slomarsh

Thanks to all you who have posted the fixes for the noisy "popping" removable top.

Mine was silent.......until I removed it for the first time. Then it only got worse over time.

First: I inserted the "E" clips on the rollers. Only one would fit on each.
Also applied a small amount of silicone grease to the rollers.

Second: Applied a small amount of silicone (or dielectric) grease only on areas where rubber meets rubber. Mostly the corners especially on the windshield side. Lightly greased the locator pegs and their receptacles. I did not apply any grease on the rest of the rubber straight pieces.

The whole procedure took all of 15 minutes.

Viola! Driven 300 miles some over pretty rough roads. Silence is golden!

talon90

Good to hear. I'm looking forward to your long term feedback and results.

ss350

Before the "e" clip fix was discovered, I tried the silicone grease fix. It only worked for a day or so. I then tried Tetra gun grease. It's a light white lubricant. My top has now been quiet for about a year and a half, and this is a black car in southern California summers. The heat would cause the snap, crackle, pop sounds after sitting in the sun. I applied this grease to the attaching points and worked it into the rollers and even though the top has been on and off several times, so far it's still quiet. I did buy the e clips just in case, but so far have not needed them.

dpigguy

8200 miles and 11 months without noise - used e-clips with silicone on rubber surfaces only once and still no noise. have seen no difference between cold and hot weather although for most of this period the car has been hot as that is the norm here in S. Texas

C6CPA

Where do you get E clips? Anyone help?

talon90

Lowe's. 5/32 e clips.

C6CPA

Thanks.

V Vette

Whats an e clip and how do you install? Thanks

Red Rochester

waldow

E clips on the rollers and dielectric grease on the seals after cleaning-- 3000 miles after fix and no pops or squeaks!

BTW--- 52,000 miles, 6 sets of tires on 06 coupe and its still as tight a driving machine as there is on the road!

for those who have not seen:

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show....php?t=1956846

talon90

I trust that you have a problem with my reply?

Red Rochester

No, I think it is funny that this issue comes up so much without any final resolve. Kinda like beating a dead horse. Wouldn't you say.

talon90

I better understand your post and the reference to beating the dead horse. Thank you.

Unfortunately I don't share that opinion. What we are seeing is that cars are aging, new folks are getting in to their first Corvette and cars are showing up with new noises. Additionally, we are coming in to the first season change for some owners and there will be a new rash of thermal expansion issues for the tops and their new owners. If my threads and replies in the past haven't been a giveaway, I'm a bit passionate about this issue and have endeavored to help folks deal with some of it.

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show...241&highlight=

This is a much more complex issue with a lot of variables. There is not a one size fits all solution. Folks don't all treat their cars the same way. They don't all store them the same way and the weather, humidity and environment all play a role. It is a shame that the current removable roof isn't more robust to these issues but simple things like preventative maintenance on the gaskets (as identified in the owners manual) are things that some folks just refuse to do. With that comes more and more threads on popping tops with seemingly no resolution in sight.

slomarsh

Got them at the local Ace Hardware store.

5/32" size. A whopping $0.11 each! Talk about a cheap fix!

I was apprehensive that these two changes would fix the problem.
But......... so far complete quiet. The car has the stiffer Z51 suspension too.
As far as long term, surely the grease will have to be renewed. But, it is so easy to do.

I used to own a Porsche 914/6 - oh my.....Notorious squeeking, popping tops on all 914s

V Vette

Thank you!!!!

mrtoner

Paul - WELL SAID!!!

VET4LES

I used heat shrink on the post about a year ago and have had no noise since. At that time the e-clip was not discussed. If I have any problem's in the future I'll give the clips a try.

slomarsh

I was going to do the heat shrink too. However, wasn't sure what size to use because the post is tapered. Figured that would be next if noise continued or comes back soon.

Thanks for your input

Mike Green9

Hi.

Just wanted to mention that after 2,000 miles on my 08 Coupe (built April 08), the infamous popping top reared its ugly head.

I noticed that I had the GM epoxy roller upgrade, but the epoxy had broken loose on the LHS. The roller was able to roll freely.

Rather than re-epoxy the roller, I did the now famous e-clip insertion magic trick. This made the roller virtually unmoveable. I decided to add the e-clip to the passenger side as well.

I than added some heat shrink tubing to the 2 front locating posts.

I used a silicone spray lube (sprayed on a rag first) on all the rubber seals.

Finally I used a syl-glyde silicone lube on the 2 front rollers, the base of the 2 front locating posts (on the O ring just below the heat shrink tubing), and on the 2 rear locating posts.

Popping - what popping?? Problem resolved.

By the way - I love my C6. 2,000 trouble free, absolutely fascinating miles. This is an awesome car!

More to come on this on a later post.

MG.....

LMB 4 ME