should i buy this?


1972 Porsche 914
5spd tailshift trans
Flat 4 1.7L Engine
15" ATS 70's Vintage Race Wheels
143K miles
Euro-spec bumpers
914-6 Chin Spoiler
916 style painted sail panels
A few small dings and minor rust
clean NC title
Cracked windshield, no carpet or door panels
Has not been run in over a year, will start but not being driven home.
Tow or trailer
$1200 and 300 miles from me

Everybody is going to ask, so I will start-

1. Can we get a picture of the passenger longitudinal, under the rocker?
2. Can we get a picture of the passenger trailing arm mounting ear?
3. Can we get a picture of the hell-hole area?
4. Can we get a picture behind the seats, in the corners of the floor?

And, just for me maybe, what makes those euro-spec bumpers? Looks just like every other chrome bumper...

Kevin

Having bought 2 914's recently for $400 each, I don't see what would make this car worth $1200. Non-appearance group cars came with painted sail panels, so that is not special. ATS wheels are kinda cool... The other pictures would help with decision making.

And I would say whomever is selling it really doesn't know 914's. None of the 916 "style" is actually 916 in any remote way. The spoiler and painted targa sides are actually 914 LE style. Looks ok from pics, but as stated before if the hell hole area or longs are rusted out it may only be a parts car. Ask him to take a pic under the battery tray and email it to you. If they are not willing, probably pass.

for your budget all you should care about is how solid it is... not if it's rust free, but how bad the rust is...

and those are the same bumpers as any 72, except they doi not have a top on them.

916 sail panels? hogwash. in 72 non appearance group cars had no sail panel vinyl.... that's all.

it all depends on the rust if it's worth anything...

Ok thanks guys he said the battery was moved to the front and no rust there. But i'm going to see john at black forest racing in denver nc in the morning..

Chances are if the battery was moved it was because the car rotted out in the battery area.

Glad to see you reconsidered Claude.

The battery area everyone is warning you about is the original one behind the passenger seat in the R side of the engine bay & check all the way down to the inner rear longs, engine shelf & inner wheelwell, as well along the opposite side below the relay board & along the firewall & engine shelf behind the cockpit (pull off the heat/sound pad to inspect), at both the rear trunk hinge plates on the upper inner rear fenders & on upper firewall for the engine lid hinges (both like to come loose but are repairable); and look at the sheet metal "ears" where the suspension trailing arms attach for rust & at the "box" or console above it - both L & R sides.

Also in addition to what the others have said about behind the rockers on the longs, etc. - look at the floor pans behind & in front of & under both seats & from the underside, remove the steering rack cover under there & inspect up behind there - esp. at the L & R struts which support the steering rack, top & bottom side of both F & R trunk floors (esp. rearmost by taillights & under spare & where they "jacked-in" the battery up front) & pull out trunks seals & look under them for rust, around door jambs & pull off the outer door seals on both doors & look in both the seal channels & up under the doors where the seals cover for rust, check at the small seal in joints L&R cowl to fenders up front, all around the cowl & windshield frame (esp. along the chrome trim edge & at wiper mount indents), along the door to window tops, front fenders low just above the rocker panels, behind the bumpers where the mounting bolts horns & foglights attach (esp. since they're missing the top seals to keep most of the water out of behind there), along the area where the sails join the rear fenders, etc., etc., etc. All this means prodigious scraping & jabbing with a screwdriver to find the rust, & any "rust bubbles" means much more rust on that area of a body panel sheet metal is behind that.

Don't be afraid to make 2 trips (or more) Try to get John or another local Teener familiar with inspection of 914s to go with you to check out the car before you go out planning to buy it, then you can figure out what it needs & what would be a fair price to counter offer. Also take it for a drive with that person too, so you can figure out if it's a good runner - plus while you're out he/she can drive behind you in it in your own car/truck to see if it's "crabbing" due to a bent unibody &/or other suspension problems ("crabbing" = drives straight down the road while "pointed" at an angle).

As the others have said - that's pretty much a standard non-appearance group/options 1.7L 914, except for having chrome bumpers - nothing 916 about it, so it may not be worth what he's asking for it & may take a lower counter offer - IF you think whatever all you discover which needs fixing is worth the trouble. Then a second trip can be made to pick up the car & trailer it home if/when a deal is struck. Remember - YOU have the power to walk away & the seller is left with a car unsold, so you may have to do it once before he comes to your decided acceptable price, if at all. If not, there will be another for you.

I may have given you this link before on one of your earlier posts, but it has the 2 parts of a 914 assessment form in the top 2 items which link to the form that you can print out when you go to look it over.
http://bowlsby.net/914/Classic/TechNotebook.htm

Good Luck!

just a small detail, but i think the /6 chin spoiler had a cutout for a front-mounted oil cooler, that chin spoiler looks like a garden variety one

that's an LE spoiler.

rich, I think you are thinking of the GT spoiler that many -6 conversions have.

In addition to the amount of rust look for any sign of accident damage and bondo. Look at very square inch of the sheet metal for unusual bends. I once bought a car that looks decent other than a wrinkled froward section to the rear trunk and rear the bumper was 1-1/2" lower on the passenger side. . Turns out the whole whole body was tweeked from a launch that landed the car on the drivers long and bent everything a little. Would have taken thousands to fix. Remove the top and sight from the targa bar to the windshield frame. They should be parallel. Also look and the door gaps for indications of body sag, Jack up the car and see how much the body flexes. Test all electrical parts, light etc. Point out everything wrong with the car you can find. Don't be in a hurry or act anxious to get it. I have bought similar cars for $500- $700. Get some interior pictures too. Figure what it will take $$ wise to make it street worthy. The cracked windshield is about a $200 repair.
Good luck.
Bruce

Pay $500 and have fun - there will be lots to fix. If you can do the work...... go for it and have fun!

I did..... in the end, I could have bought a well-sorted car.... but I had fun

God luck!

So Claude, what happened at Black Forest?