Top screen rubber

Good luck. They're not available in the aftermarket, and it took many months of looking and a lot of $$$ to find a new-in-box one for my car. It may have been the last one on the planet

 

FMI, exactly to which piece are you guys referring?

Thanks,
MB

 

Yep, that's the one that's NLA. Last ones around were selling for $700 plus.

Be nice to the one you have!

The rest of the seal that starts at the top of the A pillar, goes down, round the door, back up over the top at the back, down round the other door & up the other A pillar in one continuous piece is available and not that expensive.

 

Interesting seat color combo.

And that's a really big paper clip, how's it staying up in the air like that?

 

It's stuck into the rubber...it has a big hole in it now and needs to be replaced.


Definitely NLA (although you can make the big paper clip).

Mask around it.

If you lost or destroyed it, let us know. We can dream up an idea to mold one and you can be the Guinea Pig.

 

I mean the one you can see immediately behind the headrest in that picture, that seal is one piece that starts and ends on the A-pillars just below the one you asked about.

 

I found one for $500 about five years ago and considered myself lucky. I guess this part can take the place of the 328 fog lights on the Ferrari parts extinction list.

 

I wonder if there are any companies out there that mold those kind of parts, and how much it would cost to have a mold made and a production run done. Between the 308s and 328s, there have to be a bunch of us who would be interested in buying a replacement for that piece. I bet without any problem there are easily 50 to 100 of us.

If anyone (Verell, are you out there???) knows of a company that could produce the mold and make the part, I'm sure that they could easily put together a group buy that would more than justify the cost. If anyone gets motivated to do it, I'm in.

 

ISTR the problem is combining the rubber seal with the foam rubber blocks on the corners

One as to wonder what the Classiche department do about this kind of thing?

 

About 5 years ago I bought the last one on the shelf at the local Ferrari dealer. Got it for $285. Haven't seen one since.

 

I was just thinking of Verell may be able to pull this off. Heck I would buy one just to have it available if necessary...someone HAS to be able to do this.

MB

 

I have been working on this over the past few months because I needed one for my car. Its been a huge challenge. The mold is a very large and complex as the shape has turned-in recesses. In fact this mold is such that only foam rubber could be molded with it, any other material would not be able to be removed from the mold.

Molding foam rubber is a highly specialised process so I have been working with a company which produces rubber moldings for F1 and the nuclear industry. Its been one of the trickiest projects they have done because usually foam moldings of this size (as opposed to straight extrusions) do not have to "look nice".

We have reached the stage where the mold is finalized and have produced parts which fit exactly, identically to the original. The next step is to refine the process to get the smoothest possible surface, although the stage we are at currently is probably as good as the original part.

Even not accounting for my time the financial outlay on this has been crazy and probably a "bean counter" finance director would be horrified. Fortunately I dont have one of those in my company! Its nice to allow some leeway in something very rewarding to do, but I really need to get the investment back! I have not worked out a price but it will be nowhere near the price these have recently sold for.
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That's excellent news. As long as they would work for a US Spec QV and are not insanely priced, I'm in, possibly even for 2.

Thanks.

 

I'd be on the list for one as well. Mine is in reasonable condition, but I can see the top layer starting to peel in localized locations exposing the spongy interior underneath.

Please keep us informed.

 

Automatically count me in for one!

 

The first batch should be ready in a couple of weeks.
I will post here when they are ready. Another complication is I am not sure at what rate they will be able to produce them. This process is not the same as molding normal plastic where you can churn them out by the hundred. Even with the mold completed its a hand-crafted process and the cost per unit (excluding the one off mold cost) is relatively high as well. They have said they will produce them 10 at a time but I'll need to check how often they can repeat this.

 

I'm in for a spare or two (for a US QV). Hey, guys....how about the rear top seal that goes around the "B pillar", just behind your head. Can that one still be had? Over the years, it looks like the car maybe suffered some rock impacts or something on that seal and on the fabric that wraps around to meet it (just next to the top latch anchors).

 

That rear one is a standard seal and is available from ferrariparts.co.uk or other suppliers. It runs all around from the top of each A-pillar, down the pillar, around the door openings, over the top behind the seats and around the other door and up to the top of the other A-pillar.

 

Thanks...and sorry about that...I didn't read the earlier description

 

If it fits a 328 GTS I'm in for one.

 

I'm in for at least one. Please PM us when you get them ready and we will go for it.
Thanks Andy!

MB