Rust: Lower door jamb/rocker

[Tom '74 911]

Well, I decided to do a little exploration under some bubbling paint on the driver's side lower door jamb at the bottom of the lock post area - '74 911. The pics below show what I found under a fairly small looking bubble. . . The area behind was PACKED with dirt. In feeling around, it appears that there is a thru-hole that's supposed to be there, accessible from the rear wheel well - I'm assuming this is the source of the dirt? The pics with the white wire show both sides. The passenger side does not appear to have this same thru-hole? I'm hoping the rotten sections are not too far reaching - it seems to be fairly solid around the section I've exposed already.

A few quick questions:
1. Does anyone have photos of this area a bit more peeled back? I'd like to see and know exactly what's going on there before going too much further so I know what I'm getting into.
2. Is 22GA suitable replacement metal?
3. Is weld-thru primer the best way to protect the backside and hidden areas of the soon to be repaired areas?
4. Any tips and trick would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks a lot,
Tom

[drcoastline]

Tom,

That's a common rusta area. Go to that paint and body work section theres lots of info on that reapir.

[wayner]

I found some good pics in this thread

1967 911 restoration...becoming a T/R

[wayner]

Another one here (although I would sit down before looking at it if you think your car is otherwise solid).

Very sobering but also exciting
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/paint-bodywork-discussion-forum/545166-restoration-my-69-911-a.html

[scottb]

Slightly off-topic --

What are the legal obligations (if any) when doing a repair that will destroy the sticker in the door jamb?

[BernieP]

Replacement panels are readily available for this area. I did both sides on my SC last summer, not too bad if the inner panels are OK. The inners are also available.

Bernie

[DG624]

Tom, I had the same rust and had my rocker panel replaced. I used Restoration Design parts and a good local body shop (Yokes Body Shop, Powell OH) that made it look new.

Before


After rust removed




This is not a job for a weekend. The finished car looks great and I hope will not rust again.

[Tom '74 911]

Thanks for the links posted above. I'm already following most of the threads, but it's nice to go through them from the beginning again. It makes my rust situation seem not so bad by comparison!

So, I decided to dig a little deeper with the hope that how it all goes back together would become clearer if I could see more. . . so I started cutting. The good news is that the rust is not so bad. I will have to weld in a small patch to the rocker panel support piece, but that's not a big deal when it's all exposed. Also, I now have a better understanding of how all the panels join together. It really is a cluster there, a serious dirt and water trap with overlapping panels and dead spots.

I have a few more quick questions:
1. how can I make sure all the lead is out of the lap joint? Can I melt it out? I'm assuming that it would be wise to remove it all before welding patch pieces back in?
2. I can fab the flatter hidden pieces I cut out no problem, but can I purchase just the lower part of the outer door jamb piece? I've looked at a few sources and all I can find is the entire latch piece/jamb. What I'd really like to have is a pre-formed version of the curve at the bottom of the door jamb w/the step in it. I think that would be a challenge to do from scratch for me.

I'm feeling like I bit off a big bite, but that I'll be able to chew through it w/out gagging too much.

Thanks for the help,
Tom

[Tom '74 911]

Stole a photo from Chris's T/R Thread. . . Can I buy just this piece somewhere, or do I have to buy the entire lockpost and chop the top off?

Thanks,
Tom

[onboost]

You will have to buy the lock post and chop it off. Somebody here may have a decent used one.. check with ShaunTarga.

[ddubois]

I had the same problem on both doors of my 71. I purchased the full door jamb piece for around $75 and gave that to the guy that repaired mine figuring it would save him the time of forming the curve and provide the exact location for the threshold step. He cut out about the same area as yours and used what he needed from the new jamb.
What I noticed on mine, after cleaning out the 40 years of dirt, was that just as the protrusion in your last photo inside the wheel well casts a shadow, so it does when they were originally spraying the undercoating. So the combo of no undercoating and dirt collection caused the problem. After I got the repair back, I cleaned that area in the wheel well then applied POR15, followed by undercoating.
As for the conformance sticker, search on VIN sticker and you will find a guy that can supply you the sticker at a very reasonable price. I purchased one from him a few months ago. You punch in the VIN numbers. There is nothing legal about that sticker. I think you can also get the black style you have through the dealer, but based on searches it sounded like a hit-and-miss proposition.

[wayner]

Tom, are you working on my car when I'm not looking?

[Tom '74 911]

Originally Posted by wayner

Tom, are you working on my car when I'm not looking

HA! One car (mine) is plenty for me and my wallet! I was thinking it was time for an update. I fabbed pieces to patch the first 2 layers that will be hidden and have (hopefully) bought a rust free outer piece that will be cut from a wrecked car. I'm hoping that gets shipped to me in the next day or so as I'm waiting for it to finish up w/the metal work. I also fabbed a piece to fix the lower front fender joining panel that had a hole in it.

The entire water/sand jam under my door sill was caused by undercoating that had been sprayed up in there creating a damn. My passenger side looks fine as far as I can tell as it has been allowed to drain just fine.

Tom

[jhelgesen]

If you can, turn up the heat on your welder.

I'll be doing the same fix soon.

[Tom '74 911]

Originally Posted by jhelgesen

If you can, turn up the heat on your welder.

I did a lot of practicing on scrap and I tried a bunch of different settings on my welder (Miller 180) - I had a really hard time not blowing through. In retrospect, it may have been easier to lap the repair pieces and spot weld instead of butt welding. Also, the repair pieces I used were 20-22 ga. I think. I checked the parts I cut out and that's about what they appeared to be - that's pretty thin. Most of what I've welded up 'til now has been much thicker and more forgiving.

When/if I decide to weld on some turbo flares, I will have to do a lot more practicing!

The method I ended up using was to tack the pieces in using the smallest spurts possible so as to not blow holes in the seam. After I had a rough seam of tacks all the way around, I went back and welded over the tacks which provided enough material to help soak up some of the heat from a more complete weld. I'm still an amateur for sure, but my motto is "leave it better than it was" and that's what I'm trying to do!

Thanks,
Tom

[jhelgesen]

What size wire are you using in your welder? .025 works much better than .030 for sheet metal. Practice helps a lot. I'm no expert, but I did learn from one, best thing he taught me was to slow down. Slower feed with correct amps will give excellent penetration. Keep up the good work!

[Tom '74 911]

Originally Posted by jhelgesen

What size wire are you using in your welder?

I'm using .030 - maybe I will try to find a spool of .025 before the next phase and compare. Thanks for the helpful tips!

Tom

[sfoster13]

smaller wire is a must and try 18 gauge metal - also, keep track of your stick out. might be a bit too long. use a compressor to blow air on the area to cool it down. if you still have trouble, stitch weld (on, off, on, off).