Anyone successfully repaired the roll bar mesh grill tabs?

[Seadweller]

Looks like age finally caught up to mine. Two tabs on one grill, and one on the other grill are now broken. Has anyone repaired these with a little ingenuity? I'm reticent to buy another used pair for fear of having the same issue, and I'm absolutely not paying the price they want for new ones.

Thanks!

[tcoradeschi]

Never tried it (haven’t had to), but this could be a candidate for some plastic welding. Check out polyvance.com

[elgyqc]

I installed mine with black zip ties. Solid repair and discourages those who might want to steal these parts when parked with top down, apparently that happens too often.

[A 986 S]

When I bought my Boxster it only had a wind blocker in the driver's side roll bar hoop. The mystery of what happened to the one on the passenger side was solved when I discovered it's mangled remains at the bottom of the compartment that the convertible top folds into. The used replacement I bought to replace it had broken tabs, much like yours. I was able to graft tabs from the broken original onto the e-Bay replacement using epoxy. Not sure if it's obvious in the photo, but I reinforced the join with a second layer of plastic that was also obtained from the original. I did this repair about ten years ago and it's still going strong.




Do let us know if you're able to repair yours. -dj

[Seadweller]

Thanks for the input gang! I may try the epoxy route, but the plastic welding is also intriguing. I can see why they'd be a prize for thieves given current pricing. Maybe at least one zip tie is in order as a deterrent.

[S50Sinner]

I've repaired something similarly delicate by reinforcing it with a little scrap of black cotton cloth (from an old t-shirt) soaked in epoxy. Once it's soaked, you can treat it like a piece of tape that hardens after application. Think of it like discount fiberglass.

[BrakeExpert]

Euro plastics suck, can this be mapped and made into a file for someone to 3D print??

[Rob175]

I use 4 black cable ties on each one to deter thieves. Guess I've been lucky for the past 20 yrs.

[redpepperracing]

There are 3d models around you can print, but the ones I've seen don't have the tabs so you'd be in the same boat. I just made some out of aluminum hex mesh and zip-tied them. At some point I may get around to making 3d printed mounts for them, but it's very low on my priority list.

[Starter986]

I don't get the plexiglass you have on the parts. Wouldn't that defeat the purpose of the part? Why wouldn't you just cut some Plexiglas and wire that in?

Just curious.

[Z-nomore]

I'm battleing with this problem on my newly acquired 2003 as well. The top tab on the driver's side is broken. I attempted to fix with Gorilla Glue Epoxy. Held for a bit and then failed. I believe it partially has to do with my seating positing and the headrest hitting the tab.