Hi members

I just made a contact to possibly make a run of ( Carbon fiber targa tops) yes the REAL THING not a wrap. A 914 top is being source to make the tooling.
I understand I have no prices yet...but as soon as a donor top is found. I will be able to get an estimate based on the number of members interested.
I will post pictures of a 911 targa top to give you an idea of the finished product.

Who might be interested?

more!

Be aware there are differences on early and late tops.

How much are the 911 tops?

I would be interested if the price is right.

Yeah,that's the stuff,v-bagged,autoclaved,like aircraft components.
And now for your personal rocket ship.
1/2 the weight.

I want one! I don't know if it's in my budget though...

It would be cool, but I highly doubt I could afford it.

My dream is a top that could also have a bolt in option (like the GT cars) to stiffen up the car when driving top-on. Not sure how to engineer that one.

Yep.. If the price is right.

Sure is purdy

Am interested...if price works...AND...if will fit early car.

Never did learn if the newer tops work alright on the older cars....

Uh,Mark?
http://www.fisheriessupply.com/resins-and-...ies/epoxy-resin

Sure there is a supply closer to you.

Carbon/Aramid masts..etc.

They do the hardware is the variation as the draft angle changes on the front.

Looks expensive... like about $900-$1000.

thanks bdstone914
the info has been relayed..

Too early to say yet.. but I will pass all the info I can as I get it.
thanks

The bare 911 targa top is $1600 without any hardware, or $2700 complete. The 911 hardware is more expensive than the 914s, but I would imagine it would be at least $1200 for a 914.

At $1200 each, he will sell 3 or 4. At $400 each he will sell all of them...

Prepreg.

I'm make composite body parts for Porsche over her in Europa and one thing for sure the material is not for free it cost a lot of working hours to make a top =under 1000$ I don't think so if its made the correct way!
The weight is under 4Ib
A 944/911 door weights about 4 to 5lb

Very nice.
What are your maximum dimensions?
Of the autoclave.
Large enough for a complete floorpan and attaches.

I'm guessing a tub is possible.

I'm very interested

I have a spare top for free if you need it.

Does anyone make CF hoods (front & rear) for 914's?

DAvid

Getty

WOW those are expensive

A business dedicated to making high end 914 products is highly limited - they are three digits off from the real market. Frugal moogles teeners are...

Keep us posted - I'd be interested.

T

Hi All,
I suppose as a new member to 914 world, this is as good a time as any to make a new member introduction.
Been a huge fan of the 914 since a ride in a friends 2.0 back in high school. That's about 30yrs ago but I'm starting to get anxious about picking up a project.

Decided to jump in and make the introduction on this thread as it's my company that Kid914 contacted about the tops.

Happy to answer any questions I can.

Regards,

Todd

With a CF top, it seems like one could use it as a true structural component if designed as such from the beginning, I think you'd want to eliminate the seals or deal with those somehow so they are not letting things move about.

So perhaps you can end all the speculation. What would a CF top cost?

Always good to have another vendor on line... The CF tops are cool. Any other plans for products?

That would be awesome if we could bolt it in

David

You mean WOW those are really nice and worth every penny because making something that nice isn't cheap/easy/quick.


I'd be concerned about the new-reinforced/structural top flexing the windshield hoop and cracking windshields.

For $1200 I'd just keep my painted one. For $400 I could justify it since it's mainly coolness factor, or about the cost of a CF trunk lid. Hardware is dime a dozen with 914s.



Wouldn't be hard to make bolt together hardware the replaces the factory clamps. Flex is mainly the rears.

I think you could make it structural with a bolt on design. I would argue, that the seals would be necessary as there are still gaps. Unless thus was a pure race application.

toddc68.

Consider the following to be only my own personal thoughts on the matter and should in no way be assumed to be canon among 914 owners:

The 914 I'm restoring will wind up being a lovely weekend driver - a shiny bauble that will rarely, if ever, see a racetrack or be pushed to the point that the extra 20 pounds removed by replacing the fiberglass roof with CF will make any difference to the actual usefulness of my particular automobile.

$0 - $500

I'll put a deposit down right now. That carbon fiber example you've shown is FAR to pretty to pass up. It would be the black diamond tiara atop my beauty queen's perfect head.

$500- $1000

Hmmm. The closer to the thousand-dollar mark, the more I'd say to myself, "Well, self, as long as we've already bought the new lawn tractor, and fixed the underground irrigation issues, and the dogs don't have any upcoming expensive vet visits, I will put this new carbon fiber top into the 'definitely consider' category."

Over $1000

Man, that top is gorgeous! I will really enjoy seeing it on someone else's car at Hershey.

I look forward to updates!

I say bring it to market

This is really cool!! really this looks well done. I think more pictures are in order!
now put some seals on it and show us how it fits.

I think if you keep the retail at or under $1k you will sell a few dozen if not more-just a guess, but thats based on the number of people that were interested in the WAS top at one time, and the price on that was in the $750 range i believe.-- I bought one on the first group buy-

Light strong corrosion free.
Labour intensive using expensive materials.
nasa technology for your 914 to make less heavy.
Want a set of doors for 8 pounds of weight,it costs.
A happy meeting of cost to weight is possible if home made.
The results of course may vary,labour dependent.

Knowing how to do it is the key,learning up on the technology is as simple as lifting a book or clicking mouse.

Trying to answer a few questions, some from the thread, some private.

On the 911 top, the carbon, the laminate schedule is a mix of 6k, 12k and uni in key areas. All farics from Toray.
The resin system is a high temp epoxy with a TG of 300f.
The process is resin infusion. This gives us near autoclave results without the overhead and expense. We do have autoclave access through one of our network partners and use prepreg on some of our contract production. For the targa tops, it's simply un-necessary. We gain a great deal of rigidity and light weight with the infusion process.
After trim and bond, the tops are clearcoated with a PPG high solids clear or painted body color based on customer request.

The process for the 914 top would most likely be the same.

In the 911 top, we have incorporated metal backing plates at all of the guide pin locations that allow the same range of adjustment as the factory hard top. They are also designed to accept our replica guide pins or stock hardware. We inststall rivnuts for attachment of the seals. The seals themselves have a range of adjustment.

The stock 911 fiberglass hardtop from '75 weighs in around 25.5 lbs. Our carbon hard top comes in at 11. These weights are exclusive of hardware and seals.


Pricing? this has been a key question for most. It is still TBD based on potential market size and tooling cost.
To give you a quick idea of the tooling cost for the 911 top, it was north of $20k for the molds, bonding fixtures and related misc hardware.

This cost was amortized over the anticipated production run.

Some folks have hinted at the price they would "like to" buy one at, but this is premature.

The $400 and $500 numbers were thrown out there but realistically, this is the bare cost of materials on the 911 top and does not account for labour or overhead let along recoup of tooling investment.

What would final cost on a 914 top be? Time will tell. A lot depends on potential volume, intricacies of the top and it's mounting hardware and variations between early and late and whether or not any of the tooling is interchangeable between the two.
At this point, we're still in the discovery phase.

For some more pics and info on the company and some of the bits we produce, you can find us on FB at helion composites, llc

You can also find a great thread on pelican if you search for "composite targa top development"

Meanwhile, here's a 911 top installed

A few more installed pics

Metro Detroit! that's awesome. Finally someone local

I'd be interested, depending on cost, of course. Cool look and nice and light!

That's an expensive tool.Very nice results.
Worth every penny.
Now,need doors,trunk and hood.
Add lightness,>Colin Chapman.
Kudos.

Edit:I presume you are using vacuum assist.

indeed, in warren.

Would love to check out your car!

That's a beautiful targa top and I can see that's a lot of work in it!

Yep, vacuum assist indeed.

Beautiful quality. Removing a few pounds up high is a good thing too ! My back would enjoy the less weight as well !

I would be in for an early version.

Might be cool to texture coat it and paint it to look stock. Sleeper modification !