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My body shop tells me that my rockerpanels, the ones under the door and the one under the front fenders are all FUBAR'D. Seems the PO ran over something at very high speed. Underneath, these panels are all bent and wavy. A few of the "clips" are broken too. When I go over little bumps you can hear the plastic flex against the steel. In some parts the plastic is bent, in other areas it is broken. In addition, my front bumper is "sagging". It is convex from the end of the hood till the front. The body shop says that old plastic will never hold it's shape.
Just replacing the plastic panels with OEM Porsche parts, will cost over $3 grand. This does not include painting or any attachment hardware that is required. Any suggestions?
My rocker panels were pretty wavy when I got my car. I got under and noticed several of the brackets were bent. I used a ruler and just kind of bent them all to the same length and it got rid of a lot of waviness.
You can check with some body shops - look for people that can weld plastic. They will be able to tell you if the skirts can be repaired that way. I have my headlight surrounds in right now to get some cracks repaired using this method.
Any recommendations on how to repair the ripped holes on the rocker?
-Yogii
If pieces are missing you are out of luck unless you have a donor piece. If it is just a break they sell a two piece plastic weld epoxy. It works great. You have to V-out the tear and use a mess behind it for strength. I have repaired these pieces without issue.
The side skirts are attached with a bolt at the front top, a bolt and bracket at the rear top, a series of bolts along the bottom, a bunch of push-pins along the top and a few other screws. Use a 10mm socket, a Phillips screwdriver, and a plastic interior panel remover to remove the skirts carefully. It's likely to break a few push pins. Once it's all off, you'll know what you are working with and if you can simply realign the lover brackets and bend the various supports or if the plastic pieces are shot and either need more serious repair or replacement. Remember that the skirt serves little purpose other than looking pretty (just like a skirt should!) and it's likely you can make it look pretty with a little patience.
Thanks for all the help. Any suggestions for repairing the broken brackets? Epoxy and rivets? Any suggestions for the front bumper? The only thing that NEEDS to be replaced it the front splitter. However, the front bumper droops about a 1/2 inch from the edge of the hood to the front edge of the bumper. Plastic radiator grill is half broken. Plaint is flaking off of the front bumper. Pictures of this I will post tomorrow.
If you look at the lower lip of the rear bumper, there is a thin metal strip riveted to the urethane or plastic to help it hold it shape. Since the mounting offsets are fubar, I would recreate the humps on a long strip of metal and pop rivet it every few inches down the length. The C strips hat hold metal AC duct sections together might work plus they are galvanized. It would hide well.
Jeff has a parts list for the mounting clips and buttons in a how-to PDF..
Thanks I found all the links posted helpful, particularly Jeff's PDF. Thanks!
Still any recommendation for the broken brackets, and the ones that might break when bent back into position?
Removing the damaged rockers does not seem like an easy job to do just under a pair of ramps. Maybe I will ask the bodyshop to remove the rocker panels and bend the brackets, while I try and mend the plastic.
For the front bumper, please take a look at the pictures. Not sure if you can see the concave front well. Also, the front airdam, the black plastic piece that is underneath the front of the engine will not stay in place. I get the remaining tabs on one side to line up and then the next bump, the other side has popped loose. Maybe this should just be replaced instead of repaired.$$
Is it possible the replace the plastic grill without taking the bumper off?
Thanks again,
-Yogii
AKA 968 Novice, maybe I'm back to being virgin?
can't really tell, but it looks like a mini ski jump
The hardware on these bat wings/Belly pans really could be replaced on a lot of the 968's I have run into. I almost always just spring for one of the kits from Arnworx http://www.arnnworx.com/catalog/inde...1#.XPrwYtJKgjI
Nice to get a fresh start from the many missing or incorrect nuts and bolts people have jammed in over the years.
Far as I know that lower grill cant come off without taking the bumper off, but you would be surprised at how quickly (30 minutes or so) you can get the front bumper cover off. And once you have good hardware holding the batwing to the bumper cover then it simplifies it even more. The lower black grill helps give the pliable bumper cover some rigidity so if yours is cracked up then it would be wise to replace. ($108 at Sonnen) https://www.sonnenporscheoemparts.co...le-94450512100 Last time I was over at John Graves place he had a new one in the bag and probably would give you an even better deal than Sonnen https://www.porsche944usedparts.com/
Google Fusor 142. Its a two part urethane. There are some videos that may give you some ideas of how to repair the tabs. Wurth also makes some great urethane products for plastic repair.
The hardware on these bat wings/Belly pans really could be replaced on a lot of the 968's I have run into. I almost always just spring for one of the kits from Arnworx http://www.arnnworx.com/catalog/inde...1#.XPrwYtJKgjI
Nice to get a fresh start from the many missing or incorrect nuts and bolts people have jammed in over the years.
I just ordered a set! Bruce is not sure that they will fit the 968. I sure hope it does. Are all 968 part numbers that start with 944.... compatible with real 944's?
06-03-2019, 10:52 AM
968 Rocker panel and front bumper replacement?
