Damnit My Beatiful Rust Free 911 has rust!

[jmz]

...out wrenching on the car getting ready for new seats and carpet and found this rust after pulling the seats and carpet out.

It insn't pretty but there are no holes and I couldn't push a screwdriver through anywhere. (I sounded out the entire area)

I am very unhappy with this and am not exactly sure what my plan of attack will be (if any)

Even though I have alot of sentimental attachment to this car I am just not sure what to do. It is a good car, beautiful paint, strong and fresh hot rod 3.0. etc. etc.

recommendations and ideas welcomed

[makaio]

Clean up any loose dust/flakes and brush some POr-15 on it.

[TimT]

LOL that aint rust

this is rust!!

wire wheel some scotchbrite pads, a bit of etching, and a protective soting and youll be fine

[Jim Smolka]

POR-15 is good. IMHO, Wurth makes a rust paint that works really well.

[bob tilton]

first off - don't worry. looks like surface rust so follow the above advice. however, i suspect this is going to turn into a new carpet project as well as you will wonder about the rear shelf and rear seat bottoms. i am just finishing a RS carpet install and finally got to peak at what was under all the horsehair material.
i always scratch my head at people who say they have a 30 year old rust free car. i would ask these same people to remove their carpets, fenders, door sill plates, windshields, turn signals, then get back to me.

[mjshira]

My first 911 was also "rust free". I took her to a buddies shop, raised her on the lift and then noticed some light were it should not have been. I reached up to touch the pan where the rear seats should be only to push my hand through the the rear seat carpet! The PO had covered all the rust with black tar. I ened up having to replace nearly the entire rear pan.

Your case looks minor. I would recommend using some paint from www.magnetpaints.com once you are done cleaning to make sure it doesnt come back.

Good luck

James

[jmz]

thanks all. I know it could be a whole lot worse but it still sucks. I scooped up a couple of big handfulls of flakes and dust before I took the photos. The metal is definately thinner than when it left Germany.

I checked under the rear seats a few months back after reading someone else's unfortunate discovery of severe rust. Luckily that area of the car is still solid.

I suspect this happened from a bad windshield seal at some point and water accumulating inside of the car.

[vash]

i think we should organize a group tetanus shot discount.

[Shuie]

Make sure the rear window hasnt leaked

[sammyg2]

Aaaahhhh! Shuie don't post a picture like that without a warning. I almost lost my dinner.

[vash]

extra tetanus shot for shuie.

[exc911ence]

Originally posted by Shuie
Make sure the rear window hasnt leaked

Sweet! That's like an extra speaker blaring out engine noise!

[onewhippedpuppy]

Every time I see that picture I cringe, especially since I had a leaky rear window seal. POR 15 is great, get rid of all that stupid factory undercoating, I had a lot of surface rust under there.

[azasadny]

JMZ,
I know you're disappointed, but it could be MUCH worse! Do what these guys have suggested (POR15, thorough cleanup, etc...) and be sure you have found and corrected the leak (windshield) that you believe let that water in. Good luck!!

[JeremyD]

Originally posted by Shuie
Make sure the rear window hasnt leaked

That'll buff right out...

[Chuck Moreland]

There are two types of early 911s;

(a) Those with rust

(b) Those with owners that have not yet found the rust


You used to have (b), now you have (a).

Don't sweat it, that is minor. Just treat as above.

[john70t]

The floor wax and the old undercoating can hide that cancer well. Screwdriver or chisel is a good test.

A year a go or so I had holes in the fronts of the rear wheel wells(were it started), under the rocker plates, window seals, and one spot on the pan. All had any rust removed and neutralized as best as possible, patches welded in and the whole interior, trunk, wheel wells and underpan coated in POR15. I removed all the floor wax and chiseled the undercoating before, but didn't have the time/resources to strip the entire shell to metal as has been done by a couple people on the board. I'm still planning on spraying with a wand inside all the panels a rust protection system such as Waxoyl but still researching.

Also the catchpockets in front of the wheels were filled in with expandofoam, skimmed with fiberglass, and POR15'd so there should be no placed dirt and water can sit. Against my nagging inner voice it wouldn't pass concours, but I wanted to be able to drive it through mud and just hose it off. There are still lots of things to do on the list.

Kudos on finding that cancer and keep looking.

[Leland Pate]

Hmmmm... is your car a Targa?

[Shuie]

Sorry about that sammyg2. I was sick when I saw it also. Car is a '73 coupe and is named 'Tetanus'

JMZ, I 2nd the vote for cleaning everything up and treating with POR15. Pull as much of the carpet up as you can. Get heat gun and a metalscraper and start cleaning as much of the plastic/pvc type stuff off of the floor as possible. Clean up anything remaining with a wire brush. Strip any remainig factory paint, prep, and POR15 wherever possible.

Dont forget the pedal cluster area. Believe it or not, my floors were pretty clean with only surface rust in a few spots. The pedal cluster was the worst spot.

[jmz]

Shuie,

How did you treat the pedal cluster?

THere is defintatly some surface rust around the pedal cluster. How severe it is I am not sure yet.

My car is a 74 coupe that looks like a 74 carrera