Duck Tails

[chris_seven]

I have been looking at the threads regarding early Duck Tails which seem to use either an Aluminium Frame (early) or steel frame (later) but I can't find how they were bonded together.

I am sure someone can let me know how this was done.

Thanks

[Esposito]

They were fiberglassed to the frame.
when you look at real lids they are a little long!
That's because the fiberglass wraps around the frame.
I've replaced sections of real duck tails and this is what I've seen.

[peekaboo]

Here's a photo of a claimed NOS replacement shell. There is no part like this in the Current PET. But maybe it was available at some point ? (i'm sure if you were connected you could get one when they were still making ducktails). It is a wide grill opening version. And as you can see it's from a later time period of manufacture, as it not laid out with the early fiberglass mat (or the normal whaletail type). Later period (like 80's - on) porsche replacement fiberglass pieces seem to be consistant with this type of mat. A place called Historika in the UK had/has this.

[Eminence Gris]

This is something you can do yourself, buying an aftermarket all-fiberglass part, removing the underside and cutting the skin off a standard engine lid. Bonding the two pieces is relatively easy, but it's common for them to separate -- even the ones commercially made separate -- at the edges. The reason you'd undertake this is to have a nice fit to the engine lid opening. Most fiberglass parts were made in molds long ago (when you could borrow a real RS ducktail as a plug). And lots of molds have shrunk over the years, so fit is iffy.