AND IT'S FINISHED...
The trauma is over. Bennett’s 996 is free of rust and bodgery. Newmetal replaces corrosion and fresh paint has been applied to both rear quarters. It’s been a journey, but not a very pleasant one!
With all the excitement of putting together the 300th issue of 911&PW and then Christmas, the full bodywork expose on my 996 has skipped an issue. But even so, I think we've done well to get the whole thing done and dusted in three months flat. Well, when I say 'we,' what I really mean is Paul and Barry at my local bodyshop: Cowhams Car & Commercial. Really, they were doing me a massive favour and could have worked on the car when time permitted, but they got stuck right in there and did the job in real time.
To recap, that involved making good a previously bodged repair on the nearside rear quarter, which had hidden itself well, until the tell-tale signs of corrosion started to appear around the rear arch. What was uncovered wasn't pretty. The car had clearly been in a shunt and the quarter had been replaced. On the outside all looked fine, but the inner wing hadn't been repaired or sealed properly. Cue a build up of grime and road salt and the eventual rot from the inside out.
With no repair panels available for the 996, it was either a new entire quarter (again) or a secondhand quarter, from which a repair panel could be made. We
chose the latter, from 9Apart, complete with all the inner arch and wing intact, so we would have everything we could possibly need. It proved a good move and good value at £350, including delivery.
What was uncovered was quite shocking, but fortunately was isolated to the wing from where it joins the sill, right round to where it joins the rear apron. It was the inner arch that was in the worst state, with a good few inches cut back, so new metal could be welded on. Likewise the outer skin was cut back all the way round and the repair panel welded in. Granted, at this stage it didn't look pretty, but at least the corrosion had been removed, as the surface was prepared for painting.
We had concluded that the replacement quarter had been repaired before, maybe even twice, judging by the amount of paint on the wing, which created a sort of swirly, grey rainbow effect, when sanded back. Paul used a special 'blocking' primer, to stop it from showing through, but even so, there was a faint line visible when the wing had been painted. To Paul and Barry's credit they weren't happy with the result and insisted on taking the paint back again and having another go, which is where I left the story a couple of issues ago with a smallish picture of the finished wing as it stood and signing off by saying: 'Its not done yet!'
Well it wasn't, but it is now. Thing is I was holding back on some more bad news concerning the offside rear quarter. I know, can it get any worse? First up, though, and Paul cracked the main repair and banished the show through. It's a top job, involving skill and proper old school fabrication and I'm delighted with the result.
And so to the other side. I had noticed the tiniest 'spider' of corrosion on the lip of the wheel arch, where it meets the rear apron. A stone chip perhaps? Wishful thinking as it was clearly emerging from the inside out. I bit the bullet and asked Paul and Barry to investigate and spent Christmas forgetting about the whole thing. Needless to say, that tiny 'spider of corrosion' hid a much bigger story, although this time it wasn't some bodged repair, it was simply age and circumstance.
Perhaps the galvanising at the top corner of the wing had been compromised and years and build up of good old UK road filth had accumulated there, but whatever, there was a sizeable hole behind the outer skin of the rear arch, which was only going to get worse and would eventually have rusted right through. Once again, Paul cut out the rot and welded in a new section and then repainted the entire offside rear quarter. And, as ever, it all sounds very quick and easy in a single sentence, but it’s hours of work and preparation.
So, it really is done, and we're confident that my 996 isn't hiding any other horrors. The good folk at Cowhams stored it for me until such a time as there was no salt on the roads and it was bone dry, which took the best part of a month. Still, it was good to get it back and I took it for a proper run before tucking it away.
It won't be coming back out until the spring. And, yes, I know we talk about using our cars and how we shouldn't be too precious about using them in the winter, but we live in a climate that is constantly damp in the winter and our roads are white with salt. The combination of the two wreaks havoc on the underneath of our cars. It's no coincidence that in mainland Europe, where salt isn't liberally spread, corrosion isn't anything like the problem it is in the UK.
Oh, and I might be getting really paranoid here, but I've ordered a dehumidifier for my brick and concrete garage. More on the installation of that next month... PW