rust repair question
 

I am looking at an 89 911. It has a small rust spot at the base of the windshield. I know that this is a common spot for this problem. I am sure several people have made a simialar repair. What is involved in this repair, and how much should I budget for the repair? Thanks, Kevin

I never had this issue on a Porsche, but I have had this problem on other cars. It really depends when you get the windshield out to see how involved the repair is going to be. Also, is it surface rust or is it all the way through. If it's all the way through the best way to fix that is to cut it out and weld in a new piece. As you can see this repair could be an easy fix, or it could be a complicated repair. It's really hard to determine how much you are looking at. Do you have any pics? Hopefully, it's just surface rust.

Good Luck!!!!!

Re: rust repair question
 

Maybe it's a common spot on the earlier cars, but if I saw even a speck of rust on a galvanized '89...I'd keep looking...

Well just cause they are galvanized doesn't mean they can't rust. But you do make a good point. I wouldn't call that spot a common spot on an '89.
My car is an '85 and where the door jam and the door sill come together it was rusted through. I throughly looked over the car for other "common" locations where rust might be. Like around the battery area, the other door sill/jam area, under the carpet in the trunk. Luckily I didn't find any other spots. In my case it was an isolated spot.
Are you 100% sure it IS rust? Maybe a paint bubble? Or some road type rash? Stone chip?

Your right Bill, it might be OK, but certainly requires a very careful examination. Potentially purchasing a Carrera that is already showing rust still leaves me thinking: Run Forrest, run! :)

Yes, if it has a spot of rust there I would take a looooong look around that car to see what else is rusted. Maybe that car has had some damage to it that wasn't repaired properly?

Even though my car was rusted in that one spot, when I bought it it was a one owner car and the price was unbeliveable. Plus I got the green light from the wife that it was ok to buy a Porsche and that light isn't on for very long. :D

Thanks for the replies. I was pretty sold on the car, and I was going to phone in an offer at luch, but someone took lunch earlier than I did, and beat me to it. The search continues. Kevin

FWIW, my 85 rusted there a year ago and I have a California car. It was surface rust that bubbled through the paint and was taken out by some steel wool. I had it smoothed, sealed, and repainted for $300. No biggie. It's the best looking part of my paint now!

Rust in that location is usually the result of a poorly done windshield replacement, although it is more common on cars with bonded windshields. The paint gets nicked when removing the old glass and over time, rust forms. I always have windshields replaced by a body shop so I can make sure any problems get dealt with. The average glass shop won't do this.

JR