h8snow

Just picked up a very nice white 02 Convertible 39k miles. The drivers door panel is perfect not delaminating is there any thing I can do to prevent this. Thanks.

Vette-kid

I'm a little confused here, if it's in good shape then there's nothing to do other than dont be rough on it. What are you worried about delaminating? This isn't a problem that I have ever heard of.

MWWarlord

It actually is a known issue on these cars. The best thing that you can do is keep the car in a temperature controlled garage. At the very least keep it out of the sun when you aren't driving it. Congrats on the car.
Don't forget to SAVE THE WAVE!

1911tex

When entering or exiting...don't use the armrest as as a downward leverage with your weight. Keep a saddle product like Skidmores Leather Cream on the panel as well as your seats. Terrific product been using it on our same saddles for 48 years....and the Great Lakes seats, and my vette!

h8snow

No I dont even touch the arm rest area seen to many C5 with this area all loose and bunched up. Leather conditioner?

MSG C5

It’s the vinyl pulling away from the door frame. No real fixes unless you cover it up with a leather stick-on arm rest or replace the panel. Some vendors offer leather covered panels and Mid America offers OEM like replacements.

Smoken1

If it does start to pull away you can try to fix it.
https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...up-how-to.html

Vette-kid

I have owned my Vette for almost 20yrs and have been on this forum that entire time. This is honestly the first I have heard of this issue

Vetteman Jack

Just do a search in this section using the keywords "Door Panel Delamination." Plenty of threads over the years on this issue.

h8snow

Mid America wants almost a $1000 for one door panel with shipping. No thanks.

Vette-kid

You can get precut leather and recover your own. I plan to do this to add leather to mine. It looks a bit t tedious, but not too difficult. I may have some panels available but it's going to be a few months before I get to my project. If I decide to sell the panels I will let them go at a good price.

Vette-kid

not doubting you. I'm just perplexed that I've never heard of it. My car is always garage kept and I have elbow savers from Vette essentials, so I wouldn't see it anyway.

h8snow

Most all C5s that I have looked at over the years have the delamation drivers side where your elbow rests. I owned a 06 Corvette that I installed aftermarket armrests but they looked junk and the double backed tape always came loose. Guess best don't touch or rest elbow while driving.

Vette-kid

That's why it's strange to me. I rest my elbow there all the time. I'm using Vette essentials elbow savers and they have been in there since 2006 or so. No issues.

but like I said, best bet is probably to recover them. You can get leather skins for about $300/set. It's just the vinyl skin coming unglued.

If I had to guess, I'd say it's not as common as you think. I'm sure it's out there, but forums are designed mostly for people with problems. No one logs on to say "hey, everything is great and I dont have any problems". I havn't had 95% of the problems that come up here daily. Neither have probably 95% of the other corvette drivers out there. People view these posts and immediately think "oh man C5s have problems with xyz all the time". When the reality is that most have 0 troubles.

Burnt C6

I just picked the Vert up from my tuners. They had is for 12 weeks. ( not going to go into that.) needless to say they put the car out in the damn hot Texas sun 100-103 days a few weeks back. now the Pass side panel is starting to delaminate. I'm pissed as can be about it but doubt there is anything I can get them to do. mine may be way more than I will be able to do using this method. new ones are $800. I may take them to a local trim shop and see what they can do.

MSG C5

I've taken my door panels off more times than I can remember for various stereo speaker and trim mods over the years and anyone who has removed these interior panels know how cheaply they were originally made. Regarding the vinyl delimitation, it's pretty much been hit and miss over the years as to which ones go bad. Extreme cabin heat is never a good thing and in your case it must have been enough for the original adhesive to break down which caused the vinyl to pull away from the door frame and wrinkle.

Options have been various repairs, new vinyl panels (Mid America) or more expensive options including custom leather installation.

Good luck.

redzg

Since Vette Essentials has gone the way of DD bezels, any chance you could post a photo or three of them for reference? I've seen some of the other offerings out there, and they don't look very suitable.
I've also seen some of the door panel leather offerings -- there I'd note that door panel and dash leather have so far shown a lot of very crooked stitching, and that's on the pieces they have used for advertising. Just recommend taking a good look before committing the moola.