Newbie rust question Options

[zprovo]

Hello!

I am new to the world of 914s. I was looking at a car on sunday that had good longs, the hellhole looked good, floors looked good (the interior is pulled out). All the exterior sheetmetal is nice and straight. Then I popped the hood to the "frunk". There was a big hole in what I would call the passenger side firewall...what is this called in a mid engine car?

Picture for reference below


I think this is the area where the windshield washer bottle would usually reside. There are a few smaller holes under where the gas tank should be and the pedal box is pretty rusty. Apparently mice had taken up residence, chewed up the wiring and created a bunch of rust while relieving themselves.

How scared should I be of this car? It's been sitting for 31 years, I can handle the myriad of mechanical and electrical issues this car will have, but I will probably need to sub out the rust work.

Thanks in advance for any thoughts.




I don't know why I can't get this to load with the correct orientation... that is the hood spring on the lower left for reference and passenger door beyond.

[dr914@autoatlanta.com]

amazing what rat urine can do, there was once a very low mile six out there years ago that had the same damage, car was original paint and excellent except for that same area, rusted through! If that is the only rust it is a fairly easy repair, and the parts are readily available Rodents are very evil to a 914. Once we had to cut open a virgin longitudinal to find the smelly rotted rats and their nest. (reminded me of the urban legend about the very cheaply priced low mile corvette that would never sell because someone had died in and they could never get the smell out of it)