lets see 911R style deck lid mesh!
 

I am contemplating replacing my heavy decklid grille with a fabricatted 911R style grill. Show me pics. What do you use for material....how is it attached? Minkoff's car comes to mind. Help a Lightweight Junkie out. :D

only bob tilton comes to mind... while you're at it, ask him some other questions so he posts other pics of his car too, not just the grill

well said dave! I want to see more pictures of bob tilton's car too!

Also, that "912R" somebody built had the screen setup.

edit: my "somebody" is John Thornton.

so what kind of weight loss are we talking about here?

wouldn't that be kind of futile with the stock decklid? i mean, i suppose the lid would be the heaviest part of the assembly , not the grille?

You are going to die if you don't use the stock engine lid grill!:D

bob tilton definately has it "goin on". let him get some pictures up.

I have a F/G duck not a heavy steel decklid. I have to make up for the weight I added with the deathcage. Ditching the Recaros and adding the Momo RSGT's with Billet aluminum mounts helps. But I still have a ways to go.

thrown_hammer,

I want to do the same on my car. But since I have an early turbo tail I will place the grille on the outside, not under the decklid.

The material you need is used for grille/bumper inserts.
I found the a black painted aluminium grille I wanted in my local car stereo shop.
Try something like this: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=7907758376&catego ry=33645


Here's the 912R

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1088456947.jpg

http://faculty.haas.berkeley.edu/snow/cars/porsche/wheels.html

I would also like to find out how much Al grid materials used here weigh.

Here is an odd tidbit - both the stock plastic and earlier Al bars weigh the same - and are rather heavy. You might be able to save a lb. or so with an Al. grill.

The grill is something that cries out to be made of CF..... would also look nifty.

seems like this would be a pain compared to laying up a big panel for a flare or something; each slat would have to be made separately. I guess you could lay up a big square, cut it into strips, and bolt them together with plastic spacers in between.

That setup on the 912R looks rather easy to do though...

That really cracked me up! LOL thanks.

That seafoam (?) car is cool. I've never seen it before. As for the fabrication of the cf grill by the factory, I'm not so sure about that. Historically, they probably put as much thought into the mesh grill as into those R lights. Which is to say, not very much. As long as it did its job, *rudimentarily* at best, that was enough. At the time, they probably just slapped something on, as long as it was light (and functional for the duration of the race.)

All that above is meant to say that as far as the rough-but-fast-factory-race-car look is concerned, I like it. A lot.

I can't see why carbon fiber would be a plus for a screen. You don't need any strength at all from the application. I'd think temp-resistant plastic or lightweight aluminum would be the way to go.

i guess i'll chime in here due to the kind words - thanks! i copied the emory built 912R owned by thornton. i later found some vintage pics in the book"63-71" with the exact same grill which is cool cause it makes it "period correct" ;).
i bought a beat up 3 bar (vs 5 bar) grill for around $5 from EASY. removed all the rails, removed the outside bars (retaining the center bar), painted it satin black, turned it upside down and mounted it to the decklid. very easy - very cheap - very light.
the R grill is a bit different in that it is incorporated into the firberglass decklid without any mounting hardware. the "grain" of the mesh is also different from the production grills. the diamond shape runs from the top to bottom rather than side to side.
it's funny that this topic got started today. i meant to go to yardbirds after seeing a nice screen that i wanted to try. got too busy in the backyard. it comes in 4' x 8' sheet. it is very close to the screen i have been looking for.

ps kurt zimmerman also has a cool decklid grill.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1088459760.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1088459791.jpg

:)

Jack, My thought was that CF would be lighter than the stock plastic.

I agree re the Al grid (tho the sotck Al bars are surprisingly hefty).

Jack, My thought was that CF would be lighter than the stock plastic.

I agree re the Al grid (tho the sotck Al bars are surprisingly hefty).

}{arl, I'm thinking of something as nice and finished looking as the stock unit - I agree re making one long strip and cutting it. I don't if it would be lighter - but it ought to be.

Due to the hardware within; spacers, rods, etc.

The screen is the business. Get a 914 lid for cheap and cut up the screen. It's a nice flat diamond, not expanded metal like plaster lath. I believe it's steel, though.

here you go outside mesh is powder coated alum the inside is fine mesh from pegasus racing I run open stacks w the webers therefore the fine meshhttp://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1088464102.jpg http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1088464126.jpg

Minkoff - how'd you do the surround - tubular looking thing that makes it look so nice?

Zeke - Thx. 914 lid eh? I like the idea - maybe now the sheet metal place in town won't see me oggling his diamond mesh all the time...

Its just some profile rubber, Pep Boys or for more of a selection Pegasus Racing products

I didn't want to say this earlier but the dimond mesh does look like the stuff I put over my rain gutters, just wider. Is the paint coating the only difference?

To the race/lightweight guys... Thrownhammer, and Bob T. specifically...

Where did you get the hinges you're using on your decklids? I need a set of those for my RSR project...:D

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1088469774.jpg

This is the Toad Hall R that was at Rennsport.

I agree the diamond mesh on my R clone is kinda Home Depot-ish
The powder coating helps but when I did that it was 6 years ago( just learning) ( more experience today) if I ever re do it Pegasus racing carries mesh thats does not have that "construction" material look to it, for my applicaton you need to use spacers to keep the mesh from having that wavy look to it

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1088470232.jpg http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1088470280.jpg

An ST, and the Targa Florio winning RSR. Interestingly all three are factory items, yet very different execution.

Geof33- Re: deck lid hinges. Shawn had those made up out of titanium. He was working on a deal to have more made but it fell through. I'm sure he'll chime in here with the exact scoop.

Shawn, I like the clean look of the grill on the white 911R from Toad Hall. Nice clean straight edges. You might even save an oz. or 2 by trimming off the flanges used for fastening the old grill in place.

I hope you have a safe color in mind for this thing!

Here are wts. for the stock grill (lbs.):

Engine lid grill, 1975, plastic 2.4
Engine lid grill, 1973, metal 2.5

These are accurate wts. determined using a NBS traceable scale.

Hey guys. Thanks for all the pics! So I gather that you just take a stock grille and remove the slats? Thats easy enough. Or I could get fancy and fab something up out of expanded aluminum....

As for the hinges. I made about 6 sets out of Titanium. They are welded grade 2. Weighing 2 ounces a set. I sold them to Pelican heads. I ended up keeping one set for myself. I am not sure where Mr. Tilton got his set.

I do like the Toad Hall R grille. But if I cut the tabs off then I have to paint again.....I dont like painting.

A friend of mine has used the home depot stuff on his Saab, it looks and holds up great.

Well, there's some flat dia mesh and then there's expanded metal that purposely has a "grain" to it. sharp edges too. Your sheet metal shop may have the same as the 914 or close. It's just that I've seldom seen a 914 lid sell for more than $10.

Almost all it can be had thru McNichols catalogue including Mark Minkoff's fine mesh and at much less in price than Pegasus.

I think I will use expanded aluminum mesh and use Titanium strips for support on the ends and in the center.....

those are some cool pics garfield.
i remember when my car was in the body shop a guy brought some screen in to install on his aftermarket f/g bumper. it was a very close match. i believe he picked it up from a "ricer" shop which means he probably paid good money for it...i don't know.
i don't have R hinges for my decklid. had a set from gt racing and sold them. the ti hinges looked great.

geof33 asked:

I still have a couple of sets left from the current batch :

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/showthread.php?threadid=152062

Andy

Milt's right on about McNichols. I have had good luck with them as a source for mesh/wirecloth products for my car projects. If there is a distribution center in your area (there is one here in ATL), you can see samples in their showroom. I believe they will also send samples by mail...

R-inspired grill with 3D mesh. 750 gram unit (Aluminium).
All hand made (except for laser cutting the base frame)

the frame is bent in shape on an english wheel, bores are sunk, mesh is crafted into shape to fit the inserts, custom bushings hold the frame flush with lids edge

https://up.picr.de/37870227mx.jpeg

https://up.picr.de/37978247rl.jpeg