I have a 72 that's been in storage for over 30+ years and has rust to the point the doors don't close very well. I would like some opinions on whether I should restore it or part it out.

Wanted to restore for my first granddaughters 16 b-day but she doesn't seem to have interest in it at 11. These cars have never been flashy but I thought she would kinda like it....

Well anyways what would you do if this car was yours?

What should I plan for cost?

Injectors been missing for 30years so it may need a rebuild plus it has 99000 miles on it

Interior is in nice conditions. No tears

Also is anyone from Ohio

Dave Click to view attachment Click to view attachmentClick to view attachmentClick to view attachment[attachmentid=382
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~$30-$50K to restore.

You are kidding Right! I can't see it costing that much with me doing 90% of the work.
Not really the kind of guy that would hire it out except for maybe the engine rebuild due to the machining..

Have you done one? Did it really cost that much? Or does this look that far gone

pay a shop and yeah, it's going to run that for true restoration on a car that bad off. When the doors get tight at the top you have severe rust that requires fixtures to make certain it is all in proper specs. Look around on this site and you will find several people that tried major repairs without jigs and made the cars even worse.

Thanks I understand it would be an involved process but is it possible for some one to make these jigs to hold the body from flexing an keep it spec during welding.

I don't have a rotisserie but I do have a lift and I could fab a cart for it to roll on if that would be better.

Are you suggesting parting it out? No way I could afford 30k to restore it.

Search for "Celette Bench" and you will see what the "jigs" look like.

Honestly, you would be better off buying a good roller body and swapping all your parts over. It will save you $20k (EDIT:) or more $$$

If you have real experience with metal fab then yes you could do this yourself. That said, you're most likely going to get into areas where you will have to remove engine mount, suspension mounts and other sensitive items that will then need to be replaced back into a precise spot, or worse, replaced with another used part, or made new by you. It all comes down to your skill set, mechanical knowledge and ability to accurately and properly repair these spots as you are now dealing with suspension mounts that if they should fail could result in tragedy.

You see a fun, cute, sporty little car with great memories.
Your 11 year old grandaughter sees an ugly, smelly, rusty piece of junk on 4 old tires.

Good luck with whatever you decide. I love these care as well.

I appreciate all of your opinions and yes it would be nice to find a Donner body that was solid
But I am not sure how many of those are out there.

Hard decision to make because I have had it for so long and it sucks finding out
You stored a useless piece of scrap....

Do as you wish, but I'd avoid a Donner body if I were you. Won't be much left, and what there is, might be a little dry

Hi Dave, glad you found this place.

The photos tell alot about the condition of the car, but even more photos of the hell hole below the battery tray, both jack points and other rust areas might help understand exactly what scope of repairs this car needs. All the parts are available and there is a tremendous support network here. Sticking doors are an indication of serious structural rust, that is expensive to repair. Keep looking there is more rust, guaranteed.

A 1972 1.7L is not one of the more sought after (read valuable) 914s for various reasons, but the restoration costs are near the same for any 914/4 so the return may not pencil, unless the car has sentimental value or you will keep it awhile. The car looks pretty dirty, maybe if you cleaned it up you would see better what you have to work with. Sounds like the interior is excellent and it looks like the dash is not cracked, good points. What else is in good condition?

Have rodents done any damage?

That said, even excellent condition 1.7L cars can demand high dollars in terms of value, but its all about condition. For the amount of money it will take to restore this, you may not want her to drive that nice of a car as her first car, and there may be more appropriate cars for your grandaughter.

My experience is that teens often end up with the first car being a sacrificial lamb (at least with my two). A Volvo wagon and Mazda Tribute gave their lives to save my kids, and they both survived the teen years and are now good, careful drivers.

I know of a 914-6 that was destroyed by the son of a longtime Porsche friend when he used that as a first car for his son. With so many drivers so distracted and brainless, a more modern car with the latest safety features may be more appropriate for a new driver.

Thanks lots of good info here glad you told me about it.
The car is in primer and I had to move from another location last year. Yes it needs cleaned and
I need to empty it out and look over the whole car. I'm sure it has cancer in other areas just not sure how much.

Just thought it would be nice to see it on the road. Don't really think it will bring much value on the market in this condition nor restored.

I had considered getting rid of it but not much demand for them around here for parts or other wise
Not sure if its worth parting out either. Go through the trouble then can't sale the parts wouldn't be good.

Lol, I got it

My teener had fairly straight body, very little rust, but once I started digging it got worse. The strait body ended up having up to 3" of filler, every body panel ended having a dent or damage somewhere. The little bit of surface rust here and there turned out to to be deeper then I expected. I think I lucked out as the engine has almost 150lbs of compression strait across but I still have to change all the dried out gaskets and fire it up so who knows.


I would use this guide to better get an understanding of what you are dealing with!

http://bowlsby.net/914/Classic/zTN_Gen_914CAF.pdf

To be honest if the car had some rust and a good engine I would do it or if the body was good and the engine wasn't I would do it. But with both the body, engine and interior in ruff shape I don't think I would do it or it is to expensive to do.

Think I have spent as much on tools as I have on the car so far. It's a whole different world from doing bolt of parts on newer cars for the last 20 years then doing a rustoration on a Teener. Every week it seems like I need more sand paper, wire wheels, zip cuts metal and tools to do one thing or another.


car supplies
Body panels 1000-3000
sandblasting 800-1500
paint and primer 600-1000
misc body stuff 200-300
body gaskets seals rubber 500-900
windshield $200-500
dash pad $100
carpet kits $150-300
seat foam, door cards and material $200-1000
long, chassis ,and suspension reinforcement $300-600
suspension, sway bars etc $1500 and up
5 lug swap $400-1000
wheels and tires 1000-3000
brake system $200-2000
engine 1500-18,000
tranny 200-3000


Consumables
cleaners, fluids
sand paper
drill bits
grinding and sanding disks
zip cuts
rotocut/spot weld cutter drill bit
argon/co2 mix

Shop Supplies
Large Compressor
welder
2-3 grinders
sawza
jigsaw
drills
two paint guns
couple of drills
rotisserie
2' jack stands x 4 or lift
Car trailer or money for tow truck (sand blasting)
air tools
Lamps, heaters, fans heavy duty plastic for making paint booth in garage.
tranny/engine jack
engine stand

If you do decide to go the parting route, there is quite a bit there of value from what I can see. If the seats are in as good of shape as they look you could expect ~ 100, for both, if they are really nice w/no tears, maybe 100 each to someone local. the dash gauges will get you 75-100, the rear taillights, if uncracked can run 150 for the pair without trouble. If you have a complete lock set with key its ~400, ~25/switch for dash switches in working cond., ~50 for the metal engine grill badges, 50 for the leather covered steering wheel, and the list goes on.

I'm not interested in parts, but have parted 2 914's so far. My last car was totaled and I sold ~2600 in parts from it, and still got to keep the real goodies.


Also, plenty of 914 owners in Ohio.

I started with a fairly good example and have good engine and fab skills, let me say it is a lot more work than i thought and way more money than i thought. Though the only reason i am sticking with it through completion, is strictly sentimental.

Unless you get your daughter to help you every step of the way, you are far better off just buying her a modern car that will be more reliable and safer at a fraction of the potential expense.

there are plenty of good rollers out here. especially the '76's because they need to be smogged out here. if your smog laws don't effect the '76 I would look for one of those in AZ or SoCal.

Where are you in Ohio? I live south of Pittsburgh, PA just across the boarder. There tornik550 lives in Columbus area and is a great guy with some knowledge.

buy a 5k running car in good condition, that doesn't need a paint job

then sell off or part out what you have left
its the cheapest way by far....

even if your car had ZERO rust you would still end up with more than the 5K into it just to get it running and paint it

If I am doing mine then .......

You should NOT put a kid in this car with horrible seat belts, no air bags, tiny and low the the ground. NOT SAFE for new drivers

It could be done, if you search on here you will see threads of guys that have restored worse. The question really is do you want to, as there are much cheaper and easier routes to a decent running 914.

That driver side long looks pretty trashed, and the passenger side is usually worse. Unless you are emotionally attached to it for some reason, part it out.

Unless you are glutton for punishment and are willing to spend a couple of years of all your spare time and money on this car then you should not even think about it. Other than potential fond memories there is nothing special about this car that warrants dedicating that amount of resources on it.

Sentimental value or not, find a running 914 with as little rust as possible. Take the "better" parts from your current 914 and install on the running car, then sell the rest of the parts and enjoy the drive
I did exactly that and after nearly 20 years of telling myself "I'll get it running this summer", I parted out/scrapped the rusty 914 and now drive and enjoy my "not quite so rusty" 914 LE every day

I appricate all the advice and opinions... i will have to give this some thought ..maybe another 30 years ....just kidding

Does any one recognize the rims?
I agreee with it not safe for a new driver...

30 miles west from Cleveland Ohio

Nice to see the photos of restoration going on

Once I have it cleaned up is there a spot on here for parts
For sale?
New to the site and really haven't looked it all over yet

Once again thank you
Dave

Rims are Riviera style.
There is a Classified Ads section HERE which can also be accessed from the home page of these forums.

Rims are Rivieras....

Please tell me more

Are they made by porsche?

Are they worth anything if they clean up ?

Thanks

You can find a pretty rust free roller here on the west coast for cheap. Shipping to you can be done for under $1k.

That gives you a much better chassis for less than $1.5k. Switch all the parts over and you have a driver you can enjoy.

Then use the money you did *not* dump into your old car to buy your grand-daughter a beater Honda or some such for her first car.

Nice man I hate to say it but that looks worse than mine...
Want to see it done let me know when you put up more pics

~$150/set of 4

Having been there and done that (see my signature) I agree with Andy... sell off what you can and get a west coaster... anything that has been around here is not worth fixing unless you are a idiot... like me

If in the end you need more assistance / advise... I am just south of Akron.

I will most likely part it out or sale it has a whole parts car. I am curious if you don't mind me asking
How much time did you spend on that rebuild and what kinda funds did you have in it.
You can email dire t if you like.
I looked at your pictures of the rebuild very nice.
Dave

Welcome to the forum Dave. I live south of Columbus, and have two 914's up on jack stands in the process of restoration. Plan on years of work. If you would like to see the process of repairs on mine feel free to PM me for the tour.

John