P.O. Accident Damage to Front Trunk, Course of Action? Options

[Nojoah]

Hey guys,

I have been assessing the situation with the front trunk of the car recently and I have managed to grind through all the old bondo, bedliner and crap that was covering the majority of the damage to the front pan. Clearly it was brazed in after an accident along with new replacement panels from porsche in their typical red primer. The pan is pretty banged up but the car is surprisingly straight and the hood gaps, bumper gaps and headlight buckets all seem to be where they should be. My question is though - what should my course of action be to repair this in the future? Would the replacement RD front pan suffice or should I dig deeper into the body? Understand that as a student I am by no means looking for a concourse front trunk just something more original and as it should be - this bothers my OCD (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smash.gif)

Side note - this was damage from the first owner shortly after he bought the car new in the 70's so if it's lasted this long, its solid at least.

[mepstein]

I'm no expert on this but I've seen a lot of damaged 914's and I have a tough time believing the front suspension mounting points weren't involved in the damage and "repair". What does it look like under the car and have you checked to make sure everything is straight and true? Including the struts, crossmember and A arms?

My uneducated opinion, (because I'm not in front of your car), is you have a much bigger project on your hands than just a front pan.

[bbrock]

I'm no expert on this but I've seen a lot of damaged 914's and I have a tough time believing the front suspension mounting points weren't involved in the damage and "repair". What does it look like under the car and have you checked to make sure everything is straight and true? Including the struts, crossmember and A arms?

My uneducated opinion, (because I'm not in front of your car), is you have a much bigger project on your hands than just a front pan.

I agree with Mark (half way anyway). The crinkling in the pan has to have affected the geometry. However, it looks like the damage is only in the front which means the crinkles would be pulling the front torsion mounts closer together than they should be. I just peeked under mine and it looks like that would pull the ball joints forward. That would be addressed with a proper full pan replacement which would put those mounts back where they should be. As has been said, it is not that difficult of a job... assuming the suspension frame wasn't bent. I tend to doubt it is bent. Seems like the rear A-arm bushings are probably taking the pressure and saved the cross member. I'd plan on changing those bushings while you are at it and, of course, verify none of the suspension bits are bent.

Maybe a little bigger project than a pan replacement, but not that much bigger.