Warren928

If we could get one of these plastic molder guys to do it, would you spend the money? I think clear lexan or IR acrylic would work, but there may be a better suited plastic. Think about how cool it would look, how easy it would be to tell if the belt was wobbling or slacking. And if we modified the original design to incorporate a quick access tensioning/servicing port....This could be the best invention this year.

The next thing will be polishing our cam gear faces and putting a few LED light ports on the clear TB cover to make inspection easier, and using an updated audi tensioner on the car. What do other shark owners think of these improvements?

Who do we call to get the ball rolling?

jaymz

well it sounds like a good idea but let me run some $ figures by you first (btw i work in the automotive field in a automotive plastics factory so i know what im talking about )

the hardest and most pricy part is the mold its self,,even if you could find the origanel mold that porsche used , to bye it would be impossible and to "rent" it would cost a small fortune (not including buying the rights to remanufacter a porsche part)

ok so say weve droped 10.000$ to "rent" a tb cover mold and 100$ a part to remake a porsche part,,now on to the plastic its self, acrylic would be the easyist to use ,, lexan would be a pain in the @ss ,,you have to have the settings just right and even then youll be making 1 good part to every 4 bad

ok so weve got our acrylic plastic,,the bad thing is..with all the engine heat in about 3-5 years that acrylic is going to get really really brittle ,,and if takin off would surely crack when bolted back down.

so in the end weve spent a **** load off money on a cool part,,,,,that will only last 5 years at the most,,,not to mention that to make a profit theyd be selling for 300$ a peice,,,

sorry to ruin youre cool idea,,james

Randy V

That sounds like it may be a nice upgrade.

Pierre Martins who participates here may be able to help - he makes lexan and polycarbonate parts.

GoRideSno

It wouldn't necessarily have to be made by mold. I'll bet that I could come with a 2 maybe 3 part design bolted or epoxied together that would work.
I had my covers off last night and was thinking of something along the same lines as this but with just exposed belt as Porken runs.
May have some time to experiment this winter....
HTH,
Andy K

Big Dave

It (along with vigilance) would have saved my 928. The price becomes more reasonable after your belt has wandered and exploded.

heinrich

I would buy if the price were right. EXCELLENT idea

CMW

I would by it... absolutely

PorKen

With the heat and environment, I think clear plastic would discolor and scratch too quickly.

My thought would be a pressed/welded heavy stainless steel mesh with a tight weave (hardware cloth?), which would keep the critters and rocks out, but be somewhat transparent, and allow for cooling.

Warren928

Okay, so maybe not acrylic, but could we use another high tech plastic? Lexan is still an idea, I've seen it hold up for 15 years on the electric signs before they get yellowed and somewhat brittle. A partially open design such as porken or andy suggests would be nice, too.

Could a mold be made of the orginal from that dental gel they use? Then could someone hand lay a resin or plastic into the mold?
That would eliminate the cost of renting the porsche mold, the modification to it would be a non -patented idea, and the junk output would be lowered substantially.

Warren928

Porken,

They have an AR grade of plastic that has the abrasion resistance of glass.

Thaddeus

I find it an intriguing idea. It would be both useful and cool looking. However, I suspect the plastic would indeed get brittle over time.

Maybe a stock metal cover with windows retrofitted would serve the same function?

Pierre Martins

Nope, not in that line anymore. Sorry I can't help.

I don't think it's such a good idea though. Will get dirty from the inside and look rather tacky in no time, IMHO.

Instead - How about a neat aluminum grille type of TB guard. If done right in would probably look pretty trick and be functuanal at the same time. Not to mention easier to keep clean.

- 2 cents.

Old & New

A few strategically placed holes (normally fitted with rubber plugs) might accomplish what is needed. I make a habit of frequently looking down the hole(s) in the top of the cam gear cover.

Tony

Good idea and all but, it would be a bit#$ to keep clean.

IMHO, money would be better spent on an updated timing belt warning . A simple thin copper wire that is placed on top of one of the cam sprockets a few MM above it. The thin wire is in series with the stock sytem and helps completes the circuit. If a belt starts to come apart and unravel , the strands etc will be flung outward by the force of the belt going over the sprocket. The strands of the soon to be doomed belt would cut the thin copper wire, tripping the timing belt warning. Only glitch is that there is an appx 3 minute buffer in the stock warning before it is actually displayed. So hopefully your belt has more than 3 minutes of life left before it completely goes.




The diagram above is one I made from my WebPages and the idea im goign to use on my car. All you would have to do is connect this thin copper wire to the wire labled “positve lead to system” in the diagram. Place the thin wire so it spans the cam sprocket, millimeters above the belt turning below. The current/signal still passes through for the stock warning system but if the wire is broken, it triggers the the ‘timing belt light” on the dash. Granted, you don’t know which sytem caused it but none the less you pull over until the tow arrives.

cost...a few bucks and a some time and in theory it should work. Input?

Warren928

Pierre,

If it gets dirty from the inside, I would suspect its time to take it off to fix whatever is causing it to get dirty before it affects the timing belt. Under normal operation I wouldnt think it would get too dirty; Even then there could be a plug on it to blow the debris out with compressed air OR use the access panels to clean out the plastic.
Aluminum might be a possibility, but whats the cost difference? How would that be made?