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I am looking at a 74 2.0 FI next weekend (weather permitting) that sounds promising but overpriced.
It is supposed to be a rust free AZ car that runs well, needs paint and seats and has an intermittent fueling issue and some electrical gremlins that don't sound too serious.
I'm buying lunch if anybody wants to look at it with me - another set of eyes, knowledgeable opinion and moral support are always welcome!

thanks,

Scott

Scott
I could be down. what day/ time were you thinking?

Rich Towle would be an awesome guy to have tag along if he is available, he may reply to this thread

Hi Rich, thanks for responding.
I have only indicated "next weekend" to the owner so we can try for whichever day/time works for you.
It would be great if RT could make it too.

I am out of town till Wed/thurs thius week and out again on m-th of next week.
If its within two or so hours of Nashua...I could do sat or sunday...

Scott, If you have never been to see one of these cars with someone that knows what to look for, it may be educationals...not really sure.

How much does he want?

Rich

More pictures.....
Rich - PM sent

More....

Here is another 914 he has that I am not interested in, but if any of you guys are let me know and I will take a closer look.

the flares are glass.

Sure, show me junk cars in a barn...a flared car and a 911...
That is just not fair.
Its like putting a 25 year old stripper in front of me...
I am very attracted to junk cars...its like Sheen.

Now I am interested.
The first car may be decent but you will need to spend some time crawling around underneath to be certain....

Ask him if he would be willing to remove the rocker panel covers for you..that will show what you need to see.
if you cant get those removed prior to buying it...its an educated guess.

BTW, if I was selling mine, I would not let you remove the covers...they are held in place by special rivets that are not easy to come by and a PITA to put it all back together if the buyer backs out.

Buying old cars is alot like gambling...sometimes you win, sometimes you loose.

If you factor in the 1K is costs to ship a car fom CA, and the fact that you seem to want to buy a local car you can touch....I would say this is a good candidate.
Its the right year and model...and the motor works.

Just figure that at some point you will strip it and paint it.
Buy a decent car, a few thousand more or less at this point is really mute if you find the right car.
I assume you plan to restore whatever you buy and keep it for a while....

Rich

Ha-ha, the bait worked

I'm not stuck on buying a local car, but sometimes there just has not been anybody in the area to do a PPI on cars I have found.
Other times the cost of shipping has put a nice known car out of my budget.
When a local car does appear on the seen and fulfills much of what I am looking for - why not check it out?
It is still gambling, but makes me feel like my odds are improved or least I have nobody to blame except myself.

"restore" is probably too big of a word for what I have in mind.
I am thinking that I should get any electricals and mechanical issues straightend out that prevent the car from being driven reliably first.
Then I would have the car painted, probably back to the original color, but I will not drop stupid money on the paint. I'm thinking $1500 for the paint budget?

I want to drive it and not worry about it too much and I don't have that kind of money to put into it anyway.
If I did have the money - I'd rather have a fresh motor than concours quality paint any day of the week!
The interior would not be necessarily last, but it would be done on a "as able" basis.

I do plan on keeping it for awhile and want a decent car.
I have already increased my budget by $2k and being a divorced dad with two kids in college - a few grand more isn't going to happen.
This car would have to go for a price where I can fix the known issues and paint it within my full budget.

Honestly...

If 6-7k is your budget, you should be able to find a car for that price that does not need much of anything.
I do think this car needs quite a bit of work and you will keep working on it till its what you want...nature of the beast.
The paint wont pass muster for more than a few months...its chipped and faded.

A car can be shipped for 1k max from CA.
There are alot more cars our there, and alot less rust.
I would hunt harder on the west coast, call Craig at Camp914 and get him looking for you, call Otto, Call the Capn, call Rich Bontempi.

these guys know alot of cars up and down the coast and should be able to find you what you want in your price range....
IMHO, paint is the most expensive part of the job...
1500 wont get you far, but I did do a ten year paint job at Maaco on my car for 300 bucks...and its still painted.
sure, its not perfect, but at that time I did not care, it was just an autox car.
Now I care more, and I will change the paint job.

For me, and I have no issues with mechanicals, I would look at the body and paint first.....everything else can be bolted on...

Rich

Affording a car that doesn’t need much of anything and shipping it from pretty much anywhere in the lower 48 was the reason I increased my budget from $5k to $7k.

I have contacted Craig, but not the others. In the 1-1/2 month since I increased the budget, I have not seen or heard of a suitable car.
I look just about everywhere online including:
EBay, craigslist, 914 world, 914 club, Pelican Parts, the Samba, Camp 914, Auto Atlanta, cars.com, autotrader classics, etc.
I think it is a Murphy’s Law type of thing -when the budget was $5k, I saw a lot of nice cars go for $6-7k.
Now that I can spend that much, the nice cars seem to be more.

I trust the well known characters here if they say a car is worthy and I would trust a car that is well documented here or at the club.
The eBay and craigslist sellers have been a difficult lot to communicate with and I have passed on several cars and/or have had the sellers “disappear” when I start asking the hard questions.

I have a keen distrust of recently repainted cars where the car’s condition before the paint is not documented with quality pictures.
I don’t mind having it painted myself, so long as the selling price reflects the quality of the paint on the car.

Electrical and mechanical troubleshooting, mechanical replacement of parts or even rebuilding (assembling parts readied or machined elsewhere) is within my abilities, but I’d rather not get into a full blown project.

My interested in this car is driven by the following:
I can see it myself
It is a southwestern car that is represented as having zero rust requiring repair
It is a 74 2.0
It is represented as a car that runs, shifts, stops and drives well only needing some FI testing/tuning and electrical repairs
It is within my price range
It does not have to be shipped

just go buy it then....look for rust
this is like buying a PC...eventually you need to jump in and buy a car....a grand more or less is not really an issue (its your money, not mine) in the long run...
You will paint that car...just listening to your requirements....you seem like you know what you want....

Rich

**NEWSFLASH**
A new car has been presented to me. if it is as nice as described I think I have found my car.....

Scott, that is a beautiful photo. I would caution you to not be taken in by it though (even though that's probably impossible).

Get it up on Jack stands. Check for rust in all the spots you can see, check for leaks of all fluids (trans, motor, all 4 calipers), make sure it shifts into reverse, first, and second with no grinding, check out the shift bushings -- easy to replace but a good indicator of if the car was maintained.

RI is much easier for me than upstate NH. I will try and join you saturday although I may have home duties that day if my wife has to go into work (she's a nurse). If I can't go, I am definitely available by phone and will be happy to led a hand that way if I can be of any help.

Good luck, I hope you found the one!!

Not the one, another $50 in gas up in smoke.....

Also -- at least this way, you know it wasn't the one that got away. with that picture you HAD to go check it out.

The right one will come along soon!

Yeah I did!
It will make a nice driver for somebody - ignorance is bliss!

Scott what was wrong with the last car you posted a pic of?

-- Rob

The good:

Bitchin’ good looks

Nice red paint

Nice interior

Starts/idles/revs nice

JCS 2.0 motor with very few miles (installed 2005 – last stickered 07)

40 IDF’s

Electronic distributor (fireball XR700 or XR3000

Charges to 14v at idle

Idles easily at 5-600 rpm

Solid floors

Good rubber

Front & rear swaybars

Very little rotor rust

Brake lines

Heat exchangers

Short shift kit/shifts through all gear very well with engine running

Drivers door opens/closes smoothly



The bad:

Couldn’t drive it – buried in large garage, not registered

JCS motor is an EA serial number machined to accept the 2.0 crank

Cracked dash

originally silver, also had some orange under the red on the roll bar by back window

No heater blower

Some perforations in the rear jacking points

Unknown chassis mileage

Don’t know if the car was a 2.0 before engine swap

Passenger door does not open or latch well (not too bad)



The ugly:

Completely replaced front clip between fender, just forward of the gas tank bulkhead (possibly front fenders too). Appears to be collision repair from when the car was still silver. Probably ok, but...

Current owner was unaware and surprised and doesn’t know if it was due to rust or crash

Front hood does not align completely. It bows up 3/16” about 1.5’ ahead of the cowl (looking at other cars pictures - maybe not that unusual?)

Hell hole patched on top and on the inner fender, very so-so job.

Bondo protruding into the inner fender area through drilled holes behind the door latch.

Right rear trunk under taillight is patched about 1’ x 0.5’, very so-so job.

It was represented that they were considering asking $8k but if I liked it they would work with me knowing my budget was up to $7k.

I told them if I made an offer it would be in the $5k range. He wasn’t insulted but he thought they could get more out of the car. I don’t think they paid more than that, in the paperwork was an autotrader ad from 2005 that I would have to assume was placed by the PO at $5700. The current owner must have forgotten it was in there and told me he did not pay the previous owner asking price.