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Scott gave me this 914 because there was too much rust for him to consider repairing. He had thought some minor floor pan repair was all the car needed but once we took it apart, the bad stuff was visible. Don't even ask how the passenger seat was attached, it wasn't. The seat belt mounting points on the longs had all been compromised and some sloppy patches had been welded up and down the longs. There was even an aluminum panel pop riveted to the bottom of the rusty floor pan. Except for some rust in the back of the trunk, the car looks rust free. I jacked the car up in back of the drivers front wheel. Now the door gap is huge on top and the door is stuck shut.

When purchasing a 914, always pull the seats, carpet and backpad.

Scott has switched all the parts from this car to a rust free tub from CA.

On the plus side, you found alot of tools!

Aside from the door misalignment ......... I thought I have seen people fix worse examples

If I can find a solid spot to jump up and down in the middle of the car, I think I can "fix" the door gap and open the door. I think the car is about ready to fold in half. We are going to fix it.

Tools are just to show some rust through areas. I'm surprised the passenger didn't drop out of the escape hatch while driving.

YES! Which reminds me... I must cease forum viewing & return to grinding finished welds on my Engman long kit!

I know! It's a joke!

Thanks for the reminder ......... I need to get out there and locate my steel flares ........... well I need to trim the inner lips a bit first ......... for tire clearance ....

I don't get the point of this thread. Some guy gave you a 914, why are you complaining? If you paid for this tub, and these issues were non-disclosed during the transaction, then I can see where your coming from.

I think he was trying to point out to Newbies the dangers that lurk under pretty paint and nice interiors (I was the definition of Newbie when I bought this POS) rather than insult me (Mark - if you are insulting me then the heater pull cable will now cost you $200 )

On the plus side, I did learn a huge amount about 914s due to this POS.

On the negative side - I had erased all pictures of this car from my memory....

I believe his point was to show that a 914 with a nice paint job on the outside can have considerable rust hidden.
I have parted out over 30 of these cars and I have seen so many with a newer paint job and totally rusted out in he longs and hell hole.

It reminds me of my first 914, floor was also that bad, I purchased the car and bought a brand new carpet kit, without checking for the rust. Took it out on the road, picked up my girlfriend (now wife ) and she thought it was awesome. Then I drove through a puddle at a decent speed....

The water shot up from the front of the passenger floor like a bucket of water and nailed her.




She didnt think it was fuuny, also didnt ride in that car again.







note: she did ride in the current 914 this morning

Exactly!

No insults to anyone on this thread! I learn more with each 914 that I purchase but I have not yet been lucky or smart enough to buy a rust free car.

A rust free 914...that cracks me up...with every 914 you get the rust for free.
A rust free 914 is like searching for the holy grail

I too fell into the trap. Thought I found a once in a lifetime barn find. Under all the dust, there was a nice paint job, uncracked dash and decent seats. Got the original D-Jet running pretty well in 2 months, then started poking around after learning what to look for.

That was the Summer of 2009.

Mark,

I think we can take an old hood and weld it to the windshield and targa hoop and stiffen that bad boy right up.

In a similar horror story... I found Bondo INSIDE the passenger compartment of my car where somebody tried to hide the bad fix at the seatbelt anchor point.

Guys - A few of you didn't get me in this thread. I took apart the car with Scott (previous owner). I asked him if I could have the car, knowing there were big rust issues. Scott gave it to me. That's all there is to it.

I brought home 3 red, one white and one blue car in the last 2 years, not counting the red car Scotty B is repairing. Every one looked good. Every one had major rust. That's just life on the east coast.

Could you make a trailer out of the Car???

I would assume any re-enforcing would have to be done regardless of the rust or not. I think you could come up with a good trailer if planned.

My thoughts to save another 914.

Steve

Any particular reason they aren't all listed in the VIN database?

They're all crap Miatas don't rust

Paul p has the white one. Germancarjunkie has a red one. Sfrenk listed the blue one and I'll look up the vin for ugly red. I have my two red ones on the list

You call that rusty
Click to view attachment

Yeah, I have a guaranteed rust free car that has a similar make up. Drill out spot welds, weld in new pieces. I am guessing though that while the floor was a feature item, there is something else wrong that jammed the door shut. I too take pictures with screw drivers to show rust holes. In my rust free car I ran out of screw drivers and I have a lot of screw drivers.

Mark:

I got the "buyer beware" joke with this thread...my post was to corroborate how a decent paint job can make one overlook the important stuff & the major rust issues us East Coasters have to deal with. I realize now that I knew very little about inspecting 914's when I bought mine.

I had to laugh at the fact that you have brought five teeners home with the same problem. I refuse to look at another one until mine is fixed...so it may be years.

Bob

White car - purchased $100, parted out for $ and gave roller to Paul P.
Ugly red - purchased for $900, sold for $500 and sold gasburners for $2K
Rosie - sold to GermanCarJunkie for what I paid, sold additional parts for $500
Little red- Paid $1,200, currently spent $1,500 restoring.
Old blue - Paid $0, cutting up.
Big red - Purchased 30 years ago. Scotty B's - $Don't tell the wife kind of money.

I am very glad Sfrenck did not try to fix this car. It is too far gone.

Cut them up for scrap. That's one less. Makes the survivers worth more.