Porsche Letters Removal?

dman007 · 01-04-1999, 07:43 PM

Does anyone know how you remove the clips holding on the gold Porsche letters on the engine cover? Is there a special Porsche tool or trick to remove these clips? Also, does anyone sell these clips?

PeterB · 01-04-1999, 08:51 PM

Regarding the gold engine lid letters -- did my "Lagunen Blau" (as I recall -- "Lagoon Blue") '75 two liter come originally with gold letters? I don't find the gold attractive, particularly against the blue - but if it was original, I'd consider it. When I acquired the car, it had silver letters. Comments, anyone?

Peter

JP Noonan · 01-04-1999, 09:24 PM

From Doc Johnson's book: the lettering became silver in 73 on the U.S. engine lid and it would appear they were "pot metal" the rear badges were also metal "914" either "1.7" or "2.0". In 74 the engine lid letters and the rear badges came in plastic. 76 rear badges became stickers.

Almost forgot, the "clips" on my 914's have been "speed nuts". Nuts that are made from sheet metal and cut there threads as they are installed. One car I had didn't have speed nuts, some PO used hot glue, but I wouldn't recomend that. BTW the rain tray (to the best of my knowledge) has to come off to reach the nuts. I think most FLAPS sell them, but ask Wayne if they have a kit or something.

[This message has been edited by JP Noonan.]

dman007 · 01-05-1999, 06:37 AM

Thanx guys for the info, but do you know how to remove these black plastic like clips????

JP Noonan · 01-05-1999, 09:47 AM

I guess I also forgot that there is another type of "speed nut" out there. When you say clip is it a rectangular piece of sheet metal with a hole punched in the middle. The hole is undersized and distorts as it is pressed onto the post of the letter. These type of nuts are simply pryed off, they usally break off. Be careful not to use to much force or you will either distort the grill or break of the post. A better way might be to crush them along their length with needle nose pliers, sort like trying to turn them into inch worms.

As this type dosen't cut threads as they go on because they are just pressed straight on,they can't allways bescrewed off. It may still be worth a try, use the pliers and pull as you twist.

Other than that I have no idea what kind of clips they could be. There are alot of different little manufacturers of these things. At NAPA we had books of sample trim hardware, and some of it looked identical but worked differently.

01-05-1999, 09:32 PM

I pulled these off my '73 grill about 5 years ago and never put them back. "Learn from my mistakes young Jedi. . ." I just took my time and wedged the black plastic circles off the script letters one at a time w/ a flathead screwdriver. I wanted to reshoot the black on the grill with Imron and reinstall the script. It was pot metal. I broke off at least three studs and it appears theat you need all those studs to get them to stay in the right places. That brings me to my next mistake: I didnt mark where the were before I pulled them off which, on the wire mesh made it almost impossible to line back up and space them out correctly. I advise making some type of indication on where you took them off on the underside of the grill before complete removal and just be extra careful. PB Tweeks (800) 428-2200 has both kinds of nuts for sale for like .22 ea. The flat ones are called "Tinnerman nuts". Call Pelican first on them though and make sure you have the time to do this refresh right or it'll bite you back.

Matt

dman007 · 01-05-1999, 10:19 PM

Thanx everyone, especially Bogomili. I do have the round black clips/retainers. I will try to be as careful as possible when using my screwdriver as to not break off any of the studs if at all possible. I already had in mind to mark the posistion of the letters.

Wayne 962 · Wayne 962's Garage

Yup, we sell the letters and the speed nuts to install them. Give Tom a call at 1-888-280-7799, and he can help you out.

If anyone needs a detailed picture of where the letters are supposed to be installed, just let me know, and I will post one to the site.

Thanks,

Wayne

John Rogers · 01-10-1999, 04:34 PM

Our 1974 has the original letters and I measured where they were and checked another concours winner here in San Diego and here is how they are arranged: The "S" in PORSCHE goes in the middle, left/right and fore/aft of the opening mesh section. Divide the right and left into 4 sections and put "P", "O", and "R" on the lines on the left side and do the same with "C", "H" and "E" on the right. Remember if there are 4 sections, there are 3 lines separating them.

dman007 · 01-10-1999, 08:38 PM

I attempted to get the letters off tonight trying to be very carefull. Guess what, I broke off the back of one of the posts on the "P", great. Well, this did inspire me to come up with a better idea, and indeed I did. My method took off the other letters in about 5 minutes and didn't break off ANYMORE posts. I used a dremel with a very small cutoff wheel and cut into the clip at the base on a 45 degree angle. I was then able to easily pull off or screw of the clip. All I need is one gold "P" the clips and I ready to reinstall after painting.

John Rogers · 01-11-1999, 07:03 AM

The letters on our 914 were loose and I was afraid they might break the posts. I used a product called GOOP, plumber's clear and put a thin coat on the back of each letter before reinstalling them. You have to work fast as this stuff sets quickly. It has handled the San Diego sun well.