914 Body Work Options

[bmangetspaid69]

Hi 914world,

I purchased this '74 914 about a year ago and recently went to a Porsche dealership to ask about some shops to do some body work (need floors and clean up some of the rust throughout) for a restoration project. They had one come over who said it would be near impossible for them to do and there is only 1 guy (in Vegas, I am in the midwest) who could do it, but it would cost $100k... thought they were joking but I guess not. Does anyone have any idea if this is real? / gotten body work done and have an estimate of how much body work should cost and if its possible to weld in new floor pans?

[bmangetspaid69]

Here are some more pics

[bmangetspaid69]

Last one

[rjames]

The quote of $100k is high depending on what you're expecting them to do- and that's probably the right number if Porsche was going to do it. What are the other rust areas? Have you had the rockers off?

[bkrantz]

Looks like at the very least you need a new floor, and likely have to deal with rust in other panels that attach to the floor. To do this even half right, that means careful undoing of original welds and/or surgical dissection of rusted panel sections. And then welding in new pieces. Some of these are available as reproductions but others have to come from donor cars or be fabricated. Then there is all the mechanical work involved in disassembly and reassembly. And finally finish work and paint. My guess is at least a few hundred hours, and work that is essentially all "custom". $100k sounds high, but $20k (or more) would not be surprising.

[rick 918-S]

Pull the rocker covers and check the jack posts
Also post pics of the battery tray and the hell hole below it.

There are lots of guys on the forum that have been thru this. Some more than once.

[Superhawk996]

I’m not even sure what’s left under there but it certainly doesn’t look like a 914 floor pan. Looks like someone decided that diamond plate would be a better interior floor pan. It looks like the external (structural) floor pan underbody is scabbed together flat sheetmetal instead of the original 914 floor pan which had distinctive formations in it.

Typical shop rate is going to be about $100/hr and if it’s as bad as I think it is, there are hundreds and hundreds of hours of metal work there not including paint. Typically when a project is this big, it is not going economically viable to pay a shop to do the work.

You can look at Automobile Atlanta and Restoration Design to get an idea of what sheetmetal panel costs are.

Agree with others - need more pictures and view of longs and hell hole to better assess the extent of work needed.

Looks like you’re going to be learning to weld. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sawzall-smiley.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smash.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/welder.gif)

[SirAndy]

I would not drive that the way it is. The passenger seat is about to fall out the bottom.
(IMG:style_emoticons/default/unsure.gif)

PS: (IMG:style_emoticons/default/welcome.png)

[bmangetspaid69]

I’m not even sure what’s left under there but it certainly doesn’t look like a 914 floor pan. Looks like someone decided that diamond plate would be a better interior floor pan. It looks like the external (structural) floor pan underbody is scabbed together flat sheetmetal instead of the original 914 floor pan which had distinctive formations in it.

Typical shop rate is going to be about $100/hr and if it’s as bad as I think it is, there are hundreds and hundreds of hours of metal work there not including paint. Typically when a project is this big, it is not going economically viable to pay a shop to do the work.

You can look at Automobile Atlanta and Restoration Design to get an idea of what sheetmetal panel costs are.

Agree with others - need more pictures and view of longs and hell hole to better assess the extent of work needed.

Looks like you’re going to be learning to weld. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sawzall-smiley.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smash.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/welder.gif)

Thanks for the info! Looks like I'm going to have to (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sawzall-smiley.gif) Here's a picture of the hell hole and battery tray (or whats left of it lol). Somehow she still runs and drives pretty decently. Still need to get the rockers off, going to save that for tomorrow

[bmangetspaid69]

[Superhawk996]

Start reading the rustoration threads to get a glimpse of what you're likely in for.

Personal favorites:

Brent Brock
http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?showtopic=307290

Jeff Hail
http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?showtopic=76791

There are many more. Link to mine is in my signature.

[Cairo94507]

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/welcome.png) Looks like a decent exterior.

Tackling rust is a major project. If you have the skills, time and parts give it a go after reviewing many of the restoration threads on our site. If you happen to have lots of $$$, I would ship it to a shop, several on this site are very capable of handling this work, and let the professionals do it right. That way you can get the car back and enjoy it instead of seeing it on a rotisserie or jack stands for the next several years. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)

[friethmiller]

Just by looking at the condition of the metal below/inside the battery tray + the rear passenger floor, this will need at least half of the long and most of the jack post area replaced. We'll see what the pics show. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/huh.gif)

[Graydingo]

I'm in Vegas, I'll cut that floor out and put a new one in for 50K. I'll even fix the hell hole for that price. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/welder.gif)

BTW I believe I know how they got to that price.

1. Our local dealer did a full restoration on a LE and they spent quite a bit doing body work. It was concourse quality though.

2. A local shop (one of three in Vegas) is currently doing a 914-6 and I know the guy doing all the welding on it. It's not as much of a basket case as yours but still required a lot of (and I mean a lot) Of metal work. Based on those two projects is probably where the price came in at.

In all seriousness, you could buy a dry 914 in really nice shape for around 20k. This one is not worth it unless you personally weld and have done major body / metal work.

[TROJANMAN]

I'd start with a new tub and start transferring parts.

I happen to know a guy with one for sale (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

[ChrisFoley]

I have a project in long term storage at home with similar metal repair needs. Fortunately no one else has done any bad repairs ahead of my work, and I have all the repair panels on hand already. But still a couple hundred hours to come out the other side whole.

[dr914@autoatlanta.com]

We replace the 914 floor pans all of the time, and it is no big thing. HOWEVER it is the rust around the periphery that causes the extra hours of labor

[rjames]

It sucks hearing that you may have a parts car on your hand unless you have the skills to repair it yourself or have the $ to pay someone else to do it right. Unfortunately, many of these cars get sold looking pretty on the outside when in reality there isn't much holding them together.

A perfect example of that is this car:


And here's the link to what it looked like underneath, and what it took to repair it correctly.
Digging Into Hell

On the positive side, there are good tubs to be had out there for a lot less than what it would likely take to get your car road worthy, and swapping parts over isn't that hard to do.

[bmangetspaid69]

Thanks for all the replies... Super helpful. Here's an update after I took the side skirts off and took the passenger seat out. Rockers don't seem too terrible bad, but there is some rust. It looks like the original floor is there, but the previous owner welded the new metal on top of it, assuming that is why it would take so much work to weld a new floor pan in.

[rjames]

After looking at those welds I wouldn't trust anything the PO did. That should all be removed. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad.gif)