Picked up what’s a “running” but not shifting 914. Looking at my hell hole, I’m wondering on a scale of 1-10 how hosed I am. Plan is a restoration obviously.

Additional photo

That looks pretty bad.
I can see the floorpan is gone as well, i bet you can see through to the ground behind the passenger seat.

As a general rule, you can see about 10% of the actual rust that's in there.

I hope you are good with a welder!

PS:

Yeah, unfortunately you have a project on your hands ... but not all hope is lost if you're mechanically inclined and have the right tools to effect the required repairs

I agree. This will be a project. Not knowing how experienced you are with welding and mechanical work, you have two good choices from here…

- repair and restore. This community is awesome and you’ll have lots of experience to draw upon

- sell it to someone who is prepared to do this work and use the proceeds to buy a car in more solid shape.

A third choice would be to part it out, but this car doesn’t look that far gone, and parting takes a lot of time and effort.

Whatever you decide, we’re here for ya!

I made a video series for people new to 914s that you may find helpful…

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLmCYkBdj...PWMX9ecEK-qsKZs

If the rest of the car is good then look for a 914 shell and transfer the good things over. There have been a couple of shells "For Sale" in our classifieds recently.

EDIT: This one............ http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?sho...=355290&hl=

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I see you becoming an expert in welding and fitting metal panels.

Big job

Might be cheaper in the long run to buy a cleaner car
You’ll have a lot of money and time into this one

Soon to be opening an account with Restoration Design!

It's a project car, but if you like projects, go for it!

How screwed you are depends on how quickly you wanted to get in the car and reliably and safely drive it around.

Do you have a welder or lots of money or both? You definitely have a project on your hands and lots of metal work to do to get the car solid.

A welder is cheap, the metal isn't expensive, it's the time and effort. It's also about what you hope to have when you are done. To return it to perfection vs make it safe and fun to drive are very different projects.

Here is where to start:

https://www.restoration-design.com/store/category/914

@Halliwell - Man, I've been in your shoes!! I'm right now finishing up on a 4-year restoration of a '74 914. When I started, my car was completely disassembled and in really bad shape. It was maybe a little worse than yours actually. For me, I wanted the challenge of doing a full/complete restoration on a car. I wasn't interested in starting with a good car. I wanted a basket case!! And, boy did I pick one. Looking back on my journey... it was rough, frustrating, and required tremendous patience - that I never knew I had. However, I wouldn't have done it any other way. The more I welded metal into the car, the more I restored components... the better I got and the closer I was to one day driving it. So, in my mind, it just depends what you want or what you're willing to do. Here's a link to my photo site: (Full Restoration Photos). Good Luck!

And enough money!

You asked for advice. Here's mine - unload it and find a better car to start your project with or keep it and use it as a parts car. You would be amazed at how much money you can sink into a 914 that looks 10 times better than what you've got now. Then again, if your last name is Gates, Musk, or Bezos, go for it.

Ansbacher

Looks like an AC comp in the eng compartment. There will be smallish holes front to back for the lines. A rather large one in the frunk too. Make a through assesment of the rust and price out the $ for replacement pieces @ Restoration Design. Hope you didn't pay too much for that car.

I've also just finished a 4 year resto and went from this:

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to this:

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It can be done, and money is not the problem as long as you didn't sink too much into the project car to begin with. It is a common believe that restoring a rust bucket costs more than the car is worth. That is not true if you DIY. I restored my pile of rust to a very solid bare metal shell for around $5K. The total restoration bill was around $20K not counting the $500 paid for the car back in the 80s when I was driving it around.

My advice is to think hard about what YOU want. If you were not looking for a project, unload the car and start again. Don't try to talk yourself into this project unless that's the kind of thing you like doing. Your car is not just a few weekends of work. However, if you are the kind of person who would enjoy spending 1-3 years (depending on how far you want to g0) of almost all of your free time getting dirty and bleeding, but learning more skills then you thought you had, go for it!

I didn’t sink a ton in. I’ve done some work on cars in the past, redid a MGA coupe. Never dropped an engine however. The remaining body is actually quite good, very minimal rust it appears. Kind of surprised. Just that hell hole. I honestly was thinking about paint and interior and cleaning it up and just sticking it in my garage (I have plenty of cars for driving) - I just always wanted a 914. What would have been a “reasonable” price to pay, I’m wondering? Engine starts. Headlights go up and down, so those work, seems to sound pretty decent.

If there is nothing more than what is visible then "that hell hole" is likely to extend to: that hell hole, inner and outer right longitudinal, right side of firewall and rear floor pan, probably right inner rear wheel well, new battery tray and support, and maybe right side suspension console. Add to this the fact that the motor, while it might sound OK at idle looks to be running tiny little pea-shooter carbs, so idling is probably what it does best. It's a rough project, I'd have paid no more than $500 for it and I have been known to be overly optimistic.

You should take a look at @jaredmcginness thread: http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?showtopic=343941 His is the best recent thread I've seen for repairing a severely rusted tub properly and bringing it back to clean, solid driver condition in record time.

I agree with Jonathan's assessment on price but might go a few hundred higher IF I was looking for a project and considering the scarcity of finding ANY 914 within hundreds of miles of where I live.

+1

And above all welcome to the 914 world

My car was worse for sure than that. Totally fixable.

http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?sho...=269606&hl=

Got some more photos.Click to view attachment

Thank you sir!

Pulled back the carpet. Looks like someone tried a little spot weld long ago. Can you do floors without yanking every damned thing out of this?

Thanks Brent



Yes and no.

From what I see your floors look OK. Just the furthest back section needs replaced. (edit: and some of the front, haha)
RD has a great kit - a total steal that includes every piece you will need. Link HERE

Pull the carpet and seats and back pad, go to town.

The problem here, the deeper you dive into this... you know the rest.

If your new floors do not have good metal to mount to (I.e. lower rockers (longitudinal) you are going to spend a little more time.



If you ask me... DO IT! If not you, then who?

just fix it. or flick it.

bbrock fixed it.

they are all eroded. in % terms. they were made a lifetime ago.

they are not making them anymore.
what are you going to do.
buy a tesla?
and they are only good for 10 years before its battery pack replacement, or is that a floor pan replacement?

you only live once.

Plan on removing ALL of the tar. A heat gun and a painter's 5in1 tool makes short work of it. There's a sweet spot when the tar is warm enough. It peels off. There is a bunch of seam seal too. You won't know the depth of repairs until it is exposed.