Where to look for rust on a 3.2

RichD1 · 7 Sep 2014

Hi Guys,

My first post on this forum.

Looking to buy my first Porsche. I quite fancy a 3.2 Targa, but as the body is not galvanised before the 964, can you guys give me an idea of where to look for rust problems.

If a car does have signs of the dreaded worm, is this a 'walk away' job or are repairs possible if not too corroded and at what cost. Sorry it's a bit of 'how long is a piece of string' but if the mechanics/interior are good and it has good history, but it has some rot, providing the price is right is this not a good investment?

SEE YA · 7 Sep 2014

Start kidney bowls, front wings, rear wheel area, headlight area to name a few.
I am sure someone will be along, soon to add some more input for you.

If you still want one, buy the best example you can for the money you have.

Any car can be improved with time and money.

clarkycat · 7 Sep 2014

A lot of it of it you can't see without a ramp or without taking panels off:

kidney bowls, A pillars, B pillars, inner sill, behind front wings, behind rear wings, the front wings by the headlights, front wings behind the headlights, behind the rear lights, the windscreen scuttle, the rear hatch where the sunroof drains have rotted, under the battery, the impact bumper strut mounting points, the aluminium laminated bumpers and wing end sections, rear arch above the rear light clusters.

That's about £20k of bodywork, assuming the running gear and interior are spot on.

Forget a 'really good' bodyshop or someone that 'knows loads' about them, or a place that 'works on loads of Porsches'. Get an expert inspection by someone that knows classic Porsche bodywork inside out.

For me the latter found and showed me a good £8k worth of rot the former failed to find on their paid inspection.
:sad:

One that has had it all done, by the right place, with photos to prove is worth £10,000-£15,000 more than one that has not. That's why their prices are that far apart mate.

My 993 cost less to buy than my 3.2 needed spending on it's bodywork, true story, I did not get the right people to inspect it, don't buy with your heart.

The plus is the impact bumper cars are the last real 911's, your can't park anywhere without people stopping to look and chat, nobody gives a stuff about the ten a penny mass produced everyday modern ones.

And they take decades to rot, four years on my bubbly old 3.2 is still being driven and enjoyed with none of the above 'needed' work done.
8)

RichD1 · 7 Sep 2014

Blimey, that's a lot of places for potential rot!! So would you recommend sticking to a 964 rather than the non-galv. 3.2?

But would cars now being sold which are over 25 years old not have had the rot taken out or does it take a long time to appear?

So are you saying that your 3.2 had potential £8K of rust resto work required but you didn't have it done and it's still going strong today without the work?

So need a good bodywork expert to do any inspection. I'm down in Weymouth Dorset, any recommendations on one?

kas750 · 7 Sep 2014

You can cobble an old sc or 3.2 through an mot for years to come with mot spec welding but that's not the point.It will still be a rot box!!

A proper job will costs lots of money.That said 70% of a restoration costs will be labour,so if you can do a bit yourself you've cracked it!

clarkycat · 7 Sep 2014

RichD1 said:
So are you saying that your 3.2 had potential £8K of rust resto work required but you didn't have it done and it's still going strong today without the work?

No.

The first place that inspected it were not classic Porsche experts, they said £8k. When I took it to a proper Porsche bodyshop they showed me so much more rot the first place had not found or priced for, they knew where to look, it was the closest I have been to crying over a car, if I'd been given the car for free it was hardly worth doing.

It needed £16k of bodywork and panels to make it right, not concourse, but to get the rot out so it was worth painting.

Parts and panels alone were about £8k, then labour, paint etc, TBH that £16k was a good price. It needed no mechanical work either!

Yes it's running strong as far as I know, but with holes and rot in it's guts, I guess it will stay together for years, who knows?

I've made it my mission in life to get at least one other person to get the proper inspection done BEFORE buying, that I got done AFTER buying!!!
:grin:

silver718 · 8 Sep 2014

[quote="RichD1So would you recommend sticking to a 964 rather than the non-galv. 3.2?
[/quote]

All 911 from 1976 had fully galvanised bodies, but they still rust from the inside out.

964s also rust.

You need to get some help from a knowledgeable owner to track down a car and then get it checked by an expert classic 911 body shop.

Go to impactbumpers.com for some expert help.

cheshire911 · 8 Sep 2014

Crikey! Clarkycat's experience has made me go off the idea of saving up for another Porsche - something air cooled.

Hmmm........

Back to the drawing board - that Ferrari itch (abeit more expensive) is coming back again. There must be some tablets I can take to make it go away?

SEE YA · 8 Sep 2014

I think there will always be good cars and bad ones of any make?
Some in better condition than other, it depends on how they have been looked after in there life.

I looked at some very low mile cars, they all had problems.

I bought mine on condition, not miles after seven years it was still the right choice.

Go have look at a few example, you have had some good advice on here.
Find the best example, you can for the money you have then enjoy it.

That is what I did, and then spend money on the upkeep of the car at the same time.

cheshire911 · 8 Sep 2014

Absolutely spot-on when you say there are good ones and bad ones out there. Also the point about spending on upkeep - that is key to buying a gem.

With the experience of forum members, we can all get an idea of the weak spots on a chosen car, the benefits and risks with different approaches. For example, Kas750 mentions much of the cost is in labour. If you can DIY some or much of it, that could be a good car. But for an old git like me, I'd even have to send it to the dealer to change the wiper blades or the tyre valve dust caps! So the upkeep becomes expensive!

Choices, choices. A horse a horse! My kingdom for a horse! (No horse here mate, but you can have a car with a prancing horse as its symbol!)

RichD1 · 8 Sep 2014

Thanks for all the advice.

Any recommendations of good Porsche inspectors in the Dorset area?

I'm sure I had read somewhere that galvanised chassis only came in with the 964. Is silver718 correct is saying from 1976 onwards?

Richard

SEE YA · 8 Sep 2014

I know of a Indy dealer in that area ? PM should you wish, to they may do one for you?

ShadesOfRed · 9 Sep 2014

cheshire911 said:
Crikey! Clarkycat's experience has made me go off the idea of saving up for another Porsche - something air cooled.

I wouldn't let CC's experience put you off - just use it as motivation to find the right car! They are out there and not necessarily at silly money but you have to persevere. I bought a clean original rust free 88 car with 68K miles last summer for mid-upper teens money. OK, it is a targa as that's what I wanted in the first place all's good.

I did look at some real dogs that were described as "immaculate" or "fully restored".

ShadesOfRed · 9 Sep 2014

RichD1 said:
I'm sure I had read somewhere that galvanised chassis only came in with the 964. Is silver718 correct is saying from 1976 onwards?

Richard

Have a read of http://forums.pelicanparts.com/pors.../343381-galvanizing-porsche-911s-history.html

That said galvanised cars will happily rust through, perhaps a tad slower than non galvanised. Lots of nooks and crannies for dirt (and therefore moisture) to collect combined with a lack of wheel arch liners have created the perfect recipe for a bodyman's dream.

Chester J Lampwick · 10 Sep 2014

They all rust, including 964's

I bought the best I could find, bodywise, and it still cost me another £5k to get right. A couple of bubbles turned into new wings, resto to the inner wings and sill ends, as I didnt want to be playing 'whack a mole' for evermore and getting the car painted yet again. The shop that did it were Porsche specialists and showed me rot where I'd never suspected, as they said, 'it never turns out to be better than it looks'. Any bubble is the tip of an expensive orange iceberg.

Some rust is worse than others, I nearly bought one with bubbles around the back window caused by blocked drain tubes, this is the body shell rotting from the inside out. Kidney bowls and sills are a lot of £'s, mainly in man hours, but a specialist will have been there, done that. There is a lot of difference between the price of hiding the rust so the car can be sold on, and fixing it.

Even a 'rust free' car isn't, it just hasn't shown you yet where the next episode is going to be yet. A low mileage car is just as old as any other, and could have been sat somewhere damp for years, quietly festering, despite the extra that you had to pay for it.

Take someone who knows these cars well with you at the very least, Zingari helped save me from a bubbled shed of a 3.2, that wasn't really worth the resto cost and effort as it was a Cat D write off as well.

Where to look for rust on a 3.2

RichD1

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