My '72 911T

[Barry]

Oh O.K., sorry about that: next one I do, I'll put the wing on first .

[911hillclimber]

Some years ago i think someone in the States sold a repair kit of tin for this area of the old 911 (Automotion?).
It was quite a large area covered and was a one piece pressing of the outer and under section with another shallower area for the inner side. Both panels circumnavigated the torque cross tube.

It was expensive so i did my own 'curvey 'stuff and gas welded the lot in.

Good luck Gary with the car. I guess it is the same on the other side?

[Gary71]

Now cleaned up a little, the hole sits neatly just past the end of the 6 year old repair I did outside in the pouring rain whilst miffed off.

I guess I ran out of metal or patience as there is no way that area was good enough to weld to!

The flange inside the tube partially came off when I pulled at it, but a few prods should have it away properly.

...and that spot welding wasn't done by a robot was it. Drunk German maybe...

[911hillclimber]

I'm now scared to remove my rear suspension and look into the tube!
Last time it was off was about 15 years ago, maybe 10 to re-grease the bushes.
I drilled a drain hole after welding my area where your hole is and then used it to inject Waxoyl

One day I'll take mine down to the shell too and be horrified I bet.
I still find it hard to believe mine was this bad 22 years ago.
These areas suffer damage by stupid jacking of the car i think and that plastic sealant.

[Gary71]

Don't look

Just use the 'la la la I'm not listening' technique. It's served me well for many years!

[Gary71]

The full nightmare is revealed!



Looks pretty much like the heater tube on the car Barry posted earlier. Not entirely certain how to fix that. Welding upside down to a Bacofoil tube isn't one of my strongest skills! Luckily the tube isn't structural;)

The reinforcing and the outside bit is the easy stuff!

[911hillclimber]

Oh, so familiar!
That is what i meant by 'you know what that hole means' and cutting back miles fo to find thick steel.
IIRC my heater tubes were intact.

I found the worst part doing the inside of the leg as i was on my back with torch in hand and melting plastic coating on fire most of the time.

This is where the rotating of the shell is so good. A comfortable welder is a good welder.

It will be ok when going as you well know Gary.

[Gary71]

The steel was pretty good much closer to the hole, most of the cutting back was to find solid bit's of the tube! Having said that the reinforcing that drops down from the tube to the leg had gone, so I need plenty of space to rebuild that.

One of my more practical mates has suggested fixing the tube with a beer can and gaffer tape... I may use a tomatoe tin as it's thicker

[Barry]

Yuk!

I rather suspect that if this outer area has gone, then the inner (other side of heater tube) will have followed.

Just for info, here's how it looks.

Typical symptoms:







Inside of this area is this:



As you can see, there are two layers. The one nearest the heater tube is the reinforcing layer of the inner sill (as in the bit covered in carpet), which is spot welded to the inner sill itself. It extends fowards, up over the floor-to-inner wing flange 'hump', and finishes just behind the jacking point. It runs aft well up the rear chassis leg.

The 'outer' layer (looks at engine bay), is the inner sill, which has come out from the cabin, and turns into the rear chassis leg.

Here's a view from a different angle, with that reinforcing layer being repaired, and clearly showing the layout of this whole area:



And the repairs nearly completed:





As of tomorrow, I should have some final ones, minus the a.roll mounts ....

Of the two layers, the one nearest the engine is much the easiest, as there's not too much shape to it, other than (on a 2.4 onwards) a pressing for the a/roll mounting.

The inner one is a real sod though: there's loads of compound shape to it, and it's a reverse curve at that, with a flange at the bottom. I was lucky on the current car, as it was only the very bottom that needed doing, more or less missing the heavily shaped area.

Here're the pieces heading for a previous (worse) car:



HTH

[Barry]

Just realised that the above pics also show the remains of the stud reinforcement plate. Needless to say, this was repaired when the outside issues were dealt with (there was just enough good stuff hanging down to make it a pretty straightforward job.

I have to say, the area discussed above is a real swine on a stripped car, even sans mechanics, and on the jig. Always nice to get onto that outside area where it's quite easy to make, and make it look pretty .

BTW, sorry about the size of pics, I forgot to resize them .

[Gary71]

Many thanks Barry, big pictures are better for me!

I do need to replace a small section on the inside. I can see how you removed the fuel pump bracket to get to it, but how did you get in to weld in back on afterwards? It looks like it was originally a sub assembly to the tube, or welded in place before the seat pan was fitted.

[Barry]

I'm sure they were a sub of the tube.

I can just get in with the MIG afterwards and weld it back on in such a way that looks alright when completed. It's a pragmatic thing really, you just can't repair that area with it there, particularly if (as in this case) the A/roll mount is being changed as well.

Nevertheless, another rather un-satisfying job that usually gets left until the end (as are A/roll mounts and engine bay seal holders ). On the other hand, once these are out of the way, you really know it's nearly time for take off .

[911hillclimber]

My inner areas were like the example above but the heater tube was quite good oddly.

A really nasty part of the 911 shell and glade not to be doing it now.

I am always bothered if i got to all the rust at the time or is there more (after all this time but mainly dry driving) developing.

Gery: did your car fail it's MoT because of the rust or were you just feeling you needed a tricky winter project?

[Gary71]

No MOT fail, although it is due on the 5th Dec The rust is well hidden unless you really go looking for it. Once I'd found it I couldn't bring myself to put all that new shiny suspension on knowing there is rot. Also as the engine is out and I don't need to use the car for a few months now is the time!

I know the repair won't be perfect, but it will be strong and last a good few years. Most 911s out there are probably rotten here to one extent or other, you just can't see it without an endoscope

There is always more rust developing, even a car restored to 'factory' spec will be rotten again inside 10 years or less if it's actually used. The design and materials precludes good corrosion protection.

This wasn't on my winter list, that was supposed to be all mechanical, but things are never straight forward with 40 year old car are they

[Gary71]

Going further in...



The dog can finally see the rabbit!

Just needed to dig a bit deeper...

I decided any attempt to patch the bottom half of the heater tube was futile and it was in the way of making a solid job of more important repairs. So out it came...

Whilst I've got a lot of creation to get this back together it's nice to see plenty of the original paint from the dipping process still in place.

The hole next to the weld in the torsion tube I guess has formed from condensation inside the tube on an area the dip didn't get to. Probably the metal was thin due to the welding so it suffered. I think I'm going to wittle this out with a die grinder and build back up with weld. At least now I can get to the back of it I don't need to do any of the sleeving idea posted earlier. I do still need to make a flange for the bush to sit against, but this is straightforward.

Once I've welded up the tube all the scruffy flange to the bottom right is coming out and the rebuild can start!