Which comes first: Straightening the tub or structural rust repair? |
|
Porsche, and the Porsche crest are registered trademarks of Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG.
This site is not affiliated with Porsche in any way. Its only purpose is to provide an online forum for car enthusiasts. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners. |
|
Which comes first: Straightening the tub or structural rust repair? |
doug_b_928 |
Aug 28 2014, 06:16 AM
Post
#1
|
Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 692 Joined: 17-January 13 From: Winnipeg Member No.: 15,382 Region Association: Canada |
I've been disassembling my car and getting a better sense of what happened to it before my ownership. I think the car was hit on the left rear corner. It doesn't appear that it crumpled much at all. In fact, the left taillight assembly was re-used (the black plastic on the end is missing a 1 cm piece and there's a crack in the middle of the black plastic on the back). There's also a really bad bondo repair about the diameter of an average hand by the tailight. So I don't think much crumple-type of damage was done. But, that hit must have somehow twisted the chassis by either pushing the left rear down and/or pushing the right rear up. There is a big difference in height left to right when looking at the rear end (like 1 -1.5"). The suspension ear on the right is 4mm higher than the one on the left. The latter might even be within factory spec, no? Also, the distance between the trunk channels on the rear fenders is within spec for the front half, but the back half progressively narrows to being 1.5cm too narrow.
The longs, rockers, firewall and hell hole are shot and the door gaps by the door handles are too big (8-9mm). So, I'm wondering, (aside from the option of scrapping it), do I get the chassis straightened before metal surgery, or after surgery on the main structural parts? I could see the former tearing the car apart, and the latter creating imperfections in the newly repaired work. |
mbseto |
Sep 23 2014, 09:30 AM
Post
#2
|
Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 1,253 Joined: 6-August 14 From: Cincy Member No.: 17,743 Region Association: North East States |
If the twist is mainly aft of the shock towers, I'd approach it this way... Make a cut in the trunk floor starting in the side corner a little aft of the tower, running back to the rear, then all the way across the back and up the corner on the other side to the same point. Leave this for the moment and repair the rails, firewall, whatever else in the torsion box. This will fix the door gaps and the 1/4" at the rear suspension mounts. Fixing that 1/4" will probably account for about 1/2" at the rear. Then with the rails secure to the bench, i.e. everything forward of the towers held straight, throw a jack under the low corner and straighten the rear. That slot you cut will develop an overlap on one side and a gap on the other. Trim the overlap and make a shim for the gap, then weld it up again.
|
rick 918-S |
Sep 23 2014, 11:27 AM
Post
#3
|
Hey nice rack! -Celette Group: Members Posts: 20,456 Joined: 30-December 02 From: Now in Superior WI Member No.: 43 Region Association: Northstar Region |
If the twist is mainly aft of the shock towers, I'd approach it this way... Make a cut in the trunk floor starting in the side corner a little aft of the tower, running back to the rear, then all the way across the back and up the corner on the other side to the same point. Leave this for the moment and repair the rails, firewall, whatever else in the torsion box. This will fix the door gaps and the 1/4" at the rear suspension mounts. Fixing that 1/4" will probably account for about 1/2" at the rear. Then with the rails secure to the bench, i.e. everything forward of the towers held straight, throw a jack under the low corner and straighten the rear. That slot you cut will develop an overlap on one side and a gap on the other. Trim the overlap and make a shim for the gap, then weld it up again. Or you could fix it the right way..... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wacko.gif) If your not kidding remind me not to buy any car you owned. |
Lo-Fi Version | Time is now: 13th May 2024 - 11:01 PM |
All rights reserved 914World.com © since 2002 |
914World.com is the fastest growing online 914 community! We have it all, classifieds, events, forums, vendors, parts, autocross, racing, technical articles, events calendar, newsletter, restoration, gallery, archives, history and more for your Porsche 914 ... |