Should I buy this 914?, 914 novice seeking advice Options

[pcarfan944]

Hello everybody..

This is my first post over here at 914club. I normally post over at Rennlist, but i've been directed this way because i'm considering buying a 914. Here's the story:

Got bored the other night and was browsing through the classifieds when I saw a 1974 914 1.8 FI for sale. After talking to the owner and viewing some pictures its a very complete (interior looks immaculate!) project car. It has been off the road for 10 years. Owner says this summer they brought it out of storage and replaced a ton of parts and got it to run on 2 cylinders and it just needs a control box to run on all four. Owner also states that just before the car was stored away 10 years ago, it was getting a little harder to shift like the clutch needs adjusting.

As far as the rust situation, here is what i've got out of it so far. There is rust around the edges - door sills, floor corners, near latches, exterior. " In the foot wells, there are holes rusted through where water can accumulate - like where it makes the bend up from the floor to meet the sill. " "Under the carpet looks pretty good" This is what I got from the seller. From what i've seen in the pictures, the car looks good. I know pictures don't do anything justice, but the car isn't trashed.

I know for sure I can get the car for $500 dollars, which seems like it could be a good deal. If I nit pick maybe even a little cheaper than that. I've never actually driven a 914, plenty of 911s, but never a 914.

Anyways...might be a fun summer project, and if the price is right I thought it could have potential. Of course, i'd only be out $500 bucks or so if anything major was wrong that I didn't feel like taking on and I surely could part it out.

Thoughts?

[bondo]

QUOTE (pcarfan944 @ Jan 15 2005, 09:29 PM)

Which picture do you see a big hole with light? I've been trying to spot this. Oh, I dunno if this means much but it was stated that major frame welding was done before it was stored to stiffen the frame.

Pic 4. At the bottom left of the big hole there looks to be a spot of light. I think the light is either coming from either the hole by the door latch plate or the one at the rear of the sill plate. Both are visible in the last pic.

There's alot of important suspension bits right below that whole area, and it the part you can see is that bad, the important stuff you can't is probably worse. I'm guessing the "stiffening" was done to repair damage under there. Search on this site for "suspension ear" "suspension console" "hell hole" and "DAPO" to see how poorly this area is repaired sometimes.