anyone remember the GT louvers?

I liked them,and on a black car they did look great but does anyone do them anymore.Anyone here use them?it would be nice to see some pictures if anyone has them.

The demand must be building. Last few months a couple of inquiries here.

Indicated the turn up on e-bay but seem to be pretty rare.

They have surfaced on eBay for $$$$$$$.

I have seen a new in the box set go for $500 on ebay.

I have the capability to make them in quantity, but I don't think I could sell enough at a high enough price to make it worth my while. To do it right, you need to integrate a hinge mechanism so you can clean the back window. The top louver needs to have an interesting profile to make it look right on the back hatch. Its a multi-angle bend and a curved cut. The middle louvers are easy. The whole thing rivets together and it looks sweet.

I think an mg enthusiast made some a long while ago, if I could get mechanical drawings, that would be a start.

I wonder how much louvers are worth to people?

Paul,
Without a doubt you'll never make any money on them BUT you'd make a LOT of friends if you just offer the cut material as a kit for us to assemble. I'll take two right now. I can punch holes and rivet. I live for stuff like this, in the I've made a few 'products' and almost always it's not worthwhile. I do enjoy spreading my creations around meeting fellow enthusiasts. So I do it anyway. Just make it easy on yourself. This way you'll do it and we'll all be happy.

Does anyone have pictures?

- Doug

I think it was a company called Paddy hopkirk that made them.

There's a Datsun B210 in a nearby alley with one. I'll have to go do some measuring. You never know...
I had a Datsun 200SX with one. Pretty cool period correct option.
I have a dark tint on my rear window for the hot Nor CA summers.

(and no, Spridget owners, it's a "B" 210 and an automatic as well.)

if somebody can get me some plans / engineering drawings for em, ill see if i can do them at cost for the UK guys.?

can do plastic, stainless, aluminium etc..... i saw some on the USA ebay site, i have never seen a car in the UK with them, but i quite like the look?

Back in the late 70's/early 80's I used to sell and install louvers (along with sunroofs, roof racks, running boards, etc).

Back then louvers were generally poorly made, did not fit well and had a tendency for the attaching pieces to come loose.

I think I can recall the general construction of them well enough.

David

if anybody has a dimensioned drawing of the GT rear screen, ill see if i can model up some new louvres, does anybody have a preferance for file types that their machines use? ( .STP, .IPG , .DWG , .IPT etc...........?) also is there a preferance towards "punch press" sheet metal parts then riveted together, or do we like billet CNC lovelyness?

you can get them for Mustangs....

Allen Bachelders (MGE bachldrs) in Michigan had them on his 73 BGT. There must be pictures from MG2007 where he attended.
In the only picture I could find you can just see them through the rear window.

I had a set for my '83 SAAB 900 T and they really dressed up the car. The louvers were a one piece deal, appearently made in a mold. It was pretty flimsey but when laid on the car was quite strong enough. It was held by little plastic gismos that slid in under the rubber window molding. It was flexible enough to remove for washing the window, etc.

I think I have only seen these once on an MGB GT (perhaps because I live in northern climes where the sun can beat down on us without the same effect as it has on those in the parched south).

I really didn't like the effect - they looked out of place, a bit jarring. Maybe if the angle of the rear glass had been lower.....hey - maybe I need these on my Jamaican (body copied from the Miura....naw)

They are actually functional, but more so on cars with low angle rear glass like the Mustang and the Lamborghini Miura, where the area they topped off wasn't even covering the passenger compartment, which ended right behind the driver's head, but the engine compartment.

I'd love a set and would expect to pay $200 to $250 for a decent quality set if you'd be willing to make either a kit or an actual product.

[quote=losmorob]
There's a Datsun B210 in a nearby alley with one. I'll have to go do some measuring. You never know...
I had a Datsun 200SX with one. Pretty cool period correct option.
[quote]

I had a 1978 Datsun 280Z that was Pearl Black with black louvres. I could see out fine and they definitely cut down on the heat inside the cockpit.

A better shot of Allen Bachelders' (bachldrs) louvers.

They would be nice for the summer.

I had an interior set on my old BGT some years ago. Made of very lightweight metal painted black. They clipped into the rubber gasket around the inside of the rear window. Never liked them in that position much. I picked them up cheap at some discount place for about $20, and they were worth about half that price.

On some cars, the exterior ones can be lifted up (hinged?) so the rear glass can be cleaned off when needed. Otherwise, if they're "permanently" wedged into the rubber gasket, it's hard to clean that window. From inside the car, you don't even see them when looking to the rear since the forward edges are so thin. They do help reflect away the sun pretty well, though I wonder if another color besides black would work even better?

Not much use on a roadster, though.