Where's the buyers guide?, buying a 914... need to know what's BAAAAD Options

[HeloMech]

Ok, so I'm not getting a warm fuzzy on the father giving the 914 to me after all these years so I've opted to go find my own. There's a few on ebay and craigslist. What rusted areas are super bad news? I've got a welder and a grinder and I'm not afraid to use them. lol. How much of the area under the battery box becomes a serious issue, etc. Again, I'm not opposed to ripping stuff out and welding in new steel. I just don't want to start a losing battle if there are known issues that go beyond that. Like, ya know, welding a sawzall party car back together.

Anyone? Anyone selling a 73-74 2.0 for a reasonable price here? anyone seen the ones on ebay and various areas of craigslist? Thoughts? Suggestions? Hugs and someone to spoon with? Andy? Beuller? Is this thing on? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/piratenanner.gif)

[Rand]

Look hard and deep and seriously at the area under the battery tray, and forward, and below... from all angles...

Get underneath, behind the rocker panel in front of the passenger rear tire... poke around hard with an ice pick or screwdriver.... scrape and reveal... bottom of firewall underneath and towards outside / frame rail. Examine the suspension console, particularly the pivot at the front of the trailing arm... make sure there are no cracks.

I can't stress it enough. My car looked really good when I bought it. The previous owners had done a real nice job of covering it up. I knew where to look and it still fooled me. I wasn't thorough enough with the ice pick and brute force until it was in my garage. I won't get caught again. I'm still ok because I got it cheap enough, and I enjoy the repair process... but it's serious work.

You'll hear of the big butt test. My version is this: Take off the top. Roll down the passenger window. Look at the passenger door gap, all the way around to make sure it is uniform. Straddle the passenger side door facing the rear of the car, right foot on the inner long (frame rail next to door). Watch the door gap at the top as you bounce your weight trying to flex the car. If you can see the gap change, it's serious. Maybe put your thumb across the gap to see if you can feel it change.

If that test results in zero flex, then hopefully your rust damage is not structural. It's still there, but at least it's not as big of a deal to fix it and seal it up.