MillenniumFalcon

I pulled my struts out, disconnected the tie rods and calipers, and was very pleased with myself after I managed to get the ball joint nuts loose with a pipe wrench.... I was well on my way to getting the suspension rebuilt and ready for the car to be aligned this Monday...

I was undoing the front A-arm torsion bar brackets when they pretty much fell off in my hands. Nothing was holding them in. The entire car had been sprayed with a gummy black undercoating after someone had gone in there and squeegeed bondo into the areas UNDERNEATH the front brackets...yes, someone actually pulled the brackets off, and spread bondo into the holes, and then put the brackets back on. Each of them was secured by only one bolt...the others were simply pushed into bondo and rust.

I am beyond crushed- I am in shock. I never could have put a car on the road after having done that to it, much less asked for money for it and watched someone drive it away onto the freeway with their family in it. I spent my entire car savings on this car, and have been slowly pouring money into it to get it up to snuff, and now I have no idea what to do about this problem. This discovery me to start going around the car looking for more filler, and I was able to push a screwdriver through the new black paint, right at the lower curve in the door opening radius below the door striker plate- it is nothing but masterfully sculpted bondo and bits of screen.

I'm honestly lost now, and the thought of trying to eBay this car in pieces to recoup some of my money is horrifying- but that's what I'm going to have to do, I guess.

Is there any reason to try an keep this car and repair it? I would rather have a car full of holes than a car that someone had gone to great lengths to hide defects, rather than fix them. What kind of person would be able to sleep at night after having done this to someone? My faith in humanity is shaken today.



What do I do?

Amber Gramps

All hope is not lost. Look into cutting in a new belly pan. It may not be what you wanted to spend the next several months doing, but it is a far better route than parting out the entire car. I can think of lots of guys that are ready to help.


EDIT: http://www.vertexauto.com/ShowItem/3...t%20Metal.aspx

http://www.vertexauto.com/UserData/I...Large/3933.jpg

DJF1

Sorry to see this. I'm not an expert to help with your issue, but I assume you just recently purchased the car, so have you gone back to the seller with this? If its a business maybe some legal action is in order? You are absolutely right, that whoever put this car together in this fashion, is a criminal because he put yours and your family's life at risk knowingly. I bet you have some recourse there. Loosing faith in humanity is one thing, preventing these crooks from doing it again and making you whole is the right thing to do IMO.
Good luck...

Shannon123

I'm with DJF1 on this one......

First....what due diligence was performed before the car was purchased ? Was there history on the car ? Did you ask ALOT of questions about the car ? PPI, test drive, car report that showed where the car had lived through its life etc etc.

If you did significant due diligence, then that would determine how you can go forward with recourse.

I hope this is a case where your pre-purchase due diligence gives you some recourse.......however if it were lack of due diligence, then its an unfortunate and costly experience.

Too bad they do not offer PPI's on sellers rather than just cars.

I sincerely wish the best for you.

mfyoung1086

Man thats terrible!

Hope you didn't pay too much for it. There is a few options on the table you could pursue

1) if the motor and trans are in good shape, you could try and find a donor 911, than strip down your current using everything you need and selling everything you don't to recoupe some cash

2) piece it out completely, and use the cash towards a good car

3) As previously suggested you could do a proper rust repair just and the pan

I don't know where your skill levels are in terms of metal fab, a quality job done would not be cheap here, you could prop source a donor for less than the bill.

If it was me? I would probably swap it all into a 914 and have the ultimate track weapon

It really is a tough break man

slownrusty

Listen to this guy

MillenniumFalcon

I appreciate your support, guys. I have done a little bit of MIG welding in the past, but never with metal this thin..if I do decide to repair the car, I will have to practice quite a bit first, of course.

Amber, thank you for the link- $159 for a belly pan lifted my spirits quite a bit. Knowing that the piece would have to be placed very precisely in order to maintain suspension geometry is a concern, and doing this kind of job on a rolling car from underneath must present quite a few challenges. I"m going to start digging for info and pics from anyone who has done it while on jack stands.

As far as the process I went through before buying this car, there was no PPI, and yes, I understand now exactly why it needs to brought to a qualified Porsche guy before an offer is made. I've owned a lot of older cars, and I have never seen anything like this before... hopefully my example will help others not to make the same mistake.

I paid far too much for it, and I'd rather not say how much. Here in southern California, there are no cars to be found- the car flippers and their "pickers" get to every used Porsche and older Mercedes worth buying before you can even lift the phone to call the seller. There are simply no decent, used older German cars here- if you want an older Porsche, you have to get it through one of these guys. I spent over a month and a half looking for a car, and was dead set on not buying a car that I could not first see first hand. This particular car was purchased from a fellow who is a Porsche car flipper, but chose to sell it as a private party transaction instead. Now I know why. Legal recourse- none. When I am done I'll know more about these cars than the next guy, but what painful education this will be... I only wish that I was financially in a better position to tackle this right now.

I'll keep you up to date. Maybe I'll be a used part source, maybe I'll be asking a lot more questions about how to do this repair- I always do all my own work.

Thanks again,

Dave

mfyoung1086

Man I was looking at a few LA area cars before I found mine in PHX I thought you guys had way better deals than what I could find locally, until I found my lil gem!

wildcat077

Dave,

It's unbelievable that somebody would actually have the ***** to sell a car like that ...
I would be tempted to take the seller's knee caps out with a baseball bat,but then again what goes around comes around and he'll have his day in court eventually !

All is not lost though, and with the help of knowledgeable forum members there will be a lot of input towards getting your car back in shape !

Cheers !
Phil

Carrera51

Those photos are scary. Glad no injuries resulted in you and your family driving the thing. Did you recently purchase the car? Have you contacted the seller? It does seem fishy that a dealer would choose to sell this one privately. If you found this kind of corrosion hidden, I bet there is a lot more. I would take it to a good Porsche shop and get a professional opinion. It be cost prohibitive to fix.

Didn't realize old german cars were so hard to get a hold of out there. You can find good rollers on the east coast. A friend got an 79 SC Coupe with bent valves for $3,200. And the motor is Euro Spec to boot. Paint and interior fair, but tub and body are straight.

Reiver

You are lucky actually. Better to have found this out now than tooling down the road.
Don't feel bad....everyone that has dealt with older cars for awhile has had a similar experience...even after some inspecting. It goes with the territory.
Have the car inspected now to see what exactly it will cost to repair...rust like that will probably not be localized...then make an informed decision.

groovzilla

the front suspension points are the first area to look at on an early 911 - i've seen this area rotted on 65-77 cars but never on a post 77 car -it is the first place any buyer should look when purchasing a 911.

i belive the front pans are galvanized after 77

estimated cost to have the front pan installed is about $1000 - fairly simple job for someone who knows what hes doing.

**be happy there are no engine issues and make sure you check the headstuds on your 2.7 - they are prone to breakage.

MillenniumFalcon

All good advice- thank you. I will be contacting the seller after I have a chance to gather myself up and get some more pics together.

Yes, there is rust in other places that have also been filled with bondo.... The outer lower forward sections of both door skins (although the inner structure and bottom of the door box are fine). I'm looking at a lot of metal replacement, I am sure. It appears that even the windshield surround has also been expertly filled with bondo. Rear of the car seems fine. A 132,000 mile car. Mileage means nothing with these cars, I see now.

Amber Gramps

Seems to me if you can work a wire feed and a cold chisel you can do this. Google is your friend.

How far from Rancho Cucamonga are you?

Amber Gramps

http://www.motoringinvestments.com/r...pensionpan.htm

http://www.pelicanparts.com/catalog/...BDYchs_pg4.htm


http://www.ebay.com/itm/Porsche-911-...-/130559348230

http://www.darrylsgarage.com/912/912rust2.htm

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsc...placement.html