Massive collateral damage...Not for the faint of heart.

thrown_hammer · 03-31-2003, 02:47 AM

Guys,
When I bought my car I knew it had a bad rear window seal that leaked and I knew that the rear shelf had some rot. Well Sunday I pulled all the interior out of the back to test the waters...
I found out that almost all the sheet metal from the rear windsheild to the rear seat buckets is rotten. At some point someone bondoed and POR15ed the seat buckets to hold them together. I started poking around with a screw driver and almost puked!!!

The good news is the longitudinals and torsion bar tube are in good shape. I checked the whole car and this seems to be the extent of it. What should I do? Any race car guys have some suggestions? PLEASE HELP! My head is spinning.

Adam · Adam's Garage

Holy Cow!

If you ever wondered before why it was noisy, now you know.

Didn't Jack Olsen get some kind of sheet metal fabricated for BB2 that covered that area? You might be better off cutting that metalwork out of a wrecked car and welding it in.

Ever had rear-seat passengers in the car before?

thrown_hammer · 03-31-2003, 03:01 AM

That was after I poked around with a screw driver. soon I was pulling out chunks of filler with my bare hands. I am thinking about trimming it all out and making some bolt in panels. The vertical panel between the buckets and rear shelf is kinda weak.

Zendalar · 03-31-2003, 03:03 AM

I suggest that you remove the entire carpeting...from the floors too. Sad sight though, and thank god nobody heavy was sitting on the back seat.

dickster · 03-31-2003, 03:26 AM

sorry to see that.

i've had the same findings on an old triumph stag i had.....not nice.

i say get a quote and have it done professionally - if the rest is sound.

RichMason · RichMason's Garage

That's why I junked my last 911. Got $1500 for the shell. The way the Porsche place told me to fix it was to buy the rear half of another car, drill out the spot welds on both cars and re-weld in the new panel. It will take you forever but it will fix it right. I have heard, as you alluded to in your post, that race car guys just bolt in custom panels so they can service the engine more easily. I think you have to decide whether you want rear seats or not - then go from there. Good luck and I'm sure its going to work out - just throw more money at it.

89911 · 03-31-2003, 04:10 AM

Donor tub.

Elombard · 03-31-2003, 04:13 AM

I have the same problem. Luckily Mine was caught before it left the shelf up right under the window. I am going to just cut back to good metal and have patch panels welded in. It wont be original but cars like mine and yours are a long way from original any way.

Deeks · 03-31-2003, 04:50 AM

Ouch....Thrown, I feel your pain !!

On the other hand.... you have a headstart in lightening thr car.
Strip her out and race her

GeorgeK · 03-31-2003, 04:53 AM

Who did the PPI on that car?
GeorgeK

72 four door · 03-31-2003, 04:54 AM

I know rust! I would cut out the rust and fabricate some sheet medal lay some underlayment and carpet and dont look back.

72 four door · 03-31-2003, 04:58 AM

progress

IMONBOOST · IMONBOOST's Garage

I would suggest cutting the whole seat out and fabricate a new piece with out the seats, then install a roll bar to add strength to the body.

BGCarrera32 · 03-31-2003, 05:10 AM

And when you put that roll bar in I would make some seriously oversized and custom backup plates to bolt the roll bar through...

You must have a headache already so I'll say no more...

osidak · 03-31-2003, 05:12 AM

Ouch sorry to see that thrown. Look at it on the bright side. Your car is lighter and it will be real easy to change the starter now.

I fear I will find the same things on my car but one day I will tear out the interior and do a cleaning like so many others have done on the board.

Good luck and keep the chin up

thrown_hammer · 03-31-2003, 05:18 AM

I am thinking alum. diamond plate panels that bolt in. And cutting out all the rot then coating everything that is left with POR15. Would this be strong enough to drive it until I can afford a roll bar? I am on a shoestring budget.
I decided last night the gloves are coming off. I am going to follow the Eric Mckenna mantra. To heck with streetability! Light, Loud, And Fast BABY!!

72 four door · 03-31-2003, 05:24 AM

Shawn thatll work fine I applied por-15 as well its alot cheaper than buying a tub and tranfering it over to yours. You might think about welding though as that would be stronger.

IMONBOOST · IMONBOOST's Garage

That would probably be fine like paul said, but if your car has a 3.2, which has a lot of torque and makes me think you like to race, then I would at least weld a tube on top of the fire wall where the seats end, the reason for this is that the torsion bar tube is attached to the longitudinals and this firewall. Without the seat sheetmetal the firewall would be doing little work at holding the torsion bar tube. I would think that the longitudinals sould be enough to hold the torsion tube but I wouldn't trust it completely.

RickM · RickM's Garage

Welding aluminum to steel might be tough.

I wouldn't screw around with this type of fix. I'd bet there are some well priced panels, whether used or fabricated, to weld in here.

Coming up with alternate fixes would be second guessing Porsche's structural engineering capabilities and intentions. However, any reinforcments which are "over and above" would be a good idea.

Just my 2c.

makaio · 03-31-2003, 05:48 AM

That sucks!