How to inspect the underside and longs without a lift, now the Not another novice project thread Options

[seanpaulmc]

I've just purchased a '73 914 and owned it long enough to ship it to Orlando and take it to go get titled. With only having it for this short period my list of concerns is growing. I have no intentions of driving the car around until I can assess how rusty it is. I appreciate the support and responses to the questions about transportation and engine identification. This is a superb community.

What advice do you have for lifting the car to inspect underneath and such without having access to a lift? I have read some of the build threads on here and you guys have some amazing shops and do incredible work! ...one day. But, at this point I don't have that.

For now I'd like to lift the car, take the wheels off, and take the longitudinal covers off to get a good look at the structural areas of the car. However, I have concerns because this is a snowbelt car and I've read the stories about putting a floor jack through a rusted out car. Where should I lift with the floor jack (trust the jacking points?, other areas) and where should I put the jack stands so that I can poke around some and get pictures?

Merry Christmas!!!

[seanpaulmc]

For review, we last left off with completion of the inner stiffening kit installation and a liberal coating of Rust Bullet. 3 coats brushed on.

With the holiday weekend and cool, dry weather (upper 90s and feels like in the 100s) time to get back to the floor weld repairs. So, I opened up the shop for the weekend.



Of course it’s bigger on the inside.



Remaining areas needing repair before I can move on to applying an underside protective coating of the floorpan are the A-pillar door support and this little spot at the bulkhead in the forward section of the tunnel underneath the fuel tank.







I posted separately about removal of the bulkhead fuel line grommet. Light heat and liberal amounts of soapy water and we can see what we’re working with behind there. Thanks for the removal tips, Zach.







After 3 days of acrobatics, hot yoga, and inventing new swear words my attempt at making an acceptable weld repair yielded what I am calling a passable repair. Much better than the as found rotten metal but I had to acquiesce and use a small lap panel because one edge kept blowing through. I also had to use a little epoxy at edges as well since I could not get the mig nozzle positioned correctly.

This patch piece has quite the geometry.









I’ll fiddle with it some more before I’m done with it of course. I need to confirm the shape of the hole and flange lip. Then add some seam sealer and a good coat of rust bullet and reinstall the fuel line grommet.

I miss our shade tree.





I really could have used an extra set of hands and of course there’s always that neighbor looking over your shoulder never offering to help.



No further mention of the A-pillar support repair should speak for itself.
That repair will have to wait for the next heat wave.