Yet another rescue Porsche.

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

Careful, it looks like you may be welding at the location of one of the spot-welds that holds the front bracket for the clutch tube onto the inside of the tunnel. Might even be welding new metal on for the lower spot-weld, in fact.

Just be cognizant of what's going through the area. Make sure not to blow through the tubes any where, and if you have to weld on any of them put some sort of heat sink inside so you don't have weld protruding into the tube. That can make it impossible to get a cable in or out.

--DD

[The Glademister]

Originally Posted by Dave at Pelican Parts

Careful, it looks like you may be welding at the location of one of the spot-welds that holds the front bracket for the clutch tube onto the inside of the tunnel. Might even be welding new metal on for the lower spot-weld, in fact.

Just be cognizant of what's going through the area. Make sure not to blow through the tubes any where, and if you have to weld on any of them put some sort of heat sink inside so you don't have weld protruding into the tube. That can make it impossible to get a cable in or out.

--DD

Good point Dave. By switching to rosette welds on the drivers side I believe I've avoided the complications. See my latest work below.

OBTW - Thanks for keeping an eye on my work. I appreciate comments and tips as these are all new skills and techniques for me.

[The Glademister]

I started the morning off with marine clean and then rust kill. Having sheet plastic down kept the mess factor low. Then I sprayed the underside and driver side of the tunnel with weld through primer. I'm not priming the whole tunnel because I'll cover it with POR 15. The first long segment was drilled for spot welds every 1 1/2". I clamped that on and started with my first series of rosette welds. That went quite nicely so I followed up with 1" seam welds every 3 or 4 inches. I then fabricated the last segment and had it welded in pronto. Followed up with wire brushing and grinding welds. The grinding process goes SO much quicker with the spot welds. Although the net result doesn't look as original as the butt welded patches I used on the passenger side - I think this side is much stronger.

The last photo shows what I'm dealing with next. There's A LOT of sheet metal missing in the drivers foot well. That area is going to require some complex fabricating and extensive patching. Anyone following this thread that can post a photo showing that area without the peddle assemble in place, just the original sheet metal - that would be most helpful.

[The Glademister]

So I'm diving in to this last area of floor pan attaching sheet metal. There's not much left here to help me fabricate replacement. I'm starting with the backside of the wheel house and using the passenger side as a template (they appear to be mirror image). There's a sliver of the folded seam from the factory where the wheel house joined the floor pan. Reproducing that exactly far exceeds my skills at this time so I'm just using right angle flanges. I've left those a bit longer than the usual 1/2" so I've got extra metal to work with when it comes time to put the pans on. The bend in the wheel house is a little complex, almost an S curve but it fabs up pretty well. What is handy is being able to weld both sides. This should add strength in a high stress area. Next I'll tackle the front metal behind the peddles and tunnel. I haven't look really close but I think this can be done with one large strip. I'm also thinking that I'll overlay the new metal on treated old with spot welds. That way I'll have the brake master cylinder mount in the exact position (it's still there but barely) and I'll have a better sense of the gentle curve from "firewall" to floor pan. All this is subject to change of course

[The Glademister]

And indeed I did change my plan for this troublesome area. After looking hard, I determined that trying to lap one long piece was going to be really difficult. I couldn't figure out how to really do that with all the little bends and the fact that the mount for the brake master cylinder is a little half box. I watched this YouTube video by Restoration Design and that really helped me get a good idea of what was missing... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kMOMNhxg-A
So, I cut a 4" x 22" strip and then trimmed a right angle space where the tunnel joins on the right side in the old metal. The new strip was then cut four times to make flaps. The narrow flap on the left (bent up) passes between the suspension mount and the brake cylinder area (bent down). There's a large notch for the suspension mount and then a remaining flap on the extreme left to join with the wheel house. After welding this large strip in place, I fabricated a half box to lay over the brake cylinder mount. I marked the the two bolt holes, the large hole and cut those out. Then I trimmed off the sides, fixed that into place with a couple nuts and bolts and welded that in. Continuing to work from right to left, I welded around the suspension mount (front and back) and finished by tying in the wheel house and this new piece. That was the most complex with three different planes all joining and a odd curve in the wheel house. I'll do more welding and dressing in that area when I put the floor pan on. Many of the welds were impossible to grind off due to the tight quarters. I was able to weld much of the top joint front and back which should add strength. You'll see the original cylinder mount still in place behind the new metal but I should be able to carefully cut that out once I confirm correct master cylinder positioning. Interesting thing about the area is it is a part of the floor pan. The Porsche diagrams show that from the firewall forward to the front of the front trunk (including the bend over the steering rack) is ALL floor pan.

[TR]

Goes to show you what a bit of determination can do. Do you think you should get rid of the old metal where the master cylinder is? That may just attract more moisture and rust.

[bowlsby]

With the type and amount of work you are doing, highly recommended to pull the chassis wiring harness out and reinstall it later. Get it out of your way, the reinstall is not too bad and you lessen the risk of damaging or painting the wiring.

[The Glademister]

Originally Posted by TR

Goes to show you what a bit of determination can do. Do you think you should get rid of the old metal where the master cylinder is? That may just attract more moisture and rust.

Agreed TR. I'll use a dremel tool on that offending material later. I want to test fit the master cylinder and peddle assembly first though. Just to make sure I didn't screw up too bad

[The Glademister]

Originally Posted by bowlsby

With the type and amount of work you are doing, highly recommended to pull the chassis wiring harness out and reinstall it later. Get it out of your way, the reinstall is not too bad and you lessen the risk of damaging or painting the wiring.

You're right. It has been troublesome. In fact, I was thinking about pulling out the steering wheel, dash and steering rack today. I've bumped my head too many times on the steering wheel already And I'm going to strip the upper foot well bulkhead and treat it. So having all that out (including the wiring harness) does make sense.

I'm kind of afraid what I'm going to find under that dash though. There was a live scorpion when I ripped out the carpets. I'll bet he's up in there

[The Glademister]

Today I got the upper pad, lower pad, steering wheel, steering column, steering rack and dash assembly out. I'm glad I did! There's some rust invading the steel bulkhead below the right corner of the wind shield. Removing those parts went fairly well with no new wildlife to report The mice had been nesting in the left vent, building up garbage around the wiring harness. But there's no indication of gnawing on the wires. Tomorrow I'm going to break up the wire bundles and discard every thing going to the front of the car. Nothing from the dash forward will ever need electrical so all that can be cut out. In fact, I don't think I'll even put the dash back in. Probably just fabricate a box for the instrument cluster and use the OEM console gauge cluster. Tomorrow I'm also going to clean all that sheet metal on the front bulkhead to prep for rust treatment.

[The Glademister]

A great day off for Christmas eve and I'm crawling through the rust First thing I got the wire harness apart and culled anything that will probably never be used again. Basically all this car will need are engine functions (starter, oil pressure, temp, etc). With that mess out of the way I'm wire brushing the whole front bulkhead. There's three bad spots. Under either vent and above the peddle area. I decide to go ahead and patch the peddle area. These rust spots were cause by moisture collecting on the edges of the seam sealer in the fuel tank compartment. I drilled out the spot welds and cut out the offending material. There's one more area directly in front of the tunnel that will need to be addressed and that going to be really difficult to get to Anyway, when I finished the patch, there's one other task I want to do. I've been reading a post in the tech forum about outer long re-enforcement and it discusses treating inside the long with a sprayer (without removing the outer half). That sounds like something I should really do but the stupid heater hose is not going to make that very effective. I'm convinced I can remove the hose (hard pipes front and back, flexible in the middle). The right side is my choice today and there's bottom material missing near the rear jack point so I figure I can pull out the tubing there. The front hard pipe has two spot welds holding it so I grind those off. Going in between the firewalls, I cut the rear hard pipe in half. I ground off the small rivets that hold the three hose supports located on the inside long. I start wiggling the pipes and I'm looking down inside with a work light and an inspection mirror. There's spot welds on the top of the front and rear hose support brackets so I just drilled those out. That freed everything up and I start dragging the "guts" out. That was really difficult and the flex hose pulled to pieces but eventually I got all that mess out. Last photo shows a camera shot inside the long. The bottom is really toasty but 2/3 of the sides and the top are surprisingly rust free. I'll vacuum out the remaining junk and treat with rust kill. Sorry about the lack of photos but it was a real thrash and I was just focused on "getting 'er done"

[TR]

You better have tomorrow with the wife or you might end up in the dog house till new year.

[The Glademister]

Originally Posted by TR

You better have tomorrow with the wife or you might end up in the dog house till new year.

Copy that TR. Definitely spending the day in with my lovely wife. Who just gave me the best gift ever! Gift certificate to the Porsche Sport Driving School!

Merry Christmas to all Pelicanites!

[The Glademister]

The wife ran me out of the house while Christmas dinner was being prepared so what else do you do after opening gifts? Actually, she's quite wonderful and knows me SO well I've got a couple hours and I'm on the rust spot under the passenger vent. It's two bad spots and I'm going to combine those. Cutting around the connecting vent hole for metal that's flat (that hole is recessed). I did one patch and will add another for the upper-vent area. In fact, I think I'm going to wrap that patch all the way up and eliminate that vent hole completely. I know I'm going to grind off the dash mount bracket near the door so I might as well make that area one smooth surface. The only purpose I can foresee would be to possibly have the roll cage extend through that vent hole (I've seen some photos of that) but it's unlikely I'll have a roll cage system that complex.

[TR]

Hi
What settings do you have the welder on? I was using 1 on the power and 5 on the wire feed.

I noticed it still spits and carries on when the parent metal has a bit of impregnated rust so yo will never get around that.

I have got some good results by applying the spots around the sheet metal and then applying a row of spots about an inch long with about a 1 second burst on the trigger. I try to aim at the new sheet metal and end on the old parent metal. When i can see the spot go dull red I apply another spot. As you have probably worked out more then a second and you get blow through. Also applying the spots when fitting the patch is a task as the old metal just vaporises.

Keep it up.
Cheers

[The Glademister]

Originally Posted by TR

Hi
What settings do you have the welder on? I was using 1 on the power and 5 on the wire feed.

I noticed it still spits and carries on when the parent metal has a bit of impregnated rust so yo will never get around that.

I have got some good results by applying the spots around the sheet metal and then applying a row of spots about an inch long with about a 1 second burst on the trigger. I try to aim at the new sheet metal and end on the old parent metal. When i can see the spot go dull red I apply another spot. As you have probably worked out more then a second and you get blow through. Also applying the spots when fitting the patch is a task as the old metal just vaporises.

Keep it up.
Cheers

My $99 welder only has a high or low power switch and I use low. The wire feed is set on about 2 or 3. I noticed that faster feed rates contribute to blow through. Same with me on the spitting and such. The cleaner the metal, the less the spitting. And I'm using very much the same techniques as you TR. Tack welds around the perimeter, then double those and then start linking the tacks. Hold the weld for about a second, let off, watch the little pool glow and then start another little pool. I'm getting much better at seeing the tiny weld imperfections and correcting them. The quickness of original metal blow-thru is determined by it's thickness and degree of corrosion. There's some areas that I have to use very thin original metal for the patch. If it starts to blow-thru, use really a short pulse to put down the tiniest bit of weld. Build on that carefully and let each "layer" cool a bit longer. You'll eventually be able to stitch substantial gaps using this technique. Grind that flat and fill the pin holes with more weld. Although this probably doesn't produce a very strong area, I think it's fine for low stress areas. I don't know that I'll ever be able to create long, continuous welds that look really nice on this thin sheet metal. Ultimately the grinder makes everything look better

[TR]

Yep, its not easy but what all the practice does is prepare yourself for using mig with gas. All the hard work of learning on difficult jobs is done.

Originally Posted by TR

Hi
What settings do you have the welder on? I was using 1 on the power and 5 on the wire feed.

I noticed it still spits and carries on when the parent metal has a bit of impregnated rust so yo will never get around that.

I have got some good results by applying the spots around the sheet metal and then applying a row of spots about an inch long with about a 1 second burst on the trigger. I try to aim at the new sheet metal and end on the old parent metal. When i can see the spot go dull red I apply another spot. As you have probably worked out more then a second and you get blow through. Also applying the spots when fitting the patch is a task as the old metal just vaporises.

Keep it up.
Cheers

[The Glademister]

Another evening of patching fun. Finished up the passenger side vent rust. I cut the dash bracket off with a grinder. Then marked a rectangle bending up from the previous patch. Cut the offending material out and made the patch. I actually ended up making the bends by hand and some nylon hammer assistance. The vertical welds were done in the passenger compartment and the horizontal welds from inside the fuel tank compartment. Everything cleaned up well in the passenger compartment but a bit too tight to get the grinder in on the other side.

[The Glademister]

Outstanding progress today! I've got POR 15 on the front firewall Last night I cut out the rust hole under the front hood release. I stripped the hood release handle, cable, trunk hinge and the trunk seal out of the channel (now I've found a source for all 914 rubber). I started with a couple of rectangular shapes but realized that I didn't need the dash mount bracket so turned that into a polygon. I also did the correct procedure and removed the offending metal all the way to the inside of the wheel house. The original metal had a flange and I was able to remove that with a grinder (so much quicker than drilling out the spot welds). Note that there's thick metal where the trunk hinge plate attaches so no worries of burn through there. The patch was cut to fit, I bent the edge and drilled for rosette welds. A little trimming and that went in like a charm. I was able to make all the butt welds from inside the gas tank compartment so those were easy. Then I welded the rosettes along the side and added a couple of seam welds for good measure. I was able to get the grinder into most and it cleaned up nicely. I did not cut out the drivers vent hole as the metal there was in pretty good shape. I may cover it later along with the two lower vent holes.

Now I've been wanting to get treatment on this dash bulkhead (firewall) for weeks. After just days all these patch areas have started to surface rust and that was driving me nuts. So with this whole area mostly complete, I say the h*ll with it, and Marine Clean and surface prep everything I can get to. The temp in the garage is as good as it going to get in late Dec. so after making sure everything was completely dry, I'm slathering on the POR 15. Man, does it feel good to have that metal covered up I also covered the tunnel as it's ready. Of course some of the flanges will have to be ground clean for welding when it's time to put the pans on. I think next will be to gut the pipes out of the drivers side long, strip the tops of both longs, and then rust treat the interiors and exteriors of both. That will leave the inner firewall and back panel. I had no idea that getting this car structural would be this intense And I haven't even got into the engine compartment yet!

[The Glademister]

Well I took a good look at the drivers side long and that side rear jack-point is okay. The plate has a rust hole but I've got the car up on the jack-point. So pulling the heater hoses out the back isn't an option right now. I thought briefly about cutting a hole in the wheel house to pull that out, but that's good metal and I really don't want to bugger up a high stress area like that. So I'm leaving that junk in the long for now. I did strip the tops of both longs, cleaned and treated. I used the last of my first small can of POR 15 and covered the tops and interior sides. I also sprayed metal prep into the passenger side long, flushed and dried that really good with a heat gun. I don't know if that will help but it certainly can't hurt either.