THINKING ABOUT BUYING A 72 914, DOES THE PRICE SOUND GOOD?? Options

[JOE M]

I have loved 914`s for a long time. I finally found one and they are asking 2000. I think I can get it for 1800 if I haggle. The only things that I have noticed are that the exhaust is hooked up kind of weird. There appears to be some sort of bellows ( acordian) looking linkage between the engine and the down pipe. Not sure if that is a bandaid or if it is supposed to be there. Also the e-brake is missing. There is no handle or anything that I can see. I checked the battery area and there is no rust. There is a little bit of oil leak under but nothing horrible. The drivers side door has a little bondo near the handle. I drove it and it handles good and the engine seems responsive. It has redline carbs if that makes a difference. I am thinking that a little body work / paint and a new exhaust and it would pass inspection. Anyone know how much I am looking at for an exhaust and the e-brake assembly.
Thanks.

[blitZ]

I suggest you read this buyer's guide and thoroughly inspect the suspicious rust areas before making an offer. If all looks good, go for it.

914 Buyer's Guide

and of course....

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[purple]

As the others will tell you. put the targa on, roll the passenger side window down, get in the car (or a rotund friend) close the door, roll the window up...if it's hard to open or doesnt want to open at all...you have sag (rusted longs) pass. I had to do this on a 76 selling for 1500.

I think the car would have broken in half on the drive home.. it was so rusted out the jack points were gone

[JOE M]

I did do the targa test. When I first went to look at the car the dealer had no plates so he ended up driving (with no plates). It was like 100 degrees that day so he took off the top and I jumped in the passanger seat. The door close fine and the window rolled down fine considering that the handle knob was broken. I had to gram the shaft part and roll it down. But it made it and did not bind. I was told that the door would have a hard time closing but that was not the case. Thanks for the advise.

[Chris Pincetich]

Joe - My '72 didn't have an ebrake because the handle mount rusted off! Remove the drivers seat immediately and poke around. The stuff on top is tar, underneath is the metal. Some holes are not visible through the tar, but the rust holes are visible underneath. I spent >$1k having new floorboards installed, but the longs are solid and the car is stucturally sound.

I recently put on a loud racing exhaust, and have the quiet OEM muffler and upgraded stainless steel heat exchangers for sale in the Classifieds...I will sell these a bit below list price of $400 as my ad is getting old and I need to clear out my garage! make me an offer if this sounds good to you

Good luck (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)

[rhcb914]

I did do the targa test...The door close fine and the window rolled down fine considering that the handle knob was broken. I had to gram the shaft part and roll it down. But it made it and did not bind. I was told that the door would have a hard time closing but that was not the case. Thanks for the advise.

Rolling down the window while sitting in the car doesn't really tell you much. As purple said you want to close the door, roll up the window and then try to open the door. If it binds the most likely cluprit is rusted longs. I would be skeptical of any car that has spent much time in the North East. When I was looking for mine I must have looks at 20+ local cars over the course of 5 or so years. All of them has rust issue. I ended up getting one from Texas and even that has a few issues. I'm not saying you didn't find the one but I would jack it up and poke around and make sure it's as rust free as you think. Otherwise it sounds pretty solid for the $$. I have 3 sets of Stainless heat exchangers and various mufflers so if you end up needing an exhaust cheap let me know.

Where in NH are you from? There are quite a few North Easters around. You could maybe talk one of us into checking it out. I'm headed to Conway this weekend. If it's not far off the beaten trail I can talk my wife into making a quick pit stop.

Oh and (IMG:style_emoticons/default/welcome.png)

[JOE M]

I did do the targa test...The door close fine and the window rolled down fine considering that the handle knob was broken. I had to gram the shaft part and roll it down. But it made it and did not bind. I was told that the door would have a hard time closing but that was not the case. Thanks for the advise.

Rolling down the window while sitting in the car doesn't really tell you much. As purple said you want to close the door, roll up the window and then try to open the door. If it binds the most likely cluprit is rusted longs. I would be skeptical of any car that has spent much time in the North East. When I was looking for mine I must have looks at 20+ local cars over the course of 5 or so years. All of them has rust issue. I ended up getting one from Texas and even that has a few issues. I'm not saying you didn't find the one but I would jack it up and poke around and make sure it's as rust free as you think. Otherwise it sounds pretty solid for the $$. I have 3 sets of Stainless heat exchangers and various mufflers so if you end up needing an exhaust cheap let me know.

Where in NH are you from? There are quite a few North Easters around. You could maybe talk one of us into checking it out. I'm headed to Conway this weekend. If it's not far off the beaten trail I can talk my wife into making a quick pit stop.

Oh and (IMG:style_emoticons/default/welcome.png)

I`m in southern N.H (hudson). I went with my brother in law yesterday who is a mechanic and has years of garage experience. He said the car looks solid but there are a couple of bondo spots. Both door jams along the bottom have been patched. The driver side looks like a backyard hack job but the passenger side looks better. Overall the car looks to be in decent shape. The window goes up and down easily with the top on and off. Actually I was surprised because the window crank handle is broken off so I had to crank it with hardly anything to grab onto and it still was o.k. It does need a wheel bearing on the passenger side and an exhaust. The rear suspension has recently been updated. The front struts are old and will probably need to be replaced. Also there is no parking brake but when I lifted the carpet there were no signs of rust. My brother in law was actually surprised how good the udercarriage looked. I think I will buy it today.
By the way me and wife go into Conway regularly. It`s a great place to hang out.
Thanks again.

[JOE M]

Well,it looks like I will be getting my 914 today after work. Hopefully by about 4:30edt I will be a first time Porsche owner. Not quite sure if I should leave it out because my neighbor has an `81 911. He might laugh but you know what I love the 914`s. Allways have and hopefully allways will.

[Eric_Ciampa]

Don't forget to post pictures when you get it.

[Eric_Ciampa]

Don't forget to post pictures when you get it.

[euro911]

Well,it looks like I will be getting my 914 today after work. Hopefully by about 4:30edt I will be a first time Porsche owner. Not quite sure if I should leave it out because my neighbor has an `81 911. He might laugh but you know what I love the 914`s. Allways have and hopefully allways will.

Joe, I wouldn't worry about your neighbor. I own 911's and 912's, just most recently added a couple of 914's to the stable ... but then again, I laugh at myself all the time anyway (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

Congrats on your first Porsche VW 914 (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)

[crash914]

check with Matt and Jay.. Apex..

get a pre-purchase inspection from Exotech, Mark Nadler.

There are a lots of guys up in NH that will help you out. call the north country PCA and ask around.

Most of the cars that I saw when I lived there were pretty toasted.

I think we knew about all of them..