Body work repair

[massive]

Once the British winter has come and gone I intend to get some areas of the my 944's bodywork repaired.

The main areas that need attention are as follows:

1. Hood, clearcoat is breaking down and some very light brown rust spots appearing

2. Offside wing, clearcoat is breaking down also has some obvious rust bubbling beneath the paint surface on the lowest section of the wing.

3. Nearside wing, clearcoat is breaking down, has some minor surface rust on the lowest section of the wing.


With regard to the repair work needed I think the hood is not too bad and may just need a sand down and respray. The wings however I'm considering replacing or having the rusted areas cut out and new steel welded in its place. My question is hows does repair work affect the existing galvanising? Is it worth having the wings stripped and then regalvanised?

[curtisr]

Source: http://www.zinkpower.com/media/files/arbeitsblaetter_englisch/2_10.pdf

[jeff968]

Sorry for the silly question but what is a "wing"? Are you talking about the front fender and rear quarter panel?

[massive]

Originally Posted by jeff968

Sorry for the silly question but what is a "wing"? Are you talking about the front fender and rear quarter panel?

Are you talking about guitars?

But yes we are talking about the same thing Fender (vehicle) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[jeff968]

Thanks, I don't speak UK i need to watch "wheeler dealers" more often.

IMHO, rust repair is rare on our cars. Even here in New England I don't see many 944s with any kind of rust through. This is usually attributed to the excelent coatings that were applied at the factory. If i were you i would look for good quality used parts, which should be easy to find and cheap to purchase, and use them and avoid any type of patch repair work.

[massive]

Originally Posted by jeff968

Thanks, I don't speak UK i need to watch "wheeler dealers" more often.

IMHO, rust repair is rare on our cars. Even here in New England I don't see many 944s with any kind of rust through. This is usually attributed to the excelent coatings that were applied at the factory. If i were you i would look for good quality used parts, which should be easy to find and cheap to purchase, and use them and avoid any type of patch repair work.

Yep I was thinking good quality used parts are the better alternative, but it still doesn't get away from the fact that the innner and outer coatings will be 30 years old and since I will need to have the parts resprayed anyway I thought that it may be better to have them stripped first and then everything applied from new from the ground up.

[jeff968]

There is a guy somewhere here in the US that has a used foreign car parts store. He has had an early eighties 944 permanently mounted outside of his building for years and it still looks great with the factory paint and no rust. A true testament to the quality of the Porsche 944 body and paint.

[massive]

Originally Posted by jeff968

There is a guy somewhere here in the US that has a used foreign car parts store. He has had an early eighties 944 permanently mounted outside of his building for years and it still looks great with the factory paint and no rust. A true testament to the quality of the Porsche 944 body and paint.

I agree, they do age well, even in the British weather.

[FrenchToast]

Originally Posted by jeff968

permanently mounted outside of his building for years and it still looks great with the factory paint and no rust.

Porsche pulled a similar stunt in the seventies. In '77, with fully galvanized cars (924 was not fully galvanized until later), Porsche put a Targa shell outside the factory, without any paint or primer and parts only for it to roll. Had it out there for 7 or 8 years? Whatever the warranty was. Presumably it did fine.

That's all well and good, until you start putting seals, hardware, and parts on a car. And then drive it, dirt collects, drains get clogged, it holds water and wham.

All that said, this era of Porsches have some of the best rustproofing out there.

Unless new wild chemical formulas debut, cars from the current decade and newer are all much worse. The steel is lower quality. The primers and paints are all lower quality by mandate.

As noted, galvanizing is removed in order to weld. Assuming you are referring to the front wings, the easiest solution would likely be to source clean used examples and have them painted. A good automotive painter can blend the paint to match the original paint.

If you are talking about the rear wings, yes the optimal solution is to cut out the rust and replace with new metal and prep it properly for new paint. Hopefully it's the front wings!

For the clearcoat you might be able to get away with sanding it down to base coat and re-clearing it. A good automotive painter should be able to direct you if this is possible.

If you have rust there you should also check the rockers, under taillights (especially if they have been poorly resealed after-factory), check for chips by the hatch latches, and battery tray. Regardless of if your battery is in the front or rear, you should check it. Also check the floor and undercarriage for stray chips in the undercoat.

Good luck!

[petrolhead611]

The sills have always gone on these cars, but the rest is usually rustfree except when previously badly repaired.
Post '81 924's don't seem to rust as readily.

[petrolhead611]

Can comment 10 please be deleted urgently Admin

[Backyardbodyman]

My 2 cents. I treat bare metal with a good metal conditioner and epoxy primer. Conditioner cleans and leaves a zinc chromate film. Some guys use self etching primers to avoid this step. If you have deeply pitted rust that cannot be fully removed by sand blasting or chemical dip,cut it out or it will eventually come back. Rust never sleeps