Fiberglass Targa Opinion
11-19-2009, 10:34 AM
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Fiberglass Targa Opinion
I ahve seen these Fiberglass Targa Tops in magazines and on ebay. Has any of you Targa owners used them. I just spent a small fortune rebuilding my top and would like to store it. Can I hear your opinions on the Fiberglass tops. Wind Noise, seal, etc, etc...
11-19-2009, 01:54 PM
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I got one a couple years ago. I had had my top recovered, but they did not use the same, thicker vinyl. so at speed at DE events, the air flow was causing a significant 'gurney bubble' effect. got black flagged one time they thought my top was coming off. 
I got the one called 'spare top'. I had seen in execellence but bought off ebay for free shipping. I recently noticed he was selling an 'imperfect' one at a discount. he may be exiting this product. I have seen another variant listed that is a fiberglass top that fits to the stock frame and replaces the vinyl. probably not what you want to do at this point.
it is OK, especially for DE/track. much lighter than the stock. fit/finish OK but not show quality. pebbled fiberglass outside finish and raw/plain fiberglass inside. clearly a 'hand made' unit. I had to do a little grinding and reglue the small weather strip on the drivers side window to get the fit I wanted.
have rarely driven in rain, but did not notice any leaks. wind noise similar to the stock top but maybe a little louder. my avatar pic has this top on.
I got the one called 'spare top'. I had seen in execellence but bought off ebay for free shipping. I recently noticed he was selling an 'imperfect' one at a discount. he may be exiting this product. I have seen another variant listed that is a fiberglass top that fits to the stock frame and replaces the vinyl. probably not what you want to do at this point.
it is OK, especially for DE/track. much lighter than the stock. fit/finish OK but not show quality. pebbled fiberglass outside finish and raw/plain fiberglass inside. clearly a 'hand made' unit. I had to do a little grinding and reglue the small weather strip on the drivers side window to get the fit I wanted.
have rarely driven in rain, but did not notice any leaks. wind noise similar to the stock top but maybe a little louder. my avatar pic has this top on.
11-19-2009, 10:22 PM
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I've got one too. Don't go through a car wash with it on unless you have a lot of towels inside and long arms....
Serves it's purpose as a "cheap" alternative to the stock top. I'm not totally sure I trust it at speed but it has not come off and I've gone 110 or so with it on. It has two bolts through the fiberglass frame in the back that go into the two outermost holes in the targa band. They fit loose. I shimmed them up with some hose to make a tighter fit. The front has two bolts that go down through the two location pin points for the original top and there are two knurled ***** that tighten it down. The wind noise is pretty bad. You need to wear ear plugs on any kind of long trip. With the ear plugs you can hear the radio ok and it helps tune out the severe wind noise. I don't have the luxury of a restored targa top yet to compare with but I do not remember this car being so noisy years ago when it had an original top in good condition.
The guy that sells the tops seems like a fair person. He says all "convertable" tops make noise. Probably true. His top goes on right now and works OK. If your original targa top requires $1000 to repair and a lot of people have no idea of where to look to find one of the two or three guys in the country that can fix it, then it saves your butt. I'm going to sand mine flat and spray it body color when I get the car painted. Then I'll have two tops and two different "looks".
Just my .02 worth.
Serves it's purpose as a "cheap" alternative to the stock top. I'm not totally sure I trust it at speed but it has not come off and I've gone 110 or so with it on. It has two bolts through the fiberglass frame in the back that go into the two outermost holes in the targa band. They fit loose. I shimmed them up with some hose to make a tighter fit. The front has two bolts that go down through the two location pin points for the original top and there are two knurled ***** that tighten it down. The wind noise is pretty bad. You need to wear ear plugs on any kind of long trip. With the ear plugs you can hear the radio ok and it helps tune out the severe wind noise. I don't have the luxury of a restored targa top yet to compare with but I do not remember this car being so noisy years ago when it had an original top in good condition.
The guy that sells the tops seems like a fair person. He says all "convertable" tops make noise. Probably true. His top goes on right now and works OK. If your original targa top requires $1000 to repair and a lot of people have no idea of where to look to find one of the two or three guys in the country that can fix it, then it saves your butt. I'm going to sand mine flat and spray it body color when I get the car painted. Then I'll have two tops and two different "looks".
Just my .02 worth.
11-20-2009, 09:05 AM
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I've got one too. Don't go through a car wash with it on unless you have a lot of towels inside and long arms....
regarding wind noise. at this point my 911 has quite a few track upgrades incl exhaust. maybe the overall noise of the car drowns out the wind noise. and my wife keeps encouraging me to get hearing aids.....
I tend to drive it in one of two modes. on the street, nice day top off. or on the track with top on and pedal to the floor.
