hugh rust problem now what
 

Well it may be the death of the C.R.A.P. legend. Was pulling the gas tank today in preparation for a new 5 gal fuel cell and for some reason decided to stare at the front suspension. I was pondering how low should I go. Anyhow just happed to notice small spot next to the drivers side front suspension mount point. The very front where the torsion bar tube connects. Trouble extends at least half way across the front uniframe. Anyhow pictures say it all but how what do I do.........

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1257731834.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1257731849.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1257731875.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1257731890.jpg

I've seen a lot worse... Mostly caused by stray battery acid.
It's a very common problem but certainly not terminal.

I'm not going to state the obvious but everything to fix this is available and all the
info can be found here by searching any number of rebuild/back date threads.

Thats not a rust problem..

Man up and fix it.. its not to hard to fix

normal, unfortunately. some repair panels are a lot better than others, mostly in the way the front a-arm mounts are welded on. 3 spot welds doesn't get it.

My suspension pan is starting to rust a little around one of the torsion bar mounts also. The suspension pan is the first to start rusting I hear.

New pan. Done in a weekend. Piece of cake repair.

I found the same thing in my RSR a 2 weeks ago. I was working on the front fitting an oil cooler duct and not expecting to find what I found.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1257741045.jpg

After some drilling, grinding and a few strategic "bumps" with a hammer
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1257741115.jpg

And finally the new pan - fits like a glove.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1257741276.jpg

Its not too hard of a job - it took me about a full weekend to get to this stage.
Good luck.

This is from another thread... You need to look at this.

Pan Inspection With Borescope - Early 911S Registry Bulletin Board

Welcome to the suspension pan/tank support rust club. My car had it pretty bad when I bought my car five years ago. The offending parts were cut out, and new parts were welded in (not by me, mind you, I don't have the proper welding tools for the job). It's been good as new ever since.

Doesn't look so bad now that I see there is a replacement pan. Will start looking for the part. On mine the seams must be buried in undercoat.

My avatar is a picture of me replacing the front suspension pan on my '72. Gave me a good excuse to go out and buy a MIG welder and learn how to use it.

Well I took a look at the replacement piece pelican has and it didn't look very substantial. The area where the suspension bolts looked very weak. Any input on their supply.
No offense to pelican as I will likely be ordering 1K in tranny parts soon but anybody have a supplier of good parts. PM so we screw with the host.
Other option since this is a race car and the tank was being replaced anyhow would be to cut out the offending rust area and install a tube or box. With plates for attaching the front of the torsion tube. This however might violate rules against tube frames so should probably go back original.

I ordered Dansk parts from a vendor in Ohio that begins with "S". Very happy with the fit and the amount and quality of the welding for the LCA mounts. My story is here:

http://forums.rennlist.com/rennforums/911-forum/499091-battery-area-surprise.html

So what gauge of metal should I be looking for when locating parts.

Any parts allready stamped out as replacements will probably be 18-20 gauge. You will be surprised to find most of the sheet metal on a Porsche is pretty thin. Its allways double walled and crimped etc. to give it strength.

This is the passenger side but it is the peice you are looking at, It's boxed and double walled for strength.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1257799955.jpg

The paint, gavanizing, and undercoating is probably thicker than the metal.

Most pans are 18-20

The RD pans have some problems, with the A-arm pickup points, from what i've read.

I went the S.... option. I haven't started yet but the measurements that i've taken look good.

Don't forget to order these...

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1257799726.jpg

And you'll want some drain tubes, as these are usually gone.....


http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1257799780.jpg

Check your tow hook, as some of the pans don't come with this.....


http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1257800039.jpg

I don't know what year you're working on but if you have the washer bottle up the front, you need to salvage this from your pan, or fab something up.

Tony

Well the car is an 84 if that matters. I don't remember seeing any drain tubes. Never had a tow hook as those were part of the cover for the torsion tube. Does the replacement get into the curved item in the first photo. This may be easier than some as I am not putting the tank back in. I was taking it apart in prep for a 5 gal fuel cell when I found the issue.

The RD stuff is 18ga can't seem to get through to the S guys. Conflicting information available on who has the best parts other than factory original is best. Probably depends on experience and we all know the bodies are not exactly the same one to another.

+1 on the Dansk made pans & fuel tank support. I had 2 front pans (one green primer, very stingy on spot welds, generally poor quality, didnt't fit worth a crap; one plain steel, 80% heavier, from RD, wedled well, pretty poor fit) which I decided to not use, and then the third, from a fellow Pelican, galvanized (=Dansk), fit like a glove - it just slipped right into the hole, everything lined up.

Another vendor ("noitomotua" backwards) used to sell the dansk pieces, but only as a complete pan.

+many on it's an easy, albeit crappy, job. I did mine solely using this board as a reference.

The panels I used in the front tub were used cut quarters from dcauto, I bought new panels for the door jamb/rocker/kidney transplant several years ago , haven't put them in yet but they are Dansk, they look and feel like well made peices. They look like they would be easier to weld. Closer to 18 gauge.