Hi All-

I bought a project car site unseen. It was a gamble, and it is worse than I imagined.

Passenger Long is very bad (photo) Door will still open and shut but gap is very narrow. Rear Floor will also need replace.

Question, would the Brad Mayeur kit alone fix this??

I know I probably need pictures of other areas, but if I am not interested in engine bay cosmetics or autocross stiffness, would I need other reinforcing components in the hell hole area or inner long areas for a daily driver scenario?

I have never welded before, and will only be able to have the car on jack stands. I envision buying a cheap 120v flux wire welder and trying it myself. I do not need the covered areas to look pretty underneath, but I do need a good safe structure.

Comments, advice and opinions appreciated.

Thank you.

Maybe this will answer your question. From Brad himself.

http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?showtopic=152828

You have just been born into the "World of 914 Sickness"!!!!

First, you have to find out exactly what you have and be prepared for more as you dig into the rusty areas. The long repair by Brad Meyeur is excellent but it does not do it all. You may have to repair/replace sheetmetal and related areas such as the "hell holes". The long themselves may have to be rebuilt before using any stress kits. There are many different stress kits available through our manufacturing suppliers. Pictures are a necessity and the advice you will get here invaluable. In addition, there are many threads available for your review and knowledge base.

The welder you mentioned should be adequate. I personally have a 110 volt Miller 135(?) which I did my entire job including sheetmetal repairs, Brad's long stress kit, other stress kits, floor boards, etc. My car was a California car and it still had a lot of rust including "the Hell Holes".

I never welded before taking on my 914 project; wasted more time trying to decide to do the project that it took to complete the necessary weld repairs. It was one of the most enjoyable projects I have ever done now is setting in the garage having the rebuilt transmission installed along with the 911 brake/axle modifications. I have had it running for the past year plus getting the "gremlins" out of the different systems, etc. I have had a great smile on my face everytime I drivve it. I would rather drive it that the '04 Vette we have, or the original '86 Alfa Romeo Spider.

You are headed to a very frustrating buy most enjoyable project.

Remember: Pictures, thread research, advice, learning, doing! You can do it.!!

Steve

You have a lot of work ahead to make this car right again. The $/value ratio will never be in your favor, so it may be better to buy another body in better condition and steal all the good stuff off this car. Either way, it can be fun.

That's bad.

But what's up with the l80e and the orange longs?
What year?

It's no LE. It was just origionally red and PO painted (pearl) white. I had no idea from the limited pics I saw prior to "siezing the golden opportunity for the cheap diamond in the rough"

Thanks to all posters thusfar (especially. shogueaGLE- VERY HONEST, HUMOROUS AND INSPIRING" I am going to do some more exploring into the extent of the rust, and will report back with more photos.

bad is a relative term....

It looks like the door is closed in the pic, if so; that car is sagging very badly and will probably need much more than you think.

buy a local 914 guy lunch and ask for his input - post here in the garage.

this looks like a lot of work for someone that never had a welder before...and btw, spend the extra $50-100 for a gas set-up. the flux is a PITA.

dragan

Yes, brads kit will do the structural job, but you need to stop the rust.

Rich

I am going to expose the hell hole, and the floorboard/firewall area.

Hopefully I can post more photos soon.

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OK I think I see the full extent of the problems.

Passenger longitudinal is shot, but it looks trailing arm mount is still in place and could be welded to new long repair pieces (or am I dreaming). The camera shot up the long makes it appear like the rust is just in the top and bottom metal, and that maybe the suspension mount area is unaffected. I'm thinking Brad Mayeur kit.

The inner long piece in the hell hole area definitely needs replacement -probably with the Resto Design piece.

The rear floor needs replacement,hinking Resto Design.

I imagine I would need an inner long kit (like engman), just to have something good to tie everything together with.

I imagine the metal pieces will cost a lot when I add it all up,

Please chime in with advice, particularly if it is definitely a lost cause.

Thanks!

How good are your welding and metal fabrication skills and how much time and money do you have set aside for this project?

Wow, the long looks almost exactly like what I got myself into. See my thread at the bottom of this page in my signature. It IS possible to do this with a cheap 120v flux welder, I don't care what anyone says. But its much harder. And even worse if you don't buy the restoration design replacement pieces. It does not necessarily need to be expensive. But if you short cut, it won't look as nice as others. For me, it was a learning process anyway, so I basically brought a car back to life that had no business being restored. It would have been cheaper and easier to find a decent roller, but in Florida that is a lot harder than it sounds. I would say just in metal alone, you're looking at upwards of 500-600 dollars in parts from RD. If you go the long, drawn out and cheaper route like I did, it may be no more than 50 bucks. But keep in mind, every piece that you fabricate requires cutting discs, blades, etc. This adds up quickly. If I had to do it over again I probably would have bought all the metal instead (fitment will always be better as well).

Before you do anything else, make sure to read, read, read the many threads here. It helped me immensely. Also, before cutting into or welding anything, make sure to make yourself a door brace that goes between the B pillar seat belt bolt and door mounting bolts. This will keep the gaps straight so everything fits when done. Good luck!

Also, noticed you're in FL. Is this Jacksonville? You could make a trip down to Series 9 in DeLand, FL. They do this stuff for a living! Or, if you happen to be down in Tampa/St. Petersburg I can show you what I know, which is admittedly still very little

me and a friend ended up scraping one that had simular damage, and transfered the good parts to a better body. Some times they are not worth the fixxing. This one is pretty toasted, sorry.

PS suspension ear looks suspect, if there is rust ozzing from the bottom seams of the ear, it likely has a good deal of rust internally, they are made of about three layers of metal, and the water gets in there and the rust is history. Also if you see signs of bulging of the metal, likely that is caused by rust under the outer layer of metal, forcing the bulge out. Hit the bulges with a hammer, and see if it open ups a hole, no bother if it does, you didn't hurt anything cause it was near ready to fail anyway. if either is the case, failure is forth coming and it should too be replaced.

I love seeing a 914 saved, but this is a parts car. Get a good tub from California or arizona and switch parts over. You might spend ~2K to get the tub and have it trucked to you, but you are going to spend a lot more fixing that rust.

Zach

Click to view attachmentClick to view attachmentClick to view attachment[attachmentid=308
242]Click to view attachmentFinal photos before I decide to try to save this car or part it out.
Surprisingly the suspension console appears to be decent.

The motor mount appears to have a potential future too, if only to serve as a falsework to build on.

I am thinking about a mayeur kit for the outer long.
A resto design inner long (Ouch $$ for a small piece)
A resto design rear floor
An engman kit to tie it all together.

If nothing else I will learn.

I have no illusions about this car ever being a beauty, but if I can get it to be a driver, I will be happy.

Do I do all of my cutting with an angle grinder??

How should I support the car while I work (no floor and bad frame, donuts up front look good.).

The car is fixable...but you have a ton of work ahead of you. If you commit to doing it, be prepared to go all-in on a restoration because you will find yourself priced in at some point buying stuff, making bailing out tough to justify financially. On the bright side, you will know this car inside & out when you are finished!

Like the paintedman said, buy all the replacement panels you can from restoration design...there will be plenty of fabrication to learn from in other areas.

An angle grinder will do a lot of the cutting, but won't allow you to get everywhere you need to. I use a die grinder and a dremmel tool with cutting wheels quite a bit too.

Our projects look quite similar if you want to see what you are in for:

http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?sho...=123957&hl=

Good luck & keep us posted!

Here's one more vote for spending the extra cash to get a regulator, solid wire, and a bottle of shielding gas. A true MIG setup makes welding thin sheet metal so much easier to accomplish without burn-through than flux-cored wire. True, what you want to do could be accomplished with flux-cored wire, but why make an already involved job any more difficult?

-Stephen

Sorry man, that is a parts car.

There are always nice rollers on SF Bay Craigs List for $2k or under. You will spend way more than $2k fixing all the rust. When the drivers side jack post is rotten, the car is much worse than you can see.

On the West coast, we junk nicer cars than that.

If you have some $$$$ to play with, give it a try.

Depending on the condition of the interior, engine, tranny, and other marketable
parts, you may still be able to recover a good portion of your investment if you get
in too deep and change your mind.

If you succeed and end up with a fun weekend driver, you will drive around with a
tremendous sense of accomplishment. Teeners are real attention getters, too.

EC and WC opinions are ususally as far apart as the coasts themselves. Plus, for
every car that gets cut up...every remaining one is worth a little more, so weigh
the advice and choose your side carefully.

I've welded up several rusty 914s and I can assure you that this car is beyond help. Anything can be saved for a price but common sense tells me this is a parts car. Sorry, Ray

That is a typical northeast car IMHO.
If you want to, it can be fixed...all the pieces you need can be purchased from Restoration Design.

Nothing out of the ordinary from my salty perspective.

Looks like 100 or so hours to get the metal work done.

Rich

I'm about a year into my first 914 resto..I, like you, am learning as I go. But every day I count my blessings that the car I have is 'largely' in good shape. It's no way near as bad as the pics of your car suggest. I worry that once you start digging you may just be overwhelmed by what you find.

You will need LOTS of good tools to get it done....and a decent welder! It's more than a learning experience...it will need a lot of $$$$$$!

My honest advice would be to keep it for parts and get yourself a really good tub from California as alot of others are saying. Even though you have the added cost of a new tub straight off, you will be saving yourself a ton long term..

Good luck whatever you decide!

Ollie.

Why discourage some one from trying to fix it. For me that is too far gone to bring back because of my lack of skills, time, and knowledge. But if someone else can do it than I say go for it and save another teener from the scrapyard!