Drip, drip. Wet feet..

[VINMAN]

Well, After 20 yrs It finally happened. The dreaded battery box leak. Pulled the battery out, found a nice hole under the battery. and a nice area of rot against the fire wall.
I think i'll grind out the rot, aand fiberglass in a new liner.

[Granite 944]

Anything wrong with just doing a more proper fix, like, cut it out, weld in new metal, treat/primer/paint? I know. More work, and money. Butt, it'll be a well done fix. Little things add up after a while.

[VINMAN]

You mean like, put to good use the few grand of welding equip I have?? Thats what I'll end up doing.
Im just gettin lazy in my old age.

[WolfeMacleod]

Hm....I think I'll pull my battery out as long as I'm doing repair stuff...worth the preventative looksee.

[Granite 944]

Originally posted by VINMAN
You mean like, put to good use the few grand of welding equip I have?? Thats what I'll end up doing.
Im just gettin lazy in my old age.

Get it ready to go, take it to a local autobody shop or ect., and you might be surprised at how little it would cost ya. Mig welder welder equiptment CAN be expensive to buy, butt, there are lots of cheaper/well suited units out there also. Look at the BEST fixes first...........then............CHEAP OUT. If ya want the top dollar for the car later on..........consider it. People like me, WILL discount their price offerings, for "cheap ass fixes". Just my .002 YOUR CALL.

[Dave L]

and how many batteries have you pulled out of cars before you bought yours?

I would go fiberglass only because I have all the stuff in my garage. If you dont check into a body shop it probably is cheap; cut, weld in new panel and paint, I cant see doing grinding or making sure it looks perfect. Its under the battery.

Any recommendations to prevent this? I have seen battery mats, do they work?

[Dave L]

ahhh. I see you have a 914 granite. Forget my comment, I bet you did look at the battery tray

I pulled my battery last night to charge it, a little dirty but no corrosion that I could see

[Brando]

Weld in a new one and POR 15 it. When I get ahold of some POR15 that's what I'll do. Mine doesn't leak yet, just surface rust...

[VINMAN]

Originally posted by Granite 944
Get it ready to go, take it to a local autobody shop or ect., and you might be surprised at how little it would cost ya. Mig welder welder equipment CAN be expensive to buy, butt, there are lots of cheaper/well suited units out there also. Look at the BEST fixes first...........then............CHEAP OUT. If ya want the top dollar for the car later on..........consider it. People like me, WILL discount their price offerings, for "cheap ass fixes". Just my .002 YOUR CALL.

Like I said, I already own welding equipment, MIG and TIG, plus over 20 yrs of welding experience behind me so I probably will weld a new piece in.
Besides, NOBODY touches my cars!
As far as getting top dollar, I'll end up keeping this car until I,croak. I like it too much. I'm at the point in my life where I'd rather scrap a car then getting aggravated trying to sell it.

[GMingst]

You guys are scaring me. I think I am going to POR mine this Spring. No holes yet, but plenty of surface rust.

[VINMAN]

POR is awsome stuff!

[Eldorado]

what is it, exactly?

[Granite 944]

Originally posted by VINMAN
Like I said, I already own welding equipment, MIG and TIG, plus over 20 yrs of welding experience behind me so I probably will weld a new piece in.
Besides, NOBODY touches my cars!
As far as getting top dollar, I'll end up keeping this car until I,croak. I like it too much. I'm at the point in my life where I'd rather scrap a car then getting aggravated trying to sell it.

Vinny, I mis-understood your post above. My mistake. I can relate to the "NOBODY" part!

Dave L, your right! That 914 is gonna require WAY more welding and TLC than I thought it would in the begining. Yep, I DO look in and around, and under the batteries of these and most cars.

Wanna buy a 914 welder's nightmare......or...should I say, long term project?

I believe more in just grinding/cutting the rust out, without depending on POR15 or Rustmort, for anything much other than very, very, shallow rusting around the areas. Weldable primers are a good thing to use also. And NO, I'm not a decent welder myself.

[VINMAN]

The last 914 I looked at was basically flakes of metal held together by paint. Real scary. Seemed like it was submerged in salt water for a few yrs! Ran away from that one. Granite, youre right about POR15 for surface rust only not that great for anything deep or through the panel. Even with surface rust, I always try to media blast it first to get rid of as much crap as possible.

As far as welding the battery tray... last week I was working on my rear quarter, tack welding a tear in it. I forgot to change the heat setting on my Mig and ended up blowing a huge hole through the sheet metal!

[Granite 944]

Vinny,

I just picked up a Hobart handler 120 today! We're gonna be doing some "real" fixing of my own soon!

Can't use that Miller roughneck, I've got, for the light stuff.

"The last 914 I looked at was basically flakes of metal held together by paint."

Yep, there are places on mine, that are just about THAT.

[bryanthompson]

Originally posted by Eldorado
what is it, exactly?

Por15 is magic in a can. It is well known as being the only thing holding together some 914s.

Just don't joing the por15 mailing list... you can't get off of it, ever.

[Eldorado]

lol i mean what does it do? does it stop rust? or is it a silicon sealant? or...?