How bad is this? (floor/rust), trying to guage where I'm at/what to do Options

[914lover17]

Having a little trouble passing safety, mechanic wanted a full body restore...luckily the body shop disagreed and said some patches should be fine to which another mechanic is on board with. However, I can't even tell what I'm looking at...Is that just painted rust? painted welds? painted seem sealer? any info or tips appreciated. Just trying to assess where I'm at and what I'm working with!

VIDEO: https://i.imgur.com/dAzfg1E.mp4

There's 3-4 holes in the underside, 1 is about the size of a quarter under the passenger seat.

The interior of the trunks and interior of the floor looks pretty good, though?



Looks like the jack points are cut off/missing on the rockers as well:



All the fender wells look like this:



Longs:



Updated Patch work:

[SirAndy]

That looks pretty bad, someone just smeared good over the rust/patches.

Looks like the bottom of *both* longs were gone as well as the floorpan along the rear firewall.

I agree with whoever suggested a full restore. Judging from the "quality" of those repairs, i bet the inside of whatever they closed up is still rusted.
(IMG:style_emoticons/default/dry.gif)

[914lover17]

That looks pretty bad, someone just smeared good over the rust/patches.

Looks like the bottom of *both* longs were gone as well as the floorpan along the rear firewall.

I agree with whoever suggested a full restore. Judging from the "quality" of those repairs, i bet the inside of whatever they closed up is still rusted.
(IMG:style_emoticons/default/dry.gif)

hmmm, as I feared, was trying to get into a driver. Thanks for the info! Is it worth restoring or getting a chasis/roller and swapping parts over Instead. I have no experience in welding/body work.

[roblav1]

That's pretty ugly. I highly suspect the seat mounts would pull out in an accident.

[914lover17]

That's pretty ugly. I highly suspect the seat mounts would pull out in an accident.

The one thing I noticed is it almost looks like it's missing one of the seat supports that mounts underneath as well. I'm not sure what they're called.

[VaccaRabite]

The location of your fuel pump and fuel filter are kinda troubling to me. Too easy to put something in the trunk and have it bang off the fuel lines or crack the filter. There is a cavity under the tank all the stuff should be relocated there where it is protected.

Also, in the even of a front end crash, the bolts holding your amp in place are going to puncture your fuel tank. Both are easy fixes.

As others have said, its clearly been patched. It looks like the patches were maybe riveted in and then coated with seam sealer and painted, and the tin worm came back with a fury.

Zach

[dr914@autoatlanta.com]

horrible. and the fuel pump is in the front trunk! BEst to just drive as is, would be too expensive to repair properly

[914lover17]

horrible. and the fuel pump is in the front trunk! BEst to just drive as is, would be too expensive to repair properly

Appreciate the input! What does drive as is, mean in this case? It's still going to take some repair work to get on the road (ontario is pretty stingy on safety) - I'm already into it for a pretty penny (engine is a rebuilt 2.0 with matching transmission, interior is pretty original and clean)

Is there any value as a parts car?

Is getting a new 73 2.0 chassis/roller to swap worth it, possible? (it's a 1.7 chassis converted w/ 2.0 and appearance options now)

...I was actually trying to get a decent driver I could restore slowly in the future, looks like this isn't it. I'm really not sure what to do anymore. We had thought the only things needed for safety were the horn and parking break when I got it.

[914lover17]

The location of your fuel pump and fuel filter are kinda troubling to me. Too easy to put something in the trunk and have it bang off the fuel lines or crack the filter. There is a cavity under the tank all the stuff should be relocated there where it is protected.

Also, in the even of a front end crash, the bolts holding your amp in place are going to puncture your fuel tank. Both are easy fixes.

As others have said, its clearly been patched. It looks like the patches were maybe riveted in and then coated with seam sealer and painted, and the tin worm came back with a fury.

Zach

I think it was moved to prevent vapor lock as it's original position was beside the heat exchanger? I've done some brief reading and later 914's we're moved to where you mention under the gas tank, so I'll definitely look into that! Thanks!

[SirAndy]

I think it was moved to prevent vapor lock as it's original position was beside the heat exchanger? I've done some brief reading and later 914's we're moved to where you mention under the gas tank, so I'll definitely look into that! Thanks!

Make sure they also replaced the hard fuel lines in the center tunnel with metal ones. The stock plastic lines on early cars were never meant to carry pressurized fuel, i wouldn't trust them with that task.

There's plenty of room under the gas tank, in fact, that's where the factory put the fuel pump on later cars.
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[SirAndy]

Is getting a new 73 2.0 chassis/roller to swap worth it, possible? (it's a 1.7 chassis converted w/ 2.0 and appearance options now)

If you can get a '73 shell for cheap that is in good shape, moving over all the parts is surprisingly easy, especially if you have some help. Throw a BBQ and invite some local 914 guys/gals to help.

The real problem will be finding a good tub that doesn't have a lot of rust issues. They do come up every once in a while, so it isn't impossible.
(IMG:style_emoticons/default/idea.gif)

[914lover17]

Is getting a new 73 2.0 chassis/roller to swap worth it, possible? (it's a 1.7 chassis converted w/ 2.0 and appearance options now)

If you can get a '73 shell for cheap that is in good shape, moving over all the parts is surprisingly easy, especially if you have some help. Throw a BBQ and invite some local 914 guys/gals to help.

The real problem will be finding a good tub that doesn't have a lot of rust issues. They do come up every once in a while, so it isn't impossible.
(IMG:style_emoticons/default/idea.gif)

I live near guelph (restoration design) so I'm going to take it over and see what they recommend in terms of body work. Would be nice to swap it with a chassis ready to go and then work on the old chassis as a stress free learning experience since I'd be new to welding. I have a shop with an extra bay and welding hookups/outlets.

I'd probably get the metal work done by a professional if I stick with this chassis.

The engine/transmission seem to be pretty rock solid and were done by a local porsche mechanic with a good reputation, so I've got that to work with at least. You could eat off this car, which is what's strange about the rust condition.

[wonkipop]

there is a reason its got a non standard scissor jack next to the spare tyre?

though having watched your film just now i'm not sure even that would be safe to use without punching through the floor plan/longitudinals. i think missing the triangular jacking donut plates at the cnrs of the engine bay is a very bad sign. take it to someone who knows their 914s and get a realists view/assessment.

[914lover17]

there is a reason its got a non standard scissor jack next to the spare tyre?

though having watched your film just now i'm not sure even that would be safe to use without punching through the floor plan/longitudinals. i think missing the triangular jacking donut plates at the cnrs of the engine bay is a very bad sign. take it to someone who knows their 914s and get a realists view/assessment.

yes, it has wood plugs in the jack points. Looks like the original jack points are missing/cut-off.

I agree, doing that tomorrow.

[914lover17]

[wonkipop]

looking at those photos it seems like the jacking point donut plate is still there on left side but gone on right side. says not good classic 914 hell hole chassis long problem.
someone who knows can tell you how bad. and of course a bit more, looking at floor pan.

i mean its 50 years down the road, somehow its got to here. i saw in chicago 30 years ago well beyond that. so somehow it got to here in time.

interior looks good.
everything there to construct a good car.

i can remember even 30 years ago folks used to joke about how to make a perfect 914.
buy a northern one for the interior and a southern one for the body and put them both together. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)

the days of buying a northern summer only car are long gone dreams?
that was the little secret half a lifetime ago. they were around back then.

[Lg914]

Does it look good? No it doesn’t. But my advice is just drive it and enjoy it. Drive it for a year check to see if it’s gotten worse if not drive it more. The worst thing is to buy a car and not be able to enjoy it. As soon s you start working on it you will find a lot more that needs to be done. Mind you, I m not saying don’t fix it. But enjoy it first. Then the repair work seems more wort while. We enjoyed ours before starting a rebuild, that is taking longer than we would like. At least I still remember autocrossing it and it never fell apart, Even though the longs were shot and needed to be replaced.

[914lover17]

Does it look good? No it doesn’t. But my advice is just drive it and enjoy it. Drive it for a year check to see if it’s gotten worse if not drive it more. The worst thing is to buy a car and not be able to enjoy it. As soon s you start working on it you will find a lot more that needs to be done. Mind you, I m not saying don’t fix it. But enjoy it first. Then the repair work seems more wort while. We enjoyed ours before starting a rebuild, that is taking longer than we would like. At least I still remember autocrossing it and it never fell apart, Even though the longs were shot and needed to be replaced.

I appreciate it! That's exactly where we are at right now. After having it looked over by a number of people now, some patches should be fine in the meantime while I enjoy it. I'll just keep an eye out for a replacement chassis for a long term solution. I will only be driving it around once a week or so, never in rain, and dry storing it over winter (ontario).

I really like this car, it's unfortunate, but I like it's story, I like how I got it, I like who I got it from and just wanna be proud of it. It drives really well and there were no safety issues over the drive-ability/engine components.

[914lover17]

Before and After of some safety patchwork

Just waiting on an electric windshield washer conversion kit and it should be ready for safety and 100% fully operable.

[ndfrigi]

@914lover17
Hello, just wondering where is this middle fuel rubber line connected?
and time to replace the original plastic fuel lines (tunnel lines and engine fuel lines) to stainless steel lines.