Tom,
I owned a small RV dealership in Victorville for several years. We did alot of paint and body on some pretty extravagant RV's. I did have problems with paint matching on the coaches that were manufactured out of state. Any how, I found that my local paint rep was able to help me out with the different countys that I could aquire the proper paints. I guess what I'm saying is, maybe start at the suppliers to find were you can get the paint you want, and then search for the more rputable shops. Just my two cents.
Lennie
BTW; I haven't forgot about the photos of the door jamb vents.

Tom,
If you want to buy the solvent based paint I can refer you to a retailer in Long Beach that supplies PPG DBC paint (European formulated solvent based stuff) He can get the Prophet from the Porsche chip sheets and mix it or mix to match. PM me if you want info on that retailer. I can also put you in touch with a guy that will shoot the stuff in a place in Anaheim Hills, he too has an RV painting business so he has a pretty large warehouse out that way he uses to paint in.
Kev

Kev

Thanx Lennie & Kev.

There was a great topic with pix of the PPG &/or Glasurit paint color chips on it & links to an active site for those colors at the mfgrs.' website. It was here on 914world - in the Garage section IIRC - which I used to have bookmarked before the hard drive crapped-out a few months back. I need to find that again!

Ha! ... found it!! - some great links at this thread too for the colors & paint sources/suppliers!
http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?sho...=39488&st=0

Not to be disencouraging but your car must have spent a lot of time on the beach or under a sprinkler system in it's life. I didn't know a ca car could be so rusty. You do know from reading here that most of the rust is hiding under the paint and tar and undercoating. You probably have exposed 60% at best. I would stop buying parts and start stripping the finish off or get another better tub to spend all of that effort and money on. I truly don't think you will be able to justify restoring that tub. The amount of rust repair will detract from anyone that knows 914's having any interest in paying even a portion of what you are going to spend when your heirs try to sell it, especially if they see this thread. The amount of prep to the inside of the cavities after being welded on is very time consuming. You haven't even gotten to the areas where the foam is in the corners yet. I know you don't want to hear this but with your level of expertise and limited tools and workplace you will probably quit after you get overwelmed with the cost. That tub is not where you will want to spend a lot of money. The level of repair you want is so costly that it will overwelm your budget before you even get to the drivetrain in my opinion. A lot of shops will want to see the car stripped before they even talk about a estimate. You can do that but I bet you will end up paying someone else to do it, that alone is probably a 1500.00 expense on what most will say is a 250.00 tub. Once it's stripped you will decide what you will do there after. I think you will be much happier at your age parting your car out and buying a nice driver. I truly believe that you can spend 15-20k on this car, thats if you take it apart and strip it and reassemble it, if thats what you want go for it, I will follow along and wish you luck. Think about all the venders that will give you some great prices. I'm sure that 20 years from now a lot of the repaired places will show some signs of being repaired or the areas right next to them will need repairing. If your car had a perfect interior and a perfect drive line including fi this might be feasable. How will you move a new painted tub home from a shop? Where are you going to get the tools skills and work area needed to do the reassembly? I think once you have stripped the car down to bare metal you will see what you are in for.

Thanx for the advice Charlie - as the PCA 914 Renn/SIG guy - you'd know!
... I love your house design on the SIG site pic btw!

Exactly where are you talking about "...the areas where the foam is in the corners..."?
... So I know where to look next, because when I asked on another post here about the foam injected in those types of spots by the factory on our 914s, several other "experts" on here said that they didn't ever do that, except by special order on Euro ones!!??
I saw what I thought was some under the rust bubble by the DS Sail behind the door, but was told it was something injected by the last shop when they fixed the rust bubble there back in 80.

Rust free CA 914s etc. is a myth - esp. the early pre-76 built non-zinc dipped ones IMHO!!!!!
.... What with salt air near the beach, sand & pumice used on snowy roads in the mountains (no salt allowed here though), sprinklers, & heavy flooding during the early to mid 70's from what we now know as El Nino - on top of the sisal backed firewall engine pads, foam injection & spongy rubber factory seals & no zinc rust treatment to any of the 70-76 914 bodies (76's were 75 built) - there is NO such thing as a rust free 914 anywhere IMHO !!!!

Any decent 73-74 2L out there for sale now I suspect would have similar rust issues festering or already there, so I'd be buying someone else's problem - just for less dough I suppose! ... but if it doesn't show now, just give it a few years & it will!

If I can work it out on mine, then I'd like to do this in such a way as to add on the zinc treatment or similar rust preventative under it, so that it won't progress in the future.

FYI - I used to live in Huntington Beach from 74-85 & 3 blocks from the beach 74-81, but it was garaged there, then here in Orange 85 to now - & it was in Fountain Valley/Westminster area of OC with the PO/OO & garaged there between 11/72 - 12/75, when I bought it used. It went into the garage with no rust, clean battery tray, firewall, etc. - but that stuff got eaten somehow with time - battery tray was residual acids I guess, firewall was water from the warped tray retained by the pad, doors & cowl/F-lid seal channel were shrunken seals I guess!?

It's been a very disappointing process for me to go through what I thought was a well preserved & rust free CA 914 stored in my dry SoCal garage with a freshly rebuilt drivetrain - went in there that way anyway - but it's first years 72-74 were El Nino years, so maybe it got flooded when parked outside, who the f knows now!?

The drivetrain is an all original matching no. GA engine with the d-jet & it had a full rebuild/overhaul just 20k before the 85 whack, ditto on the trans overhaul except it needed the original case changes (so that no. doesn't match), plus with the shocks & bushing etc. Likewise, the interior is good except for needing some carpet pieces, & repairing some rips on the driver & small tear on the pass seat side bolsters etc., & the dash top gained a crack while in the garage - so that needs recovered now.

Otherwise I wouldn't have kept it all these years "waiting," let alone considered trying to restore it now! I do have the new parts in hand to refresh the engine, trans, suspension & brakes, & will get some VG/Excl used OE leatherette to replace/resew those small areas on the upholstery parts.

I can & will continue to strip it to shell myself - since that would have to happen anyway, then figure what to do at the point where all of it's warts are exposed. Then I'll have to decide if & how much more I can do myself, vs. what I do need a shop/pro to do for me. Who knows, I may go the better tub route & say screw it with this one!? Pretty much all parts which I've "collected" so far could also go on a better tub, if I chose that route - & I am now concentrating on stripping to shell to uncover the other 40% you mentioned.

Even if it is not what I really want to hear, your comments are helpful.

Thanx Again!
Tom
///////

Wow. Just ... wow.

The foam was in most 914's if not all of them. Both mine had it and Scotty B had to repair rust in most of the spots that had foam (see mepstein build thread). Not very noticeable until you take a wire wheel to those spots - something you can do on your own. My floor is also rusted out even though it looked fine. The tar does a good job hiding it. Same with seam sealer. Even Scott’s trained eye didn’t see the rust until he started removing paint.

.... hmmmmmm .... $'s vs. $'s vs. $'s & oh yeah! ... time!

.... Okay - Charlie, Mike & you all have me thinking about a different angle I'm going to check out! Nothing illegal, & taking a car down to "TJ" (Tijuana, Baja Calif., Mex.) as we used to do in the "old days" 1960's & 70's is out of the question today, with the drug cartels & crooked police today!

" ... Senyor, we need to stop by & take a leedle songthin out of your car we forgot to reemoov at de shop!?"

Used to get outstanding 10-20 layer hand laid/hand rubbed lacquer jobs on hot rods etc. in TJ back in the day though! You could shave with a straight razor in the shine of those jobs!

Tom,

I really don't have time read all the content here. I did my best to speed read through the six pages and flash the photos as they scrolled by. As far as the parts car goes. Use the tail light panel and I think the passanger door. You are in the land of rust free 914's You will easily find another door and rear lid. Don't mess with any rusty parts.

The trunk floor is available new. Buy it. Have it installed as ScottyB did with ???type47??? don't remember who's car he posted but he transfered the chassis number and installed the knockouts as factory. McMark can easily handle this.

The rear firewall and hell hole can be patched. McMark could butt weld in metal and you would not know where the repair was made.

The battery stand and tray are available new. Buy then.

The floor pans are available new. Buy them

Don't use the front panel from the parts car. It's damaged. There is a kink in the left headlight bucket. Fine another front end with zero damage. Have it installed like this. Bucket to bucket. Find a shop with a panel spotter. They will be able to replicate the factory look.

Click to view attachment

I think with the front and rear hit I would have the car redimensioned on a Celette. This will even allow for the proper fit of the front and rear bumper. You can have it pulled prior to any panel removal. Infact, you will want this done before cutting any panels off the car. Otherwise you create a spring and make the fixture fit more diffecult.

The sail panel patch panels are available. Buy them. There is no point is trying to cut these pieces off the parts car.

Money? plan on 30,000.00 have $10,000.00 ready for surprises. Strip the car and reassemble it yourself and save lots of coin.

Well, I looked in an older PET I have & saw "Body in White" got all excited & figured if less $$'s than this one's paint/body work & all new/rust-free - that I'd set them side by side & transfer parts to the brand spanking new shell, as I cleaned them up & restored them - all by my lonesome!

But when I contacted a dealer to see if available, what's included & how much - but they're NLA now - so much for my "other plan"!

Thanx for the input above Rick & skimming through the morass (more-ass??).
... Thanx for your time!

If it's gonna be $30k + $10k for just the body work, then either I'll have to try to do more myself, or shit-can the resto idea!

I was thinking along similar lines for much of what you've mentioned above, and did & still do plan to strip & build it back/reassemble it myself.

I'd planned on using a Cellette Bench to check alignment/dimensions, since it was on my 5/85 estimate (although McMark says no & mentioned his "firewall magic" on another 73 2L in his shop now). For the same reasons you've mentioned, I too was thinking bench pull first, then media/soda blast to uncover more fun crap, then figure what to cut & replace etc.

Just to clarify for you & all - I do already have these new body parts:
battery tray/support,
jack tube/support (2 sets),
rear trunk hinges/bolts/rollers (2 sets)

The point on using the donor shell's parts vs. new from Restoration Design or Porsche, is to try to keep costs down, unless cut-n-weld is about the same with labor &/or donor part is rusty/damaged. I hadn't noticed what you're saying was tweaked at the light box, but I can check on the box-to-box clip you're suggesting, as well as inner fender well & braces - if crappy on the red shell/tub.

But I'll recheck the costs for RD's, etc's.:
L&R sail & door jamb patches
R Trunk Floor - rear 1/2 or full
Hell hole/console unit (AA had a complete assy. IIRC)
Floor Pans?? - don't know yet if I need them!!??

I guess I need to get back to stripping parts off the 914 & tar, undercoating, etc. & wire-wheel any suspicious areas - then figure out what & how to proceed from there. I'll add stuff here or figure out how to do a "flicker-bucket" upload-deal with better pix later - as the bad news grows!
... f-ing rust bucket!

I'm not seeing a kink in this LF Headlight bucket that Rick mentioned - it looks to be a new bucket welded in - compared to the R side one? Anyone see what he's talking about?

I do see a kink on the front panel of it in this one - next to the RF Headlight Bucket, but I was hoping to only need the LF bucket & wheel well on the right side of this pic, but then I'm not an expert & was only going by what the 1985 body/paint guy & his qoute from the accident said.

Is that what Rick's talking about, since he's recommending a bucket to bucket splice-in??

I'm no expert but I don't see anything wrong with the front bucket in the picture and panel. I read where it will probably cost at least 500.00 to set it up on a bench. Thats not getting it pulled out. I would strip all the paint off to make absolutely sure you don't puul it uot a give up on it. My neighbor has a frame straightening fixture in his collision shop. He looked at a 92 extended cab toyota truck I had with a pretty bad kink by the front steering gearbox. He is a friend and said it would cost me 500 to get it pulled by him. I bought another frame for 500 and just moved everything over. That was in 94. Pulling unibodies and frames is very expensive.

I can't go through all of those pics but that's more work than it is worth.

Yeah Rick, Charlie, Mike & All - I'll be back to "stripping" again next weekend - the 914 not me!

... I've got other business stuff to prep for & go to a conference next week, & G&R is on Sun. where I hope to unload some "extras" & maybe find some of the needed rust-free parts.

.... now where the heck did I put that stupid Lotto ticket!!??

Just for Giggles, here's one of the old 1985 estimates for the F&R accident repair only (back then the party-at-fault's insurance company required 3 estimates) - see below.

At that point I'd just recently had the existing rust back then repaired & the current color repaint in Aug. 80
- everything you see rust-wise in this post has festered while sitting in my dry SoCal garage since 1985!!!!

Charlie - note that the bench & pull was $400 in `85 - no idea today what they run `round these parts? I need a buddy here, like your neighbor there!

Click to view attachment

... Those costs look pretty good today! Anyone have a time machine??

I've been using this & the others - as well as my own eyes - in collecting the parts & donor shell so far, since most of the parts on the above quote were new, but are mostly NLA now.

RobW - you may have the right idea on this one! I do know how to do the old school leading techniques from helping my Uncle on his Model A Hot Rod back in the 60's, but nobody here thought that was a good way to fix the smaller rust stuff on it, when I posted that question here in the Garage a while back. However, I've never tried the sawzall & welding patch panels in method, which is why I'd been thinking I need a shop/pro for that!

This is what I spotted as I scrolled through the photos at light speed. Just kinda jumped out at me.

Click to view attachment

About used parts. Some stuff makes sense like the large section I was able to do with Sandy's car. Front panels are and headlight buckets are NLA making this "worth the investment in time = dollars" to harvest used parts. But things engine shelves, battery trays and stands and the like that you can purchase are worth the labor to harvest the used parts. It takes hours to peel spot welds and clean, grind and prep a used part to make it possible to install.

My money comment was inclusive of stripping the car of parts, repairing the chassis, welding in metal, completing body work and getting the shell in paint. Add to reassemble and any parts that were taken off the car that will now not be nice enough to reinstall.

Tom,

Contact these guys here..........

http://www.motorworksrestorations.com/index.html

Yes, I know they do VW's mainly, but if you look at their restorations, you will see that they are as meticulous as you would like the shop to be.

They might be able to give you a 'guestimate' to the cost.

Good luck...