Side Sill Spot Welds Melting From Heat ????

[piper1112]

Any problems with the side sills heating up and some of the spot welds melting, resulting in a divet on the top of the side sills just behind the front tire ( first 4 inches, on the flat top of the sill), as well as the paint bubbling. My GTS is flawless with 10,000 miles on it , and it has these 3 melted welds(I think) in this area. Someone else I know has the same problem with there 96, and I saw something similar on a 97 GTS…ever heard of this?
I am not familiar with the structure of the sills, and I'm not sure that these are even spot welds, but they're circular in appearance and approx. the size of a dime, and appear to be some type of weld/rivet?

Piper

 

[1TONY1]

You may have a rivet there....problems in that area due to corrosion ... I believe from dissimilar metals ??

 

[Asp Man]

Uh, oh. Sounds like corrosion. The sills are alluminum, there is insulation inside. When abrasive material, road grit, gets between the two, and the insul. gets wet from washing, the result is corrosion.
There are many threads on the subject, just search it.
I don't think the '96s were any different from the '97s, side sill wise anyhow. There are no spot welds on the sills themselves.
Get it delt with right away, it will only get worse. fyi, the sills are very expensive to replace with factory parts, there are options, but if you want to keep your low mile orig...

 

[Ratical2]

http://forums.viperclub.org/showthread.php?t=623285&referrerid=26977

As Asp Man says, many threads on this subject....

 

[piper1112]

Uh, oh. Sounds like corrosion. The sills are alluminum, there is insulation inside. When abrasive material, road grit, gets between the two, and the insul. gets wet from washing, the result is corrosion.
There are many threads on the subject, just search it.
I don't think the '96s were any different from the '97s, side sill wise anyhow. There are no spot welds on the sills themselves.
Get it delt with right away, it will only get worse. fyi, the sills are very expensive to replace with factory parts, there are options, but if you want to keep your low mile orig...

I Did a quick search before I posted this thread,and didn't see much on this subject.
Piper

 

[piper1112]

http://forums.viperclub.org/showthread.php?t=623285&referrerid=26977

As Asp Man says, many threads on this subject....

Thanks for the link

Piper

 

[dave6666]

Could be from where the insulation is attached inside.

 

[gen2lover]

dave,piper might be busy? i pm'd him to go cruise.im in his city-windsor. either he is busy or does not like other viper owners? lol.

 

[piper1112]

dave,piper might be busy? i pm'd him to go cruise.im in his city-windsor. either he is busy or does not like other viper owners? lol.

Huh? What does this have to do with the side sills.....WOW???

 

[dave6666]

Huh? What does this have to do with the side sills.....WOW???

I thought the same. But you have to understand the source...

 

[plumcrazy]

lol......

piper, id bet its what tony said. what color ?

 

[piper1112]

I thought the same. But you have to understand the source...

Thanks Dave,
I thought it was odd...I actually went back to make sure I was on the Viper Forum and not Days of our Lives.

Piper

p.s. sorry to get side tracked, I do appreciate all responses so far from the members and maybe we could continue on.

 

[piper1112]

lol......

piper, id bet its what tony said. what color ?

Hey Crazy,

Two of them are almost holes with the final one being raised paint ( blue...I heard it's the fastest colour)

Piper

 

[jdeft1]

Yep, It's a common and known problem. I went as far as to remove the insulation and rivets and install a catless (much cooler) system on my gen 1.

 

[dave6666]

Well, while you have the sills off, convert all of the sheet metal screws to rivet nuts. There's a how to in the Illustrated Upgrades section. Which you'll gain access to right after you join the VCA...

 

[plumcrazy]

yep, get the cats off that car or at least install high flows. then get them fixed. shouldnt be too expensive and you can take them off pretty easily yourself to save a few bucks.