 914 Can Am front spoiler, Is yours factory or aftermarket? |
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| JeffBowlsby |
 Jan 16 2009, 07:59 PM
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#1
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914 Wiring Harnesses & Beekeeper  Group: Members Posts: 9,222 Joined: 7-January 03 From: San Ramon CA Member No.: 104 Region Association: None 
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Spotters guide: There are other differences, but here some basics to help you recognize them from a distance.
The factory valence has this part number molded proud into the inside center surface, aftermarket does not. The numbers are about 1/2 in high, near the bottom edge. The VW symbol is dead centered on the valence. This part is NLA. The inside surface is raw white plastic, not painted. The factory valence has 2 metal angled support braces and hardware, aftermarket does not. The orange valence in these photos is factory, the black one is aftermarket. There are several different aftermarket companies making these so called 'LE spoilers' and each one is different, this black one I show is only one of several styles. Look at the photos for differences in details and quality. I have not seen a believable aftermarket unit, but I would not think these would be hard to copy perfectly. Can anyone here mold these and repro an excellent copy? I bet there are some LE owners who would want good repros, only about 25% of the surviving LE cars still their have factory spoilers. Attached image(s)  
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| JeffBowlsby |
Jan 16 2009, 08:00 PM
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#2
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914 Wiring Harnesses & Beekeeper Group: Members Posts: 9,222 Joined: 7-January 03 From: San Ramon CA Member No.: 104 Region Association: None
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Front corner view
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| JeffBowlsby |
Jan 16 2009, 08:01 PM
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#3
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914 Wiring Harnesses & Beekeeper Group: Members Posts: 9,222 Joined: 7-January 03 From: San Ramon CA Member No.: 104 Region Association: None
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Side view: Note the plumb vertical edge and parallel width (top and bottom edges)
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| JeffBowlsby |
Jan 16 2009, 08:02 PM
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#4
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914 Wiring Harnesses & Beekeeper Group: Members Posts: 9,222 Joined: 7-January 03 From: San Ramon CA Member No.: 104 Region Association: None
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Wheel well edge:
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| sww914 |
Jan 16 2009, 08:25 PM
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#5
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Advanced Member Group: Members Posts: 2,439 Joined: 4-June 06 Member No.: 6,146 Region Association: None |
Are the factory originals molded plastic? All of the A/M LE spoilers that I've seen are fiberglass and that would explain part of it. Some things are possible with molded plastic that are very difficult with fiberglass, for instance the dimples in the ends.
A mold for an injection molded plastic part runs around 10K and up, a fiberglass mold can be made by a bonehead in his garage in a weekend. I think that the glass spoilers may very well have been made by people that didn't actually have an LE spoiler to copy, just pictures and a bumper to work off of. I've built a grand total of 3 fiberglass molds and I'm sure that I could build a better part than the black one in your picture. |
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| southernmost914 |
Jan 16 2009, 08:47 PM
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#6
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KEY WEST/HAVANA Tunnel Authority Group: Members Posts: 338 Joined: 16-October 07 From: Key West/ St. Augie, Fl USA Member No.: 8,234 Region Association: South East States
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QUOTE(sww914 @ Jan 16 2009, 09:25 PM)  Are the factory originals molded plastic? All of the A/M LE spoilers that I've seen are fiberglass and that would explain part of it. Some things are possible with molded plastic that are very difficult with fiberglass, for instance the dimples in the ends. A mold for an injection molded plastic part runs around 10K and up, a fiberglass mold can be made by a bonehead in his garage in a weekend. I think that the glass spoilers may very well have been made by people that didn't actually have an LE spoiler to copy, just pictures and a bumper to work off of. I've built a grand total of 3 fiberglass molds and I'm sure that I could build a better part than the black one in your picture. oem, plastic Steve |
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| JeffBowlsby |
Jan 16 2009, 08:52 PM
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#7
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914 Wiring Harnesses & Beekeeper Group: Members Posts: 9,222 Joined: 7-January 03 From: San Ramon CA Member No.: 104 Region Association: None
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The originals are fairly thin, only about 1/16 - 3/32 in. thick (wheel well edge and attachment points are thickned), in a hard, dense resin plastic, fiber-reinforced, and molded smooth on all surfaces. The valence seems slightly more brittle than fiberglass, but it would be subtle if at all. They do look injection molded. Would injection molding be easier/faster than laying up fiberglass, when the factory made them in production quantity? How do they made corvette body parts - injection molds?
Could a good mold just be made from the original part using a mold release? At least the outer surface and the proportions would be exact, the inside really is not that important or visible. I just remembered I had a photo from another car I used to own with a different style aftermarket valance...this puppy has 'wings'...sorry its the best photo of this valence that I have. Attached image(s) 
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| southernmost914 |
Jan 16 2009, 08:58 PM
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#8
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KEY WEST/HAVANA Tunnel Authority Group: Members Posts: 338 Joined: 16-October 07 From: Key West/ St. Augie, Fl USA Member No.: 8,234 Region Association: South East States
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Oh, Grashopper I like your wings!
Steve |
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| JeffBowlsby |
Jan 16 2009, 09:06 PM
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#9
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914 Wiring Harnesses & Beekeeper Group: Members Posts: 9,222 Joined: 7-January 03 From: San Ramon CA Member No.: 104 Region Association: None
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QUOTE(southernmost914 @ Jan 16 2009, 06:58 PM) Oh, Grashopper I like your wings! Steve That car was a blast, I miss it. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/locust.gif) |
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| championgt1 |
Jan 16 2009, 09:14 PM
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#10
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Don't embarrass me Filmore! Group: Members Posts: 2,683 Joined: 3-January 07 From: Tacoma, Washington Member No.: 7,420 Region Association: Pacific Northwest |
QUOTE(southernmost914 @ Jan 16 2009, 06:58 PM) Oh, Grashopper I like your wings! Steve (IMG:style_emoticons/default/agree.gif) Nice hopper! |
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| watsonrx13 |
Jan 17 2009, 06:41 AM
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#11
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Advanced Member Group: Members Posts: 2,735 Joined: 18-February 03 From: Plant City, FL Member No.: 312 Region Association: South East States |
QUOTE I have not seen a believable aftermarket unit, but I would not think these would be hard to copy perfectly. Can anyone here mold these and repro an excellent copy? I bet there are some LE owners who would want good repros, only about 25% of the surviving LE cars still their have factory spoilers. I would be very interested..... Jeff, thanks for pointing the differences out.... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/aktion035.gif) -- Rob |
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| 914werke |
Jan 17 2009, 11:10 AM
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#12
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"I got blisters on me fingers" Group: Members Posts: 11,606 Joined: 22-March 03 From: USofA Member No.: 453 Region Association: Pacific Northwest
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The one I have on my car is an OE piece and was originally
cracked up before James Houge (Morph) of Appearance & Performance fame repaired it and then I believe created a buck to reproduce accurate copies from it. He (they (IMG:style_emoticons/default/bye1.gif) Heidi) have it listed on thier store site. I havent seen one of thes copies though. Maybe he'll chime in. One of the other specific details on the OE piece is that the tabs formed into the bottom edge where the brackets mount have square holes for a very small carriage type bolt (pictured above). (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) R. |
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| JeffBowlsby |
Jan 17 2009, 11:14 AM
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#13
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914 Wiring Harnesses & Beekeeper Group: Members Posts: 9,222 Joined: 7-January 03 From: San Ramon CA Member No.: 104 Region Association: None
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Thanks for posting about James' spoiler Rich. I have not seen his version either, but I hope he will take some good photos of the details of his repro spoiler and post them here.
(IMG:style_emoticons/default/poke.gif) |
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| Mark Henry |
Jan 17 2009, 12:03 PM
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#14
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that's what I do! Group: Members Posts: 20,065 Joined: 27-December 02 From: Port Hope, Ontario Member No.: 26 Region Association: Canada |
I thought mine was A/M as it looks more like the bottom pics, but it was definitely injection molded. It was broke and I modified it when I rebuilt it so I don't think I could tell now.
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| J P Stein |
Jan 17 2009, 12:09 PM
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#15
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Irrelevant old fart Group: Members Posts: 8,797 Joined: 30-December 02 From: Vancouver, WA Member No.: 45 Region Association: None |
Mine is aftermarket and used primarily as a cone repositioning device.....with the scars to prove it...pix too.
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| Gint |
Jan 17 2009, 12:15 PM
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#16
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Mike Ginter Group: Admin Posts: 16,106 Joined: 26-December 02 From: Denver CO. Member No.: 20 Region Association: Rocky Mountains  |
QUOTE(rdauenhauer @ Jan 17 2009, 10:10 AM) The one I have on my car is an OE piece and was originally cracked up before James Houge (Morph) of Appearance & Performance fame repaired it and then I believe created a buck to reproduce accurate copies form it. He (they (IMG:style_emoticons/default/bye1.gif) Heidi) have it listed on thier store site. I havent seen one of thes copies though. Maybe he'll chime in. One of the other specific details on the OE piece is that the tabs formed into the bottom edge where the brackets mount have square holes for a very small carriage type bolt (pictured above). (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) R. 'bout halfway down on the left... http://www.914ap.com/products.php |
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| JeffBowlsby |
Jan 17 2009, 04:25 PM
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#17
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914 Wiring Harnesses & Beekeeper Group: Members Posts: 9,222 Joined: 7-January 03 From: San Ramon CA Member No.: 104 Region Association: None
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It would be great to see the wheel well edge detail.
QUOTE(Gint @ Jan 17 2009, 10:15 AM) QUOTE(rdauenhauer @ Jan 17 2009, 10:10 AM) The one I have on my car is an OE piece and was originally cracked up before James Houge (Morph) of Appearance & Performance fame repaired it and then I believe created a buck to reproduce accurate copies form it. He (they (IMG:style_emoticons/default/bye1.gif) Heidi) have it listed on thier store site. I havent seen one of thes copies though. Maybe he'll chime in. One of the other specific details on the OE piece is that the tabs formed into the bottom edge where the brackets mount have square holes for a very small carriage type bolt (pictured above). (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) R. 'bout halfway down on the left... http://www.914ap.com/products.php Attached image(s) 
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| burton73 |
Jan 17 2009, 09:42 PM
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#18
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Senior member, and old dude Group: Members Posts: 3,989 Joined: 2-January 07 From: Los Angeles Member No.: 7,414 Region Association: Southern California
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Hi,
I have a factory LE spoiler on my 76 car that came from the factory with it. It had a small amount of damage on a corner so I bought a copy to put on till I get around to fixing it. The copy that you show is a good copy as copies go but it is a copy. My wife could not tell. As I have been in the plastic biz for 34 years and 3-d molding of polyesters as one of my specialties over the years I have thought on this. The factory part could have been cast under vacuum or pressure. When you close up a part that big the tooling starts to cost a lot compared to fiberglass layup tooling. The precision that you get is dead nuts on but cost a lot. Please excuse my spelling as am in Hong Kong now at the airport going to my factory in China to celebrate the New Year. I do not do this work now. I have done work before making special 2 part hard urethane foam material for rifiel stocks in closed molds made of filled urathane. You bolt the two parts of the mold after you wax it and pour the expanding foam material. If fills up the mold and builds pressure giving you a primo 3-d part. You just need to experiment on how much material to put in so you do not over fill it. Some foam expand 2 to 1, 3 to 1 so on. You need to Ck with the supplier. Bob |
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| 1970 Neun vierzehn |
Jan 17 2009, 10:35 PM
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#19
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Advanced Member Group: Members Posts: 3,199 Joined: 16-March 06 From: cincinnati, ohio Member No.: 5,727 |
This is an aftrmkt item manufactured and/or distributed by "Karrousel" in the mid-to-late '70s. I installed it on my '70 in 1977 and it's been on the car since.
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| JeffBowlsby |
Jan 18 2009, 08:01 AM
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#20
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914 Wiring Harnesses & Beekeeper Group: Members Posts: 9,222 Joined: 7-January 03 From: San Ramon CA Member No.: 104 Region Association: None
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Ahhh, is this the same company?
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