Porsche Enthusiasts Club Forum

Not having the best week although some of this should not be too bad... My biggest concern is the guy I boght it off said both sills had been replaced - the rust fail looks to be in that area?

Reason(s) for failure
Parking brake: efficiency below requirements (3.7.B.7)
Offside Registration plate lamp not working (1.1.C.1d)
Nearside Side repeater not working (1.4.A.2c)
Offside Rear fog lamp not working (1.3.2b)
Nearside Headlamp aim too high (1.
Body or chassis has excessive corrosion, seriously affecting its strength within 30cm of the body mountings Offside rear suspension arm front mount (6.1.B.2)
Parking brake lever has no reserve travel (3.1.6b)
Offside rear parking brake recording little or no effort (3.7.B.6a)
Nearside Rear Statutory seat belt missing stalk (5.1.1)

So the rust is on the inside where the rear suspension arm bolts to the body.... not happy as the guy I bought it from assured me both sills had been replaced...

Apart from the sills it's not too bad, a couple of bulbs / clean a few connectors, clean the rust out of the handbrake drums, new brake shoes £30 and set it up properly - an afternoon ish.

If the outer sills have been replaced whoever did it may not have done the inner will which is a bugger. You can cut an access section out and repair the inner that way. Bad luck though. The seller of my S2 said the sills were really solid.

They were with bathroom sealant!

Had a quote of £250 for the welding - it is inside where the bracket for the front fixing of the rear offside suspension arm / mount and the rest looks solid so could have been worse!

Hopefully the rest will be bulbs and connectors as just spent £kkkkk on the wiring and new fuseboard...

This cheap porsche is costing alot but worth it.... just wish I had found this out before forking out for a full alignment at weekend as will have to get that re-done!

Hi Jenko

I'm sure that you'll get the car sorted.....usually you need the outer sill removed or cut an access panel to get at the inner, but with a little lateral thinking you can do the repair without touching the outside sill and thus not having to worry about repainting. This, of course, depends on how badly the area is affected...I had to do some work on mine when it was left sitting on the drive for a few years whilst I rebuilt the engine, a sure way to rust infection. I did cover the repair in detail on my build thread on the PCGB forum but can show a few pictures here.

This shows how much corrosion had occurred...normal place around the torsion bar support, in fact the rust had even eaten into the 1/4" thick plate behind the mount, it's not as bad as it looks as there's a large hole machined in this plate anyway.



rear view...you can just see the top of the access hole that usually has a rubber bung in it..


this picture taken prior to welding... you can see the new 1/4" plate section with it's hole retained and the other galvanised steel sections ready, you need to do these parts first before doing the rear or you won't be able to get a good weld around this area.


the last picture to show the first underseal coat prior to the black coat, you can see the lower drain way in place...I have left off the rubber bung viewing hole as it could lead to more corrosion, plus I have an endoscope for such things anyway. Everything internal was treated to the POR15 ani-rust process which should ensure that no further problems arise, well not in my lifetime at least.



All other areas are very good needing no more than a light brush and under seal in any bare areas. The inside outer sill was replaced about 12 years ago.. the offside is original and still in perfect condition, testimony to how well Porsche protected the 86 model year.

cheers

Pete

Gulp - looks like major surgery ....

Will keep you posted on the result !

Similar are PSH but mine does not look as bad thank god... £250 for the job...

That could be worse. £250 seems reasonable to be fair!

However, have you actually seen down the sills after removing the vent panel on the B Pillar? I would have expected that part of the sill to have been sorted too ; the metal needs somewhere to weld to after all.

I hope I am right but I am a cynical bloke these days when it comes to buying cars.

I agree with Chas...it's also worth mentioning that the outer sills rust from the inside so be sure that they are ok...use an endoscope.....

Pete

From bad to worse....
Had the repair done for the MOT and the rot is bad and there is lots of filler,it needs new floor panel and inner sills need doing ....

I am at a point where I need to name and shame the "specialist" I bought it from who assured me that the car was solid.... I have dry stored it since my ownership and as it is full of filler he must have known....

Having poured so much money in to the car I am at a cross roads of what to do...

I am based in Brighton so any any recommendations of good specialists would be welcome right now...

Feeling ripped off and embarrassed I have trusted someone..

Hi, I recently used Precision Porsche (Sheffield Park) to do the timing belts and whilst there I talked to them about the crusty corners on my 944 as they have a Body Shop attached.

I don't want to upset you, but they were quite frank about the costs involved if corrosion is widespread. We were talking about £1000's to do the job properly.

It's not my first rusty classic and these jobs are very labour intensive. Fabricating patches takes time. I've seen on eBay a company that sells Sills, they may also do floorpans.

The only guy I know who has done my cars in the past has stopped doing anything but Jags. I had some welding done by a guy in Hove, near the station. This was only a bit of spot welding. This may be a cheaper option if you use replacement panels.

However, i would recommend going around a few classic specialists and talking about what you need doing. They will be used to this kind of job and give you a frank opinion and quote.

Try to be positive, if you have the work done properly it will add to the value of the car and give you reassurance that you and driving around in a safer car.

Wish me luck for August when my MOT is due.

Andy S.

The news from precision posrche was not good... it needs two new wings and there will definitley be more welding next year for the MOT .... the flloor is solid but there is rust in the other rear suspension mount and a hole in the outer sill near the front wing.
They have put me off tackling it as once the outer sills are removed and the wings off it is likely to cost much more than the car is worth.... have spent a lot on new parts for the car I am in a real fix..... what to do?

What model and year is it? 944 prices have been hardening in recent months for basic models and shooting up for cabs, turbos and S2s in that order even with very high mileages and significant restoration work - so you may well find that the upward trajectory of prices means that you can "afford" to fix the car and then sell it in a couple of years and not lose any money.

If you have already spent £££ on it then you have to factor in the cost of not only scrapping teh car and losing your purchase price but what you have already spent versus spending a bit more and then getting to enjoy the car.

That said it is always a kick in the stones spending money you didn't think you needed to get you back to where you started (

DC

I needed to get my 1986 944 welded as outer sills were rotten and in similar place to yours for the rear suspension mount. It's not very close to you but worth having a chat with Nash at Retro restorer in Banbury. I trailered my car to him as I'd already done the strip down of the rear to allow fuel lines to be replaced and have been very pleased with the results. As he specialises in the 944 he has templates for all required panels and knows exactly how they fit. Unlike some welders I spoke to I had a sense of reassurance that he knew what he was talking about and what to expect

http://porsche911owner.blogspot.co.uk/2 ... again.html

Okay, a little deflating to say the least. However, I wouldn't just base your decision on a single Bodyshops opinion. New wings sounds extreme, are they rusted everywhere, or just at the bottom?

Now you know what needs doing. Ring around a few specialist.

My only worry is the guy is right and it's not worth throwing good money after bad. It is an expensive hobby running old cars and sometimes it is better to walk away. I had an old Jag awhile back that taught me a good lesson. I spent over £5000 having the bodywork done. 2 years later I sold the car for the same amount as I bought it for. This figure didn't include all those other little thing like new suspension, new wheels and tyres, etc. In fact when I sold it I realised I could have bought an E-type at the outset for the same money as I spent on the Sovereign over 3 years!

As Andy states wings are unlikely to need completely replacing, probably just the lower section, behind the wheel for the fronts and before the wheel for the rears, new sills and if lucky a patch up of the inner sills and torsion bar mount area... Not sure if I posted this link before but try these people, I used a front wing lower repair panel from them to sort out the last bit of corrosion left on my car earlier this year.

https://www.classiccarpartsandpanels.co ... rsche-944/

Pete