1-10. From rear of the battery tray to the firewall along the top of the frame rail there is a one inch wide groove rusted out of the top of the rail along with the inner fender well adjacent to it.The forward lower part of the inner trailing arm mount (where the sheet metal does a 180 wrap ) is part way rusted thru.The sheetmetal that holds the engine compartment gasket is gone in that area of course. Is this a repairable instance?Typical?
I'm a newbie to this vehicle.I had not looked into the engine compartment of one since 1971 when the next door neighbor bought one.So I have no basis for comparison.Seems like the afficianados here have seen a hellhole or two.

QUOTE (pupwag @ Mar 30 2006, 06:43 PM)

From rear of the battery tray to the firewall along the top of the frame rail there is a one inch wide groove rusted out

If there is a one-inch wide opening in the top of the frame rail, below battery and forward, there is going to be serious rust inside, and probably through the bottom of the longs. You need to get behind the rocker panels and poke with an ice-pick or screwdriver all over the place underneath between the jack plate and under/inside/rearward/below firewall/etc.

Also do this test:
Top off, passenger side window down. Notice the gap between the top/rear of the door and body. It should be equal all the way down to the bottom. Face the rear of the car, step your right foot over the door and plant it on the long/frame rail so you can stand on it. Watch the door gap. All your weight on your right foot, bounce your weight up and down to try and flex the car while watching the door gap. If that door gap changes visibly, it will need a lot of cutting/welding/fabbing/welding/mondo repairs.

I just thought of a great name for a 914 racing team.

Hell Hole Racing.

Thanks,Rand.Just the type of advise I was looking for.
I have removed the rocker cover and beat around under the long with a ballpeen hammer and no mushy spots or holes appeared.Sounds pretty solid in the bend just before the jack socket.I'll try the flex test.
A friend of mine bought this 74 in 81.Had the engine rebuilt and IDF's installed.Drove it less than 500 miles and took it to a buddies house for him to paint.Called his buddy once a month or so for about 5 years,got tired of calling his buddy.The car has been sitting in a somewhat climate controlled basement garage the last 20+ years.This year he went and got it.Had it painted then to the shop to get it running where they found the rust .Too much money to repair to get any money out of the car so he gave it to me .It has little rust elsewhere.The exhaust system was cannibalized to put on his 76.So I'm scrounging those parts off the board here and the brakes need gone thru.Figured I get it running then drop the engine and repair if I decide to.
Pics someday.