A number of 'beginner' questions

[jh]

Folks, thanks again for all those replies.

Nige, it has to be said that you know your old car intimately - gasket was the problem indeed. Got some from Statesidetuning again so we'll see it goes for a while. Seem the dellorto has been bored a little or something so there is one edge that is very small and that is where the gasket disintegrated and the spark was coming from.

Am getting absolutely zero time with my cars these days what with work,wife,baby,house,garden so it has taken a long time to get this sorted.

And, of course , when one thing is sorted another crops up. Found about 5cms of water sloshing around inside the car when testing the gasket fix - the rain we've been getting in Dublin is just....depressing. Anyway, everthing is wet, wet, wet in there. I have definitely sources one leak right at the back, zip on roof liner open that must be sourced at the sun roof I reckon. Will prob need a new sunroof seal (any recommendations?) anyway but there are other leaks too.


Funny thing....I don't have a cd changer or mp3 or whatever the lastest technology is these days in any other car but the 912e has. Thing is that 99% of the time I use the car I don't use the radio or Cd because I like to hear the vroom, vroom. How sad is that

Take care for now.

[boz]

And, of course , when one thing is sorted another crops up. Found about 5cms of water sloshing around inside the car when testing the gasket fix - the rain we've been getting in Dublin is just....depressing. Anyway, everthing is wet, wet, wet in there. I have definitely sources one leak right at the back, zip on roof liner open that must be sourced at the sun roof I reckon. Will prob need a new sunroof seal (any recommendations?) anyway but there are other leaks too.


Funny thing....I don't have a cd changer or mp3 or whatever the lastest technology is these days in any other car but the 912e has. Thing is that 99% of the time I use the car I don't use the radio or Cd because I like to hear the vroom, vroom. How sad is that

Take care for now.

Hello JH. Good to hear you got that rogue gasket sorted. As far as your water ingress problem goes, it may not be your sunroof seal that is the problem. I noticed a couple of drips coming from the back end of my car, near the headlining zipper, when it pi**ed down. The back seat was wet. Turns out that water can get in the rear vent slots at the back end of the roof where it meets the rear screen. Found this out to my cost when jet washing the car!! Not sure whatt the fix might be, other than to seal the vents up. Or keep the car garaged! Also check your door seals.

I know waht you mean about the stereo too! You ain't the only sad one, as I never use mine either. Much prefer the vroom vroom!!

[jh]

hey boz. Thanks for that suggestion about those vents. Found those already when i noticed light on my hand when poking about back there - have to admit i was surprised and for a moment thought there must be a hole somewhere.

But unfortunately that isn't the source of my problems.
Got to take a pic of the one prob i did find - put a wee bucket under it today and it filled completely today.

All the carpets are wet as hell and, worse, under those tiny back seats, beneath the tarboards etc, there is a lovely little closed in area for water to gather and sit - gently removed the soggy carpets and seat back there and poked my hand under the tarboard. Absolutely soaking.

Think I'll have to remove everything after i fix all the leaks cos that water will just bide its time rusting my car away for years to come.


Hey, I wonder has anybody suggestions on how to clean up and renew the carpets while i have them out. They're in pretty good shape really so i don't want to but new ones. But they're soggy and dirty.

[boz]

Hmmm... could be your sunroof seal then! I only had a tiny couple of drips tbh. Another thing to check is your rear screen seal. Is your headlining getting wet too?

You could always treat the carpets to a damn good clean with either specialist car products or some kind of domestic type carpet cleaner.

[Nige]

well fella, I don't know what you and Markyspark have done to that car, but in my 6 years of ownership it was never wet in side. It lived outside come rain or shine. The seals won't prevent water getting in totally, check the drain tubes for blockages. Open the engine lid and either side of the top of the gutter is the drainhole, rod it out like a blocked drain. I had some 3 core electric cable that was just right to wiggle up there and clear things out. Afterwards pour some water on the roof to see if it flows out of the drains. You may also find that crud is blocking the holes in the rood aperture for the sunroof, it relatively easy to remove it for better access. You could find alsorts under there, leaves and so on.

Part open the roof, and gently pry the front edge of vinyl roof liner and push it back into the roof. You can then see where the cables/guides attach, simply undo and lift the panel foward and out. Be careful not to scratch it as you lift it out and up. You can then see into the deep recesses of the sunroof. If you've gone that far you might want to change the cables as they are abit noisy.

[jh]

Thanks lads. Nige, I aint done nothin i promise But you want to see the rain we've gotten the the past couple of weeks!!!!

Looks like 2moro is ok for me to play with your suggestions EXCEPT wife has other plans for me

Bugger that i have to remove all the carpets and tarboad but it is seriously that wet in there so better be diligent about it or be all moody and sad about it later.

I have a wee tiny tupperware container under the one leak i have found and even though it rained like crazy today the car didn't get full of water (container did though - FLL). Still a little wet in other places though toward the front.

I'll get it sort I'm sure. We have one car show coming up that i really want to put the car in - in fact i wanted to put both in cos they look so cool beside eachother so I better demand the car-laav-and-attention-time and get this brilliant motor of yours all sorted out.

Keep you posted.

[jh]

well after a lot of poking and prodding and cursing I just couldn't clear out one of those drainholes. In the end I had to cut away the wee rubber hose that connects the roof drain to the week channel. Inside was a piece of what looks like masking tape! Replace the rubber with some garden hose(!!) and all is sorted.

Then I had to remove the carpets, rear side trim, seats, tarboard and dry the whole area out (which took a long time with the weather we're having on this side of the pond believe me). Treated the seats bases with rust remover, sealer, etc. and resprayed. Scrubbed the carpets best could and put everything back.

Whew!


But....I have to say that in all it only took a few hours. What a joy (?) the Porsche is to work on as opposed to the Karmann Ghia - everything came apart with ease and went back together with ease.

One little worry I have now so please advise it you have any - i used still electrical cable to try and unblock the drainholes. It had the plastic(?) cover on but in all the poking and prodding I'm hoping i didn't scrap any paint away from the inside of the drainhole. I don't think I have but that's be one disaster of a place for rust to take hold. Anything i can do to be sure its protected.

Nige, thanks for the tips on removing the sunroof and all. Really shortcutted the job.

One final question - the paint work is showing a few (maybe 4) bad cases of bubbling - nothing flakey, just hard underneath bubbling. Can sorting this be done without pros?


Ok, thanks again all. Take care,
jh