[Lord_Galva]

Apparently it's a KLA.

I'm going to try reinforcing it by adding an extra brace.

Will post pics if it works.....

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[tamathumper]

Would you mind taking a picture, if possible, of the failure? I've seen a picture or two of the repair, but I've never seen what the actual damage looks like.

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[Lord_Galva]

Just don't step on it or motherly pain could be inflicted!

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[tamathumper]

I can't quite tell what I'm looking at there. Is it a horizontal tear going right through the hole where the clutch master cylinder would be?



P.S. I tried very hard not to ask you to post a picture of "the crack".

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[Lord_Galva]

Sorry, yea the lighting is very difficult so this was the best shot of the crack. It is located above and to the right of the clutch master.

The thick wiring harnesses are covering up the clutch master.

I also noticed a secondary crack that is smaller on the opposite side closer to the brake booster.

I am now tossing the idea around of just removing the hydrolic system and the intake manifold to reinforce that area with sheet metal.

I believe the bracing will help but just delay a total destruction of the wall. The best way is to reinforce and brace.

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[Lord_Galva]

I was right.Dam my foresight!!!!

The brace allowed me to drive to the body shop and see how the car "should feel."

I never realized how bad my firewall problem was until I installed this brace. The firewall was flexing so much that the clutch engaged very close to the floor until it couldn't flex anymore. The brace provided so much strength to supplement the wall it felt like a totally different car. The clutch suddenly began engaging high at the top of the pedal. I loved it.

Body shop said the brace is good but the wall will totally fail soon if I don't do anything.

They recommended pulling the dashboard, steering wheel, and pedals so they could weld new panels to the engine side and interior side.

This is a mountain of work I don't know if I can do. They said I could just do the engine side but it could fail again with only one plate.

I'm leaning towards just doing the engine weld mostly because other 968 owners have and had no problems doing this.

Anyone have insight to this?

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[Lord_Galva]

Three hours of labor gave me a better picture of the damage.

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[Cloud9...68]

Wow, that's nasty. Do you know much about the history of the car? I'm wondering if it spent much time in an area near the ocean, where there's a lot of salt in the air which can lead to corrosion.

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[Lord_Galva]

The car has been all over. Texas, LA, Las Vegas, New Jersey, New York, Arizona, Colorado, then back to California.

Her first owners moved 3 times. Then traded hands twice on the east coast.

Someone probably drove it in that awful salt on the east coast.

Records show that a lot of the bottom of the car has been replaced. But the driver door had corrosion and this is not the first time the firewall was fixed. There is evidence of an earlier weld.

I've been all over this car over the last year and a half and this seems to be the only area left that needs attention.

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[Cloud9...68]

[quote name='Lord_Galva' timestamp='1346001622' post='131641']

I've been all over this car over the last year and a half and this seems to be the only area left that needs attention.

[/quote]

Well, that's good. At least you'll have the satisfaction of knowing the car will be structurally sound stem to stern.

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[Lord_Galva]

Yea, doing a engine/transmission rebuild plus doing all the body work for my re-paint allowed me to get very acquainted with my car.

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[flash]

your application of the D1R Firewall Brace will be very limited, as it is bolted to a KLA Strut Tower Brace bracket, which lacks the gusset of the D1R Strut Tower Brace bracket, and is also at a different angle, which increases the force load on the brace.



the D1R Firewall Brace will likely work as a preventative measure on the KLA, but it will not cure the problem. it isn't really even a curative measure on the D1R Strut Tower Brace bracket, though it gains about 30% more effective strength.

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[Lord_Galva]

I have had a few friends talk me out of welding it and we are going to try something different.

If it works I'll share some new pics.

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[flash]

that is a mistake. we really don't want to promote rubber band and bubble gum repairs. there is enough of that going around on another site. in this particular case, if not done correctly, it presents a major safety issue, as the brake master is on the same firewall. a proper repair is indicated.



you're going to have to spend money to fix this. "quick fixes" will not work. you had a decent chance if you had installed the firewall brace as indicated. installing it with the KLA does not work. yes, you can bolt things together, but it will not function correctly.



other straps and such will have the same results.



you need to repair the wall, and then properly install a brace to prevent failure of the repair.



but i'm only listening to the 3 headed dog

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[94SilverCab]

Cool, battle patches for the jackets!!! I'm so IN...



Jay

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[94SilverCab]

For those with TB/BS belt failure...

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[Lord_Galva]

I defiantly don't want people to follow my peanut butter and Top Ramen approach to fixing this thing.

If you have the $3000 sitting around doing nothing then by all means take it to the nearest dealership and have them fix the wall right.

It's a +23hour job that involves removing the dash and all the electronics in the area.

They weld plates in on both sides and repaint the area. They obviously do the best possible repair with no risk to damaging your current electronics.

That last part is what is scaring me the most about letting a shop do a weld. I don't want to hunt down gremlins in my electrical system.

The help I need for this project is not on these forums, it's a second pair of hands and some wrenches.

Anyone what to come on up to Nor-Cal?

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[tamathumper]

No need to be defiant, it's your car and you can fix it as you see fit.

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[bombfactory]

Rich - good luck with the repair - it sounds like it's the last thing you need to do to get your car in perfect order.



Oh and I think that should have read 'definitely', not 'defiantly. :-)

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[flash]

lol - yeah - it's funny how it takes very little for what is written to be read or taken differently than what the writer intended. it is a reminder that we all need to stop and consider what we are writing before hitting that "post" button.

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