John B

As some know I recently acquired a really pristine 1997 C2s with under 15000 miles on it. The car is great inside and out and over and under. However, when I went to jack the car for cleaning and wheel replacement, I found the right-side front jacking plate missing. It is as if the 4-5 spot welds holing it on were defective and it just fell off.

I carefully inspected the underbody for any signs of additional damage and all seems consistent with the overall condition of the car and the rest of the undercarriage.

I am guessing that at some tire service the car likely shifted damaging the plate, at which point it was removed by the service "tech" or fell off later. I am content there are no additional integrity issues.

I ordered one from the dealer (964.501.298.00 ) for $65, and would have the new part properly installed. Dealer parts guy calls this AM and tells me the part is NLA!

What do I do? It is a welded-on part so a used part is not ideal. Any wisdom of the group will be greatly appreciated.

John B

Greg Fishman

Have a metal shop fabricate one. Give them the diminsions,etc shouldn't be a big deal.

Jeff 993TT

Keep us updated on what you do and the cost.

My jack plates are messed up ( probably from improper tie downs ) and I'd like to get them replaced.

I asked a body shop once and he said it might be difficult to weld them to the frame. There might be lots of disassembly of interior pieces, etc.

milrad

Mine were deformed from an improper tie-down job. I paid about $350 to the body shop to repair both sides. To access them properly requires removal of the surrounding fender liner.

Jason

Flying Finn

Mine are also messed up.
They're most likely (Like Jeff said) from bad tie down. Previous owner had my car towed (flat tyre) and towing guy attached his chains from these...

One of these days, I'll weld them, I'm just hesitant to do any welding because then you need to be really really careful with rust proofing, otherwise I see problems 20 years from now...

RT7

Mine are also messed up (both front). It seems very common, was it a flaw in the design? <img border="0" title="" alt="[Frown]" src="frown.gif" />

pjc

Tie down seems to be a common thread - I had one of the front plates deformed on purchase, fortunately my bodywork man was able to put a bar in and straighten it out. Seems odd that a car only a few years out of production has NLA parts; I an only just starting to see this on my '76 baby.

The answer seems to be as stated - get one fabricated. Maybe Porsche could provide the dimensions? Make the b---ds work for a living!

PJC

H20NOO

I had the same problem. The plates are designed to support positive pressure (i.e. the weight of the car) but are simply tack welded in place. Unfortunately, the hole in the center makes an attractive, if inappropriate tie down point as they tear off with about 20lbs of pulling (negative) pressure. Imagine if you stuck a metal plate to the bottom of your car with bubble gum. It would be fine for lifting the car but would detach with very little pulling pressure.

I had CT Automotive, Campbell CA re-weld my broken jacking plate. Fortunately, it was still attached to the car. They removed the plastic fender liner and lower body trim, re-welded the plate, touched everthing up with primer and matching paint. It took about an hour and cost about $150 for a job well done.

You might consider yourself lucky... All too often, the aluminum suspension arms are used as tie down points. They are easily bent, expensive and time consuming to replace, and often go unnoticed while the owner chases unusual tire wear and handling charactaristics.

Best of luck!

MC