New to the site, just picked up this 1975 914/4. My dad used to race one in the '70s in Tulsa and I always wanted to buy him one so he could relive those glory days. I have been searching for years to find one I could afford to restore. Sadly he passed away in April from cancer/COVID and 2 weeks later this car fell into my lap. Now it will be a tribute car to him and I plan on keeping it for a long time. I know absolutely nothing about the 914s so forgive my future idiotic questions as I sort through this project.
It sat for 5 years so it needs a lot of love. Slowly but surely I will bring her back to her previous glory. Any suggestions or help are of course happily accepted.

Take the rocker covers off and get it up on a lift & poke around under the main side longitudinals for rust. Also pull the battery out and look for rust under there. Poke around with an ice pick or something like that to test metal for hidden rust.
Take out the seats, they will slide off the rails if you poke a screwdriver under one side to free a latch that hides just above the seat rails. look for loose tar under the seat and forward floor pan areas, rust can hide there as well. Water ofter collects in the back part of the rear trunk, so look there as well.

Hope you don't find any bad rust !!

I'm working on a 914 project myself as well, it'll be great to watch your progress.

Best of luck with it. You have excellent inspiration. This is the place for help

Welcome to the brotherhood. Sorry to hear your dad passed before you could share a 914 project with him. But I am sure he is smiling knowing you got one to restore in his memory.

Looks like a pretty decent car to begin with. Barefoot is right on the money regarding any/all rust issues right from the start. I would empty the car out as much as you are able, trunks, seats, carpets, glovebox, all that stuff is easily doable. Then clean the trunks out as best you can and vacuum them. Then use simple green or something similar to wash them as best you can so you can actually see the condition of everything. Vacuum the interior out thoroughly.

Put the car up on some ramps or jack stands, (not the Harbor Freight death stands) and of course put some blocks under the car too before you crawl under there. Pull the side rocker panel covers off so you can see the actual longitudinals where the jack posts are attached. Really inspect those closely. Once under, and with a good light source so you can see everything clearly, begin probing and poking at the floors to look for rust, holes, fiberglass patches, etc. Check all of the suspension mounting points front and rear. Check the area around the steering rack and where the pedal cluster attaches to the floor. Check the base of the engine firewall where it meets the interior floor. If you can, get some degreaser or some kind of spray cleaner and spray the underside and then wash it off. Here, the higher you can get the car in the air the easier it is to get it clean. One of those home pressure washers would be great, (wear safety glasses through all of this work).

Of course, I would also spray some simple green in the engine compartment and let it sit. Respray and maybe get a soft bristled brush to agitate the dirt and grease and then you can rinse that off with a pressure washer or even a garden hose.

Look under the battery box and in the hell hole for serious rust. Also check the other side of the engine compartment for rust while you are there.

I think that will give you a good idea what the condition of the tub is and you can post a ton of pictures and people very familiar with these cars will be able to identify potential issues for you.


Cheers,

Michael

Thank you for that information, very helpful indeed. I was planning on removing everything and sanding off the paint straight away so I should be able to see any rust areas. It is a CA/AZ car so I'm hopeful the rust will be minimal. I have a half lift I need to install in my garage so I will be able to get underneath fairly easily. I'll post pics as soon as I can get started.

Going to reiterate what has already been said. Evaluate the structural integrity of the longitudinal areas around both jack points below the rear corners of the doors, especially the passenger side

Don’t waste a bunch of time and effort doing the superficial stuff, because if those longitudinal areas are not sound you are just polishing a turd. If not sound, those areas will dictate the future course of your efforts.

With that said, the appearance and background of the car indicates that you might really have a great starting point. Welcome and good luck!!

PS- I unlike many here really like the Riviera wheels. Nice!