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Attention: Detroit,Michigan ZR-1 Owners with Windshield Delamination!

Rob

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If you are in the Detroit, Michigan area and your ZR-1 has visible signs of windshield delamination, please post here and I will get in contact with you. I have been in contact with the windshield manufacturer.
 
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Nope. Only Detroit, MI. If you have clear photos showing delamination, post them here.
 
mine is only slight right now. Just a color change is all, but its starting. I'll see if I can get a good pic of it. If you want to see a really bad one, look @ the 95 in the NCM
 
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Just as a quick update on this, I have sent a picture of the Last ZR-1 in the NCM to my contact at the company. If they can't find any ZR-1s to look at in the Detroit area, they will make a trip to the NCM to look at the Last ZR-1 more closely.
 
Rob,
Are you working with Dave Bright on this. I know he sent a letter to GM with serial numbers of ZR-1's with a delamination problem to see if we can get anything done about it. Maybe he can give you a list of all the ZR-1's with this problem to submit to the manufacture (sp?) ?
 
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Nope. I posted this over the ZR-1 Net and got a response from one owner. That was it. My reason for contacting the manufacturer was to learn how the window was manufactured, what causes delamination and how, if at all, is it possible to prevent delamination from occurring. I'd like to write a technical article on this subject so that we can all have a better understanding of what it is, how it happens, and how to prevent it. We'll take it from there.
 
I have a question; before you contacted the manufacture did they know there was a problem with the windshields? Any plans for making another run of the windshields? Thank you very much for taking this upon yourself.

Kevin
 
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Kevin,

Based upon the response I received from the Quality Engineer, he saw a couple windshields that exhibited slight discoloration, but not delamination. I sent him the picture of the 1995 ZR-1 in the NCM (Last ZR-1).

At this point in time, I don't know what their plans are. They are just in an evaluation stage right now, but I will keep everyone posted here at the Corvette Action Center.

Since owners on other sites have exhibited zero interest in my efforts, I'm not going to waste my time posting there.
 
Rob:
What sites have you posted on? Im surprized that the ZR-1 net hasn't steped up to help you. But then again I don't know how bad some of the cars that are in private hands are. Some of the realy bad ones may have been replaced already by standard ones.
 
I posted it over the ZR-1 Net. Dave Bright has taken a survey of ZR-1 owners and submitted the following letter to GM:

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June 20, 2002


Customer Relationship Manager
Chevrolet Customer Assistance Center

Dear Helene,

My name is David Bright, I am the founder and president of an internet ZR-1 Corvette club called the "ZR-1 Net" ( http://www..zr1.net ) . The ZR-1 Net is a world wide internet organization with a membership of over a 1,000 ZR-1 owners.=20

The reason I am writing to you is over the deep concern we have as ZR-1 owners in the design flaw with the special ZR-1 only windshield. The ZR-1 Corvette when built was installed with a special windshield to deter the amount of heat the interior of these cars can generate due to the volume of glass and the less then adequate air conditioning system in these cars.

The design flaw is the delamination of the windshield. Over time these windshields start to discolor and get dark. This first sign of glass separation usually starts first near the edge of the windshield. Over time as this continues the windshield becomes so dark that it is impossible to see inside the car. It may not be a safety issue, however, in some states the ZR-1 can fail inspection because the windshield appears to be tinted beyond allowable tolerances by law which forces the owner to purchase a new windshield which in it self is very difficult due to lack of inventory of these special windshields. If a replacement windshield is found the cost can be very high, in excess of $2,000.00.

The age, mileage or climate of the ZR-1 does not matter. If you look at the last ZR-1 built, a 1995 model donated to the National Corvette Museum, you will see this car's windshield has delaminated very badly and this ZR-1 has been stored inside since day one with no mileage. To just give you a sample of the number of ZR-1's with this problem I have attached a list of current ZR-1 owners with this problem.

As ZR-1 owners we are very concerned over GM's lack of interest in this issue. We feel very strongly that this is a design flaw and as such is the responsibility of GM to correct. We feel continual lack of action over this design flaw from GM will force ZR-1 owners to take legal action in order to get resolution.

I hope we can work together to find some way to resolve this issue quickly and satisfactorily for both parties.

Sincerely,

David W. Bright
President and Founder ZR-1 Net
********************

I decided to contact the manufacturer and learn more about the windshield itself *first* instead of pursuing an immediate request for action from GM. Basically, the way I see it, General Motors is under no obligation to correct the problem on cars that are so far out of warranty and were manufactured almost 7-12 years ago. Also, understand that the problem isn't something like a defect where a fuel line can catch fire etc., thus necessitating the need for immediate initiation of a campaign. I'm not saying the problem should be ignored, but I would prefer to learn more about a problem, it's origin and possible solution first.
 
Here is the response to Dave's letter from Chevrolet:

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Dear Mr. Bright,

Thank you for contacting the Chevrolet Customer Assistance Center. We are sorry to hear about the concern with the windshields in the Corvette. Unfortunately, the Internet Response Center is not technically trained, therefore we are unable to offer any kind of technical advise.

We will however pass along your email to our design team for future consideration in the new vehicle coming into production.

We have attached your email to a Customer Assistance Center file number S1-26000527. Please refer to this file number with any future correspondence.

If you should need to contact us in the future, please e-mail us again or call our Chevrolet Customer Assistance Center at 800-222-1020. Customer Relationship Managers are available Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m., Eastern Time.

Sincerely,

Janet StClair
Customer Relationship Manager
Chevrolet Customer Assistance Center
 
I wish you luck in your dealing with GM, but reading this thread reminds me too much of a problem a few of us with some Mitsubishis are having.

In 1995 and 1996 Mitsubishi made a convertible variation of the 3000GT called the Spyder which retailed for somewhere in the neighborhood of $65k. Well, at the time it was their flagship car, blah blah...

In any case, we've found that all of the black Spyders have a HUGE factory paint defect which shows up no matter what (mileage, climate, age don't matter.) The only parts affected are the convertible parts; regular 3000GTs don't have this problem.

This is from my own car:

http://home.attbi.com/~spydervr4/DSC00491.jpg
http://home.attbi.com/~spydervr4/DSC00492.jpg
http://home.attbi.com/~spydervr4/DSC00493.jpg

Seems pretty minor but here's another guy's Spyder, which mine will eventually look like if I don't get it repainted:

http://home.attbi.com/~spydervr4/DCP00248.jpg

In any case, we've tried contacting Mitsubishi about this but have had zero luck. They've basically told us that it would only be covered under the bumper to bumper warranty and that we were on our own. I took my car in to have them look at it when it was 1 year out of bumper to bumper but only had 20k miles on it...they didn't care. Said it wasn't technically corrosion so they didn't have to cover it.

Hopefully you guys will have better luck, but it seems like these big companies don't care about the owners of low volume specialty vehicles at all.
 

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