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914World.com _ 914World Garage _ What do I look for when purchasing?

Posted by: montoya 73 2.0 Jul 25 2005, 10:02 AM

Okay Guys and Gals, What do I look for when looking over a potential vehicle? I'm looking at a widower's 74 914, her husband just past away in May and she doesn't know how to drive a stickshift so she's getting rid of her husbands baby. It's a beautiful car, Black on black 4 bolt Fuch's and a single carb on ? motor. No exterior body damage, No major bondo and interior is superb! He really took care of this car and it show's. So where do I look for rust and all the other nice hiding spots.

Posted by: tat2dphreak Jul 25 2005, 10:10 AM

rust... nothing else matters... just rust

pull the rockers, inspect for rust
look under the battery tray for rust,
check the suspension console for, you guessed it, RUST!
look up under the passenger fender... for... RUST!!!

both trunks, floor , firewall(behind the pad) ...same thing

after that, if it runs, drives good, GREAT! you can find out the engine using the code by the oil filler, GA is MUCH better(good 2.0, nice heads) but if you want to rebuild later, it won't matter much either way...

remember take the amount of rust you see... multiply by 10, and you are close to the amount of rust there is.

Posted by: ! Jul 25 2005, 10:12 AM

Yup rust.....

Also make sure some asshole doesn't call the widow and tell her it's worth a fortune....

Too bad about the single carb....that's the first you get rid of. Either back to FI, aftermarket FI or go with carbs that work better....like a set of dual 40 webers.

Posted by: montoya 73 2.0 Jul 25 2005, 10:17 AM

as for cost, she mentioned the blue book value. she said she wants fair value.

Posted by: ! Jul 25 2005, 10:22 AM

QUOTE (montoya 73 2.0 @ Jul 25 2005, 08:17 AM)
as for cost, she mentioned the blue book value. she said she wants fair value.

Blue book on a 30 year old car?????

Right....

Posted by: montoya 73 2.0 Jul 25 2005, 10:38 AM

SUSPENSION CONSOLE? I'm still new to part and body call-outs. i just received my first 914 (my dads) about two months ago.

I've caught the 914 bug and i'm jumping in with both feet! the wife is not to excited but then says she loves me so she'll deal with it for now!

Posted by: ! Jul 25 2005, 10:43 AM

Under the stock battery tray.....there is an "ear" that the swing arm connects to.

Water combined with battery acid drips down and eats the battery tray and the then goes INSIDE the double wall of the supension console "ear". Eating that up as well.

Posted by: anthony Jul 25 2005, 10:46 AM

Yeah, it would be a good sign if the car has an Optima battery installed.

How much does the old lady think bluebook is?

Posted by: Dave_Darling Jul 25 2005, 10:46 AM

Check the "How to buy a 914" article over on Pelican's site. (See my sig, below, for the URL.)

--DD

Posted by: montoya 73 2.0 Jul 25 2005, 10:58 AM

she thinks $3800 is fair. i looked at the battery tray and there is no surface rust or holes of any kind, Both trunks have no sign of holes or surface rust, floors have zero as well as the fender wells. I will have to look under the battery tray and behind the back pad as well as the suspension console

Posted by: ! Jul 25 2005, 11:00 AM

Read Dave's guide....DOUBLE look in the wheel wells and the floors of the cab.

BTW, 3800 is just OK for a 2.0 engine with a non original carb. If it's a 1.8 model...it's no great deal.

Posted by: tat2dphreak Jul 25 2005, 01:29 PM

3800 can be a good deal if you are in an area that generally has rusty cars and this car doesn't have those rusty spots... maybe 3800 sux in Ca. here it's a good price for a rust free runner IMHO

Posted by: montoya 73 2.0 Jul 25 2005, 01:45 PM

this is a high desert area. i was told we get about a foot or so of snow a year. the lady said that it's been hard o sell here because you can only drive the car for about two months out of the year cause of the rain and snow. i'm gonna try and talk her down of course, i guess we'll see what happens.