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Hi! Now that I had gotten the mechanical stuff taken care of, and just in time, I have been doing the wax and ArmorAll thing for the past couple of months, and have shown the car at 4 events. One of the last mechanical things I did was swap my original shocks with new Bilstein B06 shocks. Since then, although the car is far from rattling my teeth out, I have a heavy thump happening on the passenger side, driving over bumps in the road. I know, avoid them! So today, I went looking for the cause of the noise. I felt it was heavy (loud) enough to be the door, but I found the issue to be in the targa roof. The stud on the passenger side that looks like a cone with a ball on the end, was loose. Also, however, there appears to be an insert on the (better) driver side, that's missing on the passenger side. I am supposing that this is where I am getting extra movement that could be causing the thump. I am wondering, so I will ask you, fellow owners, if there is someplace I can find some new inserts?
I couldn't figure out how to get text in with the photos. As you can see, I have a layer of Vaseline on everything, and I left it on. You can tell, if you are looking closely, that the attachment #3 shows the socket without the insert -- you see a sharp, large opening versus the tapered insert in the driver side socket. I am looking for a new insert for the passenger side. MidAmerica couldn't help. I don't see these parts listed anywhere.
I would probably try and put a vacuum cap over the ball on the targa top to take up some of the slack and see if that works. I have to say I've never noticed that on my targa car - but I might have to go investigate now. lol
I am guessing so far that I'm going to need to track down some various sizes of rubber stoppers (vacuum caps WAY too small) like for test tubes or so, then figure out how to optimize the taper, then epoxy glue them in. Then I need to drill out the middle for the stud. Easier if somebody could track down the GM #...
Hard to tell from the pictures, but it appears both "female" receivers are there...they're just really mucked up somehow. Luckily, that's an easy fix. Pop the plastic push pins out of the halo trim and you can pull the trim down enough to access the receivers. Two bolts each and they should come out (or adjust). I'm all for janky repairs when warranted, but I'd personally replace those from a salvage yard or ebay rather than trying to stick a foreign object in there lol. Shouldn't be expensive and they're easy to access.
Now how in the heck did your receivers get so mucked up?? I don't see how a smooth ball could gouge up the receivers like that. They're just there to help align the targa top...looks like someone went at them with a screwdriver or something lol.
No screwdrivers. Like I said, I had dabbed some vaseline in the sockets, and that's why they look distorted. No trauma, just missing some kind of insert. I just saw a listing on eBay from Eckler's but it was just the studs and the nylon washers that go underneath. I still haven't been able to track down any info on inserts. Whatever it is must glue inside the metal sockets.
Hi. Attached see a photo of a product Corvette Central carries, they want it to be used in a storage scenario. This is the closest I have seen so far, but I would need to shorten it, fit it into the pocket, then glue it in. I guess the next step will be to contact the nearest junkyard (3 hours away) and see if they might have a complete original socket unit instead.
Hi! Thanks for the help -- I finally found them! Corvette Central markets the bumpers as "Roof panel latch locator bumpers" and their number is 605020. They are on the way, along with a few other goodies. And mkraffert, the used ones I saw on eBay up until today showed the passenger side bumpers missing almost every time! I am wondering if that's what happens when ONE person removes/installs the roof by HIMSELF!!!
I hate to bring this back up, but the locator bumpers from Corvette Central still aren't what I need. I am going to have to go to a junkyard. This is going to take some time...
These should be very easy to find at a Corvette salvage yard. Not exactly a common replacement item and it's easy to access and remove. Try one of the reputable salvage yards people recommend here.
Finally. I got what I needed. The junkyard called it a targa top latch bracket, and its number is 10262516. I didn't use the whole part, I used just the part I needed -- part # 10270313. There was a bit of adjustment to do -- it's amazing how much range this part gets in the bracket. No more thump. All I really needed was the bell shaped part, and I cannot imagine how it was missing.
They have used parts that would work. Nice pics, but you didn't include a pic of your problem...
Big thump
