[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

[OldTee]

Man, if you want to change your focus I have a 911SC that I am about to do. The fuel tank is out, bumpers off and its ready to go. I wonder if your secret method will work on the queen of pushers. :P

[Bob Kovacs]

What I have in mind is not really applicable for general or chassis rust repair, it just happens to work well for the under-the-battery rust problem in 924/944/968 cars. It's not intended to be perfectly smoothed and painted over, although it can be painted.

I first had this problem in my 924 and attempted to fix it with fiberglass, but it never quite did the trick. When I got my 968, I was in denial that the problem still existed in this much newer car. But when I put in a new battery, there it was and it would have been worse if I let it go another year or two.

So, no, I don't want to try a 911SC project. There are so many articles on 911-related stuff that I want to give my 924/944/968 brethren something to read. But thanks for asking!

--Bob

[OldTee]

AW Shucks!

[markwemple]

What are you having to do to the sc? I am more than talented with a welder.