Crack. What do you think it is from? Pic attached

Tidal Fish · 06:19 AM

Hi Gang,

The car had this crack o the body when I bought it and I did not think it was serious. The last owner of the car said the car has not been in an accident, it does have clean title, but that does not mean anything. Nonetheless, I have a crack in the rain gutter on the driver side, see picture attached, it extends down a bit on the body as well, but it is not all the way through. The driver door shuts perfectly so it does to "appear" that something major happened, I hope

I thought it might be a stress crack as I heard the coupes can get them from quick starts etc... ?

I took it to a friend who has a body shop and he said it was not a big deal, nothing structural effecting the body and could be fixed easily when I re-paint the car.

Just thought I would throw it out there to the group here and hear what people's thoughts are. Fire away....

Joeaksa · 07-05-2002, 05:54 AM

Does it appear that the crack is bondo or actually the metal body? If its bondo then its too thick but if its metal then its not what I would want to see...

I would wonder if the car was in an accident and the repaired area or weld has cracked.

Joe

Tidal Fish · 07-05-2002, 06:18 AM

Joe,

It's a little hard for me to tell on the thick part with out doing some sanding, but I do know that the crack is through the thin part of the gutter, so that has to be the medal which would lead me to along the line of your thought that it has been in an accident before. I put it on the rack though and looked around and had another guy look at it and it really does not have any other signs.

Joeaksa · 07-05-2002, 07:11 AM

Brandon,

Take a strong magnet and move it around the body. Go from "known metal" areas and compare the pull of the magnet to other areas. Move it on both sides of the crack and see how it feels.

You can get an idea if there is any bondo in the areas and if the magnet is really weak then there is a good chance that there is a fair amount of bondo there.

Would avoid getting the car wet (what year is it again?) and at least try to seal it to keep it from getting rusty. Once rust starts its difficult to stop.

Joe

Tidal Fish · 07-05-2002, 07:18 AM

Joe ,

Will do. Its a 1988.

Joeaksa · 07-05-2002, 07:27 AM

88 is better than an early model. From 76 or so newer they were all zinc coated. That said, if the car has been in an accident and welded as part of a repair, my understanding is that the welding process destroys the zinc coating and leaves the metal in that area un-protected against rust.

You might also take a small knife and see if the edges of the crack are metal or bondo. This one is a tough one. You might feel inside the car by pushing on the headliner in the roof area and see if you can detect any signs of a weld or repair. Compare one side to the other or another car.

If its really been welded and is now cracking, I would fix it sooner rather than later and protect it against getting moisture (rust) inside the metal. Also, cracks never get smaller and the longer its left without a repair (at least stop drill the crack) it will continue to get larger.

Joe

911pcars · 07-05-2002, 09:54 AM

Joeaksa provided a good suggestion using a magnet to check area damage via amount of body filler under the paint. There are tools that use magnetic field strength to indirectly indicate paint thickness. One of those is a $40-$50 tool that uses a magnets "pull off" or field strength along with a calibrated gauge. With the tool, inspect the area around the crack to determine if there is a repair area underneath or merely a crack in the paint. Your body shop may have one.

This method is non-invasive. The results will determine your short and long-term solution.

Hope this helps,
Sherwood Lee
http://members.rennlist.org/911pcars

Wayne 962 · Wayne 962's Garage

I can't tell from the fuzzy pic?

-Wayne

Jim Sims · 07-05-2002, 10:21 AM

I have seen "fatigue cracks" in the roofs of other vehicles but usually they originate at the end of a drip rail. The sources of the stresses that usually cause these cracks are either the vehicle being loaded excessively in torsion from rough roads or a suspension problem and/or carrying a roof rack. None of these would match typical Porsche loading although reacting to excessive engine torque during fast starts as you mention could be an issue. What are the condition of the engine and tranmission mounts? Has the engine been upgraded? How many clutches have been installed? The crack does appear to coincide with the B pillar so it could be the result of engine torque "twisting the body" but I'd check for accident dmage first; get a magnet based "bondo gage" and check for body filler in the area. Good luck, Jim

Thomas Owen · 07-05-2002, 12:06 PM

Looks to be junction of left rear quarter panel where normal spot weld and body filler exist.

Tidal Fish · 07-05-2002, 01:04 PM

Alright, I went down to a well respected body shop here in town where my neighbor works because he did my MD inspection and had to sign off on new tires I got, old ones failed, so I could go get MD tags today.

I had the head body shop guy take a look at it and he said that it is not all the way through. He said these cars are going to flex and after 14 years you are going to see little things like this. He also said that that area appears to be where several pieces of medal join on the body and that appears to be a seam, thus some stress and a crack in the gudder and paint. He pushed inside and said its solid. Said to go drive the car and enjoy the darn thing, said when you get it repained it will be easy to fix and I will never know it was there. I am going to sand it a touch it up so that no rust forms or anything...

Sooooo that's the story of the day. I got MD tags on her and she is ready for the street.

Thanks for all the feedback.