RUST in the front suspension pan (sigh)

[450knotOffice]

Crapolla!

I happened to be snooping around my battery box area and noticed some rust. Oh oh, I thought. Snooped some more. Got under the car and there it was...rust and a big crack in the suspension pan running right alonside one of the A-arm Mounting points. It's not good. The right side of the pan is fine. The rust is isolated to the left half of the pan (likely caused by a battery spill at some point).

So, I did some research on this board and found that this a pretty common problem and a lot of guys have replaced their pans. The complete pan assembly is about $170 at "Restoration Design" so that's not a problem. However, I am not a welder so I am going to have to have a shop take this on.

Does anybody have any idea as to how much a good Porsche body shop is going to charge me (ballpark) to replace that pan?

Here is a pic:

[Hoffman912]

cost me about 800 here in ohio (including parts).. but thats ohio, not LA, and my shop charges 60/hr (restores 356s and early 911s and works on everything up to 996s).

be careful not to drive to it like that. i know 912ers who have been driving (unaware of the issue), and the rust has given way letting the a arm go free.. (not a good thing at all!).

ive never seen one that bad on a 80s car.. especially a california car. (my 68 lifetime midwest car wasnt close to that, but had a small rust crack starting).

best to check out other areas as well while your down there.. not just rust but bushings, ball joints etc.

[450knotOffice]

Thanks Hoffman912. Two out of the three mounts look and feel untouched by rust. The one nearest to the rust and crack is suspect.

Here are some more pics:

[Willem Fick]

Have to agree with Hoffman912 - don't drive it like that!

If the left is that bad, you'll probably find that the "good" looks of the right was deceiving.

Mine from the outside (thinking damage was contained to left side only):


Then, once I opened the can of worms:


Rip out the whole thing, that is both pan and tank support. At the same time also check out the two lateral supports, that run alongside the tank, as battery acid tends to leech into these too...

Cheers!

Wllem Fick

[Hoffman912]

here was mine. was a little worse than i had rememberd.

[LakeCleElum]

In the late '80's, I had one replaced in my 912 for $165 (labor only). I was friendly with a local body shop. The deal was that I pulled the tank and front suspension and they towed it to their shop. They charged me a reduced rate by putting a guy on it only when things were slow.
They delivered it to my house when done, I put things back together and returned it for an alignment. I would suggest not trying to weld it in yourself unless you're an experienced welder. It's a very critical area for obvious reasons.....G'luck

[Shuie]

Its a labor intensive but straightforward replacement. As long as the rot has not reached the longitudinals and the lateral gast tank supports it shouldnt be too bad.

Maybe there is a Pelican welder near you that can help out. You are also less than an hour from TRE and KevinP73's shop, thos guys could help you for sure.

http://tremotorsports.com/

heres Kevin's shop info

Automotive Innovations and Restoration
15020 Oxnard St. unit E
Van Nuys, Ca. 91411
818 786 2181

[drummer323]

Be sure to definitely check longitude supports, the rust in mine was clear up into the area where the crossmember mounts. I right now have the whole area cut-out including both longitude supports to clean it and por-15. Your pan looks very much how mine did and believe me the cancer spreads to the very unseen areas. They can weld in new supports. My situation is a little different as I'm putting in a fuel cell and my brother in laws are both welders/fabricators so they are making custom supports with supporting brackets for the fuel cell. Good luck and check under those supports! Price is obviously gonna depend on how much cancer damage is done or present!

[scottb]

I echo Sherman's comments. Take it over to Kevin. Yeah, it's kinda far, but you'll be having the work done by someone who knows what he's doing. He's a frequent contributor on the board. If you need help, I might be able to meet you at Kevin's shop and take you over to the train station so you can get back to Mission Viejo. Just a thought...

[450knotOffice]

Thanks.

It sounds to me like the cost won't be too prohibitive

Lucky for me this is an '84 and has never seen snow and road salt so I'll keep my fingers crossed that the rust hasn't spread into the tank supports yet.

Sheesh (so much for the Al Reed polish on my wheels for now).

-Scott

[450knotOffice]

scottb,

Thanks! I may take you up on your offer. We'll see. I'm going to ask around down here first and see what I get.

-Scott

[1973911s]

Scott,

I just had some rust repairs on my 84 and it was done at Pristine Motorsports in Huntington Beach. The bill was like $350. They do awesome work.

Michael

[450knotOffice]

Thanks Michael. That is exactly what I am looking for. I will call them next week about this. I've heard good things about them.

You've got that really nice Red Targa with the ducktail, right? I remember talking to you about coming out to take alook at it. Sometimes I wish I had. Nice car.

-Scott

[sammyg2]

Whoa! Wasn't your car just at hergesheimer's for like a week while they were doing your corner balance and alignment?
seems to me like that sort of thing would be noticed and pointed out. What am I missing, or should the question be what were they missing?
maybe they saw it and told you about it?

[450knotOffice]

No. Unfortunately, they didn't. Not that it would've changed anything however. I'm just glad I found it. I like to corner this thing pretty hard and I can't even imagine what would've happened had that A-arm broken loose on Ortega -especially with me having a cab and no rollover protection.

-Scott

[jpnovak]

Scott, That problem is common in most 911s. Even the later cars will rust if a battery ever boiled over and especially cars with AC and a foward condensor. The major problem you will encounter is that a new pan replacement is not available for cars with AC. This just means that a custom condensor box will need to fabbed and should only add a few hours to your bill. Othewise, it should be a straightforward replacement.

[Zeke]

Never met Kevin, I do know Dave at TRE. I thought Kevin was a bodyman and painter. Dave is the one that fixed nostatic's car when he hit a chunk of concrete laying on the road.

I agree that you shouldn't take it to a shop that does insurance work; different billing system. There is a fellow in OC called Rusty Bottoms, he is primarily a 356 guy, but I bet he does more than that. He is also never w/o work from what I hear.

Rusty Bottoms
4871 School St - 92886-3424 Yorba Linda, CA
Phone: 714-779-5536.

[Plavan]

Originally posted by sammyg2
Who! Wasn't your car at hergesheimer's for like a week while they were doing your corner balance and alignment?
seems to me like that sort of thing would be noticed and pointed out. What am I missing, or should the question be what were they missing?
maybe they saw it and told you about it?

Wow! they did not tell you or point it out???? Thats bad. They were doing your cornerbalance and alignment, they had to see it. If they missed that, what else are they going to miss????
I would take it to TRE to have it replaced.

[450knotOffice]

I've heard great things about TRE and have seen their website. Impressive. I get the feeling that they'd be prohibitively expensive though. Or am I wrong?

As for the A/C...I'm seriously considering taking the whole thing out. It works great but what the heck do I need an A/C for when the car's convertible, I live in mild SoCal, and the car's only used for fun.

-Scott

[sammyg2]

If it were me (and it's not) I would be very pissed if my car was in a shop getting suspension work done and two weeks later I found a suspension point damaged from rust and they didn't even bother to mention it. I'd at least be giving them a phone call to vent.
Heck, I'm. pissed just thinking about it. that could have been very dangerous if you hasn't found it and kept driving it hard! No telling how long it would last, maybe a day, maybe 20 years, but i'd bet eventually it would fail.