autobonrun

When our cars were under warranty, window rust repair was performed by the dealer or their shop. Recently I noticed a small spot under the passenger side corner so I got two estimates from shops that are familiar with Porsche repair. Both farm out window removal and replacement. One says to do the repair they will remove front and rear window and paint cowl and roof back to the engine lid. The other says its not necessary and they will blend on the pillars assuming no additional rust at the top. I'm curious where Porsche did their blending for this repair. I have all OEM paint and would like not to touch the roof or remove the back glass unless this is how the warranty repair was done. I've read many of the posts and can't seem to find a majority opinion.

Knight

I've been told removal of the rear windshield is a must to do the job correctly. The rust is possibly worse than you think and you cannot see everything with the window installed. At least this was the case with my rear window repair.

Mike J

Yeah, I have seen the rust go right through the sill, and the body shop has to build up the basic metal in order to reestablish the sill for the install of the window. ****ty design from Porsche, one of the weak spots for sure (especially in the rainier climes).

Cheers,

Mike

autobonrun

I need to clarify. There is no intent to leave the front window in place. There is no rust on rear at all. There is a small spot on passenger side front only. One shop says remove front only and blend on the A-frame. The other says remove both front and back window and paint all the way back to engine lid. There would be no blend line using second method but I lose my factory paint on roof. The first shop is also reputable and says they have done the repair on the A-frame where it is not noticeable. I'd prefer only to remove the front window, not both, and just paint up front. I'm trying to find which method was used for warranty repair.

KMASS993

First question I would ask is are you sure there is no rust on the rear? If you are 100% positive I would blend because in order to get a good job on the rear done you are going to need to pull the rear window, which is most likely going to result in breaking the brittle track that holds the rubber seal. To fix that you are going to require a new rear window. a blend on the 2" A pillar won't be noticed.

autobonrun

I've inspected the outside if the rear but I'll lift up rear seal and look more carefully. That's a good point to recheck. So far I just see pencil eraser size bubble starting in passenger front. I want to catch it early.

nathan1

Just my .02 worth... I would much rather just have the cowl and the A pillars painted. Its such a small area width wise and with curved metal and the rain gutter if done well wont be noticed. If you have the whole roof painted you run the risk of the paint wearing differently over time or not getting a perfect match on the rear decklid. It also means a much greater % of non-OE paint on the car. If it means anything to you or a future owner a car can only be shown in "preservation" class PCA concours if it has 75% original paint.

goofballdeluxe

I'd also add that if your car has over, say, 20K miles on it, I cannot see the importance of original paint, except perhaps to you.

These cars are all about 15 years old, and at this stage, are expected to have had some paint, if only to remove rust or stone chips on the front bumper, etc.

A quality shop should be able to match the original paint.

JPP

I had to repaint the entire top of my car because my shop couldn't match the paint .. or didn't know how .. anyway, it certainly can be blended at the A pillar IF your shop has the skillz .. I was unfortunate enough to get involved with a shop based on an old reputation of skill level that had long departed ...