Does Anyone Make a Ducktail Add on Spoiler?
 

Just curious if anyone makes just the ducktail add on, without the entire deck lid? I ask because one thing that bugs me about the ducktail lids is the way they stick up higher than the stock decklid line (from the side). I would love to buy another stock decklid and fabricate a ducktail to it to have perfect OEM fitment. Any ideas?

Here is a picture of what I mean by "sticking up higher". Sorry if this is someone's car on the forum. The car is gorgeous, but I wanted to show what I was referring to.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4849/...46edc3df_z.jpg

I actually really like the look of the stock decklid on the 964, but having a widebody, I feel the ducktail works really well with it.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4856/...a0ce0c95_b.jpg


by https://www.flickr.com/photos/155071761@N05/, on Flickr


by https://www.flickr.com/photos/155071761@N05/, on Flickr

I know this one isn't real. :D


by https://www.flickr.com/photos/155071761@N05/, on Flickr

Mr. Wolfe

The ducktail spoilers i've seen all have terrible fitment- There is one company that you send your decklid to and they actually fabricate the ducktail part onto the original lid itself. I think if you do a search for it you will find it, i'm not sure i remember what it was called.

Thanks guys. I looked up Stratton and it seems to have the exact same aesthetic that I am trying to avoid. Here is a post on a thread that is talking about what I am referring to.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4889/...6e0c88e0_b.jpg

Mr. Wolfe

+1

A buddy of mine has one on his forward-dated g-body. A duck look great with wide 964 fenders/bumpers.
I know what you mean about the side profile, that took me by surprise the first time I noticed that detail.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/9g...=w1402-h936-no

Have you seen the overpriced version of the original Singer style...

http://clubautosport.co.uk/product/s...-chrome-grill/

Vegas, I have, but it's not the look I am going for. Ideally I would have an exact replica of the newer Singer style (green car above).

I think someone could make a killing if they based a deck lid loosely off of this one. With a more narrow ducktail to keep the lines of the car better.

Mr. Wolfe

Search "stratton ducktail" for you want it flush on the sides. He puts the duck, over a stock engine lid.

Checkout RAASpeedster's car
https://rennlist.com/forums/964-foru...ler-light.html

https://rennlist.com/forums/attachme...mr5ctui988.jpg

Yes!! Thank you.

Mr. Wolfe

Since he makes them to order, perhaps you could specify the look that you want.

I have been searching around. Does anyone have a website address or email for Stratton Motorsports?? I can't find one.

Mr. Wolfe

gary's contact is on pelican

He seems to maintain a couple forum threads that he uses to communicate with people: http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsc...ail-now-5.html

He seems like a talented fabricator, but his communication style is... interesting.

Well, I found him on Pelican and sent him a PM. I will see what he has to say.

Mr. Wolfe

I'm curious what you find out. I'm looking for the same type of duck for my SC. The raised edge of most ducks is not my cup of tea.

I will be sure to share.

Mr. Wolfe

I know exactly what you are going for- I've always said the same thing. And this is the reason i don't have a duck tail...yet.

Talk to Stratton and see what they come up with as a solution. I'll be interested if someone finds the right fabricator and the right look in the end.

FWIW- the reason for the side profile is due to the Fiberglass and the strength. On the fiberglass tail, the duck grows out from a larger extension up the sides. If the duck were to be simply mounted to the tail shape as is, you may find it cracking at the point where it meets the decklid. But I'm sure this can be handled by reinforcement from underneath.

Also- I've seen this done before. So i know it can be done. It's just that no one that makes them has a product on the market that is designed this way. Yet.

100% I am all about details and it sounds you are as well. I am going to reach out to a contact of mine and see if he has any interest in taking on a project like this.

Mr. Wolfe

three examples of gary's work below

i don't drive these cars too often, and they are garaged, so they have not lived in harsh environments

that having been said, i have had zero problems fitment nor any cracking/structural issues on any of the cars

since he bonds the fg ducktail portion onto the oem metal decklid cover, good fitment is well assured

pure fg tails like getty's are lighter, but they are known to not fit as well
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...47f675be67.jpg
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...4283ac18ee.jpg
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...4b65abb077.jpg

Your fitment is spot on and they look great. My issue is I am looking for a ducktail that is 1-2" less in width than the trunk to keep the same profile from the side. I think I see what Gary is doing now. Since it's almost impossible to blend FG work with metal, I think he is making the entire top skin out of FG as a think shell and then bonding it to the steel trunk. This way he avoids any chance of cracking because he is only adhering to the steel, not blending. Makes sense now, really appreciate the pictures.

I think for what I want, I may need the entire trunk molded and made in FG or CF. I will let people know what I hear back. Thanks for all of the help thus far!

Mr. Wolfe

So that a perfectly good 964 (and moderately valuable) rear deck lid doesn't have to be sacrificed to "the cause", does anyone have experience with fitting an earlier (1974-1987) deck lid to a 964? As far as I know, that area of the body didn't change much.

John, that is exactly what I am doing. I found some from salvage yards in the $400 range. I keep all of my original parts.

Mr. Wolfe

Nice job, Anyone has Gary's contact?

He is "Sonjay" over on the Pelican forum. I sent him a PM yesterday, but haven't back yet.

Mr. Wolfe

Quick update, my contact said he is VERY interested in offering this newly designed trunk for us. The biggest issue is he is backed up for the next 5 months. He would like to take on this project next. I would be going for Singer replica with the smaller width "tail". The good news is, you can store your original deck lid as this would be a complete trunk.

Mr. Wolfe

Which grille is used for these ducktails? Pretty sure it is an OEM part.

Mr. Wolfe

Pretty sure this is the part number 91155941101
Think it's an SC grille or something

They're local to me, great group of guys who do quality work and have been around a long time. Gary's son Jason has been restoring VW buses for a few years and with the recent prices those have been fetching at auction they keep them quite busy!

I can second @golfnutintib !

I have experience with both the "Stratton" duck and a fiberglass one. You really can't tell the difference until you go the effort to actually try to fit them and get them perfect like a factory decklid. Here are the main differences why the "Stratton" ones are better based on the experience I had. Not sure this true for all fiberglass ones but at least for me was specific to the one I had a chance to evaluate.

1. Metal edges. You may not think this is a big deal, but it is. When you close your stock decklid or the Stratton duck, the seams where the decklid/Stratton Duck meets your rear quarter panels and rear window area are straight and even thickness at all angles when you look at the decklid/Stratton duck area. This is important as when you start to look closely at the gaps it should look uniform/even and straight.

That can't be said of the fiberglass one (at least the one I test fit). The fiberglass ones are from a mold. I immediately noticed fiberglass mold work was really sloppy on the edges and especially on the underside of the edges. When you put one of these ducktails on as is, you will notice the edges are not straight, and worse you see gaps you should not see because the thickness of the edge is not consistent around all of the edges. My fiberglass guy quoted a few hundred to lay down new fiberglass on top of the edges on the underside and then take them down so they are uniform...

2. The attachment points of the metal decklid to the engine bay are adjustable. This is important as the how the panels of each car come together are slightly different on our hand made cars so you need some way to move the decklid forward/backward side to side a few mm to get the seams to be even and the deck lid to be square on the engine bay area. The metal decklid have metal anchors/bars that move around and are integrated with the decklid to give a secure way to attach the decklid while giving some way to do adjustments.

The fiberglass ones have metal anchors that are sort of like helicoils where they are fused into the fiberglass. Two issues I have with it. One there is no way to adjust the placement of the decklid on the engine bay without modifying the decklid lifting brackets that lift the decklid. Two, the anchors need to be perfectly positioned.

In the fiberglass example I was working with, the anchors on one side was off by 5mm too wide which made it impossible to directly bolt on the fiberglass ducktail without bending the decklid lifting brackets outward since the anchors were too wide. Also because the metal anchors do not move around, you need to create slots in the decklid lifting brackets so you can adjust it up and down.

I didn't want to do this as I wanted the option to easily reinstall a stock decklid back on, so the other solution was to do more body work on the fiberglass decklid to remove the anchors, fill the old holes, and install new anchors, which was more to the fiberglass body work bill on top of the paint work.

3. The Stratton duck thickness on the leading edge (closest to the front bumper) is similar to the stock metal decklid. This is important as you want the seam/gap transition from the rear window to the decklid to be level. The stock decklid is slightly thiner which you use factory shims to raise/lower the driver side and passenger side to the transition is level across the seam a few mm. The Stratton duck has a similar thickness so you get a perfect transition with the rear window area.

The fiberglass example I was working with the leading edge was thicker so the fiberglass decklid edge was slightly taller than the rear window area edge. There was no way to lower it as is... one solution was to take down the mounting points of the decklid a few mm which required removing the metal anchors from point number 2 above, sanding (which weakens the attachment point area), and reinstall the anchors on the other side... More unplanned fiberglass work... or modify the decklid lifting brackets more by basically cutting them down and welding some custom attachment points... more unplanned metal work...

In the end decided to pass on the fiberglass one as the total cost to make the fiberglass one "right" was basically the cost of the Stratton one.

I'd like something like this, but more Porsche simple and less singer gurney flap...

Attachment 1296945

Aka, looks oem, but less bulky than the actual oem, which always looked too chunky and ill fitting.

Thanks for the posts guys. Well, it looks like we have a few months to get a design down, but I am thinking about moving forward with the project with my connection. Basically, I want a very similar side profile as the white singer above. I won't compromise on that and will stay stock if we can't get the new trunk to do the following:

• It must have perfect OEM fitment, no different than the stock steel trunk
• No raised components aside from the tail itself from the side profile
• Use the SC grille insert
• Be strong, light and have a quality finish (ready to paint or painted - they offer both)

If we can't have all of the above, I will walk away, but I feel confident my guy can get it done. Here are a few samples of his work on the M3.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4887/...310292de_z.jpg

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4818/...cd677de0_b.jpg

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1922/...d607917f9b.jpg

Mr. Wolfe

Looks like a very quality work. Sign me up

I will keep everyone informed.

Yes, I am sure CF would be an option.

That's exactly the case. We will probably need a minimum order to get this rolling.

I like that ducktail, though I do prefer the Singer's edginess a little more. I wouldn't mind softening the styling some on the Singer version, but a little less than the Sport Classic.

Mr. Wolfe

Saw this and thought about you, Greg.

Thanks Jeff, that is one badass car. I just reached out to my contact last week to see if he was still interested in this project. He said absolutely and will be starting spring 2019.

Mr. Wolfe

If you're still planing a group buy, I'm interested once you know a price.

I will most certainly create a thread when the time comes and also link to it from this thread.

Mr. Wolfe

Would also be interested in this.

@Greg Wolfe Any progress on this?

Jeff, I will touch base with him and report back.

Mr. Wolfe

Ducktail
 

Did anything ever come of this? Have a g model I’d like to insert into the discussion. Also dislike the fiberglass fit.

Any updates on this? Been craving some duck, but I also don’t like the way most of them aren’t flush with the rear quarters.

Hi Greg and everybody else,

Any news on this front?

I'd also love a Singer style decklid, or a less pronounced ducktail as shown above.

Cheers,
Lukas

i am interested as well if it is still happening.
any updates?
thanks

Someone may have posted already. I like these from Stuttgart Classica. There're 2 variations.
https://www.stuttgart-classica.co.uk...m?category=964
https://www.stuttgart-classica.co.uk...3?category=964

Running the Stratton ducktail and am really happy with how it fits and sits.

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...d5d52de125.jpg
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...5d8506f576.jpg

I like the first one of those a lot - it looks good and retains the functionality. A bit more subtle as well.

I wonder if anyone on here has bought one from Stuttgart Classica and fitted it?

I have the FVD duck incoming (no affiliation) and will report back here on fitment for anyone on the fence about what company to go with.
https://www.fvd.net/us-en/FVD5129640...64-bumper.html

I'm also on the fence about the grille insert. OE is a lot more expensive than this perforated grill from x-factory but getting confirmation on fitment with the FVD.
https://www.x-faktory.com/store/p1/C...d_Grilles.html

Not sure if I ever posted on this thread after searching. I found the ducktail I was searching for, unfortunately, it is a 1-off (actually 2-off).

by https://www.flickr.com/photos/153952003@N04/, on Flickr

by https://www.flickr.com/photos/153952003@N04/, on Flickr

by https://www.flickr.com/photos/153952003@N04/, on Flickr

Mr. Wolfe

^Maybe a 3-off as I was also able to get one from Tom. Finely built, for sure.

Did you both use the OE grille for your applications? pt number 91155941101

Wow, awesome! Fitment is as good as OEM. Any pictures of yours?

If you are referring to me, I used Al Kosmal from the X-Faktory. Since this is a custom lid, I needed a custom grille. I simply sent in a cardboard cutout of the hole size. Great guy to deal with.

www.x-faktory.com

Mr. Wolfe

yep :)


https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...7f1325330.jpeg

lucky you! I tried to get Tom to make me one when i had my targa. Now i have a coupe in coming...would love to get one of these.