OH NO! little monsters are eating my car

So the project has started.

I discovered some serious rust on the front suspension pan of my car. It was not too bad a few months ago. Turns out the undercoating was all that held the pan together. The rust monster has been feeding itself for a while. I have been driving pretty hard lately and completed the dust conversion process. I had not driven the car since I noticed the steering a little wobbly. Found a very dangerous situation. The front of the arm was not even connected to the pan. Scary! Check out the picts of the carnage.

http://www4.ncsu.edu:8030/~jpnovak/prshpic5.html

The car is now apart and will get a new suspension pan, gas tank support and all new bushings front and rear. I will update as time/progress allow.

Any suggestions on how the get the supports and bushings off the a-arms? They are fused and collapsed. I can't even twist them in a vise. Can't wait for those new bushings that actually work.

The good news is that this is the only real rust on the car. Its a good feeling to know that it will be gone soon.

Jamie
71 911T targa
http://www4.ncsu.edu/~jpnovak

Holy ****! I thought my 912 was rusty! Damn, you're lucky the control arms didn't come right off the car while you were driving it. About the best way to get the old rubber bushings off of the arms-get a propane torch and burn them off. Messy, yes. Smelly, yes. Slightly dangerous-maybe. Effective-damn right. They're vulcanized (read: kinda melted) on at the factory, so there's no way they're just gonna slip off with only a little nudging. Do it OUTSIDE-trust me-that's a smell you do NOT want lingering around the house (or garage, or shop, or whatever).

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Clay McGuill '66 912, '97 Jeep Cherokee www.geocities.com/the912guy

Hi;
I bought my new front under pan and the tank support for 194.95 from Restoration Design 517-663-4545. It is their "Package D", it doesn't wrap all the way behing the tank, but it replaces all the suspension points. Good luck

Restoration Designs website is:
http://www.restoration-design.com/index1.html

Beware those of you with cars up through 1989 (I can't speak for later models since I have never opened the hood). Alan Herod, a contributor to this BBS, has an Euro SC model. He had to replace the entire front pan on his car (similar to Jamie's project) because of a leaky battery - - the acid ate its way through the battery box and down on to the pan below. If Alan comes on, he may want to expand (correct ? ) this. But as a result, this is an area our PCA chapter examines closely during Tech Inspection prior to DEs. Poke, poke, poke with a sharp screwdriver while the car is on the lift.
-
Chuck

Just went thru the same ordeal. Fixed it myself. Here is the before:

Here is the after:

I to had this battery acid/rust problem, but was lucky enough to catch it early on.
Wonder if it has anything to do with a porsche trait of faulty alternators? overchargeing! ?
I would suggest anyone who has not checked under their battery recently,to do so!.
I beleive this is more common than we would like to think!!!
I had under and in front of the battery cut out and new sections welded in without needing the full front pan area.
rgds Ben

Ouch!

You should keep these pictures for any manual which might be written! Thats the worst I have seen so far (despite 914's, they look usually like this).

Good luck fixing!

Jens

What a site to see. I knew everyone would feel my pain. I already have the pan on the way. It will be here next week. The good thing is that the rust has not migated too far off the suspension pan. The pinch weld seam is still solid on the bottom. Once the pans arive I will chalk in place and start cutting. I figure it will take about an hour to remove the old metal. I have my Dad's plasma cutter.

Sheet metal is no match for my plasma torch weilding hands! err, sorry I got caught up on the thought of blazing through steel faster than a speeding bullet.

Kurt V- looks great. almost as rusty as mine until the new pan. Within a few weeks mine will look like that. Viva la POR15.


Anyone know of an easy way to remove the undercoating? I mean besides the usual grind and curse method. What's in those undercoating removal sprays? Any body men out there know? Thanks in advance

Jamie
71 911T targa
http://www4.ncsu.edu/~jpnovak

I have a week of vacation scheduled 26 March to do the exact same job. My replacement pan just arrived from performance products yesterday. Kurt V. - your work looks great, any tips? I haven't got my gas tank support off yet, but I think mine will look pretty much like your "before". Like Jamie, I had one a-arm let loose from the pan and have had the car parked for months. Have you guys found any step-by-step details of this project on the web? I'm always looking for more info before diving into a big project...
Brad

Guys, This summer I replaced the front suspension pan & nose piece, the entire floor and the entire back seat and package tray area on my 70T. I bought the susp.pan, tank support and floor from Restoration Design. The back seat area was another matter, plus my suspension rust went way beyond where the repro pan stops. What I ended up doing was to buy an unrusted but wrecked bodyshell from Oklahoma Foreign.I did not use the repro suspension pan. I cut the rusted areas out with a hammer and sharpened wood chisel very carefully and then cut out the corresponding areas on the donor car, but with a 3/4 inch overlap. I very carefully fitted the donor pieces into the shell and sheet metal screwed them in really tight. Then I bolted up the front suspension to check it's fit and alignment. It was right on. I used the repro floor panels. I cut my badly perforated original floors out along the seams which run around the edge of the bottom of the floors on both sides of the interior. Where the originals are spot welded. I did this because except for under the pedals, the floor metal under the frame tubes was OK. I fit the new panels up under the car and sheet metal screwed it into place, beating it around in places to form it to the old floor. I screwed it snuggly to those seams (next to where I cut out the old metal) from inside the car. I had cut both original and donor seat pans out by breaking the spot welds where they met the bodies, so the donor pan set perfectly into place, where I screwed it in snuggly too. I waited for the next weekend and went Saturday morning to the rental place and rented a mig welder ($65 for the weekend). I had to buy some more wire at Lowes, but even with a 2 hour learning curve, I put a nice continuous bead all the way around the supension pan inside and outside. I spot welded the floor along the seams in the inside and continuously around the outside. I beat the lip they leave on the outside of the repro floor up and around the old seam with a ball peen hammer.and sealed it with that tough body sealer you can get at Auto Zone. Oh- I also welded up all the screw holes. I used the body sealer everywhere along every seam and weld, painted it all with black enamel and then undercoated the entire undercarriage. It looks excellent and is very sturdy.
This was a job that- when I first contemplated doing it-I was ready to put it all in a box and sell it for whatever. Once I did it- and it took me about 3 weekends- I'm very proud of the job and very enthused about getting the rest of it together! Alex