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914World.com _ 914World Garage _ What do look for?

Posted by: blonde914 May 21 2004, 10:27 PM

Scott and I agreed to help a newbie check out a car in this area (he is from NY)I hope the guy who is selling the car returns my phone call over the weekend because Scott just told me he is going out of town on Monday so I may have to go at it alone. Give me a list of important things to look for and take pictures of. I will try to test drive it, I can tell how much pickup it has and how it sounds to my untrained and blond eye. Where specifically to look for rust or repair. I am fairly OK with the interior stuff, but I rely on Scott for the rest and he might not be there.

So what would you want me to look for and take pictures of if it was for you?

Sherry

Posted by: SirAndy May 21 2004, 11:05 PM

the biggest rust problem is the "hell hole" ...

1st, that's the area under the battery tray (if it's still there!).
engine compartment, pass. side.

here's a pic of mine before repair. notice the missing battery tray (was rusted away):
IPB Image

2nd area is the longs, around the jack-posts.
to really check this, you need to take the rocker panel off.
you could ask the guy to jack up the car and see if the jack-post is moving/flexing/crunching.

3rd is the floorboard behind and right in front of the seats:

as you can see in the pic, rust can be everywhere!
do the crunch test. remove the carpet and use your hand to press down on the sound-deadening tar. if it crunches, you got rust!

4th would be the rear trunk. remove the carpet and the "spungee" rubber mat (sp?) and look for rust holes:

IPB Image

5th, check the rear firewall, in the engine comp, at the bottom.
usually water stands behind the engine comp sound insulation and the firewall rusts through right there:

hope this helps a bit ...
Andy

Posted by: morphenspectra May 21 2004, 11:37 PM

there is three things only to look for in a 914 to see if its a bad car ..... rust.......rust.........rust sir andy seems to hit it on the head.everything else can be fixed or replaced, but if you can avoid body panel replacement you are much better off.

Posted by: SirAndy May 21 2004, 11:51 PM

btw. once you got a car with rust and other issues, you need one of those:

IPB Image

Posted by: Bigbohr May 22 2004, 05:13 PM

To verify for chassis damage (other than the obvious):
- Check gaps between panels.
- Take a tape measure and verify diagonals in front trunk are same.
- Repeat same exercise in the rear trunk.
- Also measure distance between top of windshield and top of roof pillar both on driver's and passenger's side, and compare.

Sorry, can't show any pictures cause I'm far from my 914.

Good luck!