Can anyone identify if this is an NOS or reproduction front bumper top? I don't know when it was purchased from Pelican Parts, but I would guess at least 10 years ago.

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Made in Western Germany? Does not look/ appear to be a repo.
All the repos are made in the USA or the far east to the best of my knowledge -

Stamped with the part number....West Germany......right texture....real

Yes, it's definitely the real deal for the reasons stated above, plus when Tom Gould still owned Pelican on the shipping tag, there were no repro parts yet.

FYI - Tom sold Pelican to his former employees, semi-retired, then started TC'sGarage.com which advertises on here. He & Bev are good folks, know Porsches & Tom was a 914 guy for decades, so they can get you parts at reasonable prices.

Either mount them to a really nice CW 914, or contact me if you're selling the front NOS, & I may be interested (I have an NOS rear & a set of the repros with better SS bolts in them & better rubber).

Cheers!
Tom
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That bottom number 474004 3 & the circle thingy would be the manufacturing date coding, but I don't recall how the circle with the 3 translates.

474 should indicate it was made in 1974, & 004 may be April .... or the 3 in the inset &/or in the circle dealie could be March - I don't recall offhand.

- the arrow in the circle points to 6 of 10 if read clockwise - so maybe it was a BORG part!?


Tom
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I also have a rear bumper top that I believe was purchased at the same time as the front one and mounted on a non-running car, which sat on jack stands in a garage until I bought it the other day. It isn't still in the shipping packaging like the front, but it looks to be in perfect condition.

Any idea what the set is worth? I don't need them.

Worth? A LOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Reproduction pieces go for over $300 each

Someone sold a set of NOS tops on ebay with a buy-it-now of $529 and they sold within a couple of minutes.

Someone is probably still gloating over that one.

Andrew,

Try calling Tom Gould at TC'sGarage in Vista CA & he can probably do a price check on the rear one, since AFAIK they're still available from Porsche. He'll get a kick out of your having his name on the tags! IIRC I paid $375 + Tax + shipping from Performance Products/Automation (now part of Eklers) back in 2010+/- for my OE rear top pad.

The fronts are NLA new, although there is buzz that Porsche Classic will start producing the F & R top pads again, since the 914s are gaining in both favor & value. If/when they do come out, then I'd expect their prices to run in the range of what the rear ones are selling for now (if still available, which they were last I heard).

The prices for NOS front top pads run from reasonable - for a part with a better made repro out there (better plastic with SS studs & stiffeners vs. OE foam & rustable mild steel), to ludicrous parts gouging prices. You can do a Google search with the name of part + part number to see if there are any recent sales out there on here, evil-bay, Craig's Lost, etc.

You can see the prices for the really excellent repros at 914Rubber, Auto Atlanta, Stoddard's, Sierra Madre Collection (Pasadena), etc., as well as for the OE rear ones there & from Porsche, Eklers/Automation, & the other typical Porsche parts shops.

Sunset Porsche in OR & Suncoast Porsche in FL also have online discount Porsche Parts websites where you can check the "best dealer pricing" for the OE rear one (you may have to email them with the part number if it doesn't come up in a search on their sites).

I replied to your PM regarding the front only vs. pair.

PS - IIRC I paid $500 or 550 all in for the F & R pair of 914Rubber repros in a 2011-12 Group Buy on here.

GLWTS!
Tom
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It would be hard to determine if that the part was produced back then, although the tooling most likely was. I'm not sure the 004 of the 474004 is a date code. If so, then my educated guess is that the 004 is the date the tool was made or put into production. The three that is next to that would most likely mean it was the third mold for this part. Manufacturers will typically have several tools of the same part. If there are defects in the part, the identifier would help you know which mold was producing bad parts. No sense is shutting down 10 machines trying to find out which one is producing crappy bumper tops when you can just go to the exact machine the crappy part tells you it came from. You can see a ring around the '3', which tells me that this portion of the mold is an insert that can be changed out if needed.

The circle with the ten dots is usually a date and shift identifier that's still used today by most manufacturers of injection molded parts (you can fine them on all kinds of part including the bumpers on the car you drive today).. Although in this case I'm not sure how they're using the system. I doubt they were busy enough back then to run three shifts (with at least three tools) making bumper tops, so maybe the "3" is the month and the other mark is a "1" which is also pointing to the sixth dot. So, possibly this particular part was manufactured on March 16th, although the year made would be hard to determine. I know when I was in that industry, manufacturers would build what they needed and then after production was done would continue making parts for awhile called 'service parts'. Basically just building up stock that they would need to sell to dealers for replacement parts on customer vehicles. Depending on the car maker, the tool may get stored and used again at some point if they need more service parts. But typically a few years after production ends the tools are destroyed (I.e. Stripped of electrical and/or hydraulic, then steel is melted down), they're just too large to keep in storage somewhere. I'm sure that's what happened to all the tools for our cars long ago.

Rob

Yeah, zooming in that other mark isn't a '1'. Probably a Julian date code. If so this part would be the 36th day of the year.

Great info on how the parts were made & coded Rob!

I wasn't saying it was date coded for a 70's production, or from a later date run. I really had no idea, so your full explanation is really helpful.

I'm guessing that the diamond dealie between 474004 & the 3 in the outline, would be the supplier's logo.

IIRC, the front top pads were still available from dealers up to the mid or late 1990's. My guess is that more front end acidents may have burned thru their "service stock" which you mentioned, faster than for rear top pads, & why the rears are still available, or were.

Cheers!
Tom
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The depth of 914 knowledge on this forum never ceases to amaze me!

Ten years ago, I paid $400 each for what I was told were the last set available from Porsche. The still look great. I think you could probably double what I paid and get it but be advised, I've seen the reproductions made by 914Rubber and they only lack the part number...

The bumpers in question are NOS, the materials are porous. You can see the bubbles under the surface. The more modern materials are higher pressure and skin better.
Also all new parts are made with stainless so they will not rust. A magnet will tell you for sure.

However we will be coming out with 2nd gen tooling shortly and they will become more indistinguishable on the back side too.

I think High Performance House in Redwood City had some NOS bumper tops a few years ago for like $700 each range.

Sure, understood, Tom. I wasn't slamming your explanation, was just trying to add to it. My apologies if it sounded that way! It is certainly possible that these parts were all made during '74.

I definitely agree with the logo, it looks like one. Also, whichever supplier made the bumper tops would usually have a cap on how many service parts were needed. So I think you're right on, fronts got replaced more often than rears.

I didn't mean you were Rob, so no worries!

Tom
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And I certainly wouldn't recco anyone paying $800 apiece for NOS ones now, unless you're just crazy bonkers over CW originality, with the repros being so much better made than the OE's 1970's materials! .... particularly for a 914 which will be driven, &/or even if one might find itself on a rainy Concours ground, as just happened last weekend in Seattle area IIRC!

If you're showing in PCA Concours, I don't think anyone will get dinged in any of the US/Can Zones for a non-original bumper top pad by using any of the repros, & definitely won't in Zone 8.

If somebody were tied score with another 914 at PCA Parade - & the other person challenged on the bumper top - then according to the Parade rules only, the judges could ask you to pull the bumper tops for part nos. on both cars, & you might lose out to the other car if theirs were both OEMs. That apparently doesn't happen often, according to other Parade judges & competitors whom I know.

914 Rubber's repro's go for $350 front & $325 rear ($299 on sale now) - INCLUDING shipping:

http://shop.914rubber.com/914-Early-pre-75...nal-914EFBT.htm

http://shop.914rubber.com/914-Rear-bumper-top-914RBT.htm

IMHO - & it's JMHO - a NOS set or single top pad would be worth pretty much what a quality new repro goes for, plus perhaps 20-25% .... maybe .... but NOT double the $350 or so. Might somebody pay double? .... certainly!

And the bottom will fall out if/when Porsche Classic starts producing them again, as has happened as soon as they released the 901 gear shift knobs a few years back. NOS went from $300-500 silliness, to a new Porsche one for $175 (less with the PCA or other discount).

As for Rob paying $400 each 10 years ago - maybe that was all in with tax/shipping, but my $375 was for a rear one in 2010 with a 20% discount + tax/shipping - & if you can get a part with the discount, then that's the best available price on a commodity/part.

Sunset Porsche or Sunrise Porsche should be able to give the OP the current best discounted price right now, assuming the rear ones are still available - no guesstimates or math required for that one.

What about the poor fitment problems several members have mentioned and documented here regarding various replacements? The original bumper tops were very well made and durable, and fit well, too. I would guess that an OEM part would be well worth double the value of a poor fitting aftermarket part. A well fit aftermarket part would be a different story. I'm sure glad that my 46 year old bumper tops are still cromulent, and they spent a lot of time in Texas sun.

Mark,

I'm not sure which maker of the repro with fitment problems you're talking about, but I've seen the original type 914Rubber ones on several 914s & checked them out for both fit & original looking finish compared to OEM before I bought mine. Those folks had no problem with fitment. I'm sure 914Rubber would do an exchange for any sub-par item too, as with the other vendors of repro &/or new parts.

However, mine are still in the shipping box awaiting the time to get mounted when my resto is ready for that - post mechanical & paint/body work completion - so I cannot say for sure. But AFAIK the ones sold by 914Rubber, SMC & Stoddard's (I think they're all made by the same) fit properly on other folks cars.

I've put on/removed the OEMs in recent years & back in the day (1970's-80's), where some of those needed some coaxing at the studs, but that could've occurred if the stud(s) got tweaked a tad in shipping or storage. Maybe that was the issues run into with the repros.

Perhaps there were issues with the later runs of the 914Rubber ones, &/or the problem was with other makers' repro top pads?

If anyone out there has had problems with repros, perhaps they can chime in here.

Cheers!
Tom
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For reference here is my NOS purchased a dozen years ago, stamping. This is for use on my 72 restoration car.


Click to view attachment

See this thread. He said he had fitment issues. Can't remember which page but you may as well read it all, he did a very detailed write up.

Darren C is author of BUILD-OFF CHALLENGE: New 914 owner...what have I gone and done! in the current build-off challenge. He writes in detail of fitment issues and how he resolved them, working with the vendor who cared enough to help.


Day 163

http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?sho...47250&st=40

Do you have the link Rob? .... nothing was in your post above.

TIA
Tom
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Here are my front and rear OEM bumper tops for reference. Front has a "2" instead of a "3" like the others posted here.

These are not NOS but are very close. In like new condition except for one of the mounting studs is broken

FRONT
Click to view attachment

REAR
Click to view attachment