Jeff928S4

In the process of fixing a gas leak on the 89' S4, I am trying to clean up the metal covers.

I only have the first cover off so far (doing the rest of the job tomorrow night) and it looks pretty shoddy. As you can see in the pics below, a small piece has chipped off due to rust....

I went at the cover with a 7" sander and took off as much rust/grime as I could and hand-sanded the harder-to-reach areas....trust me, it looked much worse before I went at it - lots and lots of caked on rust and grime.














Is this repairable?
What is the best way to go about getting the rest of the rust off myself? Dremel?

I had planned on re-painting it with a high-heat rust paint (and doing the same to the rear cover once it comes off - that cover looks to be in better shape though - we'll see when it comes down).

Just in case, does anyone know the best place to source replacement covers? Porsche junkyard maybe?

danglerb

Anybody parting one out will have it, rarely "goes bad", so no real demand except as paint ahead parts.

Hilton

How they survive depends heavily on the environment. Danglerb lives in California, a dry climate, where rust is relatively uncommon on 928 bits. Likewise, here in Australia they commonly have no rust on either the cover, or the main tank strap/cradle.

In the UK, your cover would be considered better than average condition. So much so, that one of the 928 places there has been manufacturing replacement covers out of ABC plastic, although their site shows they're currently out of stock.

As far as replacement, either try your favourite 928 used parts vendor, or just live with yours as it is. A bit more wire brushing, then use a rust-converting primer, then spray it black - I've done it to one of mine that came off an ex-UK 928 I bought and its held up fine for 4 years with no new rust. High heat paint isn't necessary in that location.

Ethre

Gentle wirebrush might help. If you're good enough with a welder you ought to be able to patch that rusted spot pretty neatly. However, it looks (to me - I'm admittedly bad at judging pictures) that it might be about to rust through in the middle of the main curve.

martinss

If the car is ever driven on salty roads then they don't last long, even if it mostly sits. I have seen far worse on most cars in Ontario, Canada. Fortunately used ones from warmer, dry climates are generally near perfect and not expensive.

You will probably find the gas tank strap to be pretty rusty too.

I replaced both cover and strap with used ones, which I sprayed first with matt bed sealer, on mine.

dcrasta

Wow.. you can find them around in the US pretty common. Fuel Pump cover.

Jeff928S4

I did a google search for "Porsche 928 fuel pump cover" and didn't get many good hits.

One site lists them for $600+!!! Yikes.

Auto Atlanta shows them at $82.00 (the smaller cover) - the bigger one (fuel tank bracket) is $384.16.

dcrasta

If you are looking for fuel pump covers I suggest you search craigs list for people parting 928s. I found one on rennlist (was missing on my car when I purchased).

There are 3 928s in Baltimore/Washington DC area being parted on Craigslist

- http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/m...551207190.html

James Bailey

Call Tom @ 928International.... should have nice Southern California good used ...no need to buy new.

Jeff928S4

What's a good used one going for now-a-days?

kelanel

40$ on the 928intl site for used. mark anderson has a 1 year waranty on all new, USED, and rebuilt parts.

Jeff928S4

So.....until I order a new set of covers/straps next season, I decided to zap the old ones with some black rust paint.

I also used some aluminum tape to fill in that spot that had rusted out and painted over it. Didn't manage to grab pics before the paint, but here is what the covers look like now.....

Before....



After.....



After installing the covers, I noticed a pretty large gap where the front cover and rear cover clip together (and also noticed there was a gap on either side of the plastic cover over the fuel lines that run up alongside the tank). I suspect most of the dirt that accumulates under the covers is getting in these areas.....

Here is how dirty it was around the in-tank pump hose (which was what was causing my gas leak).....the clamp for the in-tank to external pump hose had literally rotted completely away - the mash of dirt/sand was what was keeping the hose in place.






I had left over aluminum tape, so I was like "hummmmmmmm"....

The end result.....








The plastic line guard.....












From the rear of the car, the tape kinda blends in with the muffler and the heat shield by the battery....








Now....the one side by the wheel well shows the tape quite clearly over the plastic guard.....I may remove it or spray black paint over it in this area....








All in all, the tape bonded perfectly to the tank/covers - that stuff is STICKY!!! ...and it's very pliable - it's basically tin foil that is sticky on one side. I also suspect it will hold up very well vs the water, etc. under the car. It doesn't look "factory", but at least the fuel tank pumps/filter/hose will stay cleaner. Hopefully. Also, I applied all the tape with the car on the ground in my driveway.

I am also going to use the tape to completely re-wrap the tank cover heat shield - mine is in pretty bad shape.

danglerb

So, how is the water going to drain out?

Jeff928S4

Isn't that what that lil' hole in the bottom of the bigger cover is for? That is where the gas was leaking out. It seems to be the lowest point, so I figured any water would make its way down out that hole?




Hopefully not a lot of water will be getting in that area now that it is sealed up somewhat?

I could always poke a few holes in the tape for drainage I suppose. The tape is more for keeping out bigger things like sand/rocks.

Speedtoys

Looks fun & easy to make out of FG..if I ever come across a good one. I have an Ohio car...its NOT a good one.