WOW, my "solid" car aint so solid, but now it is solid!, It is off jack stands!!! Options

[wayne1234]

Well, I decided to look into the new car more that I got from a member on here. there was a trunk floor repair that left a little to be desired. I tried using flux cored mig welding and didnt have much luck, so yesterday I got a tank and some gas @ $200 (ouch) and I was doing some survey work on the front trunk. Let me say I was way too excited to get my car and I looked underneath and saw a couple of rust throughts on the passenger side near the rear but the "longs" where I spent most of my 5 minutes looking was solid. and I though no big deal just a couple of pan spots. and under the new battery tray looked solid from the engine compartment. well under the battery tray "hell hole" was described as" not perfect". there is a piece of metal screwed over the bad stuff. making it appear solid. Then the big suprise, there has been por15 used on the motor mount I thought it looked real rough and when i pushed on it with my finger oops a hole. some poking with a screw driver resulted in the hole you see. the I looked further back at the arm that goes to the rear suspension and it is also por15 with a odd look . more poking and you guessed it a hole. I guess some one thinks por15 is structural. NOT,,, Well I dont mind documenting this because I will fix it right. but hopefully my eagerness to finally get my 914 will make someone else take a second look at the car they are looking at. Mine look great in photo's and even pretty good in person. but it had a dark secret. Now the Real question on the motor mount and (trailing arm mount?) guess that's what its called. what should I paint the back of the metal with and what gauge should I use, should I make drain holes so It wont hold water in the future? Im gonna try to do all this welding with the motor in the car. I fear I will never get the car back together if I take out the motor. Thanks for all your input. Wayne

[charliew]

The guy that sold you that car should have his name and location posted so no one else will ever do any transactions with him ever again. Forever, forever and ever. He knew the only way was to sell it before the repairs started to shrink and rerust. I don't care if it was only 2500.00 or 500.00, the deal is he wasn't truthful about the cars original shape before the repairs were attempted. The fact that there were no decent repairs is a subjective thing as to the knowledge of the seller and buyer and their knowledge of real unitized body repair. A unknowing owner can even pay for a "bodyshop" repair and still get marginal work done if the shop is not educated on real quality repairs in unibody construction and metal prep for a long lasting repair with good metal prep. and sealing processes. Once rust is boxed in it's there till it comes back for the next repair. When metal is welded the weld is always going to rust on the inside unless there is a way to clean the weld and coat it with a galvanizing or at least a good epoxy primer. At the very least the cavity should be sprayed with a wax. Thats mainly why the panels are spotwelded so as to not burn the metal so bad and make it so brittle and rust prone on the inside where it is hard to prep. If a panel thats welded to wasn't rusty it will be after it's welded over or too. Condensation happens under any condition in a unibody car unless it's never taken outside of a controlled very dry enviorment.

None the less you are saving your car for awhile to enjoy and be proud of your accomplishment.

Oh yeah, plastic fuel lines never oxidize and are the lightest thing to use and don't rattle.