The 25-year/250,000-mile refresh, UPDATE 5.15.2017: After first 1,000-mile trip Options

[horizontally-opposed]

So I've decided to confront a few rust bubbles on my car, before painting it (the car looked great, but I never liked the wavy sides due to poor prep and no blocking).

If you can't stomach this first photo, please don't continue... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

pete

[championgt1]

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/av-943.gif)

[horizontally-opposed]

Pete,
Make sure that your shop does a thorough search for rust. I thought my '70/4 was pretty nice, but the ravages of time, salty winter roads and latent moisture ultimately caused more damage than was readily apparent.

Paul

Hey Paul,

I saw your pics a while back and they inspired me to get going sooner than later. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/blink.gif) And now they've inspired me to pull my aluminum threshold plates. I was relieved, however, to find no rust evident on the longs, at the bottom of the firewall on the passenger side. I'm an Optima battery customer since 1991, and one who is happier than ever to have made the switch...

Your pics also serve as a good cautionary tale for rust in general... Let me ask you this: Was the rust on the back of the sail panel evident when you stripped the vinyl away? What about elsewhere? Did you have a couple bubbles here and there and decided to fix them? Or did you strip to metal and only then find the issues?

Thanks,

pete

[1970 Neun vierzehn]

... Let me ask you this: Was the rust on the back of the sail panel evident when you stripped the vinyl away? What about elsewhere? Did you have a couple bubbles here and there and decided to fix them? Or did you strip to metal and only then find the issues?

Thanks,

pete

Pete,
Although the vinyl sail panel had no blistering or lifting/loosening of material and seemed to be solid, once it was removed, it was apparent the extent of the rust damage far exceed the 3 or 4 very small paint blisters that had appeared in almost the exact same place as shown in your photo on post #5 of this thread. I'd decided to address the rust issues on the pan of the car, never imagining the extent of the metal degradation on many parts of the exterior sheetmetal.
Here presented (again) were some surprising rust issues that were uncovered when the paint was removed.

[Jenny]

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) I was expecting to see "Remember to pick up milk from the store" on a fender.

Actually, it reminded me of how plastic surgeons mark up a patient in pre-op. Smart, because sometimes it's difficult communicating with body
shops and paint folks. Or sometimes you forget exactly were the wavey (that you can only see under certain lighting) was.

Good luck with everything Pete! Thanks for sharing.

Jen

[horizontally-opposed]

Hey Jenny, long time no see! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

Here's the result of six hours of disassembly, plus continuing rust repairs and metal work...

pete

[horizontally-opposed]

'nuther

[horizontally-opposed]

"I *am* a Porsche reflector" holes removed... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/piratenanner.gif)

[horizontally-opposed]

and, while we're at it, antenna be gone...

[horizontally-opposed]

...

[horizontally-opposed]

but by far the worst damage is this.... I wish I'd got after this sooner (first spotted it festering in the 1990s) but I am glad I didn't let it go much longer...

[horizontally-opposed]

After melting the factory gunk (it is TOUGH stuff, unlike the foam by the taillights), the patch will go in place...

[horizontally-opposed]

engine lid in trunk, ready to go to paint shop...

given what I've seen on a lot of 914s, I went into this gig pretty scared. So far, it's not so bad. Longitudinals seem to be VERY solid, the firewall is good, and we're not finding indications of rust anywhere else. But I'll be going over the car VERY carefully before sending it to paint.

For now, that's all. Front trunk seal gutter is pretty good, with just two TINY holes at the top corners. I think I'll kill the rust, prep them, and then make sure to seal them off well with the new trunk seal.

Re-sealing the areas where repairs have been done are scaring me a bit, however....

pete

[SGB]

Mines time is coming one day. There are severalareas infected with subutanious scars on the verge of breaking fourth in an alien-like explosion, too gruesome to describe

Yours will be purt'-near perfect for a good while now, I thnk.

[jd74914]

What color is your car Pete? I really like it.

[horizontally-opposed]

What color is your car Pete? I really like it.

Thanks. Car is VW/Audi Toronado Red, I believe late 1980s/early 1990s spec, important to figure out because colors of the same name from the same car company can change over time. Ever looked at a perfect Guards Red 911 SC and a Guards Red Boxster side by side?

I'm going to have to find out the code, but the last person who painted it won't be painting it again and may get proprietary about it as he'll probably be offended someone else is painting it this time. In fairness, his paint had VERY good adhesion. Nothing lifted in 17 years and it seems like the body was very well sealed.

Anyway, if he won't give me the code, I am sure I can have the paint shop match it.

Car was originally Bahia Red, but I picked this red in 1991 because the painter suggested it would go well with all the black and chrome elements. It's more similar to Porsche's old Polo Red or Signal Red, very non-orangey and with a lot of blue in it. Very pure red. He's an Alfa guy, and picked this red after shooting cards with 29 different reds. 17 years later, he says he's only found one red he likes better than this one.

But, now that I'm on this whole "turn back the clock" thing, I am seriously considering shooting the car in Bahia again. Only trouble is, I'm not sure I love it. If memory serves, it's a little brown for a bright red. A cool color, in its way, but I am not sure I dig it.

Anyone have input on this? Anyone local to SF repaint a car in Bahia lately? I'd sure like to look at one...

pete

[Porsche Rescue]

I too am a bit of a back to original purist. But some Bahia cars look a bit pink to my eye. The Audi red (I think it is Toronado) on the later cars turns my head whenever I see one. I especially like it on the Audi cabrios. Your car appears to be the same color. Hard call. It would keep me awake at night trying to decide.

[SirAndy]

This is the left rear corner, has been bothering me for 17 years now (since the car was last painted)! Note the "RUST?" marking.

you will have to remove *ALL* of the foam in that cavity! on both sides!

the reason why it's rusted there is that the foam is sealed off but will get brittle after 30 years and soak in water which will have ample time to do it's rusty work.

you'll have to scrape out all the foam on both sides and treat the cavity with metal ready (or similar) and then seal it off with something like por-15 ...

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/stirthepot.gif) Andy

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads/post-2058-1202505373_thumb.jpg)

[John]

you will have to remove *ALL* of the foam in that cavity! on both sides!

the reason why it's rusted there is that the foam is sealed off but will get brittle after 30 years and soak in water which will have ample time to do it's rusty work.

you'll have to scrape out all the foam on both sides and treat the cavity with metal ready (or similar) and then seal it off with something like por-15 ...

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/stirthepot.gif) Andy

I agree with everything Andy had to say with the exception of the POR-15. I won't be using that on anything else. Stick with a good quality epoxy primer and you will be happier in the long run.

[TravisNeff]

Keep that Toranado red - it looks great on your car.

[1970 Neun vierzehn]

a pair wearing Bahia Red......