Just so I am clear, all the points you make are based on recollection of Porsche factory documentation you sold off sometime ago?

It is also curious about the big disparity in fade rates of the material.
All the targa emblems I found for 78's are shinny not black. Mine faded quickly as it was shinny in 84 when I got it.
I wonder if any of the 80's emblems faded ... humm ?

I have all of the tests that R&T did of the turbo in that era and they all had black trim. No surprise, as black was standard on the turbo. I looked at a test they did of a '78 coupe and it had black trim, as well. Other tests (eg. Autotest) in 1978 were of coupes with black trim.

I did find two tests of '78 targas, one in Car and the other in Motor, and they both had black trim. The photos aren't good enough to reproduce here, but you can see that all of the trim is definitely black. Most other tests from that era showed cars (coupes and targas) with bright trim, but there were a couple european tests of '78 coupes with black trim.

I did find a picture of a mid-year targa with black trim. Best guess is that it was a '74 or '75, but it was a later photo (not taken in the time frame it was built) so I can't say it was original. Likely, though...

There's no question the door top trim in your photo is black. Bright trim can't be mistaken for black. It starts out as highly polished aluminum and the clear anodizing dulls it a little bit. It never gets as dull as raw, oxidized aluminum. I have seen black trim that gets as faded as raw aluminum, which is to say there's no black left. Still, you can't mistake it for bright trim.

I think Porsche had some problems with their anodized pieces for a while. I've seen too many faded pieces from that time frame. Porsche bought those pieces from suppliers. There's nothing that says the same supplier supplied all of the different trim pieces. Plus, if you've ever fooled around with anodizing, it's hard to maintain a given color from batch to batch. I won't get into the technical reasons why, just take my word for it. Black is a color that is hard to do right. I've seen new pieces that are jet black, some that have a purple cast to them.

My recollections include more than just the factory documentation. I used to have a collection of original brochures, technical books, paint and interior sample books and other things that dealers kept for ordering the cars. I also had a huge library, with about 4-5,000 books and about that many magazines from that era. I also have owned Porsches for almost 40 years, so some of it is from firsthand use, attending PCA and other Porsche-related functions, visiting the Porsche factory, etc.

I never had a a '78 targa, but I did buy an '80, back in the day. I have a picture of it, taken in the winter of 1982, shortly after I received my '83 coupe. It's not a big photo, but you can already see that the targa badge is a couple shades lighter than the roll hoop.

Hope this helps,
JR

Maybe this will help. In this photo, from the top down, you have:

NOS bright windshield trim
44-year old bright windshield trim
faded black anodized coupe quarter window trim

The quarter window trim on a coupe is partially covered by a rubber gasket. You can see the part that was exposed to weathering is almost completely free of the black color. The part that was under the rubber gasket is black, and has a little film of dirt. The very bottom edge, that went over the pinch weld, is completely black. The underside is black, with a little dirt.

It's hard to tell from the photo (i-phone) but the NOS bright trim is a little brighter than the 44-year old bright trim, which is a few shades brighter then the faded portion of the black trim.

JR

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1439481945.jpg

If you want to wade into the subject of anodizing, how it's done, what can go wrong, etc. you can visit a forum that deals with industrial metal finishing. A couple to get you started:

Black anodized parts fading - Non-UV cause

Fade Resistance of Color Anodized Aluminum

Most fading is probably from UV exposure but it can occur from temperature, how the parts were processed (sealed or not, prep work done prior to anodizing, etc.) and a host of other things. Note that different dyes have different fade resistance, even within the same color family. Worldwide, there are probably hundreds, if not thousands, of dyes available.

JR

Interesting so if in 1978 the targa bar was always black what is this one?
seems to be a 1978 SC targa without a black targa bar

1978 Porsche 911 SC Archived Road Test – Review – Car and Driver

All black trim but I guess your targa emblem on the roll bar faded?
Not sure I can tell from the picture. Wonder why just the targa
emblem fades?

Me too, none have been furnished to my knowledge

My guess is that's an early production car from the press pool at VWOA. I've seen several early cars, usually photographed for brochures or something similar, that also had brushed stainless targa bars. Maybe it was optional, for a while. I think there's another one in this thread. No doubt some of them got built.

That said, I've seen errors in the brochures. If you look at enough of them, you'll find ROW cars in US brochures, or cars that were actually from the previous year, etc. If you look carefully at Porsche's publicity photo showing the finished production of 20 911SC/RS models, for homologation purposes, you'll notice one they stuck way in the back that's just a standard white 911...

All I can tell you is that there's no option code for it in the parts database, no part number for a brushed stainless targa bar, etc. No doubt some of them got built.

Part of me wants to say that in 1978, bright trim was standard on the coupes, and black was optional; and on targas, it was the reverse. In any event, when you got black trim, it was all black and when you got bright trim, it was all bright. I've never seen a half black, half bright car.

Notice the black targa and 911SC badges in the C&D article.

JR

The fading is probably from UV exposure. It's not just the targa badge, the 911SC badges fade, the window trim fades. Hard to say why, other than the pieces were probably supplied by different suppliers and there are a lot of things that can go wrong with an anodized finish. Temperature is one factor, maybe cars in hotter climates had more fading, I don't know.

JR

I don't have digital copies of the pictures but you can find a couple examples here:

Car Magazine, "A Porsche Too Far", July 1978.
Motor Magazine, "A Tale of Two Targas", AUgust 26, 1978.


JR

Try this:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-cars-sale/805397-1978-porsche-911sc-targa-3-0-a.html

Or this one:

http://www.schmitt.com/viewimage.asp?ID=4931

Or this one:

http://dealerrevs.com/gallery/52800048.html

I want to believe that my '78 Targa came in the current aluminum type finish in part because I think it looks good against my metallic silver paint. It is also consistent in color and shade.

However.....I just went out to the garage and was able to slide the short "coupler" piece that connects the windshield trim (on both front and Targa glass). After sliding the coupler a quarter of an inch I can see the trim is clearly black under the coupler. Although much less pronounced, I do also see a hint of black in the spaces around/inside the "S" on my 911SC emblem on the rear lid.

My car is definitely still in project stage, but when I repaint it in original metallic silver in a year or two, I will now have to consider "restoring" all the aluminum finish trim back to black.

I'm still a bit confused but I must admit.....JR, you may just be right after all.

Kerry

Good, finally some solid proof, I slide mine and it too is black. Great idea Kerry. I guess the type of metal is different than the wing window trim and fades more quickly.
Good to know for sure what is correct for originality. Changing the rear window trim may never happen for me.

Thanks Kerry and JR for helping me find the true as built. Hope I can remember this :)

So after all the discussion, what is the best way to return the trim to black?

If you want it original, have it anodized again. Not cheap.

Most people just paint it all.

JR