Rust advice… run away?
Discussion
Hello,
I am considering buying a 1968 Porsche 911T… The car looks good overall and the history points to a good general mechanical condition. It comes in a rare color that I particularly enjoy. Unfortunately it looks a little crusty underneath…
Can you please tell me if this underbody would make you run away from it? It looks a bit more than surface rust to me, but I have no idea what’s involved in removing the crusty bits, and protecting the chassis etc…
Although I don’t mind spending a few grands to get this cleaned up, do a bit of welding if needed, but I don’t want to end up spending 10-15k+ on a complete chassis repair.
Thank you for your opinions
.
I am considering buying a 1968 Porsche 911T… The car looks good overall and the history points to a good general mechanical condition. It comes in a rare color that I particularly enjoy. Unfortunately it looks a little crusty underneath…
Can you please tell me if this underbody would make you run away from it? It looks a bit more than surface rust to me, but I have no idea what’s involved in removing the crusty bits, and protecting the chassis etc…
Although I don’t mind spending a few grands to get this cleaned up, do a bit of welding if needed, but I don’t want to end up spending 10-15k+ on a complete chassis repair.
Thank you for your opinions
.
Edited by Rivarama on Friday 6th December 22:38
Edited by Rivarama on Friday 6th December 22:40
v8ben said:
Hmm, I'm a long way from an expert but I'd be worried that the shiny underseal hs hiding things. However, I'm a long way from knowledgeable so others may know better.
I would second that, again I'm not expert though.I would be asking when was the underseal put on and are there any photos of it during that process?
The only other thing I would suggest is paying for an independent inspection.
That yellow chalk / crayon is an MoT tester marking corrosion deemed to be reason for refusal of an MoT test - that would sound alarm bells. I would find someone who knows old 911s inside out and pay them to inspect it - it'll be money well spent.
It's possible that marked corrosion is the only concern and easily rectified. It's equally possible it's a rotten pig tarted up with fresh underseal. If you can't tell on your own, find someone who can. There's lots of friendly help in the Porsche Club and this is the sort of thing owners clubs are great for. Good luck!
It's possible that marked corrosion is the only concern and easily rectified. It's equally possible it's a rotten pig tarted up with fresh underseal. If you can't tell on your own, find someone who can. There's lots of friendly help in the Porsche Club and this is the sort of thing owners clubs are great for. Good luck!
All 911’s rust, we’ll all the ones I owned up to around the 2002 model!
The issue with the older ones alongside the visible rust on the underside is how far spread it is into the torsion bar mounts & behind those areas, which involve some complex metalwork and hidden layers of metal.
Finding it is very invasive so it’s not something you can really do on a PPI as such.
The best bet is to get one of the historic specialists in to look over it and check the extent of the visible rust, from there they will be able to advise in their opinion of how far the more difficult to access areas might have gone based on the condition / treatment of what they can see.
There will always be an element of living with rust on such a car unless you go down the full body strip & dip path which is prohibitively expensive (unless you can find one that’s been done).
I chased a lot of rust around a 993 and got it to a manageable level but the later cars were a bit better protected than their forbearers (but in no way perfect).
Majority is not particularly difficult but if you have to pay someone else, the costs mount.
A known area on the 993 for example is around the screen. I had a 1cm blister there and lived with it for 3 years filling it with wax as I knew the eventual path I needed to take was a screen out fix of the metal for around £4K (it also required a full front end respray to get the match).
Rear chassis legs I could do myself over a winter.
Neither were killing the car but based on your images, get it checked and at least scope the severity of what you might be in for as you could be chasing a car that looks sound but needs a decent level of work forever…
The issue with the older ones alongside the visible rust on the underside is how far spread it is into the torsion bar mounts & behind those areas, which involve some complex metalwork and hidden layers of metal.
Finding it is very invasive so it’s not something you can really do on a PPI as such.
The best bet is to get one of the historic specialists in to look over it and check the extent of the visible rust, from there they will be able to advise in their opinion of how far the more difficult to access areas might have gone based on the condition / treatment of what they can see.
There will always be an element of living with rust on such a car unless you go down the full body strip & dip path which is prohibitively expensive (unless you can find one that’s been done).
I chased a lot of rust around a 993 and got it to a manageable level but the later cars were a bit better protected than their forbearers (but in no way perfect).
Majority is not particularly difficult but if you have to pay someone else, the costs mount.
A known area on the 993 for example is around the screen. I had a 1cm blister there and lived with it for 3 years filling it with wax as I knew the eventual path I needed to take was a screen out fix of the metal for around £4K (it also required a full front end respray to get the match).
Rear chassis legs I could do myself over a winter.
Neither were killing the car but based on your images, get it checked and at least scope the severity of what you might be in for as you could be chasing a car that looks sound but needs a decent level of work forever…
Amazing input (as usual) thank you.
The dealer took this Porsche in as a PX. The clearly don’t want to tarnish their reputation for selling a “cheap” Porsche. They have told me they had an expert come in and quoted £6k to put this right. They will have him do the work as part of the sale process (incl. in the price). This is primarily for some work on the part where the suspensions are matin with the chassis.
I am still a bit worried that 6k is to fix the visible stuff….
I will try to get more details from that body repair specialist and see what’s what.
Thank for your input
The dealer took this Porsche in as a PX. The clearly don’t want to tarnish their reputation for selling a “cheap” Porsche. They have told me they had an expert come in and quoted £6k to put this right. They will have him do the work as part of the sale process (incl. in the price). This is primarily for some work on the part where the suspensions are matin with the chassis.
I am still a bit worried that 6k is to fix the visible stuff….
I will try to get more details from that body repair specialist and see what’s what.
Thank for your input
the thick black underseal is what cowboys use to hide rust /bad repairs that would otherwise put people off , you have to wonder if the same person used filler in rust holes on the bodywork too as you can bet its had its fair share of rust on the shiney side too
i wouldnt be overly keen on it unless its sold at project money, too many potential surprises ahead
i wouldnt be overly keen on it unless its sold at project money, too many potential surprises ahead
steveo3002 said:
the thick black underseal is what cowboys use to hide rust /bad repairs that would otherwise put people off , you have to wonder if the same person used filler in rust holes on the bodywork too as you can bet its had its fair share of rust on the shiney side too
i wouldnt be overly keen on it unless its sold at project money, too many potential surprises ahead
^^^^i wouldnt be overly keen on it unless its sold at project money, too many potential surprises ahead
Exactly that.
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