Plan of Action?, Bondo Floor? Options

[Superhawk996]

Any pictures of what’s going on with the other side of the car?

[stoneman30hotmail]

Any pictures of what’s going on with the other side of the car?

So I now pulled of the sill on the driver side. Some rust around the jack point.


Could wonder what's under all this bondo. but the top side of the long looks good all the way back.


There was a puddle here but I don't see problem on the long there.


And by the way, here is the outside. I should have introduced this in the beginning. There was some patchwork at the sail near the door where I can see rust under the fender. Rear trunk floor will need some attention.

[rjames]

I hope that the car will be worth more than the sum of the parts (and tools?). I do want to retire soon...

Not a chance. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[worn]

Been there myself. My latest has taken two years of pretty consistent work and I am just getting to primer and paint next spring. In the end, I resuscitated a parts car back to respectability. Think hard about whether or not that is what you want to do. Either way this is very much the place to be. The members will help you all the way.

[stoneman30hotmail]

I hope that the car will be worth more than the sum of the parts (and tools?). I do want to retire soon...

Not a chance. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

Anybody tracked costs? I would plan DIY on welding, painting, mechanical. I would assume a nicely done car is worth $20,000 easy right?

[mepstein]

I don’t think you can restore a rusty car for $20k, even if you diy.

[Superhawk996]

If you’re doing this to make money - you’re doing it for all the wrong reasons.

You will never recoup your labor.

Material costs:
Sheet metal - you will be in for a couple thousand easily
Paint - $700- 1000/gallon for paint.
New rubber - $800 for the major seals. Add another $300 for the odds and ends.
Rebuilt brakes - $1k

So let’s call that $5k and we haven’t even discussed the engine, trans, or axles.

Oh - suspension - call that $600
Tires - $500

There’s $6k

I haven’t even mentioned details and miscellaneous stuff that literally nickel and dimes you over time. Saw blades, sandpaper, Wire wheels, etc.

You do own an air compressor, air tools, spray guns, metal cutting tools, hammers, dollys, MIG welder, etc?

Get the drift?

Not trying to talk you out of the project but it won’t be cheap, easy, and you most likely will not earn a cent on your labor. You do it for love of a challenge and pride in DIY but not to make money.

[Rand]

Jump (gently) up and down on the right side and watch the door gap (with the roof off).

Agree with that if it wasn't worse. That was always my test... stand on the frame rail (top off obviously) and feel the door gap flex with your thumb..... Sense the gap pulsing as you bounce??? Say bye.

This one had enough to say you shouldn't be jumping on it, or the crunchy bits will only degrade.

A fabricator's dream of never recovering their investment if you want a truly solid car. Another's dream of driving it. I guess resale is where it could go wrong. Just enjoy it.

[bbrock]

We need to stop saying you can't restore these rust buckets for less than they'll be worth when they are restored. It isn't easy, but yes you can. I put a tad shy of $30K into mine including what I paid for it 35 years ago. A couple grand of my investment was "luxury spending" not needed for the resto. Nice stereo, electric antenna, LED lights, etc. It was in way worse shape than OP's car when I started. I'm confident I could easily get what I put into it back out now. Hagerty valued the car at $50K but I think that is probably high.

To put this into perspective though, when I say DIY, I mean almost everything DIY. Welding, media blasting, and paint. The only things I shopped out were machine work on the engine, replating (and even there I did a fair amount myself), upholstery, and Mark donated vapor blasting of my carb bodies.

Bringing up labor always gets under my skin. If the project is done as a hobby, then labor is irrelevant. We don't consider our time costs for going fishing or skiing. It's recreation. And if the project isn't being done as a hobby, it's a fool's errand. As a hobby, you CAN break even or even turn a bit of profit saving many of these rust buckets. It really has to be a labor of love though.

[Superhawk996]

We don't consider our time costs for going fishing . . .

I sure would if I were planning on selling the fish (IMG:style_emoticons/default/splat.gif)

Completely agree that it’s a fool’s errand unless done for recreation. Also agree has to be a labor of love.

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/wavey.gif)

[930cabman]

We don't consider our time costs for going fishing . . .

I sure would if I were planning on selling the fish (IMG:style_emoticons/default/splat.gif)

Completely agree that it’s a fool’s errand unless done for recreation. Also agree has to be a labor of love.

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/wavey.gif)

If you are working for $1.00 an hour you still wouldn't make money with this one. It's rough, but good luck

[brant]

Bringing dollar signs into this discussion… ?


It would be cheaper to buy a car without significant rust
You could drive it immediately
You wouldn’t need tools and 2-4 years of free labor

[mepstein]

The "labor of love" will be different for everyone. For some it's a couple grand and lot's of detailing. For others, it's all in, with a 2000 hour rustoration. I decided no more 914 rustorations and them promptly started on a rusty 912. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/headbang.gif) Only the oner can decide if it's worth it to them but it's good to show and explain what's involved so the owner can make a decision that's right for them.

Whenever I buy an air cooled Porsche, I assume it's rusty and then look for proof it isn't. Basically, if it's not from California or the SW, it's going to be very rusty. CA & SW cars will have rust but usually not to the extent of the rest of the country. After 50 years, it's baked in. Then I cross my fingers that there isn't covered up accident repair. Some people are artists with bondo. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/dry.gif)

[Front yard mechanic]

Set up a bunch of cameras run it off a tall cliff into the ocean rocks below ,put the video on all social media , hope it goes viral and you could make a profit (IMG:style_emoticons/default/slap.gif)

[Superhawk996]

Set up a bunch of cameras run it off a tall cliff into the ocean rocks below ,put the video on all social media , hope it goes viral and you could make a profit (IMG:style_emoticons/default/slap.gif)

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/av-943.gif)

[rhodyguy]

Was this the first 914 you looked at? Does it even run and shift? Driveable in any way? Hell hole picture...look below the engine shelve. The suspension console. The inner wheelhouse. This is a really rough 914. Price out the parts that might be needed from Restration Design. Factor in shipping from Canada and lead time. Locate the nearest Celete bench. I would look for a better car and pay the premium for it.

[bbrock]

Like Mark said, only the owner can decide what to do with the car. I also agree that we need to provide honest advice on what is involved getting a car like this back on the road. I also think we need to provide an honest assessment of the possibilities. When I started my project, I got similar advice to scrap the car, I'll spend way more than it will be worth, etc. All of that was good advice but ignored my motives for doing the project. It wasn't to start driving the car as fast as possible. It was to learn new things and develop new skills bringing something back that others had written off as dead. It's the same motivation we build model cars and planes instead of just buying already assembled toys.

Anybody can buy a nice 914 if they have deep enough pockets, fewer can build one. If learning and skill building is the motivation, the labor is not even $1, in fact, it is less than $0 because the time spent working on the project is reward rather than expense. I'd much rather spend my time building or restoring things in my shop than watching grown men run a ball back and forth on a fake lawn. Why don't we charge ourselves for the time cost of doing that? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/confused24.gif) I get immense satisfaction showing pictures of my car when the project began to people oohing and aweing over the car and seeing their jaws drop. And yeah, I'm kind of smug about it (IMG:style_emoticons/default/shades.gif)

I don't know the OP but get the impression that getting the car to driving condition as quickly and cheaply as possible was the objective. If that is the case, I would suggest finding a different car. This is not the one for that. I have my doubts that moving forward on this is the right decision, but only they can decide. I just want to make sure they have a complete picture of proven possibilities that gets lost in the negativity. Who knows? Maybe they are one of the rare wackos who wants the challenge. Just don't say the car will not be worth what they spend fixing it up. That is proven false. Insert "probably" before the "not," and I would fully agree.

[friethmiller]

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/agree.gif)
Yes!! Well said. My '74 LE is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay rougher than this car. The thought of not saving it, isn't even an option.

[stoneman30hotmail]

Stoneman,

You are most welcome to take a look at my photo gallery of my recent restoration. Took me 4 years! It was a lot of work but I learned so much along the way. Missed working the metal so I just purchased another rusted out 914. I want to see if I can do it again (IMG:style_emoticons/default/blink.gif)

https://fredriethmiller.smugmug.com/1974-Porsche-914

That does look like a nice way to handle it with the frame rotisserie. And the braces held well enough to replace all that structure and not have the car bend and twist?

I can well imagine you had a big budget to replace all those parts to show quality. Do you have an estimate on parts?

[stoneman30hotmail]

Poking at this slowly. I cut away more so I could see.
The jack post is missing a layer around the bottom.

It's bad all around the heater tube.

I also got a snake camera to look around. Not sure it helps much. But looks like the jack point has some metal.

The seatbelt mount and forward look ok. Though maybe it's not special to say it's only bad toward the bottom on the back end.

Is there something to do short of using a whole new inner wheelhouse and engine compartment longitudinal member and replacing the suspension and engine mounts? ...even though there looks to be a lot of good metal around the hole?

I don't think I could feasibly fab the metal around the heater tube. Most of the rustoration threads show a reinforcement layer on the inner long there, but I don't see that the restoration design part comes with one. Is that right?