Some of the other threads spurred this question along for me, figured it might be neat to see what people had to spend to get into the game. We're talking about the purchase price for a 914 project, lets just say something that needed to be towed home.

If possible, format your comments like so:

Year of car and model (i.e. -4, -6)
Year project was purchased
Rust: little rust, medium rust, lot of rust, or ungodly amount of rust
How complete was it
How much did it set you back, purchase price only, not including transport charges etc.

One picture of the car in it's purchased state, and another with it's current or finished state if you want.


I'll go first


1971 914-4
purchased in 2016
Medium amount of rust, structurally sound
very complete, it's all there just dirty, faded, torn and dried up.
$1100

How I got it


Current state.

Good idea for a thread. The challenge is that rust can be buried and spread around key areas, all of which can be expensive and difficult. Some cars are worth $0 because the rust / damage eclipses the value.

Oh for sure, I agree wholeheartedly. That's kinda why I added the amount of rust part, to give other readers an idea. This is all assuming that the buyers did enough research to know where to look for rust on these cars.

haha, that's also why I didn't list "zero rust" as an option, we all know that's extremely unlikely for a 914 project car that hasn't been pampered and stored in a humidity controlled lab.

1975 2.0 with appearance group
bought 6 years ago, $2000
- it was not running but would fire if we sprayed starter into intake(D-jet)
- bought from a marine in north Carolina that left it sitting out for a year while on deployment. it had all original interior except someone took out the center console and took out the fog lights, even though as an appearance group car it would have had both.
- I knew nothing about 914s at the time and did not know where to look for rust but the panels were solid with no dents no rust so we pushed it onto the trailer and away I went. 6 hours home.
-what it took to get started- pulled the tank got the d-jet manual, replaced all the fuel lines and tank seals, injector seals fuel filter and pump. spent about $500 and another $250 for a rebuilt MPS- the MPS was shot, had water in it from being mounted upside down, and once put back together, we added gass and it fired right up!!!! high idle, MPS was set too lean and had vac leaks but that all was taken care of . -
- since then I ve spent about $5k on it, completely redone interior, Dr evil trans, cv, all bushings, bearings seals shocks struts brake lines master cylinder, clutch pressure plate and flywheel, rear main seal, push rod tube seals etc etc. , stearing rack turbo tie rods, and ball joints 5 lug conversion and all new 16" fuchs""

- next up it is going to Connecticut to get rust repain in longs done, fenders fixed and stretched out and prepped for repaint- with a 2056 motor rebuild.
Car has had 5 owners and started out in Dublin, Ohio. Went to California, 29 palms, to Camp legeune and now SC . it has 148k miles on it , motor has never ebee rebuilt

posting of the fixes will go to my build challenge thread - next month is a road trip to drop the car off at Racer Chris's shop

Purchased ten years ago for $2000 - no rust found and ready for conversion 1973 914-4. Ten years later.....Click to view attachment

Purchased ten years ago for $2000 - no rust found and ready for conversion 1973 914-4. Ten years later.....Click to view attachment

Great looking car George.

Click to view attachment

Bought around newyear 2012-2013 for around then $10k and now $7,5k. (European prices) Running and driving, medium rust, rear trunk and firewall mostly. Front right slight crash damage. 90% complete, only one HE, no front swaybar etc. Did have front and rear trunks in glas fibre along with front and rear bumpers and a front mount oil cooler.



Today after 3 years and another +$20k and new everything except motor and gearbox.

$6000 in 1976, over the years it turned into a project / money pit of a hobby. . With no end in sight.

$0

Paid $3500 with a ton of nice parts. Sold some of the parts for $3500.

Very little rust. Came with the steel flares installed. Suby build in progress

$2500
Sold about $500 parts including engine
No rust
6 conversion almost complete.

$1,200
Needs hell hole rust repair but is drivable.
Staying a stock 4. For now.

And the project car that started it all. The Mepstein build at scotty b's.
Purchased when I was 18.
Driven for 5 years.
Stored in my moms garage for 25

Lots of money spent on rust repair

Coming home soon for bodywork and paint.

Bought December 26th, 2015 for $5500.

Click to view attachment
It may not qualify as a project car, but I had to crawl in the passenger side door because the driver's handle wouldn't work. Muffler was shot, other "issues."

I wouldn't take $15K for it now. I really like it.

Click to view attachment

Wow 5 lug Fuchs sure change the look of the car....for the better!

Purchased in April of 09. California titled car. 1975 1.8L. Back dated bumpers. There was some rust at the bottom of the fire wall due to rear window leaking. Replaced battery tray and part of engine shelf. Other than that, longs and floor pans were solid. $5000. Replaced Pedrini wheels with Mahle's. Added front and rear spoiler and Corbeau seats. I rebuilt the brakes and suspension. Sway bar in front, 140# springs in rear, Bilsteins all around. Added gas filler door in hood and side air scoops. Would not sell it today, too much fun to drive. Turns heads where ever I go.Click to view attachment

Looks great. Yes those Fuchs do change the character / impression of the car. You even have a passenger mirror too.

Man, that's right within my budget and you bought that not too long ago. What a find!

This is what it looked like in the driveway of the guy I bought it from. $800 very little rust, in the usual places driver side seat pan and battery tray. I had to put a front trunk floor in it due to it was a dealer added A/C car.

Soon to be a Suby turbo conversion.

1972 -4 1.7 appearance group. It was a complete driver with a dual Weber carb conversion, several paint paint jobs and a damaged hood that needed to be replaced from collision damage.
Purchased in 2004
Rust: medium rust with a fairly bad hell hole.
$1,200

Cool thread! Here are my stats:

1973 2.0 bus motor /3 (no really! it rarely ran on all /4 - I think it was originally a 1.7 since the 2.0 badge was very obviously added on by a PO)
Bought in 2007
Very little rust
How complete was it? Well, besides the motor that never was intended to be in there (bus motor) and a substandard hell hole repair, it was it great shape! In fact, I still have that original dash in there. Seats were reupholstered since I had the bolsters increased somewhat, but otherwise they didn't really need it.
Bought for $6,000. Didn't read the fine print closely enough (and honestly didn't know the difference) when the ad said "2.0 D-block 4-cylinder" as opposed to "A-block" ... shoulda known when the owner made a flimsy excuse and met me somewhere between where he said he lived and actually lived - found that out even though he illegally modified the CA title by blacking out his address with a sharpie (I could still see through it).

Still, I got a great car to start with. Here's what it looked like in the ad photo:
Click to view attachment
And here she is now, with a somewhat larger engine ... somewhat modified ... just a bit here and there, really.
Click to view attachment

Man I love your car.

Damn it all. Jinxed yourself with that comment, huh? How many hours after this post did Murphy raise his ugly head? Again, never speak well of a 40 yo+ vehicle. It makes them stop running shortly there after.

Err, depends on who is asking & for the written record and in case my wife ever reads this post it was whatever I told her at the time and not what is written below.......


1970 914-6, numbers matching
Purchased 2013
Medium amount of rust in the main shell (hope), no rust in outer panels (english wheeled aluminium)
Very, very not complete and many of the unique -6 parts missing and sold when it was turned into a race car. Lots of boxed parts, most of them crap
£16k (probably too much on reflection)
Original 2.0 6cyl has an issue with Nr5. Suspect holed
Came with a donor shell for some of the panels needed and rebuilt 2.4E MFI engine (hopefully good)
Sold various small bits from the car so I guess £15.5k as it sits excluding all the new parts I have been assembling

Click to view attachment

1975 1.8L purchased Dec 2010
Dead Motor
Bad Trans
Mild Rust
Purchase Price $1100.00
Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Dr Evil Clinic $300
Wash & Wax (Cut & Buff) Free + Materials $50
5-Lug Conversion $700
Fuchs 16x7's $500
Tires $600
Headers & Twin Tip Muffler $500
New Front Struts $500
Window plus install $400
Convert Interior to Black $650
Conversion to 1983 3.0L SC motor Incl mount oil system and motor $8000 (got a deal)
Misc Stuff

Total about $$12,000


Click to view attachment

nice! great deal - really did well on that purchase, best value 3.0 conversion ive seen for a long time.

nice! great deal - really did well on that purchase, best value 3.0 conversion ive seen for a long time.

I paid $4000 for a 72' -4 along with a decent amount of spares and some minor rust. I'm effectively the second owner but it lived a hard life before I got it. Basically it needs a new everything. Sadly I do not have any pics due to it being in another city getting work done. Great car and so much fun to drive!

Click to view attachment

I inherited mine from my best friend.No rust to speak of, other than surface rust in hell hole. So far:

Dropped engine and resealed
Replaced trans
New tires
1 cracked and bent wheel replaced; painted all wheels
New soft brake lines
Cleaned and repainted engine compartment, replaced battery tray
Rebuilt entire shifter mechanism
Pertronix ignition
Full tune up

Probably a dozen other items I can't remember; all work done at 914 LTD.
Goes in for paint and bodywork in 3 weeks.

In 2005 I paid $2500 for my project 914
-Awesome black paint and American Racing 4-lug wheels (I would only swap for 5-lug Fuchs)
-Lowered, progressive springs in rear, front and rear anti-roll bars
- Drivers floor pan swiss cheese with rust from gap in window seal, but other rust is/was minor
- NOT running, 1.7
- Appearance group

I paid someone to replace the entire driver's side floor pan and swap in a used 1.7 TIV. Since then, 2006 and on, I've done 90% of the work to rebuild 90% of the car with awesome new parts, but haven't tweaked my ultra reliable, 22-25+ mpg, 1.7 TIV.
Best deal ever? No. Any regrets? HECK NO! I'm looking forward to another 10 years of fixing and improving it. Rustoration in progress

I paid $2500. Car was bought from the original owner. It was daily driven from 1974-1981, fun driven from 1981-1991 and under this cover in a attached garage of the owners house and not looked at, started or touched from 1991-Feb 2016.

Car is a non-running 1974 2.0 that is fully documented (including original receipt, window sticker, and receipts for all mechanical warranty or private work.) Floors, trunks are solid. Rust spots here and there on the extrior but the worst rust is in the hell hole, drivers side jam and passenger side sill. Longs are surprisingly solid.

Car is original except for what's documented as Porsche dealer warranty work (like the tach), stainless heat exchangers, muffler and 8 track tape deck.

Interior is also original and gorgeous!!!

Car:  1970 914-6 (Yes, a *real* 6)
Rust: Very little
Cost: $500 (No, not missing any zeros) - Bought around 2008-ish i think

$600. No engine or tranny, but otherwise nicely equipped. And, she called to me...

Click to view attachment

$175 - for the blue one, I bought her for the cage... Once I cut it out I don't think she's going to make it...

I bought the white/grey one 20 years ago, for $1500, solid runner, was my college DD, once I got my first job out of college, then had kids, I took her apart...unfortunately she's been that way since...