Alex599

Thank you gentlemen for the wise advice. I shall investigate further!

theiceman

Restoration design is 20 minutes from my house. An amazing place and a godsend to us. Their panels are top notch.

500

Your pictures have all the tell-tales of corrosion having reached the inside void between the suspension pan and upper sheet metal pressing the includes the battery tray and runs across the area in front of the fuel tank. Particularly the picture near the vent hole on the underside.

To fully repair this does require replacing that sheet metal.

However, the extent of the corrosion is hard to evaluate. If only a small amount of actual material loss has happened than I believe it may be possible to thoroughly flush the void through the three vent holes on the underside, use a corrosion removing prep, and they spray the inside of the voids with basitrol or some other "creeping" coating product designed for protecting closed areas. The outside portions you can re-finish in a more conventional way. This would not be the ideal repair, but it could be a reasonable way to "buy a little time" and then do a proper repair down the road.

Tricky part is how bad is the corrosion? Mine did not actually look bad from the outside, but what I noticed was when I pushed firmly on the underside near the vent holes I was able to see visible flexing of the sheet metal (as it was effectively thinner due to the corrosion). If you do this test and conclude that the metal is still very rigid, the temporary fix MAY be a valid option. However, my recommendation would always be to do the full repair and replace with new sheet metal.

sithot

Don't put suspension panels in without the car being supported properly. Close doesn't count.

There is a great shop in Sunapee NH. Cellette Bench in house. One of the best you'll find for piecing things back together that are STRAIGHT when completed. Series 900 - Damon Josz.

Viking644

500,

I must say I am floored by this thread- so much so, I consumed it in one setting today having found it because you pointed me to it via hamkj's question. To say I'm in awe is an understatement, and your work and dedication to detail are a VERY high bar for owners to reach. Kudos on a beautiful rebuild- you've convinced me that I need a quality mechanic and a ton of cash when I bite the bullet and have to rebuild my 3.2's engine.

My condolences on the loss of your mother; I lost mine in a similar fashion around the same time. Hug that kiddo of yours and tell him that he's a lucky guy to have this car in his future- distant future.

Lukas

A good 10 years after Mr @500 finished his car, this thread continues to inspire! I read the entire thing over a few hours and am highly impressed by the diligence and perseverance this work has taken, everything done was top notch!

I hope you are still happily driving it these days? The good news is that your investment of time and money will have paid off a lot by now, with the increased value of these cars, and how really nice clean and well taken care off examples are hard to find.

Super cool that you got to do it with your son, who should be driving himself by now?

Cheers,
Lukas

Ed Hughes

This is pretty f-ing bizarre. I was literally telling my friend YESTERDAY about how the discovery of some corrosion under the battery on a 911 resulted in a fantastic multi-year restoration. Then the thread gets revived after all these years. Almost scary. 😳

500

The 911 has been great! My son loves it! Below are some current pictures. I am considering a few new things for it in the next couple of years. The main item is to go to a modern blade-style fuse block (I am leaning toward the Adapt Motorsports offering: https://adaptmotorsport.com/products...el-upgrade-set ). Also pondering moving away from the sugar scoops to “Euro-style” lights, just because I think they look better. There are many options to consider though… Finally, the original foglights could use new lenses (I never did anything on those).








Since the 911 I have managed to keep continually busy. The latest “cool” project is a comprehensive refresh of a 2002 WRX (Subaru is my second automotive obsession). That project is actually just finishing as I just did the wheel alignment. Here are a few pics:








And then there is the “old” 944 project, which embarrassingly pre-dates the 911, but has been routinely put on hold for other things. As the Subaru has neared completion, I have begun a final push to actually get that 944 done by next year. Two months ago, the engine finally went in and this is how it looks right now:






The “skills” I learned from the pan replacement have actually come in handy as I have done various rust replacements on friends and family cars. Currently (literally yesterday), I am doing my brother-in-law’s 1998 Buick Regal. It is basically an inter-family transfer (going from one BIL to another), for which the local rules require the car to pass safety inspection. This was supposed to be a “near-mint” car that had spent the past decade parked in a garage and has low mileage. At first, I was just going to help out by doing all the normal maintenance stuff, but I saw some rust issues and took all the plastic cladding off the lower half of the car and saw huge swaths of missing metal (serious, serious rot... would not likely pass). So, I have a metal brake in the driveway and am hand-fabbing and welding in sheet metal left, right and center! In a weird way, it is kind of fun…


You were a very helpful source of advice and support as I went through the project!

500

Sorry, should clarify: My son not only loves it per se, but he loves driving it. As a matter of fact, I taught him how to drive manual in the 911. He was 17 going on 18 at the time, and had just finished obtaining a pilot's license through a scholarship program with the Air Cadets.

He has inherited my love of mechanical things and much prefers the older cars (and planes).