Can there be a rust free 914? Options

[cal44]

There are so many used parts available for 914's it dawned on me the cars rot around the parts.

The one we have in currently has been taken care of by the original owner and it still has hell hole issues. Always garaged in central California the guy washed and waxed on a regular basis.

With rain tray in place, the sides (opposite ends of rain tray) are open, the water pours in over the battery. That aspect is a poor design at best.

Don't get me wrong, I'm hooked the 914 but the poor things are like open windows in a house during a rain storm, the wood floors will suffer.

At times I read rust free 914 for sale. Is it possible to have an "original rust free 914"?

[mepstein]

Steve's original red '73 is the closest I've ever seen. And it's on the east coast. I'm sure there are others, but they seem to stay hidden away.

[GeorgeRud]

With many cars now getting rotissary restorations, you’ll probably be seeing more rust-free cars out there, but not original anymore. Ben (mb911) has an excellent thread describing the restoration and amount of new metal being welded onto a 914 he’s converting. It’s really nearing the point where Restoration Design or Dansk should start producing bodies in white (for the 911 and 914) like the Mustang and Camaro crowd are doing. Then all those parts could have a great, rust free home to be attached to.

[Justinp71]

I thought mine was rust free, but it does have a little rust in the bottom of the headlight buckets.

My old chevelles were really bad at rusting in the bottoms of the fenders. All the gunk would get stuffed in there from the road or trees and eventually rot out.

[DRPHIL914]

unless rotisserie restoration and all cavities opened up: NO

[mepstein]

With many cars now getting rotissary restorations, you’ll probably be seeing more rust-free cars out there, but not original anymore. Ben (mb911) has an excellent thread describing the restoration and amount of new metal being welded onto a 914 he’s converting. It’s really nearing the point where Restoration Design or Dansk should start producing bodies in white (for the 911 and 914) like the Mustang and Camaro crowd are doing. Then all those parts could have a great, rust free home to be attached to.

I don't think we will ever see 914's made. Too much work to build a unibody for a car that still doesn't bring big money. Then there's the issue of becoming a manufacturer of cars. The muscle car bodies are still just bodies on a frame, they aren't the whole car. I'm not sure you can build a car and then not have it meet current safety standards. You could call it a kit car but then it's not really a 914. You can't (yea, I know people do) just pull the vin tags from a 914 and put it on the new body.

Dansk is in the process of making all the metal for early and mid year 911's so in theory you could build one from scratch but the replacement parts vary from good to poor. Its not to bad when you repair a 911 to add a part that needs to be reworked but if you are starting from scratch, you would need a jig for almost every part to make sure it doesn't just go in the right place but also to insure the part itself is the right size and shape. Building in mid air is not an easy task.

I know there is a company that builds every piece for early VW busses. I remember reading that they build a new bus from scratch but I don't know how they got around the VIN issue. I know when the rich people do it, they call it a "re-body" (IMG:style_emoticons/default/shades.gif) instead of a vin swap and that seems to make everything work

[marksteinhilber]

unless rotisserie restoration and all cavities opened up: NO

Disagree. You can do a full restoration and address all rust without a rotisserie. It's just harder. Unless a car was garaged from day 1 and not driven in snow and rain, then the rust might be minimal. but they still can rust from the inside out, especially due to battery acid and so forth. Every car needs a full inspection looking for signs of rusting from the inside out. Internal inspection of the longitudinals is probably the best check for the jack post and hell hole problem areas.

[bbrock]

I remember somebody on another thread a few months ago describe picking up a six (I think) brand new in Germany back in the day, and the car already had rust.

[DRPHIL914]

unless rotisserie restoration and all cavities opened up: NO

Disagree. You can do a full restoration and address all rust without a rotisserie. It's just harder. Unless a car was garaged from day 1 and not driven in snow and rain, then the rust might be minimal. but they still can rust from the inside out, especially due to battery acid and so forth. Every car needs a full inspection looking for signs of rusting from the inside out. Internal inspection of the longitudinals is probably the best check for the jack post and hell hole problem areas.

you missed my point, I didn't mean the rotissierie was the only way to restore a car, my point was unless you open stuff up and clean it out and treat it , 99.99% of the time its not going to be a rust free 914, especially in the areas of the sail panel etc that have foam in them. every one I have had or looked into has had rust in those locations-

[dcheek]

Owned since day one. Always garaged and covered. I can only recall 3-4 times I've ever driven it in the rain using the wipers. Engine and battery covered when I wash it. If there's rust, it's hidden deep in the unibody caverns and I'm not cutting into it to find out!
Dave

[gothspeed]

I would be suspicious of any 914 that doesn't have rust. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/stirthepot.gif)

[mepstein]

unless rotisserie restoration and all cavities opened up: NO

Disagree. You can do a full restoration and address all rust without a rotisserie. It's just harder. Unless a car was garaged from day 1 and not driven in snow and rain, then the rust might be minimal. but they still can rust from the inside out, especially due to battery acid and so forth. Every car needs a full inspection looking for signs of rusting from the inside out. Internal inspection of the longitudinals is probably the best check for the jack post and hell hole problem areas.

you missed my point, I didn't mean the rotissierie was the only way to restore a car, my point was unless you open stuff up and clean it out and treat it , 99.99% of the time its not going to be a rust free 914, especially in the areas of the sail panel etc that have foam in them. every one I have had or looked into has had rust in those locations-

Almost any time you remove a welded metal part or panel, there is rust between the seam. That's why a blasted or dipped car will still rust. If you dip it, it has to be neutralized and then e-coated.

[DRPHIL914]

Owned since day one. Always garaged and covered. I can only recall 3-4 times I've ever driven it in the rain using the wipers. Engine and battery covered when I wash it. If there's rust, it's hidden deep in the unibody caverns and I'm not cutting into it to find out!
Dave

that is a beautiful car! I sure would not worry about if or how much is in it with the care you have given it , it surely is one of the 1%ers, a true survivor. you can tell by the condition of the rubber bumper covers that it has seen very little UV light.

[Elliot Cannon]

I believe they started to rust immediately after rolling off the assembly line. The boat ride over and being parked in open parking lots didn't help much either. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/av-943.gif)

[marksteinhilber]

unless rotisserie restoration and all cavities opened up: NO

Disagree. You can do a full restoration and address all rust without a rotisserie. It's just harder. Unless a car was garaged from day 1 and not driven in snow and rain, then the rust might be minimal. but they still can rust from the inside out, especially due to battery acid and so forth. Every car needs a full inspection looking for signs of rusting from the inside out. Internal inspection of the longitudinals is probably the best check for the jack post and hell hole problem areas.

you missed my point, I didn't mean the rotissierie was the only way to restore a car, my point was unless you open stuff up and clean it out and treat it , 99.99% of the time its not going to be a rust free 914, especially in the areas of the sail panel etc that have foam in them. every one I have had or looked into has had rust in those locations-

Yes, I agree, but you can use boroscope so as to not "open up" what you don't have to. multiple layers of steel show signs when there is rust between the layers.

[pete000]

I think the metal was rusty even before they stamped the parts !

[marksteinhilber]

unless rotisserie restoration and all cavities opened up: NO

Disagree. You can do a full restoration and address all rust without a rotisserie. It's just harder. Unless a car was garaged from day 1 and not driven in snow and rain, then the rust might be minimal. but they still can rust from the inside out, especially due to battery acid and so forth. Every car needs a full inspection looking for signs of rusting from the inside out. Internal inspection of the longitudinals is probably the best check for the jack post and hell hole problem areas.

you missed my point, I didn't mean the rotissierie was the only way to restore a car, my point was unless you open stuff up and clean it out and treat it , 99.99% of the time its not going to be a rust free 914, especially in the areas of the sail panel etc that have foam in them. every one I have had or looked into has had rust in those locations-

Almost any time you remove a welded metal part or panel, there is rust between the seam. That's why a blasted or dipped car will still rust. If you dip it, it has to be neutralized and then e-coated.

Have to agree with neutralizing the acid and epoxy primer, or galvanizing, and any and all methods of sealing the steel so that moisture never gets to it. The foam the factory used seems to have been a bad idea. Seam sealer worked well in some places, but in others trapped water and caused rust. Use of seam sealer needs to be in a way of sealing seams, but not when it traps water into a pocket and dodry quickly.

[SKL1]

My roomate in college had a 124 Fiat spider and I swear you could hear it rusting sitting in the college parking lot. Always said Fiat used salt water based paint...

Don't think the 914's are as bad but you definitely have to look after them! I've been doing that to my '71 from its first trip from the Porsche+Audi dealership. It was my only car for 4 years so I drove it sparingly in the winter and took off the rockers every spring for a good cleaning. Luckily I was in medical school at the time and didn't have much time for driving anyway!!


(BTW, nice to see another original owner cheek...)

[ablesnead]

...mines rust free except behind trunk latch , which has surface rust

[SO.O.C914er]

Yes purchased new back in the 70’s (IMG:style_emoticons/default/av-943.gif)