The purpose of this post is to verify demand for replaceable boots for the removable roof locking mechanisms. These boots are found on the "L" shaped spring loaded mechanisms that hold the top in place when stored in the rear of the car. To repair the two damaged boots, two entire mechanisms must be purchased at a cost of over $120.
I purchased my 99 silver coupe almost a year ago and became a frequent visitor to this site. Love the car and have found this site to be a tremendous source of information on the C5. Not too long after I purchased the coupe, I noticed the rubber boots that hold the removable top were badly worn. Since I was not going to pay $120 plus to purchase the entire mechanisms when all that I needed are the two boots, I contacted some of my engineering friends and former colleagues at Lake Superior State University in Sault Ste Marie, MI. The Engineering Department has an excellent manufacturing processes lab and I was sure that this problem could be solved in a way that could benefit LSSU Engineering and the C5 coupe owners. A prototype was made and, the current thinking is that for a donation the the LSSU Engineering Scholarship Fund, two boots will be sent to the donor. There are some issues that remain to be solved before production can begin. First, and here is where you come in, the demand for the boots needs to be determined. If you are interested in replacement boots, or know of others who may be, please contact me. Information on LSSU Engineering can be obtained at http://engineering.lssu.edu. Thanks.

Raysanray1966@hotmail.com

 

This would be a good deal for coupe owners. I know I had one of the boots split on me but I ended up being able to glue it back together and it has held since. But, if just the boots were available, I would be willing to get a couple, depending on what the donation amount would be. Let me know if enough interest is there to do this.

 

Hmmm, well, mine do need to be replaced...as was said, it all depends.

 

i need 2 for the '98, i'm sure all c5's that see daily use and frequent removal of top are in need

 

Those boots can be found in Isle 13 of The hardware section at Home depot. Cost for 4 is under a dollar. You have a choice of colors as well.

 

 

Tell us more..I'm headed to Home Depot tomorrow!!

 

mine did same thing-just the end portion split then where it flares out and seats into the top when stowed was fine so i took a sharp razor blade and cut off just the "tip" and used some black silicone to "glue" some vacuum caps (from autozone, etc) into place and smoothed the silicone and now it looks great and was only a couple bucks.

 

 

 

Can your boys make them more durable? Maybe in a polyurethane? Anything more than $.50 ea for a rubber boot that'll tear again is a waste of money. Now if your parts could do the job and actually last the life of the car, I'll donate to a good cause.