924Board.org

[isuras2]

My battery tray is rusted and needs some sheet metal/body work. I looked at the how-to's, but that was for minor work. Is the work I need just remove old tar/sealant, cut out old metal, weld new metal in, prime and paint? Anyone done it before (easy/hard)? Are there any pre-formed trays out there or would it be easier to do myself?

Thanks,
_________________
Rob
'80 931 (sold)
'80 924 NA (sold)
Former Omaha Crew

[m8782538]

I've not heard of it being done. There is no reason not to do it, if you can do the work yourself it would be a lot cheaper than trying to find another one. Mine is just starting to get home surface rust at the mo, i'm just going to spray it with hamerite ( they do a great rust killer/ treatment/ paint all in one.

[Smoothie]

I'm in the process of doing this now (very slowly).
I found the rust started in the enclosed channel right next to the battery and rust crept sideways to the battery area from there. -So check that channel for rust - there are 3 round plugs that can be removed to just barely allow a look inside. <click> (3 pics)
The car, including battery tray is made of 19 gauge steel. I had to replace part of the wheel well and the outer vertical side of that enclosed channel - and used 19 gauge for that. (The fender was(and still is) removed.) For the horizontal surface that the battery sits on, I'm using a single sheet of 16 gauge. I still have the inner vertical piece of the channel to replace and will probably use 16 gauge for that also. All repair pieces were stripped, then cleaned and conditioned with PPG DX579 and DX520 metal treatments. The wheel well piece was coated with weld-thru zinc primer and welded on. 3 pics starting here <click> I added a galvanized bar (end piece from chainlink fence) horizontally from near the battery hold-down bolt over to the outboard side where it was welded - the side where it lays flat over undamaged battery tray area was coated with POR-15 and riveted with stainless steel rivets, so it's in effect glued and riveted in place. Each rivet was dipped in POR-15 before riveting, so they're sealed pretty well. 2 pics <click> The main 16 gauge horizontal piece will sit on top of that and be POR-15'ed and riveted in the inboard area. The outboard edge has a 90 degree bend up and will be plug-welded from the outer side to the previous vertical outboard/wheelwell repair piece - it will have a coat of weld-thru zinc primer only underneath in the area of the weld (the rest of the bottom and the top will get POR-15, then long strand fiberglass reinforced (waterproof) body filler where needed to reinforce, seal and form path/s for drainage, then seam sealer where appropriate, then a topcoat of enamel or whatever to UV protect the POR-15.
The 2 fixed battery hold-down pieces were in good shape, so they got cut and ground off, stripped, metal treated, POR-15'ed and stainless steel riveted to the main 16 gauge repair piece (after much measuring, ponderin', re-measuring and placement). The main piece was also marked and predrilled for rivets so they'll end up where they need to be. <click>
I made cardboard templates and transferred the overall shape and rivet locations from them to the new sheet metal.

(Welding just the outboard areas and riveting inboard because the interior including dash weren't removed.)

http://www.924board.org/viewtopic.php?t=19177&start=60

[pic links updated 2/24/09]
_________________
"..it's made in Germany. You know the Germans always make good stuff."


'82 924T, US version, dark green metallic, 5 speed Audi 016G gearbox