Looking at buying a 914, how bad is this rust? Options

[sperry]

Hi everyone, I'm a new member, and I'm looking at buying a 914.

I found a great looking '74 914 2.0 that's still mostly original (even has the original FI). However, the car seems to have a rust problem on the inside. I'm wondering what this car's worth and how bad the rust really is. I don't have the tools or experience to cut out and repair massive rust damage, so I'd have to take it to a shop for a rust-ectomy... I wonder how much that's gonna cost.

There's good news and bad news about the car:

The good:
- Exterior looks AWESOME. Can't hardly believe it's 30 years old. Car's been painted (but it was originally white)... hopefully not to cover up body damage... but the lines are real straight! Turn signal lenses are cracked, no biggie. Both headlight motors work, both headlights work. Fogs are busted.

- The interior is in pretty good condition, the carpet's dirty but not destroyed, the seats have some tears, but they're not ruined. Tach, speedo, and fuel gauges work. It's got the cool center console which adds a clock, temp gauge, and voltmeter, and they all work.

- Motor runs real nice. Starts right up, revs smoothly all the way to the red-line.

- Tranny seems good. Clutch is at most 5 years old. There's a little grindage into 1st if you don't give it some time to spin down after pushing the clutch in, but if you shift it smoothly it doesn't complain.

- No major oil leaks... at least nothing was smoking, or dripping when I was running the engine.

- Tires... gotta be less than 1000 miles on 'em!

The bad:
- Rust. It doesn't really look too bad, but I'm not sure I'm qualified to make an educated call. Is this surface rust, or is the structural integrity compromised? There's rust on the battery pan, and under it in the engine compartment. There's also a spot of rust in the rear trunk where it looks like some water collected.

- The tranny cables are hanging down. Nothing a zip-tie won't fix for the time being, but perhaps it's an indication of the car's mantence history?

- Brakes. They need to be bled worse than any brakes ever... I swear they're filled with 50% air. For a car as light as a 914, this thing took forever to slow down from the top of 2nd gear.

- Suspension. Totally shot. I don't think there's a saftey issue, but it sorely needs new suspension bits. I might be willing to say it's on original or it's second set of struts. The body roll is REDICULOUS. It also needs swaybars.... BAD.

So here's a summary: The motor, tranny, interior and exterior seem cool. The brakes, suspension, and rust could be the big issues.

Please, thumb through this gallery and tell me what you guys think: http://www.seccs.org/gallery/index.php?gal...s/Porsche%20914

Specifically, I need help on the rust issue. How much is too much? I don't know how to judge it. Here's the best picture of the notorious "hell hole" battery area:

(IMG:http://www.seccs.org/gallery/Car%20Pictures/Porsche%20914/DSCF0129.JPG)

And another view between the motor and the battery:
(IMG:http://www.seccs.org/gallery/Car%20Pictures/Porsche%20914/DSCF0127.JPG)

Here's the rust in the left rear corner of the rear trunk:
(IMG:http://www.seccs.org/gallery/Car%20Pictures/Porsche%20914/DSCF0126.JPG)

Check out the passenger foot well:
(IMG:http://www.seccs.org/gallery/Car%20Pictures/Porsche%20914/DSCF0120.JPG)

Now, some pictures of good stuff:

(IMG:http://www.seccs.org/gallery/Car%20Pictures/Porsche%20914/DSCF0121.JPG)

(IMG:http://www.seccs.org/gallery/Car%20Pictures/Porsche%20914/DSCF0117.JPG)

(IMG:http://www.seccs.org/gallery/Car%20Pictures/Porsche%20914/DSCF0119.JPG)

Sorry for the giant pictures, but I'm on a borrowed computer right now, and I can't resize them smaller.

I'm thinking I should pass on this one for now, and save my money for a car in better condition, but I figured I'd ask for some expert advice from people that have personally delt with one of these cars.

Thanks in advance for any info you can lend!

[marc_hines]

sperry,

I couple of questions to help guide our answers:

(1) Do you havee the facilities to do your own body repiar (garage with enough room, tools, access to welder)?

(2) Do you want a 'fun' car - or will this be your regular driver during it's 'rust'toration?

(3) Does the vehicle sag in the middle when both door are open?

(4) How much is the current owner asking for this vehicle?

These can help guide us on if this is the right car for you and you situation.

Marc...

[sperry]

(1) Do you havee the facilities to do your own body repiar (garage with enough room, tools, access to welder)?

I have enough room to drop the motor/tranny and get pretty hands on, but I don't have the skill or tools if it comes to welding. I figure if anything needs to be cut and welded, then I'll have to have a shop do the entire rust removal.

(2) Do you want a 'fun' car - or will this be your regular driver during it's 'rust'toration?

This car will be a fun/autocross car (I've got an '02 WRX as my daily driver already). I'd like to be able to race in C-Stock next season, which means the car needs to be safe and put together well enough that I don't have to worry about something like the rear suspension tearing loose on course. Depending on how well the car can be restored, I may or may not opt to convert it to a pure track car.... i.e. If the car's pretty complete and the rust can be managed, I'd probably opt to attempt a restoration instead of cutting it into a widebody racer... but if it's going to need to be cut up just to remove rust, then I might as well swap the fenders and install a cage while I'm at it.

(3) Does the vehicle sag in the middle when both door are open?

I did the test where you roll down the window, get in the car, close the door, roll up the window and see if it sticks at all, and the car seemed fine. On my test drive, I slalomed the car about a little bit and didn't hear any creaks or groans... not that that's a terribly great way to test it, especially considering how shot the suspension is.

(4) How much is the current owner asking for this vehicle?

Current owner is asking $2200. I'm sure I could get it for $2000, but even then I'm thinking that's $1000 too much, if the rust is as bad as I think it'll be. How much would a shop generally charge to fix a rusted body, such as the car I'm looking at? I figure I can remove the motor/tranny, interior, etc myself, and borrow a trailer to bring it to a shop for repairs. I guess I should get in contact with my local porsche house and see what they'd charge.

[ChrisFoley]

I'd try to get the owner down to $1500. It's probably worth buying, since you can do the disassembly yourself. Hopefully you are also prepared to do the repaint of repaired areas yourself.
You might spend between $1000 - $2000 on welded repairs. Then you will still have to replace a bunch of mechanical stuff. Maybe to the tune of $1000 - $2000. At that point you will have a pretty good, driveable 914. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)
Unfortunately, there's no real way of knowing what the job will require until you dive into it.

[skline]

I have seen worse that sold for more. If you can get it between 1500 and 1800, I would say buy it.

[DrifterJay]

Hey Skline, me and my buddy dropped the motor and a few other things...was fun..going to sleep now..
J (IMG:style_emoticons/default/givemebeer.gif)

[rhodyguy]

if you "think" you should pass on this one, follow your gut instinct. if you look again feel the rotors. are they ridged up? rotors, calipers, bearings are going to run run you a quick $500 minimum. go to restoration design's web site price out the cost of repair panels. look at prices for EVERYTHING you might want/need to replace in the classifieds here and at pelican. plan on buying a welder, compressor and air tools. having a shop do the rust repair is going to be thousands. do the math. personally, i would pass on this car for a driver/ax machine. a $200 parts car? sure, maybe. i LOOKED at a much better car locally for $2500. if you buy that car i fear you won't be driving it much for at least one year.

kevin

[sperry]

Thanks for the help guys! I think I'm going to pass on this particular car. I'd probably do better to buy a track-ready 914 for $5,000 to $7,000 instead of attempting to build my own. I need more experience with one of these cars before diving in on such an extensive project.

Next season a friend of mine is planning on running his 914 in SM2, so I'll try to pick his brain and learn more about what it takes to restore, modify and race one of these cars before getting my own.

[r_towle]

looks concourse baby.......(austin powers)