Carpokes Porsche Forum

Now that the car is out of smog jail, I have renewed interest in it again, and am working my way through my list of things to fix. Today I started in on dealing with some rust in the trunk. It's a California-spec car (back in the day of 49-state cars), but I suspect it spent its first two years by the coast, before my dad bought it. It's not super rusty, but more than you typically see in a car that's been in CA all its life.

At any rate, this is what I'm up against. Would be an involved patch to make, but maybe. I've done that before in the 944 battery box. Or maybe I'll just try to spot fill the holes with a MIG welder (with a copper backstop). I could also just treat the rust with a rust neutralizer of some kind, and leave it, but what fun would that be... The undercoating below, and gas tank behind, make it more complicated that it otherwise might be...

The plot thickens....

Tom,
You never seem to run out of projects.

That doesn't seem too bad, but you are clearly catching this just before it was about to get worse. Good stuff.

Thom wrote: Sat Nov 26, 2022 10:22 am That doesn't seem too bad, but you are clearly catching this just before it was about to get worse. Good stuff.

It looks like it started a long time ago and someone just poured a bunch of rust neutralizer on top of it. That no doubt preserved (or seriously slowed the rust) for years, so it's definitely not as bad as it could have been under there. The rust started finding its way out from under the neutralizer crud, so figure it's time to bite the bullet and replace with fresh metal.

I posted some of this in its own thread, but to keep my 450SL blog complete, here's what I've come up with so far to make a patch panel that won't be obvious. These stamps come right off the 3D printer and are just one more reason I think all shade-tree mechanics should have a printer. Now I just need to find time to actually put it in...

Inspired by some of the recent body work pictures here on Carpokes, I finally got around to making a patch for the trunk and tacking it in.

Tom wrote: Sun Jan 22, 2023 5:38 pm Inspired by some of the recent body work pictures here on Carpokes, I finally got around to making a patch for the trunk and tacking it in.

Always impressed by the work done by so many of you here. And the 3D stuff with molds, etc is fascinating - I had no idea until I came to Carpokes. Thanks to those willing to share what they're doing!

blueline wrote: Sun Jan 22, 2023 7:01 pm

Tom wrote: Sun Jan 22, 2023 5:38 pm Inspired by some of the recent body work pictures here on Carpokes, I finally got around to making a patch for the trunk and tacking it in.

Always impressed by the work done by so many of you here. And the 3D stuff with molds, etc is fascinating - I had no idea until I came to Carpokes. Thanks to those willing to share what they're doing!

3D-printed metal stamps and dimple dies started popping up on YouTube and such over the last few years, and people are coming up with all sorts of creative uses. I haven't actually seen anyone else make a custom patch panel like this, but it was a natural extension of what others have been doing. No way I could have come up with the detail in that patch without the printer, unless I got very lucky and found and un-rusted trunk somewhere I could cut up...

Tom wrote: Sun Jan 22, 2023 7:43 pm

blueline wrote: Sun Jan 22, 2023 7:01 pm

Tom wrote: Sun Jan 22, 2023 5:38 pm Inspired by some of the recent body work pictures here on Carpokes, I finally got around to making a patch for the trunk and tacking it in.

Always impressed by the work done by so many of you here. And the 3D stuff with molds, etc is fascinating - I had no idea until I came to Carpokes. Thanks to those willing to share what they're doing!

3D-printed metal stamps and dimple dies started popping up on YouTube and such over the last few years, and people are coming up with all sorts of creative uses. I haven't actually seen anyone else make a custom patch panel like this, but it was a natural extension of what others have been doing. No way I could have come up with the detail in that patch without the printer, unless I got very lucky and found and un-rusted trunk somewhere I could cut up...

I knew 3D printing was growing by leaps and bounds in manufacturing with extraordinarily high-end (and expensive) equipment, but I had no idea that it had passed beyond the simple play-around uses touted a couple of years ago for home 3D printer aficionados. I was looking at the patch for your 450SL and all of the other things you're making, trying to figure out how you are achieving such accuracy in a non-commercial setting. It's amazing what you are turning out Tom.