'73 914 2.0....what to do first?, New to a project like this...where to start? Options

[AKFish]

HI there, my name is Dominic and I have an avid reader of this forum for nearly a year, now its time to get rolling on my project...

About this time last year, I purchased a 1973 914 2.0. The previous owners bought it as part of a bundle of 914's and only kept a couple.
I have some documentation from when the car was first purchased, but the more recent owners have proven elusive. It was owned by a member here named "kurbfrog" but he/she has not responded to my contact attempts, so recent history is a bit murky. Sounds like the guy I really want to talk to, headed south of the border in a bit of a hurry.
I acquired the car in a partially disassembled state. The engine, a 2.0 with it's original FI still attached, is out and pretty much everything is removed from the engine bay and the interior. Many of the removed parts are carefully bagged up and some even have labels. On the whole, the car is in pretty solid condition, however, there are some of the typical rust issues.....
The engine shelf has been cut for A/C and there is rust in the hell hole and I can see rust developing in the outer long (I think that's what it is called). My reading here would suggest that there is a lot more than meets the eye.
What I would really like to do is find out if the engine runs...and if so, just put the car back together and drive it for a while. I could decide after that, if a "rustoration" is right for me...I have zero background in fabrication/welding.

Question: What are the MUST DO items to perform on the engine while it is out, to give me the best odds of getting the car going again?

P.S. My car came with this 1975 Roller that is pretty well gutted.

[bbrock]

Well NOW you have a project. I agree with @mepstein about checking the suspension console. Like everything else, the tend to rust from the inside out so keep that in mind as you inspect. I'm also wondering if the damage has spread to the inner long. Now that you know you have a rusty hole full of rodent piss, who knows what you will find (I pulled a weasel bone out of mine)? You'll learn that when you cut out the rusty metal but you can also get some clues by pulling the passenger seat out and removing the carpet off the long. If you have rust on the inside, you'd got more patchwork to do. You'll have a pretty good idea of what you are are up against reading through those build threads. Jeff Hail's thread that was already mentioned is the gold standard.

At this point, I'd say the option of putting the engine in and driving it for awhile is out the window. It would be for me anyway.