I'm hoping I don't have to purchase the whole latch assembly to get this little plastic nib. Can someone tell me what this thing is called?


My right one got buggered up, now the left side is buggered. Without them the metal tips are eating up the receiver holes.





Any help is appreciated, I've searched off and on for hours trying to find these. Last stop..dealership...

 

Look like the guide that mates the top to the top of the windshield.

 

If the stealership can't help, I'd probably be able to 3D print one.

If they come off easy enough, I can use mine as a model. Otherwise, you'd have to mail yours to me so I can use that as a model.

It should only take a couple of days to make the model, then a couple of weeks to get it printed and mailed back.

 

I will be checking with the stealership this week, then if no joy, I'll get back to you. The one from the right side is in very bad shape. The one from the drivers side is a little worse so the OEM dimensions might be hard to reproduce. They will pop off the pins, I used a pair of dykes (wire cutters, not the other kind) to get under the nib and pop it off.

Thanks for the offer!

 

What caused them to get in such bad shape ??

 

The right one was bad (split) and the left one was worn when I bought the car last July, I didn't notice until after I had it a few days. I guess putting the top up and down alot would cause this. I take very good care of my cars, so I'm assuming these items just wear out easily as there's only just over 30K miles on the car and the top is in excellent condition otherwise.

 

I just checked mine and they're both there and are in decent enough shape to use as a model, but the tips are getting a little flattened. So, if the stealership doesn't have any or can't get them I should be able to pop one of mine off to use as a model.

If I were to hazard a guess about how they get all beat up, I would say that it happens when someone repeatedly slams the frame into place when putting the top up instead of gently pushing the guides into the receptacles.

 

You can find just about anything on eBay under C5 Corvette used parts.

 

Hey Doc, Good on you man, that was a hell of a fine offer!!!!!

Roland

 

Thanks, Roland.

I'm always on the prowl for hard-to-find plastic pieces that can be 3D printed.

 

UPDATE:
Went by the dealership, they can't identify them as a separate part. The detail for the latch does not break the plastic tip out, only the plastic cover.

Soooo, I'm certainly interested in working with you if you want to try and develop a part. Unfortunately I'm on the other side of the country (GA) but we can PM if you choose to try to develop the part, I'm in.

For interest purposes, the dealership told me they only stock the right hand latch, and it's discontinued, so once they clear the stock, that's it. Also, the little plastic covers over the latch pivot point have already been discontinued, but I saw them on CC's website along with the latch (right hand only). I'm guessing there is a way to make a RH latch into a LH latch, but I'm not concerned much about that currently.

I super-glued the RH tip on today, and popped the LH one back on, I'll see if it stays on the male tip, if it sticks in the alignment hole, it will get super-glued also. I agree, slamming the top down probably caused the problem. I've been careful to ease the pins into place since I discovered the problem a couple of days after I got the car, the damage was already done at that point.