This post may offend or cause ridicule based on my “saving” a part which should be replaced. It’s also a reminder to me of what I’ve forgotten in the 9 years since assembling this, my first 911 engine. Specifically, I’d totally spaced on having repaired these tins in the first place, but when I removed them for this round of work there was the evidence.
I like to keep my car in nice shape and properly set-up, but I’m not fanatical. No criticism intended to those of you who are more into chasing perfection. It looks like the main offender here - the rear tin - is now only available from Dansk and would cost $230-250? The two side tins are fine but I’d also repairs the two front halves 9 years ago; those have held up OK. I elected to give the rear tin another round of salvation. I removed the driver side heater duct tube because I’d already changed to the SSI/earlier model tube routing.
This metal is too thin and crusty to do nice butt welding, so these patches are lap-joint welded. I used some epoxy to smooth out the visible side. Yes, it’s not pretty. But it’ll work and I’ll be watching for some good/used tins in the meantime.
One other note about my efforts 9 years ago: I was in my (brief) POR15 phase. Suffice to say, that didn’t last long. Despite good prep, this stuff can behave like bad powder coating in terms of losing adhesion and letting rust to keep spreading. More-experienced me would now recommend good two-part pro products, be they self-etching or epoxy primers. Failing that, I’d use Rust Oleum or similar oil enamel before I’d ever touch POR15 or its clones ever again.
Anyhow, there you have it.
John
