OT: 911 Battery Acid Leakage, How to treat to prevent further damage Options

[orthobiz]

As some may know, my 911 buddy and I almost didn't make the Parade because his voltage regulator overcharged the battery on his 87 Carrera. We switched out the Optima, put a conventional battery from a FLAPS and limped back to a Porsche specialist. After the Parade trip (awesome!), new alternator installed, what's the best way to treat the front trunk battery area to prevent further damage? There's some blistered paint from acid exposure and I dime sized hole in the carpeting (which he'll probably keep).

This is a primo all-original car. Any thoughts on repainting/refinishing this corner of the car?

Also, does anyone know if a new genuine Bosch alternator is likely to cure this overcharging problem? As best I can tell, it's pretty common for this model.

Thanks,

Paul

[GeorgeRud]

You might consider putting in one of the acid neutralizing mats under the new battery. Short of mounting an ammeter and a voltmeter on the dash, I don't think you can be absolutely sure that the alternator is not overcharging a battery, but it's not that common a situation. I did have alternator problems with my 87 Carrera, but that was after 113,000 miles, so I didn't think that was an unreasonable service life.

I read a while back that some people preferred the external voltage regulators because they were a whole lot easier th change out if there was a problem. The internal ones in the alternators are a real pain in the ass to change out. If you got a good alternator, the problem shouldn't reoccur that soon.