Front Pan - Est of Hrs ??

[ecm911]

Hello,

I have to replace the front suspension pan on my 78SC.
Decided to let a pro do this but looking for ways to kep cost down.
I will remove gas tank. Anything else I can do myself?

Also, what would be an estimate of professional hrs assuming above.

Thanks

Earl

[Britain Smith]

I got mine down with an exchange of time and parts with a buddy of mine that owns a body shop but he mentioned that it is cost somewhere in the range of $1000-$1200 to get done.

-Britain

[tangerine911e]

Same $$ value here too for the labour (although the suspension pan sheet metal is around twice the price here in Aust at around US$500). I had a pro do the '70 a few months ago. I'm about to attempt the pan replacement in the '71 with a couple of buddies with plenty of welding experience.

Ash

[deoxford]

I payed a local guy $450 to do mine. I pulled the tank out and moved all the wires out of his way.

I would never do it again, It is cheaper to buy or rent a welding machine and Do it my self.

[boyt911sc]

Earl,

Any area underneath the A-arm to be replaced? If the suspension area is not involved in replacing the rusted section then you could probably do it yourself. I could lend you my mig welder.

Practice with scrap metal sheets and you'll get better after a few hours of practice. Ordinarily, this cut and weld work should be less than $500 but since this is a Porsche, it will cost you mucho dinero. Have you located a body shop to do the job?

PM me at atd911@hotmail.com. I might be able to help you.

Tony

[LakeCleElum]

Earl: I did one in a 912 in about 1988 or 89.....I was friends with a guy that ran a local body shop. He said during slow times of year, he sent his guys home early. We agreed to put it in a garage out back and when he sent them home, they could work on it and he'd charge me 1/2 price for labor. I pulled the tank, and front suspension. He sent a tow truck to get it. I bought the pan from Tweeks (sorry Wayne) for $200. These guys pulled all the front suspension, cut out the old one, welded in a new one and towed it back to me.

When it was running they did an alignment and charged me a grand total of $165......I considered myself quite lucky.....Bob S,

[Willem Fick]

Earl,

I couldn't agree more with Tony on this one!

To weld the pan in yourself is no big deal at all. I couldn't really weld to start off with, but also couldn't afford what a new pan AND having it fitted professionally would cost, so took the plunge of doing it myself.

Although it probably isn't the best way of doing it, I spot welded mine in using oxy-acethelyne. To guard against future corrosion I then also brazed a number of the external spot-welded seams.

Allthough, as a newby to this, I made a bit of a hash of with the placement of the front a-arm pickup point, but even managed to rectify this very easily.

I have since became so confident with welding and metalwork, that I have now even resorted to manufacturing some metal sections myself, including a new latch panel, lateral tank supports, and a part replacement of an inner fender.

Go on do it yourself, if for nothing else than a great sense of achievement!

If you still feel that you'd rather have someone else do it, you can save quite a bit by doing as much of the stripping/assembly yourself. Find out from the repair shop what they will have to remove in order to do the job, and opt to do that yourself. Remember, these guys charge not only for their skills, but for time too. Any time you save a repair shop on a job will be reflected on your bill!

Cheers!

Willem Fick

[Series900]

20 hrs start to finish,dissasemble,cut out, fit and weld, grind, caulk, epoxy,paint, undercoat, reassemble