Old Porsche 911s rust

Old Porsche 911s rust – there’s no getting away from it. Actually, though, there is as some unscrupulous sellers go to great lengths to hide corroded bodywork under filler and paint. Then, six months after buying the car you start to see bubbles appearing in the paint.

The problem can be expensive to rectify, especially if the rot is in the complex sill and door shut structures. Wings, front and rear, also rust and aren’t cheap to replace.

I was in a bodyshop today and spotted an early 911S up on a ramp. Someone had paid £50,000 for it and it was hopelessly rotten. The photo below shows the state of the left-hand sill and floorpan. The sill had been filled and then the whole of the underside had been painted with black underseal. Once they start pulling the car apart I can guarantee that there’ll be a lot more rust to put right.

You can easily spend £50,000 rebuilding and repainting a 911 bodyshell, so it makes far more sense to buy one that someone else has already spent that money on. Like this lovely 1970 911T.