Help choosing the right 914, Separating the good from the bad Options

[ressex]

Merry Christmas everyone. I'm new to 914World - and am glad I found you. I have been looking for a 914 and thought I knew a little bit, enough to buy one ..until I started reading here. I am focusing on 73-74s and looking at three right now, two listed on 914World classifieds and one on eBay. I'm not wedded to originality, particularly if typical upgrades make the car better, in term of rust prevention, brakes, transmission, etc. and changing colors is fine, as long s it 'looks right'. One focus has been the hell hole. Were the original batteries the biggest issue or poor steel in that area? I ask because an original car with no rust there would still be susceptible to rust versus a car that's been stripped and repainted, assuming that area was given extra attention? As I look through the ads I also see the usual mention of the pedal box, brake and transmission upgrades and the ongoing debate of FI versus carbs. Armed with some advice I will ask questions before making what may be a cross country journey. Thanks very much for helping a novice.

[scotty b]

IMO opinio the battery was probably the largest issue with the hell hole, but the outer rockers never being cleaned out was a close second. If you look carefully at a lot of the build threads with rust in that area you will notice there are actually 4 layers of metal in one spot right behind the jack post. Those 4 layers turns to 3 then to two, This layering of untreated metal, combined with battery corrosion, is a horribe combination. Once the hell hole is penetrated, everything from above runs down into the long, and begins rusting inbetween these layers, thus rusting from the inside out. If you look at BillH's thread I just finished, there is a good example of how these cars rot from the insdie out, so the paint will actually hide the nastiness.

My advice is to have someone close by, look at any car you are considering, and have them pay extra attention to the outside of the hell hole, jack post, and suspension console areas, prefferably by poking at it with a screwdriver to verify it's solidity. There is one car locally the owner is trying to get 5700.00 for and while being a good runner and driven regularly, it is a ball of rust, so don't be too enamored by a running, driving car

[ressex]

IMO opinio the battery was probably the largest issue with the hell hole, but the outer rockers never being cleaned out was a close second. If you look carefully at a lot of the build threads with rust in that area you will notice there are actually 4 layers of metal in one spot right behind the jack post. Those 4 layers turns to 3 then to two, This layering of untreated metal, combined with battery corrosion, is a horribe combination. Once the hell hole is penetrated, everything from above runs down into the long, and begins rusting inbetween these layers, thus rusting from the inside out. If you look at BillH's thread I just finished, there is a good example of how these cars rot from the insdie out, so the paint will actually hide the nastiness.

My advice is to have someone close by, look at any car you are considering, and have them pay extra attention to the outside of the hell hole, jack post, and suspension console areas, prefferably by poking at it with a screwdriver to verify it's solidity. There is one car locally the owner is trying to get 5700.00 for and while being a good runner and driven regularly, it is a ball of rust, so don't be too enamored by a running, driving car

Thanks very much ..the more I learn the more I realise how little I know. I'm getting a little skittish, I have to admit. The cars I'm looking at are in the $12-16,000 range. Two of them seem to have had a significant amount of work, the other one has low mileage and apparently impeccable care with some work, an engine upgrade and a few other things. In some ways I worry about the latter more: are all the problems about to start if I drive it ..and it happens to rain. The present owner said the key is to keep the car absolutley dry all the time. I want to drive it, not park it! Not in really bad weather but never in the rain ..Franky, I hadn't even focused on the rockers and that's a obvious place for rust. Yikes .. Again, thanks for the very good advice.