Success with aftermarket rear window defroster

[davekillen]

Hi, I figured I'd post this in case anyone else has been looking for a similar solution. I have no affiliation with the company, but this worked well for me to replace the completely shot rear defroster on my '69 912 and I figure many are in the same boat after ~50 years.

I ordered the "stick kit" that's part no. 1216-3450-L-STK at this page: https://www.frostfighter.com/clear-view-defrosters-16.htm

This one is 20 inches high and works on a width between 34 and 50 inches, which seemed the best fit for our rear windows. It worked out well for me. You end up with 16 elements, which is of course more than original, and cover most of the window while also leaving enough room at the top and bottom to make installation not too difficult.

That said, installation is a bit of a chore and is fairly fiddly. The defroster lines come on four separate sheets of backing paper. It's a little tricky to get everything lined up but the instructions are clear. The one thing I didn't realize until I actually started installing it was that the backing paper is cut precisely to maintain a consistent distance between grid lines when you lay it out. So once you get the first roll installed, you can just line up the next roll underneath it with the center line, using the paper itself to keep the vertical placement secure. This will make more sense if you have it in front of you.

Anyway, I just wired it up to some new wires I passed through the parcel shelf next to the old ones and connected them to the appropriate locations in the engine compartment. The defroster works great now (shown below midway through defrosting on a recent morning). Hope this helps someone else, feel free to hit me up with questions if I haven't explained this sufficiently.

[shadowjack1]

Nice write up. Thanks