2009 has been a bitch of a year for me but I'm sure many people have it worse. At the start of the year the family courts increased my child support payments by an additional $1,000 a month. All progress on the 914 came to screeching halt. The good news is that the contract job I've been working for the last three years became permanent two weeks ago. The bad news is I had to take a $24,000 a year pay cut and I have to make some major changes. I will have to sell the car I am making payments on and get a paid for daily driver.

Like many here I have way more money in the car than it's worth and it's not close to being drivable. The car is a 1970 914-4 1.7L with 91,000 original miles and very little structural rust. It has lots of surface rust on the body so it looks like hell. I started with the suspension and have replaced every component. I have the 911 struts with the 5-lug hubs and vented rotors and Eric's rear 5-lug hubs. New sport torsion bars in front and springs in rear. Turbo tie rods, front ant-sway bar, new ball joints, and delrin bushings everywhere. I also have new vented and cross-drilled rotors at all four corners and rebuilt M calipers in the front. Stainless steel brake lines, 19mm master cylinder, and new wheel bearings all the way around. I have all four new Koni yellow sport struts/shocks. And finally I have 5 spoke Fuchs replicas and new Falken tires. To get the car off the jack stands I need to get the rear trailing arms rebuilt and to get the brakes finished I need the rear calipers rebuilt with Eric's vented rotors adapters.

I figure I need about $3,000 to buy a fairly reliable daily driver. I bought a dead 944 a year ago for $500 to make my DD but then the money ran out and it's been difficult to work on. The 944 will also be worth less than what it will take to get it streetable. I will sell that once I get it running. Probably for $1,000.

So I'm open for any ideas or suggestions. You can see photos from the link in my signature. Thanks.

We all seem to get into this situation with this little addiction. Not sure where you are in the car ........but painting it is only part of expense as you well know. And why go with trick rear calipers to get it working. Fact is you could save $$ by picking up stock used rears and rebuilding. You may want to consider a sand and prime job if pricing could work out as a running car broadens market. Know of a guy that just parted out a running early 80s targa and exceeded what he wanted for it whole. Thing is if you part out ebay probably brings more $$ as we all seem to be bottom feeders on this site. Stay away from meow mix though. Good luck.

If you can't do it now you can always do another one later.. Sell it or part it. It is hard to sell someone on your project vision as they may have their own.. But you could try and if that does not pan out, part it or even keep the parts until you get another one nad now that you have more knowledge you could actually get all the parts you want on a 914 first than when you do buy another your ready to complete the car closer to a finished appeal without future fail. Also as far a getting rid of it might not be a bad idea if it is a burden financially as the "projects" never end for a longer period than ever expected, and buy the time they do come to a close asa far as a daily driver it will still demand overlook, maintance and occasioanal repairs until you have to rebuild part of it over again.. It is a commitment and the times are tough $$$ people losing homes jobs ars credit cards....

"bottom feeders" I like that.. "little people" . He is right though Ebay is a bigger market and there is competition for purchase.. Also correct and I agree paint the thing even evver so cheaply if your going to sell as a whole, and also agree your brakes are very nice but overkill and expensive for a Daily Driver. I can lock up all 4 stock brakes on the freeway rather quickly. Tires and pads, tires and pads...

if it's in good shape, sell it whole, but parting will probably bring more $

Sell it whole. Focus on your job and family. Selling parts right now isn't what it was a couple years ago. Invest the money if you can, and buy something again later when things get better.

Good luck!

If your income went down 24K then you should be able to go back into court and get your support payments reduced also. Keep the car and eat off the dollar menu. Nothing will relieve your stress more than going for a ride in your teener.

Find a local buddy to store all the good parts off your property and out of legal disclosures way.

Then put it back together with stock parts and get it to run, buy $20 worth of sandpaper, thick primer, and paint, make the car lookable to drive, and get rid of the car payment. At the worst get a $500 clunker to drive for a year and get rid of the payment and comp insurance. You'll pick up possibly another few $k there.

Finally, keeep the resume out there and job hunt all the free time you can get. Know the problem. I also took a $30k cut in pay in 2009 and finally have a new 2010 job at my old income level. It'll come. Good luck

Keep it. I've heard too many stories about what people regret. You can either get it together with stock parts for the time being, or go buy yourself an old civic to drive around for $1000 with the money you get from your DD. Storing the teener at a friend's house is also a good idea if you can. I'm convinced that things will get better, and I'm even more convinced that you'll regret selling the 914 if you do. Good luck, buddy.
Mark D.

I am in a similar boat as you, and I can sympathize! I have had my car sitting in the garage for 3 years waiting for things to get better. I have over $25K into a $10k car that still needs paint and replacement rubber, and at least $1k additional misc. parts. I had it for sale for a while, but since I can't seem to let go of the emotional investment, I priced it pretty high. I have decided to keep it, and i may assemble it ad drive it covered in primer for a year or two just so I can enjoy more than just gazing at it! I voted KEEP IT!

Based on the poll results, am I missing something about the nutritional value of cat food?

I completely disagree about parting out these cars and here is why. A simple look at e-bay will show you how little most of the parts of a 914 bring. You have nothing of real individual worth in your car. The 5 lug setup will likely be the best yield. IMO you will get more out of selling the car whole, as it is a complete, ready to strip and paint proiject for the most part. Try parting out the car and you will end up with a pile of unwanted parts, and maybe 1500.00 in your pocket. Also keep in mind how rare a rust free teener is on the east coast. If you EVER plan to build one, you will definitely be better off keeping this one.

As for the 944, get with me if you have any questions regarding it's running issues. DO NOT start putting money intop the car. I love them, I have had xeveral and am going okeep my current, BUT they are not a car to flip. If you can get it running it MAY be worth 1000.00 to the right person, but any knowledgable 944 purchaser will not pay anymore than that, knowing a 1500.00 maintenance wil be needed right off the bat. Then there are the opther issues that WILL pop up once they get the car running correctly. I still have a few n.a. parts and will do what I can to help you get the car running cheaply.

I think the amount you will yeild from selling it either as a roller or by parting it out won't be worth the time you invest in the "selling process". I'd invest that time in selling something that you don't care about. What about parting the 944?

I wouldn't eat the cat food, it may have melamine in it from China ! I have a cupboard full of campbells soup. Goes on sale for a dollar a can. I can eat for about 3 bucks a day ! I'm not in as bad of situation, my DD is paid off, and i have had a good job for 4 years. My support payments are a bitch though.

Same story with the 944. I just threw away a BUNCH of stuff I had been holdiong onto from stripped cars. Unless it is a turbo, ( Tim's isn't ) it isn't worth much as parts. 944 is just a newer version of the 914. Mass produced, beat to hell and left for dead. Neither of these cars have 356 or 911 parts values

...sounds like a shipyard job