Hello everyone,
I began reading this forum recently, and regrettably, my first post is about some rust I found over the weekend in my 1972 911T coupe.
I try and check the car over every year or so, whenever I do a valve adjustment. About a year and a half ago, things were fine. This weekend, while preparing to service the car, I gave it a once-over in search of any structural rust.
The first thing I found is that I have rusting in the front suspension pan, on the right-hand side:
A few years ago I had the pan patched as a stopgap, and it looks like this is now rusting through. I have searched the forum and read some of the pan replacement links. I cannot weld, nor do I have a shop facility. It is possible that I could help in disassembling the car if the work could be done at someone's home. I did see a thread here where some Atlanta people were discussing pan replacements. I am about an hour from Atlanta, and I was hoping to ask if anyone could point me to a good home-shop where I could have the pan replaced.
However.
When it came time to begin my valve adjustment, I noticed that the upper section of the firewall is also rusting away! The pan was a jolt when I saw it, but the firewall was a gasp followed by an awful sinking feeling. It appears water is getting in through a worn rear glass seal. There is a rusty gap running most of the length of the firewall.
The good news, as far as I can tell, is that the vertical portion and the seats appear to be okay. I have not pulled the seats though - I have knocked around underneath them while under the car. The carpet in this car is mostly out right now. I had another, smaller leak recently and I removed it to prevent trapping water against the floorboards.
At any rate, I was hoping to become a member of this forum and talk about the treasures these cars are, but unfortunately I am instead asking for suggestions and general input about these areas of my car. I have been aware of areas to check for rust since shopping for this car ten years ago, but somehow I just wasn't vigilant enough. The rear shelf seems to have rusted fast!
It is good to be on here with fellow Porsche enthusiasts, regardless of my bad news. I look forward to everyone's opinions.
Regards,
Andrew