JHSESQ

Does anyone have experience with the Targa Body Braces available from Performance Products among others? These are aluminum bars that mount diagonally between the seat belt bolts on the lower sill and the B pillar.The claim is that they improve handling by eliminating body flex and that they make the car quieter.

I searched the site and found a few threads on this subject, but the comments were conflicting. I still don't know what to believe.

Will these braces improve handling? Will they eliminate the annoying targa top rattle? Are they difficult to install?

Your comments will be appreciated.

craig001

They are one of those items some people will claim are snake oil. I have a set and I can't really say that they improve handling. What they did do is cut my top leakage down to a couple of drips at each front corner. Very easy to install, just slide you seats forwards, break out the 17mm (may be 19mm) socket and undo the seat belt bolts. Get the length close and bolt the braces in. Reinstall the seat belt bolts and tighten up the braces. That's it. I am sending my top off to Dan Pachtel for a refurb shortly and hopefully no more drips.

My set is somewhere in my garage as I installed a BK Harness Bar. I may pull that out and just go back to the braces since I don't have the time to track.

JHSESQ

craig001, thank you for your reply. Prior to the installation of the body braces did you experience top rattle when driving over patches of bumpy road? If so, did the braces eliminate or reduce the rattle?

I have a '91 C2 Targa and the rattling noise from the top is a source of annoyance to me. Also, the movement of the top causes damage to the black finish on the Targa bar.

If the body braces are not the solution to the noise problem, can you or any fellow Rennlisters reading this post offer some advice?

greenjt

A little periodic vasaline or grease on the front and rear pins eliminates the squeaking on my top.

The slight movement of the top has worn the finish on the targa bar a little and a touch up is on my list of to-do's.

JHSESQ

James, our cars look like twins (except for your wheel and mirror upgrades). Did you know that Porsche made less than 1500 Targas for import to the U.S. and Canada from 1989 to 1994 and that approximately half of those were produced in 1991? Another coincidence, my maternal grandfather's name was Green.

You wouldn't happen to be a lawyer ("This space left intentionally blank")?

greenjt

JSHESQ - I must say you have impeccable taste in your selection of 964. And I might add that some of the nicest, best looking, and most intelligent people i have met have either shared or been a descendent of the surname Green. ;-) (Also maybe of note is that i interviewed for a job in Chicago on Friday.)

... not a lawyer but i do deals for a living so work with them every day.

jg

TR6

The problem with the braces you are describing is that they don't address the main source of flex in a roadster (which is essentially the same as a targa from a structural standpoint). The source of most of the flex is in the floor/rockers between the A and B pillars because it lacks the upper structure of the roof along the top between the A and B pillars (above the doors).

JHSESQ

James - A sense of humor too. Good luck with the job...if you want it.

craig001

I never noticed body flex to the extent it bothered Then again, I had a 944 Cab before this car.

JHSESQ

I notice the body flex when I turn in my driveway at slow speed and one wheel goes up on the 2 inch lip before the other. The car twists. I expect that the same phenomenon occurs every time the car hits a bump in the road and that it its ampilified in proportion to the size of the bump and the speed of the car. The question is to what extent this effects handling, especially in turns, and whether the elimination of this body flex would noticeably improve handling at speed. I may have to test drive a 964 coupe as a basis of comparison.

photolaz

Hey, if you decide you want a set of braces, I have a new set that I bought from Performance Products and never used because I sold my 72 Targa before i could put them on. I thought of trying to put them on my 91 Cab but it would require modifing the interior panels in the back to make them work and I'm not sure I want to mess around with them just to make it work. Send me a PM and we can talk price if interested. Tom