[Gerry11363]

Hello All,
I'm new to the solstice owners club having just purchased an '07 and thought this would be a great place to check out and gather useful info.
So with that said, my new vehicle is unbelievably clean with only 1 owner and 12300 original miles, garage kept.
I do have 2 small issues that I'd like to take care of.
1st is the clear patches that protect the paint at the roof latches at the rear window have gotten spotty with mil due around the edges and a small area in the center of each., I'd like to replace the patches but I've not been able to find as source for them. Can anyone recommend where I could buy them already cut to shape.
2nd is the polished alum wheels a have some pitting around the air stems. I assume these could be buffed out. Any suggestions would be welcomed
Thanks for any help in advance

 

[warrenhotrod1]

Welcome and have fun.

 

[Gerry11363]

Thanks.
Also has anyone replaced the black front grill with a chrome one. I've seen the on eBay and they look quite sharp. I was wondering how difficult they are to replace

 

[twowheeladdict]

Welcome to the forum. I picked up my Solstice back in August of this year and have already put 8000 miles of smiles on it. Mine is a 10 footer so I am not concerning myself with the nitty-gritty details of the car for now. Spending my time getting to know the car and fixing the common nuisance issues as they crop up.

Enjoy your new car!

 

[TX08manualGXP]

Hi Gerry, welcome aboard. I think GMPartsdirect has the clear bras for the butress'. as for the wheels, get a tub of Mothers mag and wheel polish. it's the best. You can use it on jewelry too as well as old coins. for the grills, several of the guys have taken theirs out to change or paint and if you do a search for grill replacement, you will find several posts. Use the google search at the top left of this page. Good luck and have fun.

 

[boboborino]

Welcome to the forum.

Bert

 

[The_Ghost]

Welcome to the forum... A little info about your car please. Is it an NA or GXP? Color? Auto or manual? There is a WEALTH of knowledge here... and just like most families, we have a few nuts as well! All in all, it's a great bunch of people and anything you need to know can be found somewhere on this forum.... There is a search area just under where it says Solstice Forum....that will search this forum first before it goes out to the web.... Just my $0.02 donation!! :lol:

 

[chickenwire]

Welcome Gerry. And as for the "nuts" that the ghost mentions above? Well, it takes one to know one, right? ; )

Can't answer the question re: the clear film but if you hit a snag I can get you in touch with a source of sheet that you can cut to fit.

As for the polishing of pits, TX is right on the Mother's, but I'm going to say it depends on how bad the pitting is.

Welcome and have fun!

 

[rob the elder]

On most cars the buttresses float above the paint and the clear bra patches are not needed. When our two cars were repainted in 07 we left them off with no deleterious impact. Check the clearance on your car and see if you need them at all. If you decide to replace them, any good quality clearbra can be cut to shape

 

[Gerry11363]

Thanks for the welcome. Looking forward to being an active member and sharing my Solstice experiences with you all
My car is a 2007 GXP with all the upgrades (I think). It has 12,300 miles. Car fax history shows it's accurate.
Color is Mean Yellow and it's a stick shift which I really wanted.
I looked at and test drove approx 10 cars before buying this one.
I wasn't happy with most of the others for misc reasons, mileage,wear & tear, automatic etc,
I wanted a weekend toy, I'll keep it in the garage during the week and use my Mazda 6 for work.
I wasn't sure about the color at 1st but I'm now glad I got the Mean Yellow. It sure gets a good reaction on the road.
I live in S Florida so I'll be getting lots of use out of my gem.
As I said before only a couple of minor issues with wheel pitting and the buttress bra with a bit of mould under it.
Thanks again for the help with these, I'll try them out.
I'll attempt to post a couple of pic's , hope they get attached
Happy Healthy New Year to All

 

[Gerry11363]

I'll post the separately as too big for 1 one post
(I'll figure it out later)

 

[Gerry11363]

Picture 3 of 4

 

[Gerry11363]

Picture 4 of 4

 

[The_Ghost]

Just to let you know....the Mean Yellow color commands about an extra $3000 in the Detroit area on these cars! I wanted the yellow, but couldn't find one, and the ones I did find were OUTRAGEOUSLY priced!! I bought mine in Nov. '12 and paid $18,500 with 44k on it. The yellow ones with the same amount of mileage were $22-$23 at the time. My second choice was red, but there were no ones available. So then I found mine.... The stripes on it and the sound are what sold me...LOL

One more thing about yellow... It's a funny color. In the next year, everything you look at you will want to purchase in yellow...anything that is available in yellow. I had a yellow Mustang for 9 years, and EVERYTHING I bought, that could come in yellow, was yellow....:dunno:

 

[King-Oka]

Welcome - looks like you got a good one

 

[Gerry11363]

Ghost,
I found out after I purchased that the Mean Yellow was an extra charge on the original cost, I was told that it was $880 more then red,blue,white,black,silver etc
Is it just because of the color or is it an upgraded finish, ie more clear coats etc?

Also
I was contemplating changing the black front grills to polished stainless grills, available on eBay. (Can't find the grills at the fog lights though)

Any thoughts?

 

[omw41]

Welcome. Nice ride. Cool color. These links may interest you.

Buttress Film
http://www.solsticeforum.com/forum/...vades-clear-film-rear-buttress-latches-52883/

Buttress Film
http://www.skyroadster.com/forums/f5/trunk-clear-bra-peeling-34770/

 

[Wendell Young]

Welcome to the forum. I picked up my Solstice back in August of this year and have already put 8000 miles of smiles on it. Mine is a 10 footer so I am not concerning myself with the nitty-gritty details of the car for now. Spending my time getting to know the car and fixing the common nuisance issues as they crop up.

Enjoy your new car!

Please tell me what "a ten footer" means with respect to a Solstice. I'm not familiar with the term.

 

[omw41]

I am pretty sure when "10 footer" is used in that context about a Sol or any other car, it means the ride looks great from ten feet away. So, if one gets up closer than "10 feet" one might see mold under the buttress film, they might see orange peel on the paint, stone chips...

 

[omw41]

Ghost,
I found out after I purchased that the Mean Yellow was an extra charge on the original cost, I was told that it was $880 more then red,blue,white,black,silver etc
Is it just because of the color or is it an upgraded finish, ie more clear coats etc?

Also
I was contemplating changing the black front grills to polished stainless grills, available on eBay. (Can't find the grills at the fog lights though)

Any thoughts?

If you look up in the left hand corner of the Solstice Forum page you will see a box that says "Google Custom Search." I used that to bring up this link. The cool thing about it is if you type into it, it will privilege Solstice Forum Posts, and not every Solstice link on the planet. I am not suggesting you should not feel free to ask questions. I am just pointing out that "Google Custom Search" on the forum is really helpful. One can spend a whole weekend reading old posts and learn a lot.

http://www.solsticeforum.com/forum/f12/we-need-front-grill-replacement-like-11305/