coupe-discussions/621113-carbon-fiber-rocker-panels-3.html

1800 for a pair. Better get your check in soon. Sounds like the line is forming.

 

[dansauto]

There is a member that has these already repaired. He would probably take yours in on trade. If you know anyone that is a decent tig welder, they can fix these.