Posted last week that I was considering buying a local car. It will go into dry storage awaiting restoration. Thought I'd share a couple of pics.
Stuck a battery in it. No starter engagement and no fuel pump whir. Maybe I just need to jump the seatbelt relay. Fingers crossed. It's not home yet, so I haven't really had a chance to wrench on it.
Really checked out the floors, and they are absolutely solid in passenger compartment and trunks. The battery tray is crusty and there are a couple of little bubbles in the adjacent side panel. Everything I can see and feel below the battery tray is solid. No rust on the battery tray support.
Under the jack points there is an area about 1" long where the seams come together that you can stick a screwdriver through. otherwise solid. It does have this one odd rust area on top of the rear quarter. Likely the result of a poor bondo job. Anyway, I can't wait to get this in out of the elements. My first 914. I don't think I did too badly for $1500. Oh, and bonus, it has Konis and a Bursch street exhaust with a cat delete.
Congrats!
The car of the future,impact bumpers design to meet the then new standards.
Aiy,that's a lot of work,but ok.A bodyman you must become,or farm it out.
The paint code looks like Bahia Red,it will keep for a few years and tears.
Having fun is it.
once you go over your car with someone who knows 914's you will find a lot more rust.
Well, I guess I'm in for an education and a lot of work. At one point I swore I was never buying another car that wasn't galvanized. What happened to that?!
You never know what you'll find. Just have to dig in and take the rockers off, interior out, etc to see the extent of it.
FYI if you still have fuel injection the fuel pump will not run until the starter is engaged (1.8L L-Jet). Check the fuel lines before you try to start it up. Fuel pressure is fairly high. Don't want any fires. Your car is a '75 so the color is either Malaga Red or Scarlet Red. Looks like Malaga in the un-faded areas.
Have fun with it!
Jeez Andy, what a buzzkill! WTH? Couldn't you at least have waited till he got it home before dropping the bad news? Anyone buying a 914 for the first time deserves at least 24 hrs of bliss before reality sets in.
Those seats look interesting... not Scheels, but nice bolsters.
Congrats!
Unfortunately everything that the members here say about the rust is true!
Regardless, it is still fun!!!
Commmmon Guys. It has a right hand mirror and a cassette player. What's a little rust?
Congrats on the car. You will learn a lot, be a better man (or lady) after the car is up and running. Yes, find someone in your area to look the car over and give you a list of things to do in order of importance. Drive it. Then the repairs look minor.
Take it down to ScottyB in Richmond, he rusty 914s.
Thanks everybody. And you know, not my first rodeo. Wrenched Italian cars for a living for many years, and British before that. Bought the first Porsche 10 years ago; been driving a 944 daily during that time. I'm excited for this project. Good group here, makes the experience so much better. I'd never have survived a 944 daily without the good folks on Pelican. Makes a big difference to have so much collective experience.
and enjoy your project. FWIW, my 2nd 914's rust was isolated to the R rear trunk area and firewall. Thought I'd find more in between those 2 points but I didn't.
You've got a great start!
Rust will be your biggest issue. I suggest tearing the engine out and taking a look at these items before you continue. Repair as needed immediately since your enthusiasm is high right now.
I just did a quick rust repair similar to the car you are describing.
http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?s=&showtopic=267385&view=findpost&p=2255525
I spent less than 20 hours repairing this in a manner befitting a driver.
...........where is that "foam" in the rear that can be torn out to check for water/rust?
Congrats on the purchase! Dig Alfas, and dig 944s. You're going to like the 914 when it's all dialed in. They really are like nothing else on four wheels.
Yeah, Andy likes to give people a hard time.
http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?s=&showtopic=80724&view=findpost&p=997926
Thing is, he's spot on (post 46 will show you what you're dealing with):
http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?s=&showtopic=80724&view=findpost&p=1005327
it will either be fixable OR a parts car. either way nice find.
a semi rust free west coat tub can cost $2000+- plus $100 shipping BUT you would be way ahead of the game over repairing tons o rust.
You ain't gonna ship that SOB 6 blocks for $100.00, Jim.
Damn, I don't even have the car home yet. Y'all have already turned it into a parts car and are telling me to buy a body shell from the west coast. What a depressing lot this is.
I put a good sized friend in both passenger and driver's seats, and the door fit was unaltered. That was encouraging. If I need to replace a section of fender, so be it. I was looking to improve my welding skills.
Looking at the junk that's out there in this price range, I still don't feel too bad. That this is a one owner car, and comes with full service history means a lot to me. Maybe I've been fooling around with 911s too long. That sort of thing doesn't seem to be so important in the 914 community.
I'm breaking all of my"buy the best one you can find" rules with this one. I guess I just feel like this needs to be saved. We'll see how it goes.
For the record, here are the other two:
Thanks for the links. That really helped me understand the whole foam and sealer issue.
Forgot to mention, actually ended up at $800 purchase price.
One owner car, came with full service records since day one. went through the 2" stack today. Complete engine rebuild in the 90's. About five clutches (WTF?). Konis. A body restoration in 1991 that included sail panel replacement, work on the longs and replacement of the battery tray and support. Generally lots of good stuff, a really conscientious owner. I'm encouraged.
This made my day:
Happy thanksgiving everyone.
Go for it! Car probably has LOTS of potential. At $800 you made out like a bandit. You cannot buy parts cars for that price anymore. Worst case you have a fine parts car.
Don't be discouraged, I bought my own $1400 project, and they will always have twice the amount of work to be done than you'd hoped, but even scary projects can be done one bit at a time. It's only metal - the rust can be fixed and it's not as tough as you fear.
Final thought - it's good to have a brutally honest assessment of the potential problems now rather than later - it'll be easier in the long run to get it all upfront now than discovering it after you've done your first repaint.
Really, not discouraged at all. I've now read a bunch of looong restoration threads on this great site. I think I have an idea of what I'm in for. Looking forward to making this worthwhile car right, and improving my welding skills.
It's actually Malaga Red. Hard to tell in it's current state, I know.
pls post pics of the rusty areas as you find them. we are all curious and interested in keeping up to date on what you find and your progress. rust repairs require, skills, tools, parts, money and time. if you have these, you'll be golden
Great color. Can't go wrong for $800.
Brought my $800 gem home today. Got it in the shop, had it running and took a drive within 1.5 hours. Corroded contacts in the relay block were the culprit as far as the initial no-start condition. Love me some Caig De-Oxit spray. Sure enough, the fuel lines were a fire hazard. A little trip around the block produced a big fuel leak. Glad I didn't set it on fire! At the car wash:
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awesome buy, ive paid 2x that for a project car that would need some work, I have a rust spot on that car on that rear quarter too, but other than that is a very solid tub , its the one im doing for my build-off contest build, . once you dig in you may find more , but really awesome you have all those records and the window sticker, it tells a story and it says the car had owners that cared, makes a big difference. Good luck and enjoy! get those fuel hoses and lines replaced and get your brakes a working out/flush fluid for sure, etc, then drive it like you stole it!!1
That does look like a good buy!
Could you post a picture of the seats?
Running already, you da man!
Get those fuel lines replaced, brakes done, all safety stuff checked, and have fun!
Unless the car is folding in half, those rust spots add character
Started digging into it and documenting:
RF wheel arch
LF wheel arch
RF fender
Front of floor pan
Master cylinder area
Continued:
Rear passenger long
Rear driver long-the worst rust I've found
Hell hole
Front trunk-it's totally surface rust
Overall, as good as it runs, I'm pretty pleased with the car. Folks have rebuilt FAR worse 914s.
Yeah that's not terrible at all. There's probably plenty more under the rockers but it's fixable. Floor pans look decent from a distance. At some point you might want to scrape the undercoating off. That's a lot of fun .
Change the fuel lines!
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