Rob M Budd

Yes. I'll be there with it.

heinrich

Agreed it is a STUNNING Porsche. This one is worth saving.

heinrich

Rob what's the history behind your avatar?

Richter12x2

Just for reference, welds are stronger than the area without it, so technically fixing it will make it stronger than new. My wife's 1988 325i convertible has almost identical issues in almost identical location (passenger side, right by the wheel arch) and it's going to get welded sometime in the next week or two.

Lizard928

I am amazed I dont get anything like this on my cars!

hacker-pschorr

The big question, how many 928's are running around with similar frame damage?

mark kibort

I tweaked my chassis pretty hard and all i did was blow out the subframe. real tough to weld in the space available near the steering box. the other side too.
But, that was sub frame and a little of the chassis rail. But, this injury looks like something else. rust? (rare). strange cracks in a strange spot. any ideas of why these cracks could appear? for most 928s, that would be a rare problem.

Rob M Budd

Theories abound.

What I've heard so far from various sources.

• Rust inside the frame. Possible. I'll know more when the frame shop examines it.
• Pot hole. Possible, but I don't recall hitting one and the wheel has no damage.
• Too much torque. She has about 400 ft lbs. Some supercharged 928s have more than that so I don't think that's it.
• Not enough flex in the motor mounts. Possible. But I would think the motor mount would give way before the frame cracked,
• Age. I doubt it.

Harpo

My car cracked the left front frame rail causing a shimmy at speed that worsened as the crack did. A real problem to finally find. Jim Bailey tipped me off that another client had the problem in an OB and got Porsche to cover repairs. Porsche America sent out the west coast head to inspect the car and he stone walled me until I threatened to sue. Then he sent the pictures to Germany for the engineers to review. They quickly agreed that the frame rail should not fail and authorized repairs. From how quickly they agreed to cover repairs I think they know there was a problem (in my opinion maybe a bad batch of steel?) In my case the engine had to be pulled for repair. How Neillo Porsche in Sacramento screwed up the car while in their shop is a whole 'nother chapter. Before you start welding I'd contact Porsche America and request they contact Germany. Of course with Porsche's current economic troubles they may be less interested in correcting past problems.
Mark

6mil928

Beautiful car!

chaadster

Rob,

Sorry to hear about this hassle! I'd bet the combination of salt-induced corrosion and the constant hammering caused by southeastern Michigan's horrendous road surfaces could do in any chassis, truck or car.

I'm looking forward to seeing your finished interior today as well! Pics look fantastic, but I'm sure it's even more so in person.

docmirror

No offense Mark but what possible value would there be in calling Porsche?

'Hello, this is Rob, I have a 25 year old 928 with > 100,000 miles that I've been driving on salty bumpy, US roads, and there's a crack in the sub-frame. I want you to cover it at your cost.'

Really.....

docmirror

Hey Rob. Don't despair, This stuff gets repaired all the time. I've seen stuff on trucks out of Australia that would make you blow chunks thinking that this rig was going down the road. Make sure they get it clean completely before starting to add metal and welding rod.

Rob M Budd

The avatar is a smaller digital version of some artwork done by Jim Comminos of Chicago. He's an artist and Porsche owner I did an interior for several years ago.

He sketched it from memory after seeing my shop when he picked up his leather stuff.

Here's the larger version and another one he did for me.

heinrich

Rob those are cool!! Thank you for sharing My friend Scott spent the day with me and told me how cool he found your shop as well