Looking at buying a 914-6 - Opinions needed ASAP! Options

[Cuda911]

I have an offer in on the car. Need your opinions quick, stat, pronto!

Decided to start a new clean thread, since I was piggy-backing onto someone else's thread.

The original thread is here:

http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?sho...=258093&hl=

Took the car for a good drive.

Engine fired right up, sounded very good.

Shifting was about as sloppy as one can imagine. If I hadn't driven 914s before, this car would have been nearly undriveable.

More rust than I had hoped for. There was no way to take the rockers off, so any purchase would be contingent on a more thorough inspection. I felt up under them... seemed greasy, but not rusty.

The car will need some significant restoration. Paint code is 80 (Ivory) and I have a personal "no black car" policy, so at least going back to stock color will be good for me.

Certificate of Authenticity has been ordered. Believed to be a numbers matching car.

Some items/issues:

- The ever-popular broom-stick mod for rear trunk.
- Rear trunk latch broken
- Front trunk won't open, cable broken. Needs to be fixed before can fill it with gas (the cable recently broke... guesstimate it is down to 1/4 tank).
- Fuel gauge broken.
- Glove box missing (the door is there, but hanging loose, no box behind it).
- Some rips in seat vinyl.
- Cracked dash, loose dash vinyl .
- Passenger door pocket is loose.
- oil leak.
- Terrible paint.
- Chrome on bumper is terrible.
- Rust: see pix, they should be pretty self-explanatory.
- What are those round areas in the rear trunk that are sealed over? My 914-4's have similar ones, but that larger one on this car doesn't seem original to the manufacture of the car.
- Shocks are shot.
- Shifter is a total mix-master. Could beat eggs to a froth with all that slop.

Plus items:

It's a six.
Cool license plate.
Local car.

Pix to follow in a moment:

[siverson]

Yes, seems like a pretty decent car. It looks somewhat similar in condition to my green car when I got it. And I think the investment required is similar.

I think the math is something like:

$30k - buy the car
$10k - metal/rust/body work
$10k - paint
$5k - interior
$20k - rebuild engine and transmission
$10k - lots of small parts, bolts, rubber, plating, etc

= $85k total + a bazillion hours of work and you have a REALLY nice 914 that you could probably sell for $80k-$85k. But that's at least a year from now, so prices will either be way up, or you'll have $85k into a $40k 914!

But if you're going to do the project to keep it for a long time and have fun, this seems like a really great start.

-Steve

[Kaeferfreund]

Yes, seems like a pretty decent car. It looks somewhat similar in condition to my green car when I got it. And I think the investment required is similar.

I think the math is something like:

$30k - buy the car
$10k - metal/rust/body work
$10k - paint
$5k - interior
$20k - rebuild engine and transmission
$10k - lots of small parts, bolts, rubber, plating, etc

= $85k total + a bazillion hours of work and you have a REALLY nice 914 that you could probably sell for $80k-$85k. But that's at least a year from now, so prices will either be way up, or you'll have $85k into a $40k 914!

But if you're going to do the project to keep it for a long time and have fun, this seems like a really great start.

-Steve

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/agree.gif)
As in every restoration it is more likely that you will find some more things to do and this sum, Steve has mentioned, may rise.

[Nine_14]

Yes, seems like a pretty decent car. It looks somewhat similar in condition to my green car when I got it. And I think the investment required is similar.

I think the math is something like:

$30k - buy the car
$10k - metal/rust/body work
$10k - paint
$5k - interior
$20k - rebuild engine and transmission
$10k - lots of small parts, bolts, rubber, plating, etc

= $85k total + a bazillion hours of work and you have a REALLY nice 914 that you could probably sell for $80k-$85k. But that's at least a year from now, so prices will either be way up, or you'll have $85k into a $40k 914!

But if you're going to do the project to keep it for a long time and have fun, this seems like a really great start.

-Steve

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/agree.gif)
As in every restoration it is more likely that you will find some more things to do and this sum, Steve has mentioned, may rise.

Costs can be reduced by doing most of the work by your own.

[somd914]

Yes, seems like a pretty decent car. It looks somewhat similar in condition to my green car when I got it. And I think the investment required is similar.

I think the math is something like:

$30k - buy the car
$10k - metal/rust/body work
$10k - paint
$5k - interior
$20k - rebuild engine and transmission
$10k - lots of small parts, bolts, rubber, plating, etc

= $85k total + a bazillion hours of work and you have a REALLY nice 914 that you could probably sell for $80k-$85k. But that's at least a year from now, so prices will either be way up, or you'll have $85k into a $40k 914!

But if you're going to do the project to keep it for a long time and have fun, this seems like a really great start.

-Steve

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/agree.gif)
As in every restoration it is more likely that you will find some more things to do and this sum, Steve has mentioned, may rise.

Costs can be reduced by doing most of the work by your own.

True, but becomes very time consuming, thus the reason so many partially-finished restorations show up on the market. Thus one has to be very dedicated to cause...

As for BillH's comment about the market slowing, time will tell if it really is. The bubble will burst at some point, but the unknown is how much longer before we reach that point.

But if one has the funds and is looking to own for the sake of ownership rather than as an investment, then the market being high or low doesn't really matter.