Inherited a couple 914's looking for insight-Pictures posted, Valuation Options

[swedishSTile]

EDIT: Removed. I have been getting spam from the email and phone number I listed on this. These cars are gone. Removing post.

[brant]

the true problem with determining value is in the rust
and compaired to a modern car, most people in the world do not know how to truly evaluate the rust on these cars

they do not rust in visible locations..

pull the rocker covers on all of them
look at the longitudinals and jack points under the rocker cover
pull the batteries out and look with a flash light in the "hell holes"
jack the cars up and examine the suspension points closely
pull the seats and carpets and examine the floor pans
pull the rear trunk carpet and examine the seam under the taillight housings...


these are where the cars actually rust

a rusted shell is worth 500 as a parts car
a non rusted complete car is worth a lot more

brant

[swedishSTile]

As far as rust let me clarify my original post. All are California cars with complete floor pans. I pulled the carpet and got under them and knocked around and they are solid. The battery boxes are all in tact. Pulling the carpet in the two cars that have it showed some surface oxidation but no substantial rust. Didnt manage to pull the rocker covers but went after them with a flaslight and a tapping stick and have the following conclusion

1) (silver) Car has some surface rust in the front trunk. There is a little rust around the base of the windshield that can probably be cleaned up with a media blast (mostly surface). everything else looked and sounded solid.

3) (orange) Car is solid and has no rust as far as an hour picking over it could discern. It has been stored indoors its entire life

4) (blue) This car may have some problems, I only picked over it for about 15 minutes as having the engine out immediately gave me the impression of it being a project I dont want to deal with right now. It looked like it was solid and there was no rust under any of the carpet or at first glance under the car or in the engine compartment but it may have some rot hiding in it. Lets assume it does

Edit: There may or may not be some small problems in these cars as far as rust is concerned, but I think they are solid. I have owned my fair share of old datsuns, a Fiat, and a couple early 70's pony cars and I generally know what to look at listen for in an old car. Ill take the $500 figure to heart if I find rust in these cars. Assuming I dont, I would like a rough estimate on the value of a clean example.

[green914]

Pictures ... show us what they look like.

[swedishSTile]

I am getting a trailer over the long weekend to pick the cars up and bring them home. I will post some pictures ASAP.

[brant]

also the factory put a tar layer/coating on the inside of the floor pans
the cars can rust out under the tar (tar which is painted body color) so it can be tricky to see the floor pan rust

you really need to pull the rocker covers and see the longitudinals to evaluate the rust on them.

there is always more rust than at first apparent
sorry for beating a dead horse
but the rust really determines the value

for example... I will not buy a 914 without pulling the rocker covers
I tell everyone buying their first 914 to not pull the trigger until they have seen the rocker covers removed.

I've owned a dozen or so and won't buy anthing greater than a parts car without pulling the rocker covers

[Madswede]

Know how to decipher the VIN yet? There's a pinned thread on this somewhere I'm sure. Short n sweet version: 47-car model, next digit is the year where 0=1970, 1=1971 etc, 29=made at the Karmann plant (I think), and last five are the car number. So it should be easy to figure out what year the orange car is. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sunglasses.gif)

Edit: love your screen name by the way...those are some of my favorite u-tube videos!

[swedishSTile]

Thanks. Exhaust is such a hard thing to gauge based on video clips. I thought I could do better but realized afterwords its impossible. The suby sounds nothing like that now, although I wish it did. Its way louder than I want it to be these days.

I get it, they are probably rusted (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif) I will get after them once I get them home and see what I have. That said, you have given me a price for a rusted shell, ASSUMING they are not rusted, what is a very rough estimate or reasonable range for them?

If I have that then I have high and low based on rusted and pristine it will give me a starting point which is all I really need, a starting point. Im not looking to get rich here, just not have 3 extra cars in my driveway

[DBCooper]

Subaru tuner, huh? And a few extra 914's? Then consider keeping one of the better cars and putting in a WRX or STi engine/transmission into it. Believe me, you only THINK you have a fun car now, the 914-Subaru combination takes the best of each and will give you some some entirely new metrics for evaluating degrees of fun. Really.

[swedishSTile]

Subaru tuner, huh? And a few extra 914's? Then consider keeping one of the better cars and putting in a WRX or STi engine/transmission into it. Believe me, you only THINK you have a fun car now, the 914-Subaru combination takes the best of each and will give you some some entirely new metrics for evaluating degrees of fun. Really.

Thought about it. Been to renegade hybrids page. I thought about putting the 190hp jdm 2.0l NA motor in one so I wouldnt have to muck with the IC and turbo nonsense.

I ultimately decided to keep saving my pennies for an intercooled TPC turbo kit for the Cayman once my wife relinquishes her strangle hold on the keys.

[bandjoey]

I know that with good pictures we'll come up with sone help with value. Then it comes down to the market price. Checking the classifieds here and pelican parts are good places to see in general what they're selling for today. .? Did your family own a P dealership? Also please post the vin numbers to the database here. Thanks and happy selling. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)

[SirAndy]

Somebody had to do it ... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/thisthreadisworthlesswithoutpics.gif)

[swedishSTile]

Touche. I know I know. I will get them up this weekend. Sorry for the epic fail. Should have waited to post.

Will do once I pull the Vin's. My father-in-law bought the orange one new and has managed to hang onto it all these years. Over the years he bought several other cars. My broth in law and sister in law both have one. My wife and I have one.

My broth in law and I are currently trying to get a handle on dealing with the balance of the cars and decide between putting money into them and getting them running, or just flat selling them and reinvesting in some of the other cars in the family.

[Jeffs9146]

Where in the United States are you and the cars located?

There are lots of us around the world that can look at these and give you an honest opinion of there values!

[PlantMan]

Don't let the California car thing fool you! What part of California???

My car too is a California car but from the Bay Area and spent its whole life there.

My car has a lot of rust. The good thing is is that the cars are salvageable in most situations.

Looking forward to pics!

[Mblizzard]

No one is doubting your ability to evaluate rust. But surface rust only, is a rare occurrence on 914s. Because the 914 was put together with many overlapping layers of un rust preventive treated metal, rust has been forming in these areas for many years before any indications of surface rust can be seen.

I hope that you do have some truly rust free cars. But many of us here have had to break the bad rust news to other car owners, potential sellers, potential buyers, and regrettably our selfs after making a purchase. It can be hard to find and harder to repair than you would ever think.

So no one is poking you with a sharp stick, they are really just trying to help you figure out the right ones to keep because they are great cars which with your experience could do some crazy fun modifications. Best of luck.

[swedishSTile]

Cars are in Southern California. If anyone wants to look at them after this weekend you are more than welcome! HA! No reasonable offer refused (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif) and quick is good.

Points well taken. If they end up being worth next to nothing, be that as it may. Maybe it will make them easier to unload as parts bin cars. Hoping I dont have an extended headache on my hands.

Looking around it seems like everyone converts the fuel injected motors to carb. Is the fuel injection kit worthless and is it even worth my time going to the trouble to sell or should I bin it>?

[Cuda911]

Where in So. CA?

If in San Diego, I could take a look.

As stated above, a pile of pictures would be needed to offer any advice on value.

VERY ballpark values, just to give you some sort of reference:

Junky cars that are not running have almost no value unless you can pick off some parts and sell them. Junky running cars generally are in the $1,500 to $3,000 range.

Decent but flawed running cars are in the $5K range.

Good ones are about $10 K.

Darn good ones are in the $15 K range.

Super ones are in the $20k-plus range.

That's my assessment of prices/values, anyway.

[swedishSTile]

I am in orange county and the cars are at the moment in Simi Valley but will be down here shortly.

Thanks Cuda! Thats really what I was looking for. I think I probably have one in the parts bin category, one in the junky running category and one in the decent but flawed category. Those may all get downgraded a notch once I have time to sort them out.

Any input on the new-old-stock fuel injection system? Junk too?

[Jeffs9146]

The stock injection is the best if the cams have not been changed!

I would keep it with the 2.0L best car for parts.

Carbs won't give you the full potencial without a different cam and tuning.