I just stripped out all of the interior on my '74 2.0 to check out the inner longs, figuring something had to be wrong due to what my outer longs looked like. Picture of outer long is driverside. My driver door is sticking when I'm inside, and I have to put my shoulder into the door to get it open. The door gaps look good though, so I don't really know what the problem is. Also, my jack triangles are rusted through. How do I proceed from here? Buy new inner/outer rockers, jack donuts/triangles and cut everything underneath the cab out? I have a set of new floorpans, but I'm guessing that won't fix the sticking doors since they aren't very load bearing.

That outer long is not original. Someone already patched it substantially. Hard to tell what's going on from those pics.

Maybe whoever welded in the previous patches didn't brace the door openings and the car shrank causing the door to stick.

Try removing the locking mechanism and cleaning it. Maybe it is sticking?

Body got jacked when it was being " repaired " before. you're going to have to cut that old repair out, square up the body, brace it, and re-repair it.

Whoa, whoa, whoa. Slow that 'pull the long off' train down. First, tell us more. Does the door open using the outside handle? Does the outside handle work correctly? In other words, is it loose when you grab the handle? Or does it feel like there is resistance there when you pull the handle? On the inside, pull the door panel off. Many times, you'll get some water damage to the door panel, which makes it warp, which causes it to come into contact with the rod that actuates the mechanism. Does the inside door handle feel loose? Or does it feel like it has resistance?

Answer those questions and we'll go from there. Or get some jackstands and cut the rocker off, your choice

Not using a chassis was VW's idea

He clearly states in his original post that when inside the car he has to use his shoulder to shove the door open. A classic sign of a buckled tub. Some of us have been around these cars for a while.

C'mon Scotty, play nice. As far as having to put your shoulder into it to open the door, I've seen the latching mechanism on these cars stick before, or get hung up on the striker plate. If someone went to all that trouble of putting a long on, I'm thinking they might have gone to all the trouble of trying to readjust the door beforehand or afterwards as well. Besides, he clearly states that the door gaps look good. Maybe it's not sagging or twisted from the removal and addition of that new long.

Not sure where you're going with the 'some of us have been around these cars for awhile'. I've been around them a long time...maybe even longer than you! Heck, most of the people on this board have been around them a long time, maybe too long! Besides, in repairing these cars, or just about anything, I subscribe to the 'make a list of things it could be and start with the easiest things first' rule. I'm not saying it isn't the long, I'm saying it's a tad bit easier to check, fix and repair the latching mechanism than it is to pull and replace the long. I'd be pissed as hell at myself (and probably you too) if I was a newbie with these cars and pulled the long and replaced it based on advice given here only to find out later that is was the latch...

I wasn't not playing nice. Could it be the latch? sure. BUT given the previous repair, the fact that you can see the garage floor through the cars structural spots, I doubt it. FWIW I have seen several cars with htis same problem with " good " gaps that had bent chassis from improper bracing during repairs.

Simple is good but usually we underestimate the amount damage and repair work needed to fix these 40 year old cars. Chances are that this car had obvious rust in the longs. PO did some patching but not a complete repair. The only solid metal is the patch. It looks good from the outside but it's not enough to keep the car from flexing when sitting 150lbs + in the seat. I'm certainly no expert!!! but that's what has happened to a couple thousand 914's in the past so it would be reasonable to assume it's happened with this one even with the patches in place.

If that is what's happening, a car like this could be very dangerous to drive on the road.

BTW - Scott really is an expert

with Scott, regardless of whether the latch is sticking, it needs some long repairs.
Click to view attachment Click to view attachmentClick to view attachmentClick to view attachment

Those repairs look familiar

I just love understated humor.

Thanks for all the input everyone! I tested the doors today and it almost seems like it is both the latch/hinges as well as the longs. The outside driver door handle is stiff until it unlatches, then swings freely. Driverside has drag even when unlatched. I can see where the door is dragging by pulling the paint off around the latch I took some pictures of the doors as well as measured the gaps in front/back of both doors. The results:

Passenger side rear gaps:
Top: 5.72 mm
Bottom: 1.95 mm

Pass. side front gaps:
Top: 5.79 mm
Bottom: 4.31 mm

Driver side rear gaps:
Top: 6.40 mm
Bottom: 3.58 mm

Driver side front gaps:
Top: 6.39 mm
Bottom: 3.51 mm

Hopefully some of these pictures help diagnose more. Pics 1-4 are passenger door, 5-8 are driver door. It wasn't until I uploaded the photos, that I remembered removing the weather stripping from the bottom of the passenger door. Should it be dragging that badly without it? Also, what is the standard time in hours a body guy could repair/replace longs? I definitely do not have the cajones/skill to do it myself.

whoops, pictures are out of order. #2 is driver side. The rest are self explanatory.

Here's a test - With the doors open, run a piece of masking tape from the trailing edge of the front fender to the leading edge of the rear fender on both sides of the car. Now get in the car and see if the tape sags. Bounce up and down a bit on either side. If the tape goes slack when you place weight inside the car, ...you get the idea.

Yup, NOW I'm total agreement with Scotty (and others). I missed those gaping holes in the first set of pictures (tiny laptop screen).

From your additional pictures, it doesn't look good. Those scrapes on the door are a pretty good indicator. So...it probably is the latch, but not for any of those easy fixes I mentioned earlier. From what I've seen (and I would bet McMark and Scotty would agree with this) the gaps at the front of the door (between the front fender and door) usually don't change much. It's usually the back gap between the quarter and the door. That area is really prone to rusting as you can see firsthand. Usually due to a number of things, from leaking rear windows that end up letting water into the cabin, jack plates that really get the long rust process going (one of the main areas under the rocker panels that allow dirt/moisture to build up) and leaking batteries that eat through the 'hell hole' and work their way down to that area (as well as the suspension console).

McMarks pictures are just pure brutality.

Don't know what your skills are, but as you can see from McMarks pictures, it is possible to repair. Panels are available and lots have done it. I don't know McMark or Scotty personally, but you can check their work through searching of the board.