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Breathless Performance's Carbon Fiber Gas Cap Problem

Mean In Green

Member
Joined
Apr 5, 2002
Messages
21
Location
Burlington, MA
Corvette
1998 Fairway Green Metallic/Light Oak A4 Coupe
Just thought I'd post this message I just sent to Breathless Performace regarding my nightmarish installation today. As always, any feedback is encouraged! See below...
________________________________________________
Hello,

I installed your Carbon Fiber Gas Cap on my 98 C5 today. I ordered it through Ecklers. The fit and finish of your product out of the box was super. BUT...I was very upset with the installation. Your instructions were clear and I followed them exactly. I chose to screw it in with the screws provided as opposed to having it bonded. I used your lipstick suggestion to mark the drill holes. After drilling, the holes were aligned perfectly with the holes on the car. Here's my issue though...Drilling through the carbon fiber basically ruined the areas that were drilled. The carbon fiber surrounding the holes that were drilled cracked and pieces flaked off. It's very noticeable and looks awful. I have a brand new DeWalt drill and used brand new DeWalt drill bits. I used a 1/4 bit as instructed. What happened? Is there some special method to drilling carbon fiber that you failed to mention? Also, you are forced to drill the holes very close to the edges of the carbon fiber plate due to it being undersized for the area it should fill. Not good. If this is a common occurrence, you should warn people that they should get it bonded as their first choice, due to the risk of ruining the carbon fiber. It's mounted on my car right now while I wait for a response from you only because that was easier than trying to reinstall the original setup. I spent a nice chunk of change on your product and don't expect these problems. There's no way I'm spending another $270 for a new setup. And there's no way I'm keeping my current one on in that condition for any significant length of time. Now I'd like to know how you are going to help rectify the situation? I enjoy your products and also own your Vortex Cold Air/Powerduct setup. I'd hate it if I were forced to stop buying your products due to a customer satisfaction problem. What can we do here? Can the carbon fiber portion be easily replaced while retaining the same cap? If not, are you willing to send me a whole new setup? I'd also like to add that I am going to post this message and all responses I receive from you, good or bad, on corvetteactioncenter.com and C5forum.com for all to see. I hope we can work this out. Thanks for your time.
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Mean In Green :(
 
You've written a good letter , Mean . You were calm , respectful and explained your problem well . Your reference to posting on the forums without sounding threatning will probably help get you the results you deserve . Well done !
 
Well, I just got off the phone with Ernie Francis at Breathless and after talking with him for a couple of minutes he said I could in fact replace just the carbon fiber ring around the gas cap, as it just screws on and off. He said he'd give it to me at the wholesale price of $40. Not too much money I thought, and easy solution...so I went for it. This time though, I'm having the unit bonded on by a good local body shop (an option that was mentioned in the instructions)...no more drilling for me. Funny though, he insisted that they've only used regular drill bits when doing their own and haven't had any problems. Who knows. Anyway, I'm happy now...end of story.

Mean In Green :upthumbs
 
Two reasonable people should be able to work anything out . Glad to hear your satisfied ! Cliff
 
Glad to hear you got the situation rectified. It would have been a big mistake if they didn't make you happy.
 
Thanks, guys.

Mean In Green :D
 

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