I’m looking for advice on repairing my passenger long. The rust in the pictures doesn’t appear to be too bad, but I know it’s always worse on the inside. Would I be able to get away with 914 Limited’s repair kit or should I replace the long? I haven’t cut away the rust yet, but I am planning on doing so in order to spray some rust inhibitor. I’m not looking for restoration, just want to make my car a nice and safe driver.

Any advice would be helpful!

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The other part:

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The hell hole is solid as it was repaired by the PO years ago and I believe this rust is from before the repair was done. The car has been stored for the past 23 years (I’ve owned it for the past 25). I had to do 2 posts due to the size of the photos. Looking for advice as my experience lies primarily in mechanical/electrical, not body.

I suggest you clean it, then cut and replace the corroded area.
It does not look bad enough to consider the whole outer long yet.

Mandatory reading for this type of work:
http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?showtopic=16748

And Restoration Design has all the metal pieces you need to fix this correctly:
https://www.restoration-design.com/

I’ll give that a read and I was planning on getting some thing from Restoration anyway, just want to see what my options are, realistically. I try to clean up the areas and get a better idea of the extent of the rust.

If you can, get a look at the inside. Use a borescope, or at least stick a small mirror in the rust hole and look around.

That’s what I’m planning to do once I get the rust “removed” from the outside and cleaned up. I would like to know if it’s somewhat isolated or if it lurks throughout since it’s a 914 . I would like to do this once and not have to really worry about it in the future since it will be a fair weather vehicle.

I don’t know what you mean by “isolated”? The rust inside that long is not isolated. By the time you have holes like those, and that far forward (by the sill triangles) - it’s bad. SirAndy’s links will serve you well.

What you see outside the paint is always the tip of the iceberg.
The LTD kit is there to reinforce the long but first the original long had to be repaired.

Yeah, I know rust is always worse inside than outside if it starts from the inside. Are the frame stiffeners worth it? I would think the answer would be yes or they wouldn’t have developed it. I will obviously repair/replace what is there and will post what I find for further advice. Ideally I would replace the long, however if I don’t have to, I’d rather not as that would typically involve bracing the chassis to replace, correct? The floors are in really good shape, so no worries there.

I read through the first page of that repair you linked me to and I REALLY appreciate it! While it doesn’t make me look forward to what may lurk underneath, it does make it seem more doable. I particularly like the “professional” supports with the blocks of wood, though it looks like the car is on some sort of lift/height adjustable “table”. Either way, looks nice and not TOO difficult. I won’t be to that stage until spring as I need to get a pad poured in my garage before I proceed to that possible extent of a repair as my car is currently sitting in a corner at my repair shop. I don’t want to do the work there as it’s 1/2 hour from my house and I’d rather have it torn apart in my garage so my partners don’t give me crap for it. I’m just trying to get my ducks in a row and research all I can so I can be prepared for the worst.

This is the reason I love this forum and I REALLY appreciate all of the help!

Weekly installment of “really the rust isn’t that bad”

I say that having been guilty of it, and lived through it. My build thread is in my signature.

In my opinion, stiffeners are a waste of time and money. A band-aid. They add unnecessary weight. They are not very effective at increasing body torsional stiffness which is where the original 914 design is lacking.

Better to fix the longitudinal rust properly - restoring the original stiffness without added weight being pasted on trying to compensate for a rusted out longitudinal.

Read all the rustoration threads. My personal favorite:
http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?showtopic=76791

It’s doable. But not a quick fix like you were probably hoping for (I was there too). Fix it right and it’s done and you’ll have a better car for having done it.

Yeah, that’s what I keep putting off and my way of putting it off is by buying another car that needs work and fixating on that! I just bought an ‘84 diesel Rabbit a few weeks ago and been trying to get rust on the road as a driver. That being said, I’m finally getting to the point that I realize I need to start working on it again so I can ACTUALLY drive and enjoy the car that I haven’t driven in over 20 years! I’m just not looking forward to the rust repair, but you’re right, once it’s done, it’s done for the rest of my ownership. Just need the pad…..