Jeff's winter Corvette thread.

[mjannusch]

Probably does handle better, if you are driving down a waterslide...

[Jeff V.]

Dash close up for Coop.

[mjannusch]

Was thinking of carbon wrapping my HUD control piece. It seems so plain next to the carbon dash.

[Jeff V.]

I've seen it done but it was usually part of a whole dash set. So the weave matched.

I got a spare HUD control with mine. If you want to borrow it, I'd be happy to loan it to you. Just agree to share your secret if you end up finding something that looks good.

[mjannusch]

I'll take a look at it when I pull the car out of the garage again. I think when you are driving you can't really see the HUD control panel very well anyways, so maybe it is just nitpicky and a waste... Dunno.

The wrap I used for around my gauges in the center vent isn't smooth, so that probably wouldn't be the right look. It'll be tough to duplicate that flat carbon look that the dash has.

[Jeff V.]

I'd rather leave it bare plastic than end up with something like this.

[Jeff V.]

I've got a minor update to my Android Auto upgrade.

I noticed my phone (Note 8) is just barely charging while I'm running music and maps via the car's display. Like I'd leave work at 45% and 25 minutes later I'd get home and it'd be at 47. I've tested it in Vira's car with her Pioneer Android Auto setup and it'll do double digits in the same time.

The Cadillac upgrade bulletin I was using as a guide for this specified a new USB jack. I didn't bother because I wanted to keep my SD Card slot. The USB jacks pass data to the HMI module, but they get power directly from a fuse in the engine bay. My thought was that these weren't just 'dumb' USB sockets. They're full blown charger and hub assemblies. I thought they had other reasons for replacing it on the Cadillac.

So I got a single USB socket out of a 2016 Sonic, of all things. That car also supports Android Auto, so I figured it'd be a cheap way to test my hunch.

I got an app for my phone called Ampere, and tested the Corvette and Sonic jacks back to back.

The Corvette jack could barely stay above 100mA. The Sonic jack was 750-1000.

I'm going to try to find a newer jack that has dual USB and SD like the original 2014 part. Worst case, I'll get the dual USB jack from a 2015+ Corvette.

[ChargerX3]

Dope find. WAy to dive in and uncover the culprit. Can they do a patch to fix or is it a hardware issue?

[Jeff V.]

I think it's a hardware issue. The USB socket module can't supply enough current. This is basically a really fancy version of the cigarette lighter plug in chargers. Keep in mind this stuff is usually designed 2-3 years before it actually goes on the market. So the parts in my 2014 may date back as far as 2011. Nobody could have predicted what the power requirements would be for a smart phone that came out in late 2017.

I'm just glad GM had the foresight to use the same connectors and opening in the trim panel. It's a plug and play swap.

I wish they would have designed the actual module a little better though. There's no way to access one of the release tabs because it's tucked into the corner of the center console.

So when I popped it out, the faceplate came off. The two little circuit boards inside touched, and blew the fuse Fortunately there's spare fuses in the underhood fuse box. They're the new micro size, and I don't have any spares.

[vr4]

[quote=""Jeff V.""]I think it's a hardware issue. The USB socket module can't supply enough current. This is basically a really fancy version of the cigarette lighter plug in chargers. Keep in mind this stuff is usually designed 2-3 years before it actually goes on the market. So the parts in my 2014 may date back as far as 2011. Nobody could have predicted what the power requirements would be for a smart phone that came out in late 2017.

I'm just glad GM had the foresight to use the same connectors and opening in the trim panel. It's a plug and play swap.

I wish they would have designed the actual module a little better though. There's no way to access one of the release tabs because it's tucked into the corner of the center console.

So when I popped it out, the faceplate came off. The two little circuit boards inside touched, and blew the fuse Fortunately there's spare fuses in the underhood fuse box. They're the new micro size, and I don't have any spares.[/quote]


I see you're not following the official service manual instructions. Failure to disconnect the battery before performing electrical repairs

[Jeff V.]

Here's what I'm dealing with.



The original module had 2 USB sockets, an aux socket, and an SD slot. The Sonic module in the picture just has a single USB and the aux in.

There's two connectors on the back. One is a typical automotive connector that provides 12V power, ground, and signal lines for the aux in audio connector.

The other one is an actual USB mini connector. Just with a thumb latch on it so it can't fall out. The inside of that little module is basically a USB hub that's powered off the separate 12V connector. The whole car actually has a little USB network in it. It's pretty cool.

I see you're not following the official service manual instructions. Failure to disconnect the battery before performing electrical repairs

Have you seen what it takes to get to the battery on this car?

[vr4]

Yep. It's almost as bad as the Cayenne.

Either way keep it up. This is very interesting to me even though I'll likely never utilize it

[Jeff V.]

The battery thing sucks not so much because of the design, but because GM used cheap carpet. It's stuck under the trim in the trunk, and it's prone to tearing at the edges.

I was scared that fuse would be in the panel that's buried under the trunk carpet. Fortunately it wasn't.

I also didn't think the USB module would fall apart like it did.

That's why I left the Sonic USB hanging out. I'll snap it all back together when I get the correct USB part. It's only $30 and I like having a spare USB port. So far I can't find a 2016+ unit that retains the SD. Oh well.

[Jeff V.]

A while back I mentioned picking up a used C7 Carbon Z06 style splitter that needed some rehab. I bought it knowing it had some rock chips, and it had a strip of red vinyl on the leading edge that was hiding some more significant paint damage. I got it cheap enough that I was fine with all of this.

Tonight I decided to pull the vinyl off and see how bad the damage was. The good news is, it's virtually all paint damage. The actual fiberglass is fine, except for a couple spots on the bottom where it was scraped. Even those are minor. Structurally, it's in excellent condition.

But the paint is shot. When I took the vinyl off, it was pulling paint off in strips. I was able to get under the intact areas of paint with a dull razor blade and start peeling it off in sheets.



On the bright side, this will make stripping it down for fresh paint a lot easier. But I want to understand why it was adhering so poorly, so I can avoid having that happen when I repaint it.

Anyone got any suggestions?

[vr4]

Failed to use an adhesion promotor on the gel coat? Improper prep?

I've got a few of Ryan's old 3s parts that have no paint problems. Granted mine aren't Mexican production I doubt things changed much.

[DCIV]

Or just wrap the whole thing?


Coop

[Jeff V.]

Failed to use an adhesion promotor on the gel coat? Improper prep?

I did some reading on fiberglass prep, and nobody mentioned adhesive promoters. It was all focused on sanding and cleaning. The only special note about primers was when they said not to use an etching primer.

Or just wrap the whole thing?

I thought about that. But after the trouble I had with my fender stripes, I'm not ready to take on something this big and complex. It's got a lot of contours.

[mjannusch]

Maybe they didn't properly clean the surface of any oils, etc. before they started sanding. If you don't go over it with mineral spirits before sanding, any oil from a person's hands or whatever got on there in the meantime will just get pushed into the gelcoat when sanding and the paint won't stick properly.

[Jeff V.]

That's kind of what I was thinking. It's so uniform, that I'm wondering if they didn't remove the mold release agent prior to painting. I'll make sure to hit it with some solvents before I start sanding.

I could just pay to have it done, and I'd probably still come out ahead of buying one new. But I see this as something of a wear item, and I'd like to be able to repair it in the future if I need to. This is also why I didn't want carbon fiber aero parts. These will get stone chips, and there's no good way to fix that with exposed carbon.