I'm looking at a 1970, 914/4. It's all original except for a repaint that they did what seems to be a decent job on. He's asking $6000, is this a good price? What should I look at to determine if it is a good car?
Here's a link to a few photos...
[url=Come visit my 914 album - http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/sharin..._-Invitee-_-Add]Here is a link to a few photos... [/url]
Any and all help is greatly appreciated!
Thanks,
Chris

Looks nice from the outside but as others will certainly tell you... check for rust, rust and more rust. Especially under the battery and behind the rocker panels.

Good to know. Thanks! What about the price?

All depends on the amount of rust.

From the pics it's hard to say. Check under the battery and the structure below. Then check the right side jack post. If you can pull the rocker panel, all the better. If it's really bad, that's only 20% of the rust on the car. If it's solid, price may be OK.

In California, particularly Northern, $6000 would buy a very nice car. That same car might sell on the East cost at $10K and to Europe for $20K. You can also sink more than $20K into rust repair...

Looks like a clean original car. If it passes the rust test, you may want to make an offer and bargain to an agreeable amount. If there are any door dings, scratches, torn seats, or other obvious issues you can point them out as reasons to discount.I Should everything be really good, you won't have much to bargain with

Good luck with the purchase.

Check the door gaps top to bottom to see if there is a sagging issue, which will give you an indication of the rust issues affecting chassis strength.
Tom

Look for rust around the antenna. Drive it and see how it shifts. The shift linkage has several plastic guides which wear and make it difficult to shift cleanly. Clutch cable puts a lot of stress on the clutch cable tube which can separate at the firewall. Does it have the original fuel injection? Various commenters on this site (and I agree) feel that the original fuel injection is superior to a carb changeover. And is the engine still a 1.7?

I'm a decent shade tree mechanic, but if it were me I would take your car to a real mechanic and have it checked out. Compression test, suspension, etc....

Bottom, though, is the rust - especially in the hell hole below the battery tray and the right side jack post. As noted above, open and close the doors, and see if the window sticks at the top, look at the rear edge of the window glass and see if it lines up evenly with the "sail".

I have a '70 1.7 which I bought used in 1977. Love the car. It is currently disassembled and scattered all over my garage. I intend to restore it back to original with as few mods as possible.

Owning a 914 is a bit of an addictive disorder.

Walter Olin

Another easy way to check the integrity of the chassis is:

Remove the roof and .....

1)wind the windows up and down on both sides and determine if there is any unusual binding against the rubber weatherstrip by the rollbar. And...

2)re-fit the roof. It should easily snuggle back into the windshield header cavity and also latch precisely in the back by the rollbar.

If there is a problem with the above test, the chassis is probably sagging at its weak point between the wheels due to serious rust issues.

Paul

Thanks all. You guys are really great! I wouldn't have noticed 90% of those things. I currently have a Cayman S and a '66 Beetle, looking forward to hopefully adding a vintage Porsche to my garage. I've always loved the 914's. Can't wait!!!

When you get it, post pics and add to the VIN database

Will do.

Did'nt end up getting this car -- but still on the hunt!