Steering Tube gasket in smugglers box

[BellevueJeff]

I just recently purchased my first older 911, and as the proud new owner, I am starting to go through and fix some of the little issues. My car is a 1971 911t with a 2.7 out of a mid year s. As I was looking through the car, I noticed some surface rust in the smugglers box, and what appears to be a missing gasket as i can see the ground around the steering tube. Small amounts of water are definitely getting into the box somehow.

Here are some pics:

My Car


Smugglers box steering column where it goes to rack


Bottom of box


Passenger side of box


Am I missing a piece? If so, what is it called? Also, is this level of rust an issue? I will be driving it a lot, sometimes in the rain, and I would like to be a good steward of my car. Should I prime and paint? Por15? Do nothing?

Clearly working in the box is a pain, but if it needs to be done, it needs to be done.

Thanks for your guidance.

Jeff

[FrenchToast]

Congrats! Looks like Conda or Signal Green?

As for a missing seal someone else probably knows. I haven't looked at the area in a while.

That rust doesn't appear bad from the photos but it is hard to tell. But it shouldn't be left in that state.

To fix it, grind all the rust to bare metal, prime, and paint. Por15 doesn't fix rust, it just covers it up.

If you are going to drive it in the rain I would recommend you limit gravel/dirt road travel to a minimum.

These cars are not galvanized (I think '72 had the floor pans galvanized, '75 up to beltline, '77 full body), so driving in rain is asking for issues. If you are going to drive in the rain I would pull all the glass and replace the seals. The seals and drainage around the windshields was never great when new, 50 year old seals are usually completely dry rotted. They didn't even get it right with the 993 - bad glass seals/drains cause rust even on those cars.

Consider cleaning the underside, allowing it to fully dry, and appling corrosion inhibiting film on most everything metal.

Wouldn't be my choice for frequent driving, not very safe among general traffic these days. I don't think there is even an impact beam in the door (added sometime in the 70s?).

[Tommy Z]

I have a gasket on my smugglers box (79' SC) and it fits well so don't really have a moisture issue. My buddy is missing the gasket on his and he uses an adhesive backed, flat foam weather stripping from The Home Depot. It is about 1 inch wide and maybe 1/2" thick. It comes in rolls. It works very well if you are unable to find the part it is a good solution.

[BellevueJeff]

It's conda green. Original color, but repainted once in the late 90's. The color really sold me on the car.

I'll look into an undercoating and try to keep out of the gravel as much as possible. Not hard in suburbia.

As for safety, well, it's better than a motorcycle and way more fun than any of my other cars.

Lastly, I'll check out weatherseal next time I go to Home Depot. That's a good idea.