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

[bbrock]

Yep, pretty much what bkrantz said but I wouldn't use a rotisserie for this job unless you had a fancy rotisserie that attaches at suspension pickups rather than nose and tail. You'll be removing a lot of the structure that makes the nose strong enough to hold the weight of the car on a rotisserie.

The nice thing about this job is that the replacement pan becomes your jig. As was said, cut out the old one along the pinch weld seams and plug weld in the new. Go slow to keep from overheating the panel but pretty straightforward. I think the process mostly differs only depending on the source of your replacement panel. I replaced mine with a donor trunk so the front a-arm mounts were already welded in. In that case, I bolted up the suspension assembly so the rear was bolted to my car's chassis, and the front to the donor panel. That kept everything where it needed to be. I believe with the RD panel, you weld the front A-arm pickups on after the pan is welded in. Just make sure the placement meets the specs for under body dimensions found in the '914 info' section.

I also had to do a long butt weld across the rear which was the only tricky part. Not sure how far back the RD panel goes. One other thing you'll have to deal with is cleaning all that brass out from the brazing. Your welder won't like that at all.

I think this is probably the easiest of the major panel repairs because there are few things that can go wrong compared to something like the longs.

[djway]

Get yourself a shrink disc to help work out all those crinkles. I could actually hear the body pulling itself back into place when I shrunk some crinkled metal.

[Nojoah]

Yep, pretty much what bkrantz said but I wouldn't use a rotisserie for this job unless you had a fancy rotisserie that attaches at suspension pickups rather than nose and tail. You'll be removing a lot of the structure that makes the nose strong enough to hold the weight of the car on a rotisserie.

The nice thing about this job is that the replacement pan becomes your jig. As was said, cut out the old one along the pinch weld seams and plug weld in the new. Go slow to keep from overheating the panel but pretty straightforward. I think the process mostly differs only depending on the source of your replacement panel. I replaced mine with a donor trunk so the front a-arm mounts were already welded in. In that case, I bolted up the suspension assembly so the rear was bolted to my car's chassis, and the front to the donor panel. That kept everything where it needed to be. I believe with the RD panel, you weld the front A-arm pickups on after the pan is welded in. Just make sure the placement meets the specs for under body dimensions found in the '914 info' section.

I also had to do a long butt weld across the rear which was the only tricky part. Not sure how far back the RD panel goes. One other thing you'll have to deal with is cleaning all that brass out from the brazing. Your welder won't like that at all.

I think this is probably the easiest of the major panel repairs because there are few things that can go wrong compared to something like the longs.

Thanks a lot Brent. Cleaning out the brazing will definitely be a frustrating job (IMG:style_emoticons/default/headbang.gif)

Get yourself a shrink disc to help work out all those crinkles. I could actually hear the body pulling itself back into place when I shrunk some crinkled metal.

Sorry I'm not familiar with a shrink disc? Can you elaborate? edit: Nevermind I found it - looks like that'll be useful as well, thank you!

[bbrock]

Sorry I'm not familiar with a shrink disc? Can you elaborate? edit: Nevermind I found it - looks like that'll be useful as well, thank you!

The instructions that came with mine said it was NOT magic but I have my doubts. Pretty amazing what they can do. It isn't going to eliminate the need to replace the pan but will sure be handy for when you straighten out those wheel wells. I wound up with some oil canning when I did mine and the "magic" shrinking disc made short work of it. Made the wheel well tight as a drum.

I'd play with it on the pan though. Since you can get to both sides, it might do better than I think. Remember though that the shirinking disc is exactly that. It shrinks metal. Your crinkles aren't necessarily stretched so even if you managed to flatten the metal with the disc, you haven't removed the problem of the mount points being pulled together.

[Nojoah]

Sorry I'm not familiar with a shrink disc? Can you elaborate? edit: Nevermind I found it - looks like that'll be useful as well, thank you!

The instructions that came with mine said it was NOT magic but I have my doubts. Pretty amazing what they can do. It isn't going to eliminate the need to replace the pan but will sure be handy for when you straighten out those wheel wells. I wound up with some oil canning when I did mine and the "magic" shrinking disc made short work of it. Made the wheel well tight as a drum.

I'd play with it on the pan though. Since you can get to both sides, it might do better than I think. Remember though that the shirinking disc is exactly that. It shrinks metal. Your crinkles aren't necessarily stretched so even if you managed to flatten the metal with the disc, you haven't removed the problem of the mount points being pulled together.

I'll definitely give it a try! At least if I can straighten the pan somewhat that might tide my OCD over until the pan can be properly replaced. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/confused24.gif)

[djway]

Lots of videos floating around the InterWeb on Shrink Disc. I would probably go for one of the small units for these areas.
If you cant get to the back side with the disc you use a hammer to bring that spot up.
Learn as much as you can before you start and you will be amazed.
Let the panel cool, be patient, move around. It can be fun.

[Nojoah]

Lots of videos floating around the InterWeb on Shrink Disc. I would probably go for one of the small units for these areas.
If you cant get to the back side with the disc you use a hammer to bring that spot up.
Learn as much as you can before you start and you will be amazed.
Let the panel cool, be patient, move around. It can be fun.

Will do! Thanks for the input.

[Tdskip]

How do we feel about the brazing versus proper MIG welding that we are seeing here? Brazing can't be as strong...

[mepstein]

I would either put it on a bench and repair it properly or leave it alone. My opinion, If you start shrinking back the sheet metal, even if just for cosmetic reasons, you are going to pull at suspension points and possibly throw the car out of alignment. Even just replacing the pan without a bench or proper jig is risky since the suspension is a three dimensional affair. It needs to be the proper height and distance from the other mounting points like the steering rack and struts. There is some leeway to the measurements but if you are going to go through the effort...

[Nojoah]

How do we feel about the brazing versus proper MIG welding that we are seeing here? Brazing can't be as strong...

From what I've learned brazing is actually quite strong when done right. The heating of the surrounding metal is usually what leads to warping but the bond itself is apparently strong.

Keep in mind I have no experience with brazing and this is simply what I've been told by a few of the older mechanics working in the shop with me. *Brazing is still not ideal though*