How bad does this corrosion look?

dnovick911 · dnovick911's Garage

Trying to get back into another mid-eighties 911, and budget is a bit tight.

The car I'm looking at will be inspected to make sure mechanically sound, and all the images I've seen look good, but there is some corrosion that I'm concerned about.

#1. Thoughts on how bad this looks? See pic attached.
#2. When viewing the car in person, should I just poke a bit with a screwdriver - looking for soft spots around this area? Other ideas? Not sure this would be adequately covered in a PPI.
#3. What's needed to stop the spread? This is NOT a show car, but a driver / auto X'r.

Thanks for your thoughts...
Dnovick911

DaddyGlenn · DaddyGlenn's Garage

Hard to tell from the picture.

Esposito · 10-25-2013, 06:20 PM

Rust is like an iceberg.
You can only see about 10% of it.
The rust in the pix is far worse than you think.

tocobill · 10-25-2013, 06:26 PM

Im sure it right down to the lower suspension pan. Battery leaks ... eats all the galv coating then munches on the nice steel underneath. Try looking from the under side. Ifs it soft there then you have to replace it all. Once fixed it good for a really long time. Sheet metal isnt all that expensive nor that hard to do.

dnovick911 · dnovick911's Garage

OK. Will definitely be looking at this closely. Owner states it's been thoroughly checked and local. He says he has a plate cut to replace the current damage. Battery has been moved, too. Any more thoughts are more than welcome. Thank you guys very much! Dave

DaddyGlenn · DaddyGlenn's Garage

Don't want to scare you but this is what I found...

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/paint-bodywork-discussion-forum/565023-talk-me-through-rust-repair-please.html

962porsche · 10-26-2013, 05:13 AM

it's a 911 they all rust there with that said they sell a replacement panel for it if the piece the owner has will not work for the repair .
the job is straightforward how ever if the panel needs to be replaced .
you have some drilling out of spot welds and welding to do . if you can't do that type of things then buying a car like this is not for you most of the time .
this is the type of job i would give to the inturns from the trade school to do they are that ez .
we would have them tear it down and see just how bad it was looking with all the crap moved out of the way like the spare tire . from there we would go over what the best way to go about repairing it would be .
from the countless 911's we have repaired like that it's not all to bad .

tocobill · 10-26-2013, 06:56 AM

Here is another link from an earlier car that had the same but larger rust issue not to long ago.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-911-technical-forum/775788-fuel-tank-support.html

Video from Res Design doing a pan replacement. Very straightforward.

Porsche Restoration: How To Install Front Suspension Pan on Porsche 911/912 - YouTube

dnovick911 · dnovick911's Garage

Definitely willing to get dirty. Nothing quite like quite, introspective time in the garage. I'll check the undercarriage thoroughly first, but hoping (and believing) this is very limited. Thanks ALL! D

David McLaughlin · David McLaughlin's Garage

It helps to have the replacement parts to look at while you are removing the old parts.

TantricEuro · TantricEuro's Garage

Anything with "holes" will need to be replaced. Lots of work, but you could come out on top if the current owner isn't up to the task.

962porsche · 11-15-2013, 06:35 AM

yes most of the time the damage is only in one small area if it was not just left to keep rusting .
many times you will also just find one or two little rot holes and the rest of the panel is fine with no rust at all on it . you could then just cut out the rot hole and patch the area instead of a total replacement of the pan it's self .
i'm doing that right now on a 993 with one small rot hole . butt welding in a 2"x3" patch as that is all the damage there is on the hole panel and all the rest of the panel is very clean metal .

sundevil64 · sundevil64's Garage

I have an 84 targa that looked exactly like that. I am parting the car out and cut the suspension pan out. Ithe cut open the tank support it it had eaten all through. It couldn't be seen from underneath but once I took off the undercoating from the underside it was clearly gone. Be careful. This is a fair large amount of work.