So I'm looking at possibly buying this car, it's about 3 hours away from me so I'm only seeing pictures of it right now.

These two pictures obviously make me cringe knowing that there's bound to be more rust behind the jack plates. But, I thought Id see what everyone else thought.

Ben

How are your welding skills and in what year did you want to be driving the car?

That is a common place of rust and a easy fix by just looking from the outside. Problem is that the rust starts inside the hollow frame. You need to do a sag test to determine how bad the structural damage is. The hose and wire should not be there on the passenger side. We need hell hole pictures as well.
Paul

Hi Ben,

Can't really tell enough from those two pictures. You really have to see the HELLHOLE and the underside of the car.

Just went through the same thing, Bought car from the heart, Top of hell hole had been repaired, but when I got into it, it was downright scary. If you have decent welding skills, and the car is a GOOD price, Restoration Design, sells all of the stuff you need. They are great to deal with!

I would definitely take a personal look at it to evaluate, and then you can access the level of rust compared to your skill.


GOOD LUCK!!!

BTW, where in SC are you located, I am in NC about 40 minutes from Myrtle Beach. If you are close, perhaps we could meet, I hope to be driving mine sometime in the month of January 2010

RUN Away. It's bad enough when you have the passenger side rust, which we all know the cause. But that car has it on the drivers side.

T.C.

Fix -it.....

had this same thing on my 72. it was only the jack plate and had not rusted thru the long so I wouldnt give up on it.

Go look at it and poke it a bit to get a better idea if its really bad or not.

TC said it ! I would pass....Seems left side also has pan hanging down slightly unless that is just crap in the picture....You will be in deep water !
TOT

The question for you is do you want to drive your new 914 or do you want to start a 914 project? My first 914 is a nightmare of rust but my second one was a turn-key. You know, turn the key and drive it. I learned a lot between 914 purchase #1 and 914 purchase #2. I personally would not buy this car.

On a midwest scale that ranks as "better than average", southerners are going to have a harsher assessment. It's definitely fixable IF the price is right, your welding skills are up to it, you have the patience and you have a commitment to the job.

Depending on the rest of the car's condition, I'd go as high as $1500 (again, on a midwest scale).

Tom

From those pictures I would approach it as a parts car. It can be fixed but that doesn't change its current status.

Heres the best picture I have of the battery area. No shots looking up underneath yet although I have asked for those.

The seller is a 914 guy, like me, but has only owned two of them. I've had 10 or so but only driven 4 of them :-)

I'm looking for either a project that needs cosmetic and engine work or a car for a 6 conversion. I know how to weld but don't really want to do any massive structural repair. If this car just needs jack plates and a few patches then I'm fine with it. I'm not sure that it's a great deal, he's asking 2k but the deal also comes with a parts car (unknown year at this point). The main car has been sitting for 10 years and is not currently running.

From looking at the second pic the door gap still looks good. I've seen many in the past where the top of the door gap was nearly closed.

Ben

That hose and wire are for the dealer installed A/C.....

The hose and wire should not be there on the passenger side. - That's probably the hoses and wires to the A/C unit.

-- Rob

That's because the doors are closed and the top is on.

You need to go and see that car in person. I suspect it's pretty bad and $2k is on the high end.
Take the top off, open the doors and sit in the passenger seat. Then try to close the door.

Anywho, that passenger side long is rusted through so you know there's more rust. What about the floorpan on that side?

You really need to poke around that whole section with a screwdriver. I bet you end up with more holes than you thought.

Andy

I dunno... depends on how much they're paying you to haul it away...


Looks to me like the jack plate is *gone* and that hole is in the long itself. The passenger door is sagging 1/4". It's a parts car, unless you are very ambitious. What year is it? Does it run? How are the trunks? Pan? Take the 3 hour drive... but I bet you go back home without it.

I'm in Anderson, SC. Quite a ways from Myrtle! But, if you ever make it over this way shoot me an email.

Ben

Oh well, maybe at a later date.

I would still have to get a hands on look at the car, before I could decide. The price seems a little high, if it does need structural work.

Keep Us informed of your decision and GOOD Luck

There are still plenty of "rust free" 914's on the west cost. It may be worth an extra $800 to ship one east.

Just a thought...

No such thing as a parts car unless it's totaled. This is going to be fixed, after it is properly located on jack stands.

Yea, 2K is a bit on the high end for the work involved. Round here you can get a pretty good runner for 2K so for the shipping costs it seems like something worth investigating. If it's for a 6 conversion, ya only need a roller and for 2K you could do better than that on ebay as long as you get someone local to look at it for you.