is rust a problem on post '89 944's?

[jamescharnley]

Is rust a problem on late 944's?

Quote :

small bit of surface rust at the bottom edge of the front drivers wing which was found when the plastic wheelarch liner came out. There is also minimal bubbles on both sides rear quarter in front of the wheelarch where the orangepeel undercoat meets the plastic bit.

Is this common / a problem?

 

[Fen]

Getting ever more so. It happens from the inside out and by the time you see it on the outside it can be quite well advanced. Age makes little difference as all ages of 944 received the same galvanising process and I have not heard of any particular year using better or worse steel than any other years.

 

[Guest]

Dont see it too much on Irish cars as we dont salt our roads like you do in the UK.

 

[Alpine]

ORIGINAL: jamescharnley

There is also minimal bubbles on both sides rear quarter in front of the wheelarch where the orangepeel undercoat meets the plastic bit.

Best way to check this bit out is to open the door and on the pillar is a black plastic air vent - remove this and with a torch you can see the back of the lower part of the rear wing and the back end of the lower cill.

I agree with Fen that any bubling is likely to be coming from inside out so there is likely to be a horror story underneath.

Are you looking for a 944? Mine may be up for sale - I am only in Leeds.

 

[sawood12]

The bottom of the front wings seems particularly susceptable, although i'm not sure if 944's are any more susceptable to general corrosion than any other car of a similar age. If you are looking at an S2 or Turbo then a test is to give the short plastic underwing trim a firm waggle. This piece of trim is attached by two bolts to lugs welded to the bottom of the wing which are often the first parts of the wing to corrode and fall off. If the trim is firmly attached the chances are the wing is OK or has been repiared - if it is loose then the chances are there is some corrosion effecting the very bottom edge of the wing. Having said that you cannot beat getting your head under the car and having a good look to confirm the condition. Handily the bottom of the wing is open on the 944 so you can use a Maglight and see right up inside the wing so you can have a good look at the inside of the wing to inspect its condition. Either way the bottom of the wing is not that expensive to have repiared at a decent bodyshop but the sills are pretty expensive so you should give the sills a good check out to make sure there is no extensive corrosion there and Phils suggestion is a good indication although you will only be able to see the very rear of the inside of the sill. Again i'm not sure how susceptable the sills are to corrosion and i would be very surpirsed if they were any worse than any other car of a similar age.

 

[jamescharnley]

ORIGINAL: Alpine

ORIGINAL: jamescharnley

There is also minimal bubbles on both sides rear quarter in front of the wheelarch where the orangepeel undercoat meets the plastic bit.

Best way to check this bit out is to open the door and on the pillar is a black plastic air vent - remove this and with a torch you can see the back of the lower part of the rear wing and the back end of the lower cill.

I agree with Fen that any bubling is likely to be coming from inside out so there is likely to be a horror story underneath.

Are you looking for a 944? Mine may be up for sale - I am only in Leeds.

I am still keeping my options open, but I'm looking at 968Clubsports & 944 turbos (250bhp) amongst others . Have not really considered an S2 yet, mainly because I believe it will feel slower than the 968CS's ?

 

[jamescharnley]

ORIGINAL: sawood12

The bottom of the front wings seems particularly susceptable, although i'm not sure if 944's are any more susceptable to general corrosion than any other car of a similar age. If you are looking at an S2 or Turbo then a test is to give the short plastic underwing trim a firm waggle. This piece of trim is attached by two bolts to lugs welded to the bottom of the wing which are often the first parts of the wing to corrode and fall off. If the trim is firmly attached the chances are the wing is OK or has been repiared - if it is loose then the chances are there is some corrosion effecting the very bottom edge of the wing. Having said that you cannot beat getting your head under the car and having a good look to confirm the condition. Handily the bottom of the wing is open on the 944 so you can use a Maglight and see right up inside the wing so you can have a good look at the inside of the wing to inspect its condition. Either way the bottom of the wing is not that expensive to have repiared at a decent bodyshop but the sills are pretty expensive so you should give the sills a good check out to make sure there is no extensive corrosion there and Phils suggestion is a good indication although you will only be able to see the very rear of the inside of the sill. Again i'm not sure how susceptable the sills are to corrosion and i would be very surpirsed if they were any worse than any other car of a similar age.

And I thought us pre '73 Porsche owners were the only ones who suffered the stress of rust [] . I am assuming from this 968's can be as bad as 944's?

 

[Fen]

I don't think there is enough performance difference to really notice, though the power delivery is supposed to be different between the two. Bear in mind for the cost of a 968CS, which usually come with effectively S2 running gear including brakes and open diff you could buy an S2 and fit some lovely bucket seats (that are actually light, unlike the ones Porsche fitted), suspension and brakes and keep some money back. In fact you could buy an S2 and supercharge it for the cost of a 968CS... It depends what you want to do with the car which is right, but Turbo or S2 should be an easy decision. The 968CS is basically just a more expensive S2 with some toys removed and wearing a different frock.

 

[sawood12]

ORIGINAL: jamescharnley

And I thought us pre '73 Porsche owners were the only ones who suffered the stress of rust [] . I am assuming from this 968's can be as bad as 944's?

Seeing though that 968's share 99.9% of DNA with 944's then I would expect that you would need to look for all the things you would on a 944, however 968's are generally younger so you might have a few years before the corrosion is noticeable. The 968's did have a sill trim and underwing trim that extended up the sides of the car but i'm not sure if that will protect you any better from sill corrosion. I would still make sure you give the car a good checking out as i'm sure you would do anyway.