Great job, as mentioned so many times gavlanizing as not fibergalss or aluminum, it can and will rust, period. My '83 SC cab has no visible signs of rust, the other day I jacked up both sides using the original jack posts, boy was I nervous lifting each side entirely off the ground to remove the wheels, it didn't give a bit, the doors even opened and closed when it was jack up, perfectly I might ad. After seeing your post here, I was prepared for the worst, thank god nothing came of it. Certainly it doesn't mean there is no rust, but I take it as a big positive, I usually always use a floor jack, this time I just had to know, for better or worse. Thanks again

I have several pieces of car body in my office, from my recent "restoration project" that look like spot on 2-pack paint from the outside and rusty metal on the other side. This project has really revealed what you can see is only the tip of the iceberg. I thought my sills looked OK until the mechanic drove screwdrivers through them. What I was looking at was painted rot. At least it is all getting cut out. Then I can sleep safely at night, albeit a few thousand dollars lighter!

Rg5.

Hi Richard,

Feels like the first day of summer today in Perth!

Good to see that there is light at the end of the tunnel.

Hang in there.

cheers,
Bryan

Been up to see the car again.

First off, I had to clean up my sill covers. They were rather worn with some of the anti-chip coating flaking off at the lower edges. So I bogged them up with putty:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1224590186.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1224590229.jpg

Painstaking sanding with a detail sander, more bog and bit of wet and dry, the sills were ready for priming with rubberised primer. This is how they came out. I was pretty happy with these.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1224590403.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1224590594.jpg

Call me old-fashioned, but I think these look pretty good.

OK back to the rust repairs, the mechanic has now given some attention to the windscreen surround, having removed the screen and old rubber. One side (RHS) is ok, the other required a bit of wire-brushing. This is how it looks now, ready to be welded:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1224590759.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1224590801.jpg

In that last pic it still looks a bit rusty, but it needs a final clean and in the flesh it is pretty good to weld.

Now - sit down again - we are now moving to the LHS sill area which has now been cut open. We are back to grevious bodily harm.

la-la-la ooooh!

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1224590943.jpg

I have picked up some of the remnant metal. It looked great from the outside but literally crumbled in my hands.

Sharp intake of breath for this one:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1224591054.jpg

It looks worse than it is, but I bet you're glad it isn't your car:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1224591133.jpg

Luckily in the rear fender area, thinks are a bit cleaner. So we don't have to do much back here thank goodness (apart from repair that hole!)

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1224591231.jpg

Ok folks, that's all for tonight. I remain positive and steadfast in my view that after all this I will have a lovely sorted car.

Rg5.

man, why'd you post this right before breakfast?

Bill K

OK after ruining some people's breakfast, here are some latest pics that I hope are more palatable. Things have moved on at the LHS running board. Great progress over the last week. All the rot has now been cut out and new metal welded in: This section had to be custom fabricated.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1225546181.jpg

Door jam rot cut out and ready for filling/painting:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1225546238.jpg

View of that panel from the other side:


http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1225546297.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1225546322.jpg

Close up of LHS jacking point - refer back to the pics above as to how bad this was before:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1225546455.jpg

We are truly nearing the end of the proverbial tunnel now. Just the LHS lower windscreen to weld and we are on to the filling and painting phase.

At this point, all the visible rot that was the focus of this project has been cut out of the car, and we are left within some thing that I hope I can enjoy for years to come. I look fwd to extensive and painstaking detailing to get by car back to my standards when I get it back. I have a newly covered steering wheel to go back in, plus new silverknit floormats. The next project is to get the front seats recovered using the original-spec pinstripe fabric I purchased (see above).

RG5

Been a while since I posted on this due to being away oveseas. In short, the car is not quite finished but is getting there. The filling and sanding is complete and the car is currently being painted. Here are some work in progress pictures of painted sections of the car. Note that these areas are not finished yet and the paint needs to be blended in and polished.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1230553363.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1230553590.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1230553659.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1230553696.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1230553779.jpg

The car is currently being assembled so that the more visible areas of the car after the repairs cab be given more attention.

Hopefully another couple of weeks and I should have her back!

RG5

Final stages....
 

Almost there now, car is looking really good:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1230904481.jpg

Just the windscreen to go in now and the RHS fender to put back on

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1230904536.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1230904672.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1230904792.jpg

Car should be ready in a week

As the owner of the same 1973 since new, non galvanized, all I can say is whenever you see even a spot of rust take care of it immediately. I've replaced battery boxes; front suspension pan and retouch spots all the time. maintenance is cheaper than repair.
Also gel batteries only!!!

For what it worth....sometimes if the rust is too extended, the best is to buy a wrecked car with good body and swap all on the new body....if the estimate for the repair pass the 7-8K between rust fix and paint, a body in good shape cost maybe 5 or 6, then you will have a lot of work to swap everything :)

I am on the same boat, but my 1980 has hot yet received a proper stripping, so the rust that i can see is the one under the windshield and on the door and front area of the fender and spoiler....the best that i was able to do was to buy one of these spray bottle that you spray on the rust to block it....but i have no idea how long it will last T_T since i can't paint yet the car

The "spray the rust" option is a good idea as an interim measure. I put 3 cans of Penetrol into my car four years ago and I am sure that slowed down the rust that I could see. The problem is the rust you can't see. Take round my windshield for instance. That was rotting away until we removed the screen and grinded into it. How about the sills -the rust was all on the side. How are you going to spray that? The only way to treat any rust properly is to cut it all out and weld in new metal. In my case this was 6 months of hard graft.

RG5

agree with you...if you can't see it you can't fight it

Car is now finished!!!!
 

Here are some pictures of the finished car. I picked it up on tuesday and have been detailing it since then.

I will probably take some more in better light but you can see the car is now back on the road and looking great again.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1232187736.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1232187925.jpg

Really happy how the door sills turned out:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1232188001.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1232188061.jpg

Took me ages to get the interior looking good again after six months in the workshop. New mats and new steering wheel are in:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1232188131.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1232188167.jpg

I am delighted with how the car turned out and the result has been worth the wait. The work was done by Detlef Leuchte, owner of Swan Porsche parts. Swan Porsche parts is an independent Porsche specialist and parts distributor located in Perth, Western Australia http://www.swanporsche.com.au/

Detlef did a fantastic job with the car and was very accommodating with my frequent visits to see how the car was going to take pictures. His attention to detail and love of Porsches is obvious in the way he goes about his work and provides service.
I am particularly grateful how the car was put back together, Detlef fixing and improving things as a matter of course as he did the job at no extra cost.

Visiting Pelicans to Perth, I am sure Detlef woudn't mind you dropping by his workshop if you need that hard to find Porsche part or need to discuss a problem with your car. I could not recommend Detlef's services high enough.

RG5.

Looking good! Now give it plenty of excercise.

I am curious and don't know much about body work. It appears most of the patches were welded on behind the hole and not butt welded. They were then filled to make them even. What was used for the fill was it bondo or lead or fiberglass.
Car looks great by they way. I am sure all the work will be worth it.

It was welded all along the edges of the sections of new metal then I think filled and painted. The end result looks and feels solid, and best of all, is no longer rust.

Very nice result. Did you use new rubbers all around ?

Thanks. The windscreen seal was replaced, and both front fender cowl seals:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1232232092.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1232232148.jpg

The sill rubbers that run above the side running boards are original, just rejuvenated:
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1232232229.jpg

The only other new rubber is the door seal on the drivers side:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1232232288.jpg

The door sill rubbers were replaced not too long ago, as were the rear fender side rubbers. All other rubbers were just cleaned up.

I'm very happy with the recovered wheel. Amazing what difference to the interior the wheel makes:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1232232388.jpg

Rg5