Anyone have a suggestion for a squeeking targa top? How about anyone have a good rear seal they want to sell? The noise is coming from the rear seal. I guess you never realize how much flex is the chassis until you have a decaying old targa seal. I'm not ready to add a cage. The car just spent 7 years on jack stands. Were driving this bad boy for a while.


And ya I know I can remove and stow the top. Ha Ha....

Rich,

I used one of those "Sammy Seals" for my rear targa seal. Nice product and it's only $40 compared to like Tree fiftee from Porsche.Scroll through till you see Sam Gore. You can probally contact him through his email link.


http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?act...2&hl=sammy+seal

The Sammy seal is the way to go.
You can also use a light dusting of baby powder on the seal to stop the squeaking.

taking it off always works for me.

Good seals, tight clips, silicone spray.

Wise guy.

rich, for a temp fix, get some felt with adhesive on one side. put a piece in the indentations for the rubber stand-offs(or what ever the correct term is) on the top. you might need to put 2 strips on the 2 trim pieces on the sides of the targa bar.

kevin

I didn't see him listed on the products and resources section of the forum. He should post there. I'll see if I can search him out. For now I'm going to try the baby powder idea.

Thanks

Sam is like the 8th person down from the top of that link I gave you.

Ooops, Sorry I had way too much coffee this morning.

adjust the top hinges so it sits tighter. if you still can't get it tight enough with your current seals, add one layer of weater-stripping ontop of the seals in the back (all around where it sits on the targa bar).

you should now have a schnugg fit, if not, get a roll-cage!
Andy

I have had good luck with Kevin's solution. There are two black hard plastic "stand offs" on the rear of the top. They contact the small plated indent on each side of the targa bar top. That is what squeaks. I have stopped it by applying a little grease to the plastic and the contact point on the bar. I once drove a car home 2400 miles with the squeak driving me crazy all the way. Told the former owner when I got home and he said, "Oh yea, I just stick a dollar bill or piece of paper under the plastic and it stops". Now he tells me!!!!

Also, you can get the rear more snug by using a short piece of plastic tubing over the little stud that the rear latch grabs.

here's some information that may help with the squeak: (warning, tech article ahead)

A new targa seal will tighten things up and usually gets rid of the squeaks and wind noise, but not always. On some 914s the rear latches are worn down so even a good targa seal won't solve the problem completely.
If that is the case here's some tricks that make a huge difference:
Most of the squeaking comes from the rectangular rubber stops that hang down from the rear corners of the targa roof.
Over time those bumpers get hard and the painted surface that they were designed to fit against gets worn so the paint is gone. It can be re-painted
but that doesn't make much difference.

If a new targa seal doesn't tighten everything up enough, take some sand paper and gently sand the end of the rubber stops so that the hard, shiny glaze is removed and a flat black even surface is left on the end. You don't have to remove very much, a layer of rubber as thick as a piece of paper usually is
enough.
Then take some vaseline and coat the end you just sanded. Repeat the application of vaseline every day for several days, then once a week for
several weeks, then once a month. It doesn't take much, just enough to spread over the surface.
The vaseline isn't really supposed to lubricate anything, it simply softens the rubber where it rubs against the targa bar and keeps it from making
noise.

If your rear latches are really worn, (usually where the hooks latch onto the thin metal pieces) you can put a small section of surgical tubing or rubber hose on the roof latches to make the latches engage tighter. This may or may not be necessary, but on roofs with worn latches it makes all the difference in the world.
If you take a piece of tubing or hose that is just large enough to barely fit over the hooks, that will make the latches pull the roof down harder and
make up for the wear over the past 30 years.

I have several seals ready to ship and I would like to sell them, but if the solution can be had by doing a couple of the tricks above I feel I should share even if it costs me a sale.
Try these things first and if you still need a seal I got em.
I have a couple of pictures on my website at http://home.earthlink.net/~sammyg2/id1.html
My seals fit mount and fit like the original but mine don't have the felt strip.
On some of the very early targa seals the small chrome side strips were actually molded into the rubber. If you have one of these it takes more work to make my seal fit. It's been done but it can be a pain to cut the chrome strip from the old seal.
On most seals the chrome strips are not part of the seal and if you have one of those it takes about 10 minutes to install my seal.

I sell em for $39 each and I cover the shipping costs to the U.S.
Nope, not much profit in these things, barely enough to justify making them. I accept paypal and money orders.
Every seal I sell comes with a money back guaranty, if the buyer isn't satisfied for any reason I replace the seal or refund the money (minus shipping costs).
BTW I've sold over 200 of these seals and no returns so far. I offer that because there is nothing worse that someone who gets pissed and starts complaining on the internet. I really don't want to ever have to deal with that.
It's just not worth it when you look at how much I make on these things.
Contact me at sammyg2@earthlink.net if you want a seal.

Thanks for the info, Sammy. I learned a couple things.
Now I can

Sammy -

My Sammy Seal should arrive in a couple of days and thanks again for sharing your squeaky, rattling targa top advice in the email you sent me. I did treat the rectangles on my top and took my car for a spin. The squeak was greatly reduced. I also still had the top rattle.

Thanks for pointing out that the rectangles are the source of the squeak. Before receiving your advice I had put small tubes around the hooks to snug the top and this helped a bit with the squeak. I also tried putting pieces of cut up mouse pad under the edge of the top which stopped the noise (rattle and squeak) for a few miles.

I have now implemented a modification of your advice. For now I have placed a couple of squares of the mouse pad rubber on the metal plate under the rectangles. This stopped both the squeak and the rattle. The rectangles are not squeaking on the metal and the lift from the rubber snugs the top at the hooks. I am a happy camper. Now I hear other noises (not related to the top).

Sandy

Thanks for the great info. I went out today and placed a couple of small pieces cloth backed vinyl in the trench for the rubber blocks. That solved the problem completely. Thanks again.

LOL I'd never make it as a used car salesman
Glad to hear your problems go away.