Finally getting a louvered engine lid without having to ship / drive the car to California ( Not that I don't want to visit, just have no time! ). Fingers crossed but looks like a near perfect fit, maybe just a few minor adjustments.
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I like the look of that lid! Should add another level of 'bad-ass' to your car, Michael! 
Where, how much?
I definitely like it!
Nice! Don't forget the rubber seal.
Marty that looks sweet. Another advantage to having a Suby. My VW/Audi engine sits so high and far back that there is actually a cut out of the plastic inner shell of the engine lid to make room for the timing belt cover. Pretty tough cramming an upright I4 in that little engine compartment.
Thanks Jim!
There were a couple of reasons I wanted to switch it out.
Aesthetically, the Carrera ( GS or GT ) should have a louvered rear lid. The T1's had five in late '57 - '58 then six and then later in '59 they switched to a two grill rear lid. Mechanically, with the larger engines, it should help keep the compartment cooler and direct more air over / into the carbs. I have a little issue with it starting after the engine is good and warm too. Figured it couldn't hurt.
Rusty Tubs, $495. A little pricey 'cause it still needs to be shaped a bit, fitted and painted but ... I just think it looks cool.
Michael- it will look very cool! If you could let us know how much fitting/farting around to get it on the car, very appreciated it would be. Pics would help too, if you could.
Yoda out.
Morning Al,
I will let everyone know final cost and of course ... lots of photo documentation.
Michael.
I'm very anxious to find out if it will just bolt in and fit right out of the box. There is a lot of variation between these cars. Was it made to fit a real 356 or specifically to fit a Vintage or a JPS or a Beck or an IM or a CMC? I guess now, we will finally know....at least about a Vintage.
I like the louvered look. Adds a lot to the appearance!
The claim is it should fit most cars, original or replica right out of the box. It may require some shaping and tweaking as even with originals, they're handmade and may be a mm or two off. They can make them ready to bolt on right out of the box but also make them unbonded (which I'd recommend) or in two pieces.
Mine is going to be unbonded just in case. Since it's a Vintage and they have a consistent, fairly standard sizing, I'm optimistic. I'll have all the specs and measurements and I'll photo document everything.
I'm picking up an unbounded louvered skin from Carey at Carlisle
Five veeery unique and aggressive (gnarly) louvers...(unlike the civilized, dainty, Carrera's)
It's a Beck lid but, being unbounded, fit and finishing should be a snap.
I've lost count the number of times I've said this before starting a job......and then the snap turned into many snaps.....and lots of swear words. 
BTW...as a follow-up
Ted posted pics of the Donatello / Moure red speedster with its unique hinged engine lid. Go to the source (Samba #1629005) for detailed closeups of the louvers...Pics 3 & 4.... This is the five louver lid I'm getting from Carey Hines.
For lack of a better word, you'll notice that it's considerably more 'aggressive' than other louvered lids. I intend to delete the bottom louvers...Four gnarly louvers prevents it from being visual overkill.
As for possible fitting and tweaking...
Brian (Inter911) did a post, May 15 2008, about how to successfully 'reshape' an ill fitting fiberglass lid using heat. I don't fully understand how he went about it, but he promised pictures of the process which I haven't been able to find,... Perhaps someone remembers that they do exist?
Sorry, never did take those pics. In the old days with poly windsurfing boards if you wanted more curve end to end you would heat the middle of the board and lay it off the ground with ends supported on two chairs and put a weight in the middle. Slowly the board would bend and when you got the shape you wanted you removed everything. This was often done by laying the board in the sun with a dark object like a garbage bag in the middle to attract the heat from the sun and heat up the board so it would bend.
What I did with the lid was basically the same but I used an electric battery blanket for the heat source. Many of you probably have no idea what that is but its like an electric heating pad, long enough to go around the outside of a car battery and wide as the battery is tall. It heats the battery up on cold nights like I used to experience up north. I suppose a regular heating blanket might work. I put a towel on the lid as those battery blankets can get hot, then the blanket and then some more towels to keep the heat in. I laid it on a table with supports like blocks of wood under the area I wanted to bend and then clamps on either side with blocks of wood to distribute the pressure evenly. As the lid heated up I would tighten up the clamps bit by bit till the lid bent to the shape I wanted. Still required some more shaping but it seems the curve on these lids, side to side, varies from car to car and this at least got the basic shape right.
I had to do a lot of cutting too to get the lid to clear the 911 fan shroud and air cleaners, here's a pic of the underside of the lid on the car now.
Michael.
Still anxious to find out how it fit your Vintage.
Finally arrived today. May not be a perfect fit out of the box but damn close! Of course, still needs to be bonded, shaped, the louvers cut in, painted and installed but so far, very pleased.
That's going to look sharp once it's all bonded and painted.
I'm interested to see how the louvers look once they get cut in. (cut out? cut open?)
Ted
It's gonna look wicked, Michael!
OK. Seems like most of you understand this, but I still don't get it. Bonded to what? What does he have to do, cut the top off his old lid and "bond" the louvered top to the base? If so, that doesn't look like any simple task to me. Pictures and a detailed explanation would really help.
Hey Troy.
Sorry, not trying to be frustrating or obtuse, I was just excited to finally get it. I got home really late yesterday afternoon and wanted to put it on to check the fit. By the time I went to take pictures it was getting dark.When I take it to the body shop, they'll take more.
It comes in two pieces to make it easier to paint, shape / contour exactly to match your car (just in case it's not a perfect fit).The top panel has the louvers (which will need to be cut open and finished) and the opening for the grill. It gets bonded to the rain tray with an epoxy FRP adhesive (probably a 3M product) after sanding / shaping / fitting so that when it bolts onto the car, they go through both panels. If you look at yours where the engine lid attaches to the mounting brackets, it should be the same.
Of course, as with most Speedster projects, 'simple' is a relative term.
This one will come down to: If the paint can't be blended to quite match a five year old, existing paint job then it won't just be the new lid that gets sprayed.
Troy, just purchased a "louvered skin from Cary delivered to Carlisle...his explanation is:
It's not so much as cutting the existing grill skin off...it's cutting the rain tray away from the underside mating edge
I also have one on the way from Carey. Sounds like you have to destroy the original lid to create the new lid with the Beck version. Apparently, the Pelican Parts version comes complete with the rain tray, although a lot more expensive.
I don't think these items are 'without a rain tray' by design. You can buy just the outer skin or the complete decklid. The latter comes with both inner and outer halves. The inner half has the rain tray molded in. Because of how these items are contoured, they have to be molded in two parts.
If you want to add louvers to you decklid and chose to go the less expensive route, you can buy just the outer skin. Armed with your new outer skin, you have two choices: You can then cut your existing decklid in half (separating the inner / outer half) and bond the new outer skin to your existing inner skin. This sounds like a LOT of work. The other option would be to cut the louvers out of the new deck lid. Cut out a rectangle sized shape big enough to isolate all of the lovers on each side. Then, take those rectangles and use them as a template to cut a similar size rectangle on each side of your existing decklid. Bond those bits together. It would seem to me that the latter would be more effective.Especially since you can get to the backside of the decklid.
Does this help?
Ted
"Why buy a lid without a raintray?"
I based my purchase on $$$$$ A considerable difference!....
Besides now I'll have the pride & satisfaction of very carefully, and flawlessly, (I hope) of assembling the two components.
I have a louvered deck lid skin new from Carey available for 200
actually it's easy to do. I just didn't get it to the paint shop on time
What Tom says x2
Carey's louvered assembly (2 pieces already bonded together) fit my CMC like it was made for it. I had to move my hinges in about 1/2" but didn't have to do any shaping, bonding, heating, bending or anything else.
WHY NOT JUST BUY ONE FROM KIRK?
Jimmy any pics?
Jimmy any pics?
Sure thing Art - scroll 3/4's of the way down on this post: https://www.speedsterowners.com...161#8189648489067161
Thank you sir, I should have searched.
Not a problem at all.
You can buy one from Kirk if you bring him the car. Not just the lid but the whole car. Not convenient for us East Coasters.
I wasn't really concerned with the price. It's badged as a Carrera, it has a bigger engine and dual carbs, it should have a louvered lid. More air, better circulation, better performance and keeps the engine compartment cooler.
Mostly. It just looks really cool.
And I didn't want to cut or damage the original. If I ever sell the car, the new owner might want the choice. I didn't want to cut out the louvers and cut holes in the original either, seemed like a hack kind of job and more labor. Mine came both ways, one piece or two, bonded or unbonded. The cost difference was negligible, they probably all make the bulk of their money on the louvered piece.
Like I said, next week or so it'll go to the body shop and I'll have final pricing from purchase to paint and install, with photos.
