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Posted by: ThinAir Sep 23 2009, 10:47 AM

I ordered AA's fiberglass Limited Edition Front Valance back in August, but have now learned that it is back ordered because the mold broke and they are searching for a new fabricator.

Does anyone know of another source for this style of valance? I'm looking for one that is actually going to fit right, not just fit okay. If I really got my wish I'd find one that is made out of some kind of flexible material so that I won't bust it if I contact a curb (been there, done that!).

Posted by: URY914 Sep 23 2009, 10:52 AM

GT Racing maybe?

Posted by: TROJANMAN Sep 23 2009, 11:01 AM

I have one in my attic I'd be happy to get to you.....
Too bad I didn't know last week.

Posted by: Travis Neff Sep 23 2009, 11:02 AM

Try Morphenspectra, his spoiler was molded from an original spoiler, so it has the correct proportions compared to other LE spoilers.

Posted by: tat2dphreak Sep 23 2009, 11:07 AM

http://914ap.com/products.php

Posted by: dr914@autoatlanta.com Sep 23 2009, 11:09 AM

mold is good we are just behind in the making of the parts. ABS rockers will hit any moment and we ARE making a new mold from one of the original PLASTIC 914 limited edition spoilers which is really a PERFECT fit and very strong. It is probably the best fitting and looking piece to date.

Posted by: ThinAir Sep 23 2009, 11:30 AM

So George, is the LE Valance going to be available in ABS? Actually I don't know my materials well enough to know what it should be made from, I just know that my current fiberglass valance shattered when a U-turn got me too close to a curb. I don't mind scratches, but I hate the idea that a slight miscalculation might ruin the valance again. Modern car "bumpers" are made from something far more forgiving and that's the kind of thing I'd like to see.

Posted by: MoveQik Sep 23 2009, 12:20 PM

That is what I have on my car. Fits perfect with no modifications. PLus this give me an excuse to post this pic again.

Posted by: dr914@autoatlanta.com Sep 23 2009, 03:21 PM

No the tooling would be prohibitively expensive unless we could get a group buy of 50 of them at 100 each. Then we would make them out of polyurethane.

Posted by: thompson-mfr Sep 23 2009, 05:06 PM

I have one from Morph as well and it intalled perfect and looks great.

Posted by: JRust Sep 23 2009, 05:21 PM

I've been to James & Heidi's place (Morph). He makes some good products. I do know the original LE spoiler he used to make his mold. His repro turned out great & is proportioned just right. Not injected like the original but otherwise pretty dead on. I have 3 of his products & have been happy with each one

Posted by: ThinAir Sep 23 2009, 05:42 PM

I met James at WCR07 in Portland and I'm familiar with his products, but had lost track of how to find him. He's "Morph" on this board and I had been looking for him as "Morphenspectra".

Too bad about the polyurethane version, but at least now I know what to call that stuff!

Posted by: number6 Sep 23 2009, 07:11 PM

I would be down for 4 or 5. Surely we can get enough interest for 50, no? Anyone else? Pretty please!

The fiberglass version is too brittle and paint nicks off way too easily.

-duc

Posted by: jjbunn Sep 23 2009, 07:50 PM

+1

Posted by: ThinAir Sep 23 2009, 10:21 PM

Well, George... are you serious about a group buy of 50 in polyurethane?

Posted by: dr914@autoatlanta.com Sep 24 2009, 12:06 PM

yes we have a perfect original factory part to make a mold from and we have the company to do it, them having just completed the FABULOUS ABS rocker panels, so all we need it someone to organize the group buy and we will handle. We currently have the perfect part at our fiberglass guy to make a mold, and then are getting it back, it easily sent to our abs guy. The spoiler could be made of the exact same material as the original factory piece so it would flex nicely if hit.

Posted by: ThinAir Sep 24 2009, 02:28 PM

Hey guys - be on the lookout for a group buy to be posted. I've not done one of these before so I've got some details to work out, but George's offer is for real and I'll be posting soon to see if we can get enough sales to make this happen.

Posted by: Jeff Bowlsby Sep 24 2009, 03:04 PM

We could probably get 50 buyers just from the LE car owners alone, so many do not have their original spoilers anymore (only about 10%).

BUT, the repro spoilers for the LE owners would have to be exact duplicates of the originals: same materials (molded fiberglass) and same details in every way. I imagine that price is not so important to LE owners as is the quality.

Why go to the trouble of making yet another repro of these if its not any different than the others already available?

Posted by: dlee6204 Sep 24 2009, 03:09 PM

That includes me! I would definitely be interested in a better quality one for my LE.

Posted by: ThinAir Sep 24 2009, 03:34 PM

It sounds to me like what George is offering is indeed different than what is currently available and is identical to the original. If that is not the case, then I agree that there is no point, but it sounds the same to me.

Posted by: Travis Neff Sep 24 2009, 04:06 PM

So is this molded fiberglass or poly (flexy plastic)? I must be missing something.

Posted by: bigkensteele Sep 24 2009, 08:45 PM

Put me down for one if the price is not crazy. I know that George will produce a quality product.

Posted by: morph Sep 24 2009, 10:17 PM

If you having trouble finding us we are at http://www.914ap.com
Our le air dam was made due to the numerous le air dams that are out there that are not even close to the original at times. Ours was made from a factory one and is identical to the factory dimensions.the only thing we didnt do is cast the interior like the factory unit (the back is not smooth and there are no injection circles at the end) ours costs more that others .but we put more into it being like the original . and it comes polished and ready to install.

on a further note we can make one that does look exactly like the factory one.we do custom mfg products for people all the time.
james

Posted by: Jeff Bowlsby Sep 24 2009, 10:54 PM

Yay James!

Is it possible that you can post up some good quality detailed photos of your LE spoiler? Even better if you can include the optional upgrades to show the quality of your work and how closely the upgrades come to the original.

Posted by: tat2dphreak Sep 24 2009, 11:01 PM

ok, I'm confused George is saying the factory LE was plastic and Jeff is saying Fiberglass is correct... I tend to believe Jeff, especially on anything "LE", and I know the detail first hand Morph puts into his work...

so...

was the original?... original as in on a 'bee' with 0 miles. I'm not in the market, I'm just curious.

Posted by: johnnie5 Sep 25 2009, 08:08 AM

I have purchased 5 or 6 items from James (Morph), including his LE replica. I am extremely happy with all of the products I bought from him, especially the front valance. It fit perfectly and so was a breeze to install, plus the black finish is fantastic. He only recommends to apply a coat of wax once a year to keep the beautiful finish shiny.

Also, I pulled into a diagonial parking spot that had a concrete stopper pushed in closer than it should have been, and hit the valance. Did not damage it at all, except for a small scratch - and I gave it a pretty good shot.

No need for a group buy from the self proclaimed King of 914's, there is already an awesome LE replica ready to ship from 914 Appearance and Performance.

Posted by: morph Sep 25 2009, 09:07 AM

The factory unit is made in injecteted resin mold. They laid a cottonlike fiberglass in a mold and injected the resin.ALL of the factory units have the part # molded into them. The seats and the tops where made the same way. If you pull apart a 75-76 seat you will most likely see the air they left in the parts, They didnt seem to care after they realised no one would see the air unless you take the seat apart.

For being a aftermarket builder we find our selves building restorstion quality parts all the time.

Sorry jeff we do not have pictures of smooth backed unit we havent made one yet.
We can build one. We have been building our regular le unit for few years.
Thank you to all of you who have bought and endorsed us for over 6 years.

james

Posted by: ThinAir Sep 25 2009, 10:52 AM

Based upon the info from Morph and Johnnie5, I'm not going to move ahead with the group buy since it doesn't seem to offer anything better than what is already on the market.

My interest all along was to find an LE valance that I didn't need to be afraid to have on the car. Since Johnnie5's experience shows that Morph offers what I'm looking for, that's good enough for me.

Posted by: TROJANMAN Sep 25 2009, 11:03 AM

You guys rock!

Posted by: number6 Sep 25 2009, 01:22 PM

Hi James

Clarification, please: Your front LE valance is fiberglass like those sold by other resellers, no? Sounds like it's much better built/laid, with proper attention to details, etc...but the construction is more or less the same as the others, yes?

Basically, my experience with these (I've never seen one of yours as the others sent me running back to the steel pan) is that they are brittle and chip easily. The mounting points seem to be a source of weakness, as they wear with vibration/bumps/air pressure/etc, and eventually give. I don't know about your piece, but the others I've used have not had any reinforcement in the mounting spots. Also, I got tired of constantly having to do paint touch-ups from all the chips.

This is why I like the idea of a plastic piece. Flexibility. Color is in the material, so no need to paint initially or perform touch-ups over time. Dr 914's $100 price seems extremely reasonable to me given these benefits, considering that a fiberglass valance is $70-90+, and you still have to paint it (which is easily $100+ if outsourced).

I'm probably in the minority here, but exactly matching the factory LE valance is not important to me. I'm more interested in the materials and construction.

For those who haven't dealt with James, he's the best! Great products, excellent service, top-notch custom work. And he KNOWS these cars!

-duc

Posted by: morph Sep 25 2009, 02:01 PM

In general our is simalar to others made.
Our desighn even copys the factory mounting tabs,minus one small thing the factory put small gussets on each side of the mounting tab.We simplty put a small curve where the gussets was from the factory was at. ( we made it production friendly) Our unit dosent even need to be painted depending on the color you want it in. We send it out polished black gel coat that only requires you to just wax it about twice a year. we can do other colors but no "custom " colors are avaiable.
james

Posted by: dr914@autoatlanta.com Sep 25 2009, 04:46 PM

Jeff is of course correct on the limited edition original spoiler. It is a molded fiberglass injected piece.
What Volkswagen products offered as an option in 1974-1976 was an vacuum formed plastic limited edition spoiler with a tremendous fit and greater durability than the original german factory piece. We are offering to duplicate the vacuumed formed limited edition spoiler as a way to offer a more durable piece for the masses of 914s who want to wear the look but are not original limited edition cars.
We have a limited edition spoiler in fiberglass that we made from the original limited edition piece but of course it is not injected but rather chopper gunned. It looks identical from the outside and fits like the original but is not original!

Posted by: MoveQik Sep 25 2009, 05:50 PM

Hey Ernie,

Just get one from James and never look back! Great product. Perfect fit and very high quality. In addition, if he says he has it, he does. It'll ship next day and you'll be happy as can be. He donates to events on a regular basis and even attends some. What more could you ask for?

Posted by: Travis Neff Sep 25 2009, 06:37 PM

Damn Wills, could you be any more handsomer?

Posted by: MoveQik Sep 25 2009, 09:57 PM

Travis....the answer is clearly "NO"! :PeopleMagazineSexiestManOfTheYearSmilie:

Posted by: johnnie5 Sep 25 2009, 10:00 PM

Exactly...