Porsche Enthusiasts Club Forum

Morning all,

The good news - I recently purchased my first Porsche !! It's a mauve 944 S2 (1992) with black leather interior. It drives like a dream and looks the business. It's wasn't really something i ever thought i'd do but the extra practicality of the 944 made it make sense and i am now the coolest dad in town.

The bad news - the rust on the front wing and in the sills is worse than i thought...so apologies for my first entry to be a call for help for but i'm in need of some sound advice

It looks OK from the outside other than bad rust to the rear of the passenger side front wing but i found out too late that i could remove the air vents and take a picture inside the sills (see attached). It looks like it's mostly the outer sills and as i have read on here is rusting from the inside out. Took it to a what i believe to be a very good body shop (John Bee - Sheffield) and had an all in quote of £2.5k to do the lot including repair of jacking point, front and rear wings etc etc. I think I could get him down to £2k. It's an otherwise immaculate car with full service history, 126k miles, 3 previous owners, belts and rollers all recently replaced. I paid £3.3k.

I'm already in love with the thing and I realise that it's going to cost me money but the head must rule (mostly). I'm in two minds as to whether to run it as it is for a couple of years and then sell to someone who wants to take on the work OR get it done myself OR is it a viable option to use dinitrol products and put the rust on hold for a few years or is it too late for this option ? (the body shop reckon this would just make it much harder to weld if/when i do get it done). On the basis that i think these guys would do a first class job, is this a reasonable quote for the work ? I've read others saying £1k/side so it doesn't seem out of the ball park. Do they all get problem in the end and so would i recover some of the investment when it came time to sell ?

sorry for all the questions, any comments/advice very much appreciated. I'll post up some pics of the beauty.

Cheers
Rupert

p.s. anyone know of any other body shops in the south yorshire or north derbyshire area that might quote the work ?

Shame you didn't come on here first & read the buyers guide! When did it last have a water pump? Timing chains, & tensioners? What state are the camshafts in? You need a full inspection by somebody who knows what hes doing before you spend another penny. If the engines good then it could be a DIY project as the money is now lost. But for the price of doing it up you could just go out & buy a better one. Sorry. I recently sold a mint 944 for little more than you paid. Believe me you will need a deep pockets to sort out an unloved one.

Thanks for the reply.

It had new cambelt, balancer shaft belt and tensioners and also new chain between camshafts + new rollers about 3,000 miles ago. It's also had new fuel pipe, new tyres, new handbrake cables, and new break pads and discs quite recently. Don't see anything about a water pump ?

Hi Rupert! As J.J says get the mechanical side of it thoroughly checked out then based on what you find out about that,make your decision on the bodywork.I go to these guys for servicing and repairs http://www.pecarspecialists.co.uk near Barnsley,they are very good! From what I read on here £1000 a side is about right for a THOROUGH sill replacement job.A TIPEC member in Scotland makes sills for these so you may be able to save a bit by getting them from him.Lee 944 will point you in that direction when he reads this.Considering what you have already paid and the fact that belts, tensioners and other jobs have already been done,I would probably carry on and get the bodywork done too BUT be aware that you will not get your money back should you decide to sell,you should however have a very nice car! Good luck with it! John