front cowling rust: replace or repair?

I am currently redoing the body on my '79 930. Their is a fair (major) amount of rust on the cowling on both lower corners of the windshield. I just recieved a catalog from Tweeks, and see they offer replacement part for that section of the cowling. Does anyone have any experience with these pieces? If they are quality parts and all, it looks like it would be easier to replace than try and fix the bad parts (and hope the rust doesn't come back).

i would not replace the cowl unless it looks like swiss cheese. abrasive blast the area to see if it's rotted thru. if so, the rust area needs to be cut out and a piece of sheet metal fabricated and welded in. most of these repairs are hidden by the rubber seal anyway. way easier than replacing the whole cowl. if it's just pitted, use a metal etching primer to preserve and seal the area (after blasting)then do the usual paint repair stuff.

Thanks for that. Both sides are rotted thru, with one side worse than the other. The driver side cowl is about 3/16" lower than the fender. Maybe I should have curbed my enthusiasm at owning the car of my dreams. Have you seen the parts from Tweeks?

I have not seen the parts from Tweeks. There is a reasonable chance that the pieces come from Restoration Design, which is where I ordered my pieces. I'd recommend dealing with RD. The pieces are great, and require minimal finish work.

The thing you need to be worried about, as I found out the hard way, is having a QUALIFIED and CONSCIENTIOUS body shop installing these parts. Take a long look at this cowl area, and you will realize that they are an "anchor" for lining up the hood, the fenders, the doors, and properly installing the windshield. Get this job done right the first time. Check out my site if you want to see more on the horror story.

-d



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Dave
1972 911T (E motor) RSR replica project
http://members.nbci.com/dtwinters/garage/

I had some rust on this area when I redid my 911. I was able to blast it out via the method John described and it was only surface.

You CAN purchase the 5-6" long lower corner section from Porsche to be welded into place. I think Tweeks and PP have it, Pelican can probably get it too. This part consists only of this lower corner and the lower part of the water channel. I dont think it extends much out to the cowling, so your alignment concerns with the hood/fender should be minimal. You can tack it into place and then fit the hood and fender and move it as necessary. Thats all a body shop would do. Just be patient and get it right!
Good Luck.
Nick.

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Nick Shumaker
1982 911SC Coupe
nickshu@yahoo.com
PCA -- Rocky Mtn. Region