Know when to hold'em, know when to walk away Options

[watsonrx13]

I purchased a '74 1.8 yellow 914 a year ago and decided this weekend to start working on it. When I bought the car, it was from a PCA member, who bought it from a neighbor. The neighbor had owned the car for 10 years and, since he was recently retired, decided to restore the car. He took everything out of the car and disassembled the motor. Shortly afterwards, his wife was given a promotion, but they had to move out of state, so he sold the car to the PCA member. This guy contacted a mutual friend, who then contacted me. We discussed the car's condition and I bought it sight unseen. When I got the car I was disappointed, but I didn't pay much for it.

Anyway, I'm finishing up my current project, so I decided to start working on this one. The car came fully loaded with all of the parts, except the bumpers. I kept the parts in the car (great storage). Here's what the interior looked like.



I removed all of the parts and started removing the sound-proofing on the floors. After removing the driver's side tar, here's what I looks like at the firewall...



Here's what it looks like at the center tunnel....



Here's the passenger's side firewall...



-- Rob

[watsonrx13]

Here's more of the passenger's side firewall at the long....



After seeing the rust at the firewall, I decided to check the engine compartment. Here's the driver's hell hole...



Here's the passenger's hell hole...



The passenger's inner fender well...



-- Rob

[AgPete139]

Rough. Good luck with your resto! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)

Pete

[watsonrx13]

Here's a shot of the outer passenger's long...



Here's a shot of the outer driver's long....



Some more rust, in the windshield area...



Driver's side rust in the windshield area...



-- Rob

[watsonrx13]

Here's a shot of the driver's side targa panel/door area...



Here's some evidence of prior repair, using fiber glass.... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/blink.gif)



Anyway, I've decided not to restore this car. It's going to very expensive and I'm just not that attached to it. So, I'm going to use it as a donor car for the restoration of my LE..... Stay tuned for that process....

-- Rob

[SLITS]

Ah hell, those holes just let the water out ... no problem (IMG:style_emoticons/default/dry.gif)

[pete-stevers]

yup just walk away! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/barf.gif)

[bcheney]

Rob,

I wise move on your part. Much work and $ would have been put into that one. I made some progress on my car today. I will post some pics to my thread.

Brian

[Joe Ricard]

What about the motor wheels and transaxle. Anyother suspension stuff salvageable.

[VaccaRabite]

If you got it cheap, consider it a parts car. Get a good tub from somewhere out west and put all the parts on it.

If you are good with welding and want to do a lot of bracing and fabrication, then go for it. All the metal that is needed to fix it is out there for sale.

Zach

[jd74914]

Each of my 3 cars have looked like that. I think I'm doing something wrong. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)

[carr914]

Holey Smooley, Good choice Rob, to use it as a parts car. You can weld, but you would have been at it a LONG time and then had a patched car.

T.C.

[Root_Werks]

If it was just the hell hole area and pass long/firewell...I'd fix it. Too much beyond that is just too much work for me. How are the trunks? If they are shot, maybe time to part it and move on?

[PanelBilly]

Did you get your money's worth in removable parts?

[Joe Ricard]

Rob has a good tub in his possession, I know because I gave it to him. 70 tub #3556 aka. The Stripper.

[degreeoff]

I say its a gonner....

[watsonrx13]

Thanks for the support on the decision to use it as a parts car. If it didn't have EVERY replacable panel rusted, I might consider restoring it. I have an LE that will definately be restored, using these car's parts. I did get the car cheap and will sell parts once I determine what I won't need for the LE.

Joe, the engine came with the car (1.8), but it's completely disassembled, so I might sell those parts... Also, I'm saving the Stripper for a special project, to be announced at a later date... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/rolleyes.gif)

TC, thanks for the pics from Petit, looks like you guys had a great time....

BTW, this would be a great thread for someone looking to see where these cars rust.... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/shades.gif)

-- Rob

[Twise]

Great god - You East coast boyz amaze me - The fact that this is even up for discussion blows my mind. The rust on the fenders would have made my decision from 20 feet away.

Parts car for sure....