New Member Intro - I Finally Got One! Options

[Forge]

Hello all - I want to first thank all who help provide this awesome friendly 914 resource! My name is Eric and I am located in the mountains near Asheville NC. I have been a VW fanatic since 1996 and have owned Bugs and Buses and Things and Ghias and Squarebacks. I have always wanted a 914 and finally got one! I found this 1975 through a VW friend in TN. It had been sitting in his barn since 2004. It appears to be a very complete car with a (very neglected) stock looking FI system intact. Unfortunately it has bad rust in the Hell Hole that the PO neglected to tell me about (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad.gif) These cares are EXTREMELY rare in these parts so I really would like to bring this one back from the dead...

Photos oldskool style (sorry) here:

Where to start??? I need a good battery for it so I can start to see what I have got myself into. What Sealed AGM batteries do you all use? Also what about the color - is it original? And those wheels - anyone know if they are OG?

Thanks!!!

[wndsnd]

Well it looks similar to my car when I bought it and brought it home.

The wheels are Empi's or knockoffs, and are VW offset so your tire options will be limited as they ride too far out toward the fender and will most likely rub with 195' and definitely be a problem if you ever wanted to run 205's.

Thats the least of your problems however,

The passenger side rust through the outer rocker cover most likely is covering large scale rust issues in the longitudinal, hell hole, possibly engine mount pick ups, battery box is gone, most likely it has migrated to the bottom of the firewall, and under the seats, etc. Not to be a bummer. A lot of us fix this regularly ourselves, but it is a project no less.

Rust under the sail area will bring you heartache to fix, but again it can be done. The problem is that when you can see it, there is so much more underneath that will have to be dealt with.

Sitting outside all that time means there will no doubt be ingress by rodents etc. You will have to be patient and find all their nests, droppings, and messes, and it is important to clean those areas thoroughly because the fluids left behind are acidic and you guessed it, bring on more destruction.

The good news is the World will help you and you will meet new friends for life if you stick with it. It will be a fun and rewarding project.


John