1989 C4 with bad ABS and a bit of rust

[galenmoloney]

With snow on the ground and temperatures of -5 I figure its time to get rid of the targa and get the 4wd beastie. Is there anything I should look out for on the first carrera 4's? the owner of the one I am planning on looking at says it has a bad ABS unit ( have called mechanic to confirm), and a little bit of rust see pictures.

Is the ABS unit a big fix or just a matter of plugging in a new one?, the rust is in an awkward place on the sill and the windscreen and an unusual place for one of these cars but it is over 20 years old.
Any comments welcome!

[group911@aol.co]

You can always borrow an abs unit and try it before you buy it.
The windshield rust is likely due to a crappy windshield install and probably not indicative of the rest of the cars rust condition but look closely.

[GeorgeK]

As always with rust in 911s, esp. so with 964, this is the tip of the iceberg. Around the windshield in particular looks nasty. I'd have it inspected by a body shop and compute the repair costs in to the buying price.

[racer]

Bottom of B-Pillar is not an uncommon rust spot. Also consider that since you are looking at 4's that some previous owners bought 4's for their all season use, exposing them to more elements (rain, snow, salt/sand etc) - therefore a greater chance of corrosion/rust to develop. As you mentioned, these are 20 year old cars. The Rust warranty from Porsche was only for 12 years, iirc.

I also note that the rocker panel cover doesn't fit well near the rust either.. perhaps indicative of accident damage? check panel gaps on that side of the car.

Bubbling paint is never a good thing and doesn't go away on its own. Is this a longterm ownership idea or just a short term and flip it? It should be priced accodingly.

[galenmoloney]

Thanks guys,
the car is priced pretty competitively, I am going to see it tomorrow but will leave you know how I get on. The rust is my main worry so I will try and get comfortable with those two spots and if so will probably seal the deal ( provided the separated paneling isn't crash damage!).
Galen

[aigel]

How much is it in US$? It may be easier to get a car from the US - with zero rust. I haven't see rust on any CA car all the way back to the SCs.

George

[galenmoloney]

Went to see the card and I must say the chap has not spared a penny in keeping the mechanicals bang up to date (bar the ABS which I have priced a unit for).

The rust however is worse than my C2. There are numerous bubbles around the top and bottom of the windscreen, the sill is beyond surface rust, (the paint has completely bubbles away) and beneath the trim there seems to be more, and there is also a nasty bit on the rear wing and more around the engine lid pull (very odd?!?!?!).

One thing I don't know much about is sound deadening (the owner of my C2 took the footwell stuff out). Should this be cold and clammy to the touch? I'm just wondering if the car has seen some water inside, although it was a very cold day in Scotland and the car is stored outside.

At this stage I have gone from 70:30 for to 60:40 against, but the car is quite cheap and I like the idea of saving it before its too gone.

Have any of you guys had issues like this and had them resolved? I am going to get fixing the rust priced but really want to know if I will need to get the car fully repainted or whether I can get away with painting the rusty buts once resolved.

I really think it would be a shame to let one of the first ever C4's rust away!

[aigel]

Rust repair will quickly eat any savings you get from the cheap entry price. Why does it have to be you to save this car? Seriously, I would not walk but run away from this vehicle. I realize that rust is a bigger issue in Europe, but I know that there are much better carst to be had as well - the ones that weren't driven in the winter / salt and were garaged.

Good Luck!

George