Replacing Smile
 

I'm replacing the bumper to body seal [ smile ] on my 84 Carrera and I am wondering if it is recommended to put some kind of additional sealant between the bottom of the fenders and the ends of the smile ? :confused:

I'm pretty sure the factory only used a few screws. I cant imagine anything additional is necessary.

The smile is exposed to moisture on all sides. Yesterday, i pulled the oil cooler and valence for clearance/access to the screws that secure the smile on my 74.
Many have reported badly rusted screws, so i plan to replace the screws with stainless, as well as addressing any underlying rust.

On the 74, the smile is secured by 4 screws on each side, (accesible from underneath) and 4 screws from inside the frunk. Access to these screws is easier with the valence off, (mine also needed repair and an air dam).

On the 74, the smile overlaps a almost half of the front section of the frrunk weatherstrip. I am reparing the cowell area gutter rust through, hence my need to remove the smile to replace the weather strip.

So, with the smile removed, this might be a good time to inspect the frunk gutter and do a bit of protective painting.

Beware the tinworm.

I've done the rust preventative part by sanding any surface rust and painting and I will use stainless screws . On the old smile I would get some road debris on the top of of the smile where it meets the fender if I was caught out in the rain . I'm wondering if anyone else has that problem ? And if they do should I put some sealer between the fender and the smile .

sf911: I don't think you can go wrong with applying rust preventive measures on our air-cooled 911s.. With 100% of my fixes/repairs / upgrades / maintenance actions I will find a way to incorporate some anti-rust measure >> like using a stainless nut/bolt/screw instead of a normal one You ask why didn't the Porsche factory use stainless? // and the answer is $$$ / cheaper to use normal hardware - and I don't know if POrsche management realized they were producing a machine that would take-on a cult-like following - where we want our 911s to last 60-70 -90 years...

Rust is the ENEMY!! Wade into him!! spill his blood!! kill the RUST!!!

peace out

kgl