Factory weld quality on '69 Targa?

[rotundapig]

I'm in the process of stripping down my '69 Targa and this is my first Porsche restoration, and this car has been previously 'restored' in the 90's using mostly fiberglass, brazing, pop rivets and bondo so I'm making an effort to observe and document the factory work versus the work in the 90's.

So far, is has been very obvious what is factory work and what is the 90's botch job, but when I stripped away the lead covering the rear fender weld, I was really surprised to see how much porosity there was. Can anyone comment on whether this is normal?

The lead was also covering more small indentations on this side than the other.

[mepstein]

Pic of the other side?

[rotundapig]

this is the passenger side.

After pulling off the rear fender, I am convinced that it was the factory weld.

[onboost]

Factory welds were far from perfect. Keep in mind that Porsche was close to being, and in some cases by manufacturing standards, a boutique car company. There were no robotic welders etc.. and everything was done by hand. It's easy to find welds like that, much of it was covered with lead, but there is weld spatter, and even wire that was left and painted over.

I think my favorite is to hear people fretting over getting the undercoating correct. Whereas if you look closely in the right places, you can see where it was slathered on with a brush as it made its way through the process.

[rotundapig]

Thanks for the insight. As I go through this car, it is an interesting mix of daunting and confidence-building discoveries. Even though I may not get everything perfect in doing this myself, I know it'll be much better than the last renovation - and maybe as good as the factory would have done it. As long as I have a car that I enjoy at the end, it'll be a success!