What part am I missing here?

[1986911]

I am looking at a red 88 911.

I have never seen an under dash part painted the same color as the car. Its usually like a flat black.

Am I missing a part here?

According to the car fax, it was involved in an accident at one point.

Could the interior have been removed and the whole tub painted? That would suggest a pretty intense collision.

Opinions?

[Cooper911SC]

You are correct, that area is usually blacked out. Looks like the "bow tie" AC vent/diverter is missing.

Here is a pic. of a 1987 Targa I was installing a carpet kit in. This is typically how things look under the dash at the firewall.

Your car could indeed be a repaint... have a body shop check the tub carefully to see if the car is "clipped"

Cooper

[Laneco]

Cooper - any chance the black is splashed on OVER the body color? I've always seen that area black, but the tubs I've taken apart have splashes off black (as does yours) in a few areas that has made me wonder if they've deliberately painted the part in question black simply to make it blend it a bit under the dash.

angela

[Cooper911SC]

Hi Angela, the cars are first painted body color and then specifically painted black in areas that aren't either 1)covered in carpet/vinyl, or 2) are in a transitional area.

Take a close look at the inner frame rail/threshold area and you can see that the tub was painted red (kind of a light "overspray" coat) and then blacked out.
The center tunnel near the shift console is another good example.

It isn't un common for the black to be brush painted on. This is quicker and less messy than spraying.

Brushed paint is more common on earlier cars. It seems they started spraying some areas later.

Cooper

[javadog]

In this era they typically sprayed the upper dash, lower dash, footwells, seat rails and inner hinge points for the rear seat backs. The perimeter of the inner door structure was brushed black, as was the area around the right inner fender serial number plaque, if fitted.

JR

[1986911]

So that body colored paint there is evidence of a respray at one point.

Anyone ever see one that was body colored from the
Factory?

It seems this car I am looking at May be too good
To be true.

On my 86 and 89 that area is metal and black with the bow ties
cooper mentioned.

[Bob Kontak]

Below is CATTMAN's 87 coupe from his interior resto thread.

My bet it has been painted. javadog knows a lot about these details and he indicates they were sprayed black. Also, check the shininess of the paint. It's too nice relative to the factory paint procedures we have all seen in our cars in these hidden places, regardless of color.

I like the body shop inspection idea. It will be a chunk of change to buy that car and the carfax will always have that accident on record.

[javadog]

I've never seen one with my own eyes that wasn't painted black there. Not only that but Porsche didn't get much body color paint down there, it was mostly overspray. So, I'd wager that panel has been painted. It's an odd thing to paint, so I'd look at the car carefully, or ask for an explanation of what the crash damage was, if you can. I can't imagine ever replacing that section of the tub and not totalling the car, so maybe there's another answer fo it.

JR

[1986911]

Thanks for the replies guys. The car had an front end collision in 1990. That must of really stunk, wrecking a car that according to records that was less than a year old. I have to call the state dmv Monday to get a copy of the accident report. None of the online vendors seem to have it.

I was planning on seeing it today but could not coordinate with the seller. I am going to head out to see it during the week and will report back.

That extra paint though has pretty much turned me off to the car, I do plan to pull back the carpets and look behind them and the wood floor boards and even under the car before having a pro look at it. Anything obvious and the deal would be off.

I went on to Sloan cars .com and he has plenty of photos that show the area and you are all right, no body color paint anywhere.