top down picture...not too bad for a north east car....I wire brushed the side, should I patch the hole? POR 15 going over everything anyway.....

Battery is now going to the front trunk...so no more acid..

side view.....

under is another story....I cut out the donuts to replace them and look at what I found....

oops....

The holes look larger than they are....I am planning on grinding out the bad stuff and patching.

It looks like the console is solid. I still have to pull the rockers to look there.

Looks like a good car to dip.

Your topside looks pretty good. POR-15 should seal it up. On the bottom, I would do a patch repair. Mine rusted on the top, and went through to the bottom. It looks like yours has little damage on top, but more on the bottom. Perhaps when you model came down the assembly line, the rust seed sprayer was spraying incorrectly. Strange.

Herb,
I been there,and done that.cliche-cliche
If ya want it to go away and not come back ya gotta get in there and cutout all the bad metal and replace with the good metal .
The hell hole is every 914 owners enemy.Its gotta be fixed to keep your structural integrity of your car.
IMHO,re-pop riveting a scab plate and covering w/POR15 aint gonna give you a comfortable felling in the long run.
Heres what I had to do.
Remember,fix it right the first time,even though the effort is huge,you won't have to fix it again later.

Bottom side w/scab plate welded in.
Ron

Bottom closed up,ground and ready for paint..
pretty much worked on it a couple weeks to get it done.now the boo-boo's are all gone.
Ron

Patch'n is no problem....I got a new to play with and lots of steel strips to cut and fit....

I was just surprised to find all the damage under the donuts and not much anywhere else.
It is a bitch to get to the bottom of the hell hole...I am not sure how I will cut out the bad piece...


I did get to play with a spot weld drill bit...pretty cool. Then I said that it was taking too long.. got my air hammer and noticed that I had a spot weld bit.....hehehe...took about 30 seconds to get the battery support and donut out......this is the way to fly...

Is it just me or does it look like the top of the hell hole has been patched up...not with metal, but with filler. I'd dig around it with a screwdriver and make sure. Since you have a welder I think you'll be good. I think restoration design has replacement parts for this area. Just some friendly 914 rust, not the end of the world Just use a cutting wheel or a sawzall to get the rusty bits out...make your patch a little big. Good luck.

Where the hole is in top is all metal..

I think you are talking about the seam sealer in the corner...Yes there is a lot of it. I was thinking about leaving the hole in top to drain water....but this just drops into the body.....

Yep, cut weld and patch....

Ron: It looks like you didn't fix the inner longitudinal damage?

Ron!!! You were able to fix that thing??????

You are a god (or you're just insane! )


Those of us with rust buckets salute you!

Shannon

Oh and I forgot to add that I'll be stopping by with my car at about 6ish is that ok?

Shannon

Crash: Cool, good to hear it's all metal...just cutting it out and patching in new stuff should be ok. Keep the hole there, just fab up some kind of tube to let the water drain out. Check the stuff below the hole to make sure it's good. Hit it all with POR or Eastwood stuff. I need to get at my hell hole one of these days...has some minor rust on it as well.

Yes Tom,
I did do inners also.I made mine from 12ga.steel.Ran them from front to back,wheelwell to wheelwell.Had to do both sides.then capped the outer long with a Brad Mayuer kit.
A lot of work,but man-o-man is the car stiff now.
I also had to have it put on a Porsche jig to pull it back to specs when I was done.

Ron

New pans & crossmember,and I was done.
Ron

Nice work!! Inspirational!

But to semi-hijack thread, I am still looking for a 914, really looking @ Drstanley's listed on this board's classifieds ('76 Calif model)...has rusted out battery tray, not sure about the rest, have inquired.....the question is, never having owned one to know first hand - are these really worth all the effort and money people put into them? i don't mean from a financial angle, one never recovers all their expenses - I just mean from the driving expierence?

There must be something there, I haven't seen this kind of dedication to a car since I left the Ferrari world (for ever)!

In the electric car world we have this thing we call the "electric grin". You automatically get it when you drive your first converted car. I have to tell you there certainly is a "914 grin". I took my first corner in a 914 and ....well....yeah I'm grinning right now just thinking about it. The 914 for all it's trouble always pays for itself corner after corner....

It truly is addictive. I of course had to convert one to electric now I have two grins!


of course I'd be grinning a hell of a lot more if I had my tranny back from Brad and co...

Shannon

Buy an optima battery. They dont leak acid and they last longer.

Ron,

What did you use to seal the seams? Looks like some kind of caulking in there.

what happens when you take off the rocker covers.....

'nother

good thing that I have plenty of steel.....patch and burn patch and burn

Oh yea, rust is like an iceberg.....there is a lot more underneath.....


Moral of the story...take off you rocker covers and clean around the jack posts...All my rust was from crud compacted into the jack posts...both were gone. Once I took off the rockers, the sand and crud just fell out....luckly this is all the rust that there is....

I know in Kalifornia you would cut up this car, but here in New England...this is a rust free car

Hey Crash whatcha doin showing pictures of my car.

Yeah mine looks exactly like that also. I'm still cleaning out the crap

When ya get done welding,do as I did and buy a quart of 3M brushable seam sealer at a local automotive paint supply outlet.
Helps to smooth out the weld and keeps out moisture.No more rust boo-boo's.

Ron

FINALLY! Yes, get an Optima and you can leave the battery in the stock location AND not have to worry about a leaking battery ever again. Definitely worth it, got one in my 914, VW Jetta and VW Squareback. Just wish they made them for my Goldwing