DIY soft window targa conversion

[Joeaksa]

I will try to get by my storage unit tomorrow and pick up the box with the stuff that I got from Mark Wilson.

Agree that its good to work together and make this available for more people.

Joe A

[911 tweaks]

for what its worth...I think someone is already in the process of making a kit of all of the pcs as we speak...I do not want to speak for them, however, I know they are subscribed to this thread, or, they used to be...
be patient all that are interested...
Bob (its not me) :-)

[JerryL]

Hey Jamie great work almost 5 yrs ago, now subscribed,
I have a 67 912 euro car that needs its soft window back!! great detail of your pics. I am posting Yves Bouchard's email address I am sure he will not mind, he is the guy making a kit that looks pretty damn good, I have been meaning to pull the trigger on it ( was about to do it a few weeks ago then lost a retaining wall that is consuming lots of the discressionary funds).

I am also going to "try" to post Yves manual in powerpoint below dont know how it will work

Did not work, pics only for up load. If you want it send me an email in my contacts and I will forward a copy.
Note I am off to Charleston (SC) Race week in a bit and wont be able to send copies till Monday.
I am also going to send Yves a link to this thread.

Regards

yves bouchard

[jpnovak]

Here is the link to one kit that has been reproduced by Yves. His contact information is in the thread. I am not sure of availability or price. I know one other person that is working toward the same goal.

soft window targa kit should I build them

Jerry, You can save the PP slides as a jpg image and then post the picture.

Yes, I love the car. Although it has been parked the past few weeks because the pollen is so bad (and my allergies). I think I have put the top up 3-4X in the past few years. Once because it was cold. The others because it started to rain.

[archtech]

I've looked into the kit, (looks pretty nice) but it was a too pricey for MY budget. I think he wanted $900 for a pair of handles and $900 for the hoops and hardware.... not sure how much the soft window was in addition. Continuing the tradition of this DIY thread and seeing the resourcefulness of members here, maybe the endeavor of some drawings of the parts might help those crazy enough to try replicate some pieces themselves, or at least document what Porsche made, ...just for fun and as a hobby. It's easy to be the consumer and just "buy it" if you have the disposable income, but not all of us have that, or we just enjoy making things. We're probably the same guys that have tackled rebuilding our own Targa tops (even though most of the advice was not to) or some of the other really crazy things I've seen on the forums. The "do it yourself-ers!" We'll probably botch a few pieces before we get it right, but ya know, that's the challenge and part of the fun! For those who don't have the time or talent or insanity, I'm really glad there are other options!

[1982911SCTarga]

Originally Posted by archtech

I've looked into the kit, (looks pretty nice) but it was a too pricey for MY budget. I think he wanted $900 for a pair of handles and $900 for the hoops and hardware.... not sure how much the soft window was in addition. Continuing the tradition of this DIY thread and seeing the resourcefulness of members here, maybe the endeavor of some drawings of the parts might help those crazy enough to try replicate some pieces themselves, or at least document what Porsche made, ...just for fun and as a hobby. It's easy to be the consumer and just "buy it" if you have the disposable income, but not all of us have that, or we just enjoy making things. We're probably the same guys that have tackled rebuilding our own Targa tops (even though most of the advice was not to) or some of the other really crazy things I've seen on the forums. The "do it yourself-ers!" We'll probably botch a few pieces before we get it right, but ya know, that's the challenge and part of the fun! For those who don't have the time or talent or insanity, I'm really glad there are other options!

Well said. It seems like the major sticking point in cost is in sourcing the correct handles for the tensioning system. This is not as important, I think, for those of us with later cars. What about envisioning a different cam-tensioning system using the targa top handles as the wrenches for tightening/tensioning/attaching the soft window top?

Brian

[freezing14]

if i can just chime in here and explain a couple of details

soft window targa parts are super rare and are expensive ( simple offer and demand) just one quick exemple ,, a NOS orange bar hood crest just sold for 1000$ , so the kit will not go down to 100$ no matter what sorry

the handle separately are between 700 and 900$ depending on condition , sometime even down to 500 but the chrome will be peeling and will need 300$ to be rechromed

the bow . any one can make them , its easy to bend tubing , now try to make it so that it has the right dimension and all the hole are at the right place and the right angle , then you then have to make the helical coupler , also very fun


the kit is 1700$ CAD ( when the exchange was at 70% it made for a cheap kit) it includes, a pair of handle , a pair of coupler, the targa bow , the 2 half rear bow ( yes its in 2 pieces), the 2 side spacer , the 3 specials rear eye bolt and all the other screw to put it in

i can supply the window with it for a discounted price( 500), or you can get it from anyone else you like

also not included , the seal ( available from lots of reseller) and the tonneau cover and tenax fastener

when you have an original softies , its cheap compare to the rest of the early 911 bits according to my customers as i have sold about a dozen all over the world

i understand that it is expensive when compare to the LWB standard but that what it is

[jpnovak]

Yves, I think your kit is well priced. Considering how long it took me to find the parts and the effort researching what went where I would buy a kit easily over piecemeal.

No, the conversion is not cheap. I just wish it was available when I started the thoughts of a conversion. I think I could have saved the money faster than finding the parts.