[Bob Kovacs]

8) I'm a PCA (Potomac Region) member and I will be writing an article for Excellence magazine on fixing the dirty little secret of the 924/944/968 series: rust under the battery. I have written for Excellence before (page 133, April 2004) and have another article in the hopper. This rust-repair article will be my third and it is tentatively scheduled for the Sept/Oct 2004 issue. (My experience with Excellence is that articles can be delayed for several months, so don't hold me to the Sept/Oct 2004 issue!)

I came up with a good technique to fix under-the-battery rust in my 1993 968 and I'm now looking for someone to loan me a late-model 944 or 968 so that I can perform the repair and take pictures for the article. I will need the car for an entire weekend and the battery will come out of the car for the duration of the work. This may affect electronic items you have in your car, although I simply reset my clock and radio. I will do the work at no cost to the car's owner -- the repair still looks fine after nearly four years in my 968, so I know that it is an effective way to fix the rust and water leaks in this area.

I will want the car at my house up on the Blue Ridge, not too far from Berryville and Summit Point. (I have a garage there and it is the best place for me to do the work.) It is about 75 minutes from inside the beltway; shorter if you are from Fairfax or Loudoun counties. (It's about 35 minutes from Leesburg.) I have some ideas about how to handle getting your car there, so don't let your location put you off without checking with me first.

Let me know if you are willing to have this work done to your car. My preference is for a 1990-95 944/968, as these are probably not too far gone and still capable of being repaired with minimal problems. Reply to this message and we'll figure out a way to contact each other.

--Bob