The resurrection of Wilma

Wellwood · 08-12-2023, 07:06 AM

I came across the shell of a 968 Cabriolet several years ago and brought it home with the idea of repainting and putting the car back together. We named her Wilma.

Thought I'd start a thread here to share my efforts in painting and of course to periodically solicit answers to questions I have.

The goal is something better that a 10 footer, but don't think I'll be winning a concourse with her.

Backstory

The car had been stored in a barn type structure which got flooded. The car saw water up to the top of the glove box area. Insurance settled with the PO and he got the title back unbranded.

Fast forward a couple of years, heavy snow storm causes barn roof to collapse, wrecking top and windshield.

PO throws up hands in despair, parts the car out. I find it as you see it. $400 and what you see is what I got.

That was about 8 years ago. Bought a house new to us 6 years ago, came with a two car attached garage and a two car stand alone garage. House needed some updating/repairs (read - it needed my money and time!). Nearing completion of the house so now I get to go back and play with cars again.

I've finished the disassembly and discovered a small patch of rust near the cowl drain on the drivers side that needs to be remedied, but after that - she's in pretty good shape.

Looking for your suggestions on the best way to deal with the corroded area and to treat it to prevent recurrence. I've read that POR is the best stuff ever for this kind of issue. Just not sure about the undercoating and final treatment. These is time to wade through this...

Plan is to start with fixing the rust and undercoating area, paint the small items in a makeshift spray booth in the driveway, then paint the chassis and start the reassembly process.

Thanks for looking.

dennisO · 08-12-2023, 06:38 PM

The water level was pretty high. Are you concerned about water getting inside the body cavities and the car rusting from the inside out?

Wellwood · 08-13-2023, 06:49 AM

At this point, no.

I've stripped the chassis down and other than the corrosion already mentioned, I haven't found any other evidence of corrosion.

The really only 'hollow' part of the chassis is the cavity created between the original chassis bottom and the reinforcing bottom added to stiffen the chassis when creating the Cab from the base Coupe sheet metal.

Bill Douglas · 08-14-2023, 01:46 AM

I'd be inclined to give it death with a wire wheel on an angle grinder (stating the obvious - wear safety glasses) and see what its like. Once it's fairly much cleaned up you could further clean it with one of those small hand help sand blasters. They get the rust out of the tiniest pits. I would do a phosphoric acid wash, then a couple of coats of epoxy. I wouldn't use POR 15, then your usual primer topcoats etc.