Drivers Side Door Vent Tube, Interested in opinions on restoration...please. Options

[Vysoc]

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Hello World,

Yesterday was fairly productive and I am at the point where I need to start repairing several areas before I replace my rear floor boards. Both of my door vent tubes have rust, Driver's side looks to be worse than passenger side.
I would assume after looking at the way Armando fixed his, that I should tackle the bottom hole first before welding in a piece on the top. Or you may opt to cut out the whole section?
Once I broke through all the rust, the cavity was obviously filled with bondo, I am open to all suggestions, I have 4 or 5 areas that are in need of major rustoration.
The areas with the rust do not seem to be along the longs so this project has hope.
The dull gray appearance is from the application of Ospho to hold the rust at bay.
I do have the Engman Long Kit and am trying to get several areas in good shape before I put the kit in.

The history on the car is a 76' chassis, with fiberglas flares, 911 5 lug suspension.

Let me know what course of action you would suggest for the vent hole repairs.

Thank you in advance,

Vysoc (IMG:style_emoticons/default/flag.gif)

[nathansnathan]

The stuff all behind isn't bondo but the factory seam sealer.

If you can cut out the whole section from a different car where they're more solid, you will be doing a better job. The rust is worse on the inside than what you can see there undoubtedly, and it's hard to get to.

Here's a recent thread here about this repair.
http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?sho...151022&st=0

[FourBlades]

That is probably the factory seam sealer behind that hole and not bondo.

It is actually harder to remove than bondo because it is more flexible and can be tenatious. If you want to remove it, then heat it gently and chisel it out.

The factory filled up this area from behind with seam sealer.

If you want the area around the vent hole to be perfect, get a piece from a donor car.

You could also fix it by crafting some patches and lots of welding and grinding.

I went the patch method and it was a lot of work.

John

[FourBlades]

Nathan beat me to it by a few minutes! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

John

[TargaToy]

That's definitely one of those "tip of the iceburg" situations. I thought mine looked crappy when I started removing the paint. Once I got the whole section including the tube cut out, I realized how weak it was. Heck, even the solid good sections I got from another member here had a couple pin holes from old surface rust sides that I had to address before installing.

I welded in the driver's side section 2 wknds ago and last wknd I spent grinding the back sides of the welds, priming, seam sealing, and top coating the area. Lot of work, definitely, for a section of the car that would normally seem insignificant.

[Niklas]

Is it possible to take it all away??
do we realy need this hole ?


Niklas

[TargaToy]

Maybe you can get rid of them--somebody else would have to offer advice on that. Supposedly they relieve pressure for two reasons: 1) to allow your ventilation system to work when the top's on and windows are closed; 2) to allow your doors to shut right without blowing your framless windows off the seal at the top when the glass is up. You could probably get away with closing off the door jamb end of the tube but then you'd still want the passenger compartment vented somehow. And if you opted to hack off the tubes inside the fender, you'd need to come up with a way to keep the moisture flung from the rear wheels from getting into the car. Always something.

Did I mention it's a tight place to work in?

This first pic was shot with my phone which was about all I could fit up there (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

[nathansnathan]

It always makes me wonder where can you get "arch inserts" or patterns for them? I think I read about it on the pelican part "914 pictures" thread, abs ones, and somewhere here about dealer-offered steel inserts? I'm thinking of engineering my own. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smash.gif)

[nathansnathan]

It always makes me wonder where can you get "arch inserts" or patterns for them? I think I read about it on the pelican part "914 pictures" thread, abs ones, and somewhere here about dealer-offered steel inserts? I'm thinking of engineering my own. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smash.gif)