Destination Restoration: Scrapping Mel By Ash Seidl-Staley It pains me to write this, but I will be throwing in the towel on the current 911 chassis I have. As mentioned in a previous Destination Restoration article, having rust on or near the longitudinal wheelhouse area can be a car killer, and man, is it ever! Before my final decision was made, I gave one last attempt to inspect whether or not the car was salvageable and if the price associated with fixing it was worth it. I learned from my walkthrough that the floor pans were basically Swiss cheese, and the driver’s side rocker panels consisted more of rusty holes than sheet metal. Using a website called Restoration- Design.com, I priced out all the parts I needed, which came to a total of $1200. Rather than buy all the pieces at once and having unused sheet metal lying around, I opted to buy the longitudinal wheel house panel first, as that area is the most critical to repair. I received the sheet metal a couple of weeks later and laid out a plan to begin working on the area. I sanded down everything to the bare metal all around the panel, while keeping an eye out for the original seams to the welds. After it was all clear, I enlisted the help of a friend, who is an Replacement sheet metal experienced welder, and we began cutting down near the spring plate and torsion bar area. The first step was to take the outer part of the panel off to inspect inside, as the back part which connects into the rear seats and floor pans is not visible from the outside. When the sparks cleared and we pried off the metal, my heart sank to a new low. Rust had spread to the entire inside area. My heat exchanger pipe, which runs up to the dash through the rocker panels, was nonexistent. All that remained of this sturdy pipe was a few reddish flakes of rusty dust. What was left of the Targa bar Photos by the Author The final blow Looking deeper into the carnage, I saw that the area where the floor pan meets the bottom of the seats (almost in a crevasse) was also gone. Unfortunately, as far as I can tell, they don’t make this piece at Restoration-Design.com, or even at the Stoddard sheet metal facility. Other than spending thousands on a structural frame restoration at a shop, or fabricating the pieces myself, I have determined that the best choice is to get another roller. I have accepted that rust has and will always be an issue with this particular 911, and it is time to wash my hands of it. I made this decision in early March, and I have become more complacent with my decision with each passing day; even more so after I read one of the articles in the May issue of Porsche Panorama. The article shed light on the difficulties that were associated with the creation of the early 1980s 911 Speedsters. Specifically, it focused on the issues and problems that Porsche had in regards to the structural integrity of early 911s, and how important each piece of metal really is to the entire chassis as a whole. From it I learned that my rust issues on the longitudinal wheel house panel and near the targa bar can’t just be welded back together. The basic geometry of the car has been altered, and in order for the car to not crunch like a pop can on a hard turn, everything needs to be lined up with near perfect precision -- a skill this home mechanic does not have in his arsenal. Though my decision to scrap seemed inevitable to most, I would like to thank the people who actually came to see it: Mark Hanna, Mr. Burges, Uncle Peter, and Du. And though it was difficult, it gave me hope that something could be done. In closing, all I have to say is this: guess who is in the market for a post-76 911 tub/roller? This guy! Would you like to have your restoration project featured in an upcoming issue of <strong>Slipstream</strong>? If so, contact me at ashseidlstaley@gmail.com so that we can put together an article about it. 10 <strong>July</strong>
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