Long update....
Began welding the rear NS rust damage. When I cleaned everything up - the rust damage is as near as you can probably get to being 'just saveable'. There is sufficient strength in the rear suspension mounts to give me confidence a repair will be worth doing and strong enough. But given the damage, its a slow rebuild process, patching and fabricating - then rebuilding the floor before welding in new inner sill and then outer sill. At least being a turbo, I can afford to not be too concerned with the prettiness of the external welds!
It may not look pretty but it is strong.
Sunday 24th update - rebuilding inner sill:
2/3/12 Update - continued work on the sill and finished the inner sill repair- ready for the outer sill repair .
Small update this weekend (9th March): Finished off the outer sill and seam welding to inner sill rebuild. There is a small patch still to weld on the underside but in short, the bulk of that sill is complete. Its not a pro job but its strong and once tidied up will be OK. Need to continue to grind smooth the welds, attach the turbo cover clips and joint before rustproofing and paint.
Then onto the rusty trailing edge of the arch. The other side is pretty good by comparison!
Update 16th march
Finished little welding left on NS sill and etch primed. Attached the sill cover grip.
Realised the new studs on the manifold to wastegate pipe are larger than the old and i needed to drill out the gasket holes- but managed to curse word that up so need another(!) gasket now.
Reattached the oil cooler and began removing the rear shocks (awful condition).
23rd/24th March update:
For a change (less rust) - began reassembly of front suspension. Remembered to tightened the oil feed to the turbo (which had been the cause of the leaking oil) and checked all nuts were tight around the turbo/oil cooler as access is poor once the front beam is replaced.
Balljoints on wishbones were OK - so just replaced boots on them:
Stripped old struts to reuse the axle hubs( the struts were in very poor shape so swapped in some 944 spare ones). Derusted the hubs and painted them.
Front beam replaced
Then wishbones
Then reassembled front suspension
Tidied up the NS rear suspension - fuel and brake lines removed - all rotten. Replaced rear shock with used spare and fitted refurbed rear brake caliper.
Moved to OS and began derusting - it is rusty but sound and no where near as bad as the NS was - no welding required!!!
Update 30th March:
A bit of reassembly and rebuilding today.
14th April update.
Fitted rear brake hoses and finished up the brake lines. Just a few of those brakehose clips to fit.
Fitted replacement front NS brake caliper (original one seized solid on the car).
Refitted front bumper and reconnected washer jets (which always seem broken on 924s..?)
Next time is to sort out the fuel system - I have the fuel hoses to fit.
OS front:
NS front:
View from under valence
Nose on:
Rear view with used replacement shockers and derusted and painted.
She ain't going to be pretty - but she'll be sound. :razz:
update 20-21st April
Finished brake line/hoses work - with fitment of new brake clips
Fitted new brake bleed nipples all round
Fitted fuel hoses and lines - I already had in my spares a new fuel feed hose but it was too long and i had to cut it down and reflare the end. The return line was a fraction too big and wouldn't allow the re-use of the fuel nuts - so I used the bench drill to very slightly enlarge the fuel nut and it fitted fine.
Accumulator fitted after a derust
I was fortunate to have an original turbo fuel pump to accumulator hose (NOS) and fitted this. But lacking any rubber 'cotton reel' mounts, fitted the fuel pump back with tie clips and some silicone tubing as vibration insulation. I'll change this when I get the correct mounts.
28th/29th April update:
Refitted clutch master cylinder and used spare slave (original damaged and leaking when removed). New bleed nipple fitted. Pushrod reattached to clutch pedal.
Starter motor put in situ - need to access clutch slave cylinder to bleed it, before tightening the starter motor bolts.
Fuel lines tidied up and some p clips added to hold them tight against the floor pan
Wastegate J tube refitted with new nuts and gasket - bit of a fiddle but Ok in the end.
Remaining known jobs:
Need a spare accelerator pedal - the plastic base on mine fractured when accessing the sill for repair. The nuts holding the plastic base to the floor are of course very rusty and I'll have to grind them off and replace with two new bolts/nuts through the floorpan.
Welding still to do on NS rear arch - where the spat sits
Found a small hole at bottom of OS rear arch
Little bit of welding repair needed around OS rear hatch hole
Front camber needs 'guessing' prior to wheel refitmet
Bleed brake system
Bleed clutch system
Coolant fuel leak checks
Update 4th May
Repaired accelerator pedal.
Repaired NS rear arch
Update 5th/6th May
Painted repaired sill and NS rear arch. They'll never look great (bodywork is not my thing) - but the repair to the NS arch will be hidden behind the spat and I'm going to fit a 'porsche' side decal to also cover my less than great repair work to the rear of the sill too. So the new paint will not really be visible. But it is all good metal now.
Refitted OS and NS sill cover - they are a tight fit!
Have 2 little areas of welding to sort out still - the NS rear hatch hole and the OS rear arch bottom which has a small hole needing a patch. Also going to swap the rear hatch for a 944 one I have - the rubber on the 924 one is rotten.
Bled the clutch.
Respray of front wing is bad and i need to do it again - when the weather is warmer (too cold last time)
Side decals and rear badge ordered along with some service items.
At least I feel as though the 'repairing' work is coming to an end - next is the time required to get the car running again and sort out the remaining MOT issues that are outstanding.
Looking like a car again...
update: 11th and 12th May
Resprayed front wing again much better this time in warmer weather and under spotlights.
Fitted start motor back and its connections , changed fuel filter and fitted one of the side decals (couldn't resist seeing what it looked like).
Prepped the OS arch rust hole for welding tomorrow and the rear hatch surrounds too.
Unhappily I will need another aerosol can of paint now that I had to respray the wing, to respray the rear hatch area too.
Repaired hole at bottom of OS rear wheel arch:
Repaired hatch hole and rust - welded and filled ready for rub down next time
18-th 19th May update.
Had a non bleeder(!) on the front OS brake caliper that turned out to be a crushed pipe. Made up a new one and swapped in. Bled brakes and have a firm pedal now. Also had to swap in a new clutch reservoir and pipe due to the old one having a slow leak. Sprayed the rear hatch area and swapped the hatch (from a 944 I used to have). I prefer the 924 rear glass hatches but the rubber spoiler on the car was so far degraded it looked bad. Reattached the rear exhaust section.
That *i think* is all the obvious repair work completed now. :razz:
Need some alloys/tyres now, a spare (one that came with car was dead) and a damn good clean and Tcut.
The turn her over.... :shock:
