never ever ever let a non porsche mechanic near your car...
this guy missed the jack pad underneth the car and managed to crack off a small peice of the plastic underbody...

so now that there is a hole under my car, is this going to lead to rust? i mean, i don't drive the car in winter but what about like rain, water, dirt etc...

how do i plug this hole? please don't tell me i have to replace the whole underbody just to fix this one little hole.. i mean its only about 3/4 of an inch wide and 3 inches long..

 

Call your insurance company and file a claim against the shop. They damaged it, they can pay for it.

I once trusted my 83 944 to a non-Porsche shop because the owner owned 2 944s himself and they had many Mercedes and other highline German car customers. Nonetheless, they damaged the bottoms of my front fenders by putting the frame lift under them instead of the frame rails. I gave them the choice of fixing it on the spot or I'll file a claim against them. They called a body guy who beat the fenders (there was no paint damage) back into shape on the spot.

Good luck.

 

sounds like a plan.... do you think driving the car around with the hole will cause serious problems down the road though? because i'm still driving it around...

 

I believe the body is galvanized, right? I wouldn't worry about it since you will not be driving it in the snow/salt, but perhaps at some point you might want to remove the entire plastic piece and flush any dirt out of there with a stream of water. As hokey as this may sound, maybe cover the hole with packaging tape until the plastic is repaired/replaced?

Cheers,

 

dont forget about fileing a BBB file if they are part of them and, you should probably name it so others dont go there. That is of course if that is okay by forum rules.

 

Duct tape is the choice of pros....

 

haha. Have you heard the saying..

"All you need in life is duct tape and WD-40. If it moves and itsnt supose to, tape it. If it dosent move and it is supose to, spray it"

 

^ ROFL....now those are some good words to live by...that should be in the bible...or at least in the owners manual

 

haha, hey, what has happened to the car/what have you done yet?

 

well i'm pretty good friends with the people at the shop, they agreed to fix it for free because it was their guy's mistake but I don't have time to get it fixed for another week...so its taken care of...and hopefully i wont have a giant rust hole developping in a month or so

 

Duct tape:

- more likely to tear
- more likely to peel from wind and water
- more susceptible to soften and slide in heat
- adhesive dries out faster
- dried ashesive leaves nastier residue on panel
- plastic is thinner, weaker
- yet thanks to the thread the tape has a taller profile
- silver, unsightly (or any other solid color)
- designed to keep air from escaping out of H/V/AC ducts in an indoor, motionless environment

Packaging tape:

- designed for high stress and tension
- edges resist peeling better
- holds better in exposure to heat and sunlight. adheres better in cold.
- more resilient to elements
- residue, if any, removes easier
- stronger, thicker plastic
- flatter, smoother profile than duct tape
- clear, less noticeable
- smoother, flatter when layered
- designed to seal packages and boxes that are likely to be exposed to the elements and handled roughly


The advantages of duct tape in this situatioin are that it is easier to contour over curves and rough surfaces, easier to "start" peeling off of the roll, easier to remove, and tear by hand (if stuck without blade).

But in the case of the underbody of a meticulously-owned late model street Porsche, it is likely that the plastic panel is nearly flat, probably very smooth, and the tape is likely to remain on the car longer than tape on a race car, and definitely be exposed to more miles and elements. So unless the plastic undertray is badly scratched, I'd go with packaging tape. Far better choice on smooth, lightly-contoured surfaces, and more weather resistant. Works great on things like rowing shells.

. . .and in racing, similar as it may be to duct tape, racer's tape "is the choice of pros."

Cheers,

Tony
(way too much time on my hands!)