Could this be Queenies car...?, in SLO town Options

[JeffBowlsby]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAP...9&category=6430

[Dave_Darling]

The "hell hole" is in front of the battery, right-front corner of the engine bay. Tends to rust--a lot! Here's a thread showing one man's repair process for the whole area: http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?showtopic=16748

Oh, forgot earlier: It's fairly common to replace the front struts with 911 parts. That allows you to use five-lug 911 wheels, which look cool and have a whole lot of different styles to choose from. Wheels with the 4x130mm pattern are far fewer, especially in 914-freindly offsets. Most are made for old Bugs, and put the wheels too far out in the fenders.

In most cases, you also get bigger brakes to go along with your five-log wheels. They handle heat a lot better than the stock solid rotor 914-4 brakes.

The 914-6 used (a version of) early 911 struts, in fact.

--DD

[SirAndy]

The "hell hole" is in front of the battery, right-front corner of the engine bay. Tends to rust--a lot!

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The battery sits on a metal tray. That tray is welded to the back of the longitudinal frame which is part of the backbone of your car.
Acid drips down from the battery tray and eats through the metal there and eventually makes its way to the bottom of the frame rail.

As you can see in the thread that Dave linked above, even if it looks somewhat OK from the outside, the actual rust cancer can be substantial and compromises the structural integrity of the car.

A careful inspection includes a pointy screwdriver and a lot of poking in at least 3 areas:

- The top of the frame rail under the battery tray at the lowest point right near the firewall.

- The bottom of the frame rail. You usually have to remove the outer rocker covers to get a good look. If you can't get them off, try from underneath the car.

- The floorboard right behind the passenger seat. Move the seat all the way forward, lift the carpet and start poking.
CAUTION: The factory used tar sound deadening material on the floors and they are painted over. Most of the time it will visually look OK because of that. You really need to poke around for rust since the tar tends to hold the rusty pieces together and the paint on the tar hides it well.

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