groovzilla

forget about going after the seller - you state in your signature the car has had 20 owners - don't waste your time or energy - nobody will fess up to the bondo job and it will only make you more pissed off - chaulk it up to a rookie mistake, repair it and enjoy your car

Amber Gramps

Don't listen to him.....he needs a vacation.











Kidding

groovzilla

wow you have a lot more rust than i initially saw in your earlier post - what determines the condition of any porsche is how it has been treated. sounds like this car spent most of it's life outside and driven on wet days - salt air can be a killer as well.

early cabriolets (356's)and later targas suffer from rusting from the inside out - getting into door bottom metal and lower windshield metal replacement as well as other areas of the car will be costly - to do the doors correctly they need an expert - trust me on this - the door metal bends when it gets hot and an amateur welding job will require more bondo than you have now. - many porsches rust at the windshield even later 964 and 993's - i owned them all and have experienced it all.

**you have way too much rust in your car to even think of repairing yourself - if you do the doors and windshield yourself they will look like crap and you'll also have to paint the car - no maky sense!

if the paint is ok on the doors i would leave them alone as well as the windshield area - personally, i would sell the car after you repair the front pan so it is safe for the next owner and find something in better condition.

i have to think other seasoned porsche owners will agree especially doug

Amber Gramps

Bill, why you yelling? We can all hear you just fine. ....and apparently I'm not as pessimistic as you. Give him some hope and support. Save the doom and gloom until he realizes that he is not alone in this. Let him cry it off, then pull his boot straps up and get to work....whatever that work will be.

and just for that the rings stay black.

rusnak

I agree that it's not the end of the world. The belly pan can be fixed fairly easily. It's just a matter of finding the mastery over fear that is needed before you proceed.

The rest is just learning experience.

groovzilla

not yelling

not doom and gloom - i really think he will be better off just doing the front pan, making it safe and selling it - getting into the door bottoms, windshield and repainting the car seems to be the wrong move at this point considering the OP said he paid a lot of money for the car. if he got a deal then it would make sense to do all the metal work and repaint it. dollars & sense

Jay H

I've watched a family member have the exact same issues. Bought a SWB car that was marketed as a "rust free California car" only to bring it home finding that the entire floor pan was fiberglass and the entire front clip barely held together by bondo. The front took a hard hit from an accident at some point in it's life and the front section was so out of whack that new mounting holes were drilled in the fenders to get things somewhat aligned.

He paid $5,000 too much for this tub as it sat. But, dragged it home none the less due to the excitement of getting a SWB car.

That same family member spent THOUSANDS on metal work at a top qualiy restoration shop. Everything was replacing including pans, front belly, door sills, portions of the A and B pillars and quite a bit of unibody straightening. The tub was crushed enough that it'll never be factory straight again unless more metal would have been cut off and replaced. He decided to cut his loses and just get it as close as possible. The shop did a great job getting this car straight and completely rust free.

So, there are others that have gone through this.

To the OP, did you pay $30,000 or $40,000 for this '75 Targa? Most solid 911's are $30,000 to $40,000 cars. Pay now or pay later. If this is THE 911 for you (your desired model year and body style), then get the tub fixed. It'll cost you an arm and a leg. But, you'll be done. Get it done right, keep the car out of the weather and it'll outlast you.

If this is just the first of many 911's you'll own and you don't have thousands to spend doing all the metal work this car will need (rust never sleeps, if this front pan is bad, then there is more rust in this car than you can imagine lurking under that paint...), then maybe get the front section welded in so it's safe, take your lumps, cut your losses and move on to the next 911.

Good luck,

Jay
90 964
84 3.2

groovzilla

[QUOTE=Jay H;9668185]I've watched a family member have the exact same issues. Bought a SWB car that was marketed as a "rust free California car" only to bring it home finding that the entire floor pan was fiberglass and the entire front clip barely held together by bondo. The front took a hard hit from an accident at some point in it's life and the front section was so out of whack that new mounting holes were drilled in the fenders to get things somewhat aligned.

He paid $5,000 too much for this tub as it sat. But, dragged it home none the less due to the excitement of getting a SWB car.

That same family member spent THOUSANDS on metal work at a top qualiy restoration shop. Everything was replacing including pans, front belly, door sills, portions of the A and B pillars and quite a bit of unibody straightening. The tub was crushed enough that it'll never be factory straight again unless more metal would have been cut off and replaced. He decided to cut his loses and just get it as close as possible. The shop did a great job getting this car straight and completely rust free.

So, there are others that have gone through this.

To the OP, did you pay $30,000 or $40,000 for this '75 Targa? Most solid 911's are $30,000 to $40,000 cars. Pay now or pay later. If this is THE 911 for you (your desired model year and body style), then get the tub fixed. It'll cost you an arm and a leg. But, you'll be done. Get it done right, keep the car out of the weather and it'll outlast you.

If this is just the first of many 911's you'll own and you don't have thousands to spend doing all the metal work this car will need (rust never sleeps, if this front pan is bad, then there is more rust in this car than you can imagine lurking under that paint...), then maybe get the front section welded in so it's safe, take your lumps, cut your losses and move on to the next 911.

>>>ummm, on a good sunny day an excellent condition 1975 911s targa is worth maybe $14K-$17K and thats if there is evidence of an engine rebuild because of the head stud issue on the 2.7. the 75-77s doesn't have the resale as the earlier cars OR sc's/G-50's

i mean no offense to the OP just being reasonable. it is my opinion he repair the front pan and get out of this car now before another $10K goes down the toilet in metalwork and paint.

Jay H

My point in stating that an old 911 is a $30,000 or $40,000 car is not due to values at the time of the sale. Most, if not all of these cars have issues as compared to when they were new. If you want a very nice, reliable 911 that drives like it did when it was new (and most of us don't even know how good these cars drove when they were new and what is in fact now all worn out in feel and reliability), you'll end up sinking quite a bit of time, money and/or sweat equity into it that most likely will add up to $25k to $40,000 (whether it be checks you wrote or the sweat you put into it as DIY project - time is money) including the cost of the original car.

I agree with your assessment on pricing for mid year cars if the motor has been done. I also agree with you in that unless this car is THE car for the OP, it might make sense to only fix the pan and move on...

Jay H

I also completely agree with this dollar amount on paint and metal work. It can get even worse... The family member I mentioned above spent twice as much on metal work, filler, sanding, prep and primer...

groovzilla

jay, you have a 964 and i'm sure your aware of the front and rear lower windshield rust issues - my 1990 964 had the front lower windshiled rust area and i had it professionally repaired by a guy who can spot paint so i didn't have to have the entire front area sprayed - it was silver so not easy and he only charged me $700 - this repair usually costs $2000
i've restored lots of 356's and also done some rust repair on 911's - if the OP paid anywhere near $12-$15K for his car, doing the pan and selling it would make sense to me. - any other repairs on doors and windshield is not for an amateur and will require painting the car.
its a tough thing to face but most of us who have owned several 911's have been through it and you only learn over time. i feel for the OP and just trying to help save hom some cash over the long run - just repairing the pan and driving the car with bondo'd door bottoms and lower windshiled areas will eventually lead to major rust bubbles on door bottoms and lower windshield panels and then where will he be?

theiceman

Getting back on point ... this is just terrible terrible news.. I think the folowing steps should be taken ..

Fully asses what else is wrong with the car .. rust damage .. mechanical , engine, transmission , glass surround.

Investigate what it would take to restore.
Compare that to the value of a good used sc/ Carrera.

Make the decision based on this ..

I think even replaceing the belly pan will be significant and that is before you have done anything else.

You also have to look at why you bought the car .. If you bought it as a long term project then this may not be so bad .. if you bought it because you love 911's and just wanted it to drive then this could be a very painfull lesson ..

End of the day groove has the best advice. It's one thing to provide support. Quite another to create hope that will cost even more dollars than the op is prepared for. Here experience counts the most. Sounds like groove and Jay have it in spades.

Carrera51

I still think you should have a Porsche specialist go over it and give you a rough estimate on what he would charge you to fix. Then figure out what parts of the list you could do yourself and what the materials would cost you for the work you could do. Then share it with the guys here who will be able to help you determine whether or not the chassis is worth saving or whether it would be cheaper to find a roller.

Another place you need to look for rust is behind the rear seats and underneath the rear speaker deck. Had a friend buy what he thought was a decent car and discovered a mess when the engine and trans were dropped for a clutch job. You could poke your fingers through the rust.

Reiver

I agree with Iceman....asses what needs doing in two catagories..structural and cosmetic...talk to a few shops with specifics and extimate what it would cost...add 15 to 20% for the always present unknowns.
Decide what to do, fix or move on.
On most other cars the bodywork is more expensive than the mechanical work.....on P cars they are both expensive. Either way you can end up rediculously upside down.

Amber Gramps

https://rennlist.com/forums/911-foru...-of-heart.html