Introduction and a question Options

[alfadoc]

Hey all,

First post. Introduction follows, please feel free to skip to my real question. Been messing with cars since my early teens, so that makes 40+ years. I'm formerly an ASE Master Tech, used to have my own shop, mostly doing Italian stuff. Did Alfa and Fiat parts for years via mail order, was a buyer in Italy for a while. Kinda been around the block so to say.

Been driving a 944 daily for about 10 years and bought a 911 2 years ago. I've always liked 914s since my first drive, sneaking a friend's Dad's car out when I was 15 and the car was new. I've found locally a 75 914 1.8, Malaga Red/Black, one owner from new, at a very attractive price. I'm about to pull the trigger. It's mostly been garaged over the years, but sadly has been sitting outside for about 5 years. The body was extensively restored in '91, but it's time for round two. It's very complete, all original, about 80K miles.

Cursory examination shows no visible rust in the trunks, the floor pans, the bottoms of the doors or directly under the battery. I'm not sure if looking directly under the battery in the engine compartment is enough to fully investigate the hell hole, so advice is welcome. It's not mine yet, so I haven't had a chance to pull the outer rockers off yet.

The doors shut great, all shut lines look good and the doors don't drag in the openings. I did see right under the A pillar that the longs seam is kinda crusty, so there is some rust lurking for sure.

So here's the question: if I buy this 914 it will go into dry storage, but it may be as much as five years before I can get into serious restoration mode on it. Business is going to take me away for an extended period, and this is almost a project to be taken on in retirement. For the interim, what's the collective wisdom on keeping the rust from getting worse? I can pull the outer rockers before the car goes into mothballs, and I can POR-15 the heck out of everything I can see on the surface. Is there any way to get the POR-15 into the structure where inner and outer longs meet without cutting or extensively dismantling?

I think what I want to do with the car is put together a 2056 on the original 1.8 case, and keep the L-Jet. Very familiar with that injection system from my years on Alfas/Fiats/Lancias etc, and it's well documented in many other threads.

Thanks for reading, and looking forward to responses on the rust issues.