I would like introduce myself. My name is Jeff. I live in Kansas City, MO. I haven't even thought about a 914 since I was 17 years old when I got my first Porsche the 924S "Parts car". I did a lot of work on that car. I sold that this past year and I sometimes get bored and look for Porsches. I remember 914's being really cheap a few years ago. I saw this kind of rough 914 "Project Car" on Craigslist. I decided to check it out. It was much more than I could take on it needed floor pans and some other body panels. Anyways I going to start my search for another Porsche. Whether it be a 944 turbo or a 914 project.

Where should I start to look for 914's?

What are some signs that I do not want to mess with a car?

Give you background on what I have done. On my 924S when I got it the car only ran on 1 cylinder, it had no fuel filter or air filter. Had a serious vacuum leak. I cleaned the fuel injectors by hand with a 9 volt battery and carb cleaner. I then changed all the fluids myself. I did some body work but nothing more than using a dent puller and some body filler. I have done some electrical work/interior stuff. I have also replaced the transmission in that car.

I'm not an expert on cutting out rust and replacing body panels that need to be welded in. I can handle motor work as I have worked on many motorcycles, and cars alike.

What kind of car would I be looking for?

Sorry for the long post.

914s are so wildly popular these days that you could buy a pristine 944 turbo cheaper than a rusted 914. The choice then becomes very clear......BUY THE 914!



Buy the most original 914 you can find and be much better off.

As stated, buy the best car you can afford and you will be money ahead. F.I. is best to have in place unless the engine has been completely rebuilt and had a cam change for carbs. Good luck with your search. BTW: 914's aren't he cheap car anymore but there are some deals out there.

I don't mind a project. Thats what I going to be able to afford, but like I said I don't know much about welding and what not. What I am wondering about is the structure and what not? I have seen a note somewhere about shock tower failure? How do yo check for that? Can it be fixed.

My ideal car would be one that is a decent condition structure wise maybe some dents and stuff. Not so good paint, and a motor that needs some love. How much would something like that run?

Never seen shock tower failure ...


The three top most things to look out for when buying a 914 are:

- Rust
- Rust!
- RUST!!!


Now that we have that out of the way, there's a few areas that are rust-prone.

- The "Hell Hole"
That's in the engine compartment, passenger side, under the battery tray (if that hasn't rusted away yet).
Battery acid drips down on top of the longitudinal (your cars spine) and over the years eats through it. Some lucky ones only have surface rust, but most cars have serious cancer in that area.
If it's bad enough, it'll eat away the complete long in that area, including the lower portion around the jack-post.
You need to bring a screwdriver and do some serious poking in that area. Take off the pass. side rocker cover and poke around the long in the rear and next to the jack-post.
Also inspect the pass. side engine mount and trailing arm mount as they can be affected by the same rott. The trailing arm mount usually rips due to rust and you can easily spot the crack (or worse).

- Floor pans
Mostly due to leaking rear windows, the floor pans are often rotted away. Move both seats forward, lift up the carpet and inspect the pans.
The usually 'look' ok because the factory used tar mats glued to the floor for sound deadening and painted over them. So the floor looks solid because it's painted over the tar. But in reality, the only thing left is the tar holding the rust underneath together.
Poke with a screwdriver and do the "crunch" test. Press on the lower recessed portions of the floor boards and listen for a crunch noise. That's rust under the tar.
I have seen many supposedly solid 914s where you could easily punch through the floor pans with your finger.

- Rear trunk floor
Mostly due to leaking seals around the tail lights and the upper trunk seal. Usually the rear edge of the floor in front of the rear panel has rusted through.


The good news is that there are new patch panels available for almost all of these areas, but you need $$$, a experienced welder and a lot of time to fix this right.
Some more difficult areas, like the rear trailing arm mounts, require a jig or bench to do correctly.

Bottom-line, buy the most rust-free 914 you can afford and worry about anything else later.
Andy

with the above & add to Andy's list -

1. Check behind the heat/sound pad on the engine bay firewall - remove the pad & look & probe carefully in all of the nooks & crannies & along the engine bay ledge to firewall joint especially & down in the L&R hell pits (r is at hell hole noted above)!

2. Pull out the outer door seals on the channels on the doors & look at those from below to see if you have door rust on driver & passenger doors, & also check the door stop mounting area to see if those have torn the sheet metal from use.

3. Also try to pull the outer rocker covers completely off, or at least unbolt/unscrew the bottoms & ends & look up be hind them with a flashlight & screwdriver to prod.

4. Pull off the steering rack pan & look for rusted underpan areas up under there too - esp. on passenger side below where the window washer tank could leak.

5. Pull the seals out of the cowl to front fender joints & the front hood seals out of the channels to look for rust under them.

6. Pull off the taillights to inspect if rusted behind them & rear trunk floor as Andy said above. Also look at the engine lid hinge plates & rear trunk lid hinge plates etc. for damage & or rust to the sheet metal.

7. Check the rear suspension consoles, trailing arms, engine & transaxle mounts for possible rust damage &/or tweaked in an accident or other road/AX/track "incident".

Look at Jeff Bowlsby's Classic 914 website for info & a check list (log to his member vendor section here for links. Also the info section here & at p914.com are good resources.

All that said - 914s are too much fun to pass up!

Good Luck!

Billy Mild,



I am new to this as well and you are all ready doing things smarter than I did. You're asking the right people the right questions and getting the right answers.
I decided to buy and build a 914 last January (a long time desire) and went out and bought one. Got it home to discover that it was rusted everywhere that Andy has just described. I looked for another (rust free) and found one the following weekend and bought it (blown 1.8 motor). After more research and good advice from a member here on the World, I decided it needed a 2.0. Three weeks later I found a '73 2.0 and bought it car for the motor. To make long story short I was able to build a very nice car out of the three. By parting out the two part donor cars I was nearly able to finance the entire build. The cars are out there you just have to look for the right one.

Good luck!

Lennie

Andy is giving the best advice for a 914. Forget what cosmetic things you might see. If it has rust or body damage it will cost you a fortune and could quickly exceed the value of the car.

I would give two pieces of advice....

1. Buy the cheapest car you can find that has a good body and restore it completely. I paid less than $700.00 for mine without an engine but a decent shell. I'll spare you the shock of what is invested now.

2. Pony up the big bucks and buy a restored car from a reputable person. It's expensive up front but in the long run saves you money since you rarely get out what you pay in a restoration giving the purchaser a bargain (kinda)

It all depends on whether you want the fun of a project or just want to drive the car. Either way, make a plan and stick to it!

These cars are 40 years old. If they haven't been restored, they most likely need it.

Lots and lots of smart people on this forum so you'll get plenty of help.

Good luck!

Like everybody else said, get as close to a complete and rust free car as you can afford, 914's can be deceiving, you may be able to find a cheap one but by the time you fix it up you find it is much cheaper to just buy a good one.
You should pat yourself on the back for finding this place before you bought a car, there are a ton of really knowledgeable people on this site who can point you in the direction of a good car.
If you go to look at another car post some pics and we can pick it apart for ya'.

Hello Billy Mild!

Great story on what you want to do, and you should do as they say. Look for the most rust-free example you can find.

If there are things that are rusty, you will find more hidden as mentioned above as time goes on than not. I have looked at a considerable number of cars, and there are deals to be had. I even got one from Oklahoma not too long ago, but passed it on to someone much younger to mess with.

I also left one in St. Louis and I still am mad at selling it at all. If I could only go back in time.

I finally stopped messing around and bought a really clean73 2.0L driver, and probably overspent, but it was half the price 2 years into the recession than when people first saw the car for sale. This much I do know.

I spent a lot of dough relatively speaking, because at 58 years old next week, I can only spend so much time on my back removing rust, so I skipped that part. You don't have that limitation, so make great use of no aches and pains, as it won't be long before Aleve is a great friend.

But, even with a nice driver, there is a lot of work. I figure I spent at least 700 hours in the last 12 months agonizing over this dreamboat with every cleaning product known to man. I have hundreds of rags and new scars on both hands to prove it.

But it was and IS worth it, and when you find you actually do dream at night about the next little project, you realize you kept yourself from a lot of other kinds of trouble in life, and always remember, there is NOTHING cooler than a 914 on the planet. And maybe a Fender Stratocaster, second at best.

There is also something to be said for all the fine people here that spend their time tinkering on cars that went out of production 34 years ago this year, and how they steer people like you and me away from ditches and rust, which shows that it was a good thing that you and I showed up here this year. There is not much better than a forum that is willing daily to teach the young and old what will ultimately save them money and time.

There are a couple of interesting cars on Craigslist, TheSamba.com and eBay to get ideas on.

Best of luck!

John
avidfanjpl

I have been looking nationwide now on a search. I have found some cars that say they are in good shape body wise and have little to no rust, but may have bad paint or have some engine issues. I don't know much about the fuel injection on these cars or even the igntion system. But I would like to pick up a cheaper car and maybe fly out somewhere and drive it back if possible. I can't really deal with rust that is structural. I don't have the know to fix it. I can deal with some body work and paint. I am good with interior stuff as well. Its mostly the chassis that I am concerned with. The engine I figure it may not run up to its potential but I can fix that with either a rebuilt engine or working over the Fuel and ignition.

Do these cars use Points or is it electronic?

Could you get A/C in these cars. Only reason I ask is because I don't see it listed much but I have seen some.

Be careful expecting to drive one home. If you buy from someone on one of these boards, you have a much better chance of getting what you pay for, but if you buy from Craigslist or off of Ebay, have someone from one of the boards do a PPI for you first. And NEVER expect a runner when they say "it ran when parked XX years ago". This is most likely a parts car. Be careful, take your time. Good deals are out there.

Interesting and impressive, since AFAIK 924 were all CIS. (But I admit I lost track somewhere around 1978...)
They were all points from the factory. /4's basic Kettering points/condenser/coil. /6's used Bosch capacitive-discharge (CDI) still with points trigger. Of course many cars have been altered to use one form of points-conversion or another.

NEVER from the factory. All distributor or local dealer-installed. A WIDE variety of care and quality in workmanship. Even the good ones resulted in big holes to get the hot air out, dandy rust opportunities from the condensate drains, and big power losses from engines increasingly taxed by smog gizmos and prone to run hot. There are a few good ones - I've seen a couple. For what it costs to do right you could buy a spare KIA or Hyundai to drive on the really hot days. Yes, really.

Sounds good. I saw this car looks to be a good car except the engine doesn't run. Not a big surprise.
http://westernmass.craigslist.org/cto/1757010632.html

Also my 924S was a 87 so it was the 944 in sheeps clothing per se.

Under a tarp for 6 years in Ma. I bet it picked up more than a few rust spots. Find Kansas914 on this board, he lives about 30 mins from you. Make him sell you his parts car or help you find one.

Welcome to the addiction! Good luck finding a 914!

I don't think they are going to be any 914's around this area that are completely rusted out. I would like to keep this project somewhat cheap initially. Meaning under $2000 for the car. If it doesn't have much rust that would be great. If it doesn't run or runs rough thats not good, but it gives me a chance to get to learn the car.

I found a car for $1500 that a fresher engine. It had a shattered pressure plate. It basically needs a clutch and pressure plate along with a Transmission boot gasket and it would run. The guy who is selling it is from Durango, CO. The engine is dropped out of the car already. says the engine was rebuilt 1999, a used tranny was put in 2002, had some other interior work done to it around 2004. He took it off the road around 2007 when the pressure plate broke. He said he has replaced the Battery box with one from another car and welded it in there. The paint isn't great, but isn't bad either. He did some rust proofing. Told me that any surface rust that he saw he sanded down and rust proofed it with some rust proofing paint. Sounds to me like not a bad deal. Told me the car is solid just need some minor work to get going. Also it has dual webers on it.

pics are hosted below.

http://s856.photobucket.com/albums/ab123/billymild/

BTW I live in Kansas City, MO

Hi Billy,
Here's a link to posting pictures from the FAQ: http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?showtopic=13637

All the other guys hit the major stuff to look for. I'm just here to say .

Zach

You have come to the right place. Great group of helpful folks on this site. Good luck in your search!