Hello,

I know that a lot of 914's have a rusted-out battery tray and that the rust can work its way down through the engine compartment and onto the rear suspension. My question: is rust in the engine compartment beneath the battery tray a structural concern? There just seems to be one area of it on a car I'm looking at and it hasn't made its way down to the suspension. Is this acceptable? Should I plan to cut it out and weld-in a replacement sheet metal section?

Also, can the batteries be relocated on these cars?

Thanks,
Joel

If the battery hasn't eaten it's way thru the metal, then you can treat the area and replace the battery tray.

Yes you can relocate the battery. Front or rear trunk.

do a search here with keywords "metal fabbers".
Also look at Engman's repair kit.

KT

If you use an Optima or Orbital sealed battery you won't have a worry about future rust. Relocated batteries are very hard to do correctly and cleanly. Use a stock setup and a sealed battery. Clean, nice, original.

Yes, the area beneath the battery is very much structural. In the photo in Trekkor's post, the lowest area, against the inner fender and the firewall, is where dirt, leaves, water, and battery acid all combine to make a big rust trap. This area ties the main structural beams beneath the doors to the rear suspension and engine mounts. It is frequently referred to as the hell hole on this board. If this area rots out, the car will eventually snap in half. Typically, the rust doesn't actually go down to the suspension itself (unless the problem is VERY bad).

Cars with lots of rust in this area CAN be saved, but it's a great deal of work. Poke down in the area firmly with a screwdriver. If it's solid there, you're good, and all you'll need to replace is the battery tray (and maybe the support) itself. If you can poke holes in the metal there, you'll looking at pretty major work to fix it. You also need to check the main structural beam (aka "the longs", as in longitudinal beams) that the jacking point connects to. This is behind the thin cosmetic valance under the doors.

Hello all,

Yeah the area beneath the battery tray has enough rust that it does flake off a few bits if push on it hard enough (the owner told me this, I haven't seen the car in person, only photos emailed to me). Hmmm. I'm not a welder or a bodywork guy so I think I'll pass on the car if its that big of an issue. I'm looking for a daily driver and I can't have the car indisposed for long periods of time.

Trekkor - I see you're located in Napa, the car I'm looking at is actually in Santa Rosa, a bit north of you. $1850 1970 1.7L car on Craigslist.

Thanks for the replies.

Joel

almost 2K for a rust-ridden car? seems like the ass-raping my dad was in for when he bought my 2.0 body and sorta-engine combo for the same price.

QUOTE

almost 2K for a rust-ridden car? seems like the ass-raping my dad was in for when he bought my 2.0 body and sorta-engine combo for the same price.

Well, that be midwest pricing my good man. Out in the CA land they cut those up. Location, location location - big factor here in terms of pricing.

M

agree. soon i'll be getting a hell hole repair kit....after someone does my longs.. i met a guy today very local who will fix EVERYTHING for like $600-700 USD.