Targa top to windshield seal-why so difficult

[jeff1hughes]

OK, I am replacing my targa top to windshield seal (the one on the windshield frame) and my door seals. I have heard about the new seal for the 86-89 being too thick in certain areas and needing to be trimmed to fit (because it is for the later targas I guess). Since I am doing door seals at the same time, am I better off using the 85 and back set up?

[dick911]

Yep, the newer type seal really has a bad fit...
The right ones (the older types..) are no longer available...

Do some search on "Dan Petchel", he 's the Targa top and seal guru in The States. There is a document available where you can read about how to cut and modify this seal... but it is a #@*% job... I ruined 3 seal (and so a lot of cash...) to get one seal with a nearby good fit. But still I'm not completly happy about it...


Following text is for the lawyers among us:

Since a lot of early Targa and early Cabrio owners (yes, the same seal...) have to deal with this newer seal, should it be possible to force Porsche to make this older type seal available again ?

This seal is a worldwide problem and if you contact Porsche dealers about it they can't help you out. During my last visit to the Stuttgart factory (yep, living in Europe..) I asked about the seal and the answer was "there is nothing wrong with it" - "the partnumber is the right one, you see" ....

Yeah, the partnumber is the right one, but the newer type of seal is the one you get...
Is it possible to force (!) Porsche to bring back this older type seal ??
Or can we set up a kind of "protest" thing to make clear we want the right seal back ?

Someone a good advice or idea about this problem?

Greetings,

Dick911

[JTL]

No - don't do it! It is pretty difficult to modify the newer style seal to fit the Carrera1. Without doing the mod the fit wasn't even close so I had to try. My top fit pretty nicely before but now there is a lot of wind noise from the leading edge. Although, I wonder how much Dan would charge to modify a new seal?? This is one that need to be done just right.

It really ticks me off that the correct part is no longer offered.

jt
-84 targa