Racer944

HI Guys;

Thanks to a very generous Rennlister (Thanks Sooner!!) I have a set of factory RS side skirts on the way to me. Only catch is that there are quite a few broken tabs (a common problem).

Do any of you guys with RS skirts have any ideas on I might be able to fix the broken tabs? I know one or two missing is not a big deal, but there are three or more broken ones per skirt in my case. I don't have the original broken parts either, so trying to glue them back is out of the question (and would not likely work). I'm wondering if there is any way to recreate a new tab/fastening system out of aluminum, then glued to skirt somehow or.......?

Any ideas or thoughts would be very much appreciated!

Chris W. - How were you planning on making the tabs/fastening system on the Carbon Fiber units you were working on?

Cheers;
Eric

Benton

You could buy some plastic sheet in the same material and then plastic weld it together.

Flying Finn

Yea, when are those C/F skirts gonne be done?!

Eric,

I'd look into buying some plastic or aluminum sheet and fabbing tabs out of them and then gluing them into the skirt.

clubsport1

I took the side skirts off of my RS to clean them up and a few tabs broke off,,having asked the same question of RS guy at Porsche club UK, he suggested I do as he and others had done and that was to use a strong silicone type adhesive as used by auto repair centres...it worked fine and had the advantage of filling in some of the gaps you often see under the skirts where the tabs are either weak or do not locate properly.

Racer944

Clubsport1;

Interesting.... Just to understand fully, are you suggesting running a bead of adhesive between the edge of the skirt and the car body where the tabs would normally enter the body?

Would you likely be able to remove the skirts without body/paint damage using this adhesive if you were ever forced to remove the skirts in the future (due to damage, etc...)?

Cheers;
Eric

clubsport1

Racer944, that is what we did with mine....The guys at the bodyshop applied this adhesive for me,,,,,,it was like a heavy silicone sealer and apparently never actually sets rock hard.....I would ask at your local bodyshop, they may well know the solution straight away....... I only had about 1 tab missing on each side so there wasn't much to do,,,,,the inner side of the sill is bolted, so this helps hold things in place while the silicone adhesive sets.

Hank Cohn

I have done the silicone myself. I stacked up books to keep the skirts tight against the body of the car as I applied it and as it dried. I have also seen thin aluminum tabs pop rivited to the skirts, painted black and bent through the slots that the tabs are supposed to lock into.

Hank

mrbill_fl

Do you guys know about 3M 5200? amazingly strong marine adhesive.

they make a quick set (red tube) that skins in 2 hrs or less, and sets in 24. the standard stuff is 72 hrs to fully cure.

http://selector.3m.com/aad/ss.asp?FAM=Adhesives

NineMeister

I have an RS with the same problem and the only realistic fix is to use adhesive, the ideal being a polyurethane based body adhesive (Tiger seal is a popular UK brand).

However a word of warning: DO NOT USE SILICONE ADHESIVE for bonding parts to bodywork because it releases acetic acid as it cures which will corrode the paint and any exposed metalwork. I aquired a 924 once that the previous owner had tried to repair the battery tray with silicone adhesive - I ended up replacing half the inner wing as well as the entire battery tray area after cutting out the rot - so be warned!

Racer944

Excellent info... Thanks very much to all of you... Looks like an adhesive may be the easiest way to go (polyurethane of course!). I assume this stuff can be removed with work if required, without paint or body damage?

Cheers;
Eric

David Danhof

I took the team cheap apporach....I drilled a couple of holes on the underside of the skirts and zip tied them to various points on the Body. It works fine albeit not as tight as adhesive.

TheOtherEric

Hmm. Sounds cheap but might just work. Are the zip ties easily visible or are they more on the underside? I assume for each zip tie, you drill two small holes in the skirt, perhaps 0.5" apart? I'd be worried about breaking the skirt where it's pulled.

Racer944

That sounds like an interesting idea too...

Eric, I have the same concerns/questions so hopefully Dan will pipe up and give us a few more details on how he did this...

Cheers;
Eric

David Danhof

Eric is correct, I drilled two holes about a half inch apart. Once you shear off the excess zip tie all you can see is the head of the tie, only if you are under the car or looking for it. I have never had anyone notice the zip tie head and you know how inquisitive our sort is at the track etc. I used three per side as I was down to maybe three or four original tabs remaining

When your side skirt is off look for something to wrap the zip tie over then line up the skirt and mark your holes. Given the cost of the skirts I was apprehensive about drilling them but overall I am happy with the results. Note on the passenger side you have oil lines running in the cavity and they can get hot and possibly melt the zip tie. I went around a oil line mounting bracket to ensure the tie does not touch the oil line.

Good luck

RickBetterley

Ah, great thread. Answered exactly the question I needed to have answered.
Anything new on this subject?