Battery Tray Rust Options

[Joel Simmons]

Hello,

I know that a lot of 914's have a rusted-out battery tray and that the rust can work its way down through the engine compartment and onto the rear suspension. My question: is rust in the engine compartment beneath the battery tray a structural concern? There just seems to be one area of it on a car I'm looking at and it hasn't made its way down to the suspension. Is this acceptable? Should I plan to cut it out and weld-in a replacement sheet metal section?

Also, can the batteries be relocated on these cars?

Thanks,
Joel (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/beerchug.gif)

[Joel Simmons]

Hello all,

Yeah the area beneath the battery tray has enough rust that it does flake off a few bits if push on it hard enough (the owner told me this, I haven't seen the car in person, only photos emailed to me). Hmmm. I'm not a welder or a bodywork guy so I think I'll pass on the car if its that big of an issue. I'm looking for a daily driver and I can't have the car indisposed for long periods of time.

Trekkor - I see you're located in Napa, the car I'm looking at is actually in Santa Rosa, a bit north of you. $1850 1970 1.7L car on Craigslist.

Thanks for the replies.

Joel