Hey everyone,

I'm looking to purchase this 914, I'm going to see it on Saturday. It's currently being listed on ebay. First Question, is there anyone in the Charlotte, NC are are willing to come with me to see this 914? Also, what should I be looking at on this 914? He mentioned a 4inch diameter hole under the passenger seat that has rusted completely through but has been "repaired" I need advice on what are some things I should look at on Saturday. Also, what are some of your guys opinion of a fair price for this one?


Here is the link to the car:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Porsche-914...sspagenameZWDVW


Thanks and hope to get some good responses! Here is the description & some pictures, more on ebay!

1972 Porsche 914 Targa 1.7 Liter 5 Speed Daily Driver

Vehicle Description

914 has had extensive restoration to drive train, all new fuel system,brake system. Bushings on pedal assembly, converted to weber carb, new tires , new exhaust system ,new heat exchanger.new hoses on everything ,new heater blower, fresh paint, orginal color orange, console with guages, blue dot blauplunkt radio , driven daily, a side shift trans would make this a perfect car 30+ miles per gallon....Front pan perfect...Rear Pan perfect...Battery Box Perfect...some rust repair where firewall joins seat pan Pictures tell the story..will e-mail more photos

According to his camera, those pictures are 3 1/2 years old. I'd be VERY skeptical. Take an ice pick or screwdriver and really probe under the longs at the jack points, the hell hole, rear trunk in front of the tail lights, and under the carpet near the firewall.

just poke at everything....watch for that rust repair...my dad once took his 914 to a shop to repair a rust hole in the floor pan...it came out nice, until 2 weeks later tape started peeling off of the "new" metal...before long, he had a wad of tape in his hand, and the same big rust hole in the floor....watch out -JON

If the floor under the passenger seat by the firewall rusted, be VERY suspicious of the hell hole. Look closely under the battery tray and the inner fender well as it runs down towards the firewall. Also, check the passenger side suspension console VERY carefully. That is an expensive fix.

Good luck!

Be very thorough in your search for rust. If the seller freaks out when you start poking with the ice pick, you should probably just go home and look for another car. Also try to figure out who painted the car and when. Yellow exterior, orange in the engine bay, and black in the front trunk/gas tank area is very suspicious. The single carb is also suspect - ask the seller if the cam was changed. You can search this forum for the cornucopia of information about why the single carb and factory cam are bad combination.

All of the above!

my personal favorites:

peel up the carpet on the door sills to expose the bottom inch of the inside long. It is glued down so you might get some resistance from the owner. If there is any sign of rust there it is likely coming from inside the long.

When poking with a pick hit the areas around the jacking donuts in the four corners of the floor pan. Remember that there is tar on the bottom side (and usually top side) of teh floor pan. The floor can look solid but rust can be lurking. Investigate any crack or hanging down pieces of tar.


That battery tray has been replaced and there is evidence or repair work around the 'hell hole' Not bad news if it was done correctly but immediately points to a lesser valued car.

It's a nice looking car, and it can be hard to find a good one at that price on the east coast. Painted calipers and whatnot tell me that someone took care of it. The photos are a bit old though.

Bring a set of tools with you, and take off the passenger side rocker panel (the black piece along the bottom). That and under the battery will normally be the worse place on these cars.

The good news:
The interior is in really good shape - dash does not look to be cracked

Bumpers are in great shape. Even the rubber bumper tops do not have a lot of distortion in them.

This looks like an enthusiasts car - it has had a lot of work done on it. I'm not a fan of red calipers but it shows who ever did this car put some effort into it.

Nice rims.

Thanks for the input guys, The guy I spoke with said he's been in and outof this car and explained to me some other things that aren't posted on ebay

1) Rear window leaks when rains hard, he recommened getting it resealed.
2) a 4" diameter hole under passenger seat from rust has been repaired, but did not replace the floor plan, I believe it's just a patch.

He said it had dual weber carbs on it when he got it but idled pretty roughly, he had this single carb installed which someone he knew recommened and now idles smooth.

He said he has receipts of over 5grand in parts when the restoration was done (2003). He also claims that if the car is on a jack the doors shut properly. It has aftermarket springs which have lowered the car as well. He says it doesn;t bottom out or tire rub but gets close.

This guy says he drives it everyday. He's 62 years old.

What is a fair price for this car? Is $3,500 to much?

Could there be any explanation for the trunk are being black, engine bay orange, and car yellow??? This is starting to look maybe not so good.

Just guessing.

The black stuff was probably rust repair. The engine bay wasn't resprayed because he was a CSOB when the colour change was done. Actually a lot of work to prep the engine bay for color change.

It is pure speculation to guess what the car is worth without knowing the extent of the rust and the quality of the repairs done to date. For me (and I am actually looking right now) $3500 would be absolutely the most I'd pay for a car that has had significant rust repair. And then only if the longs and suspension points are really solid. Have a look at camp914.com and you'll see some pretty representative pricing of what a teener is going for. Craigs got some nice cars on the lot right now. Craig tells me that it will cost $800-1000 to ship a teener to the east cost.

i don't think he's honest with you about the extend of the (hopefully now gone) rust issues this car once had.

the complete rear trunk floor has been replaced with a aftermarket panel before the car was repainted!
that is a bad sign ...


also, the battery tray is not a original replacement and you can see that there was extensive work done in that area.

i'd be suspicious. get under the car and check the passanger side long in the area around the jack-post and see if you can poke through anywhere.
also slide the pass. seat forward and check the floor pan right where it meets the long and firewall. poke with a screwdriver ...

good luck!
Andy

Take a look really close at the areas I've circled in Red...Rust .....and note the black paint (Red Arrows)....Take a really close look at the area under the battery tray (Blue Arrow) to see what it looks like......

If the rust repair was that extensive (Black paint area) I'd be wondering what the long looked like right under there from battery acid washing down on it over the years.

Maybe I'm more forgiving than most on the condition of cars, but if you had rust, and cut it out, then did a good job putting in some new metal, then I'm good. I'm sure the price will be reflected though - a pristine car would be worth more.

If he has the dual webers, get them, they are much better (once you get them running) than the single.

For a basis, I paid 5600 for my car, in virginia, and it was in similar condition. I did however get a 1.8 in the car, and a spare 2.0

the most important thing is to make sure that there is no remaining rust in the car. Anyone can smear some bondo over it and have it look great for a month.

With the single carb, the color change, the rust and the general "rough" condition of this car, I would say 2500 is max on it. I would be afraid to pay any more.

I'd pay $4K max..

It does look pretty good. The only questions are rust, which is the case with all 914s.

For example there are two customers cars here. One 1971 original fuel injection original pant (90%) every single original receipt since new including the original drive out tag, runs great, new tires, non appearance group car never never damaged, TOTALLY rust free, (except for the replacement of the original battery tray only, would need paint to be perfect, the guy wants $4950.00

Second one 1974 2.0 appearance group fuchs bilstein suspension package (includes front and rear sway bars and fuchs alloys) new tires one (now 85) year old owner since 1975, Totally rust free, has had a new front panel installed years ago and the left front fender repaired, and the car was repainted, the paint is now faded, and we just had to rebuild the engine for him because of a dropped valve seat,TOTALLY rust free $8500.00

These are examples of commonly available 914s that I would approve as well as approve the prices. The car in question in this thread just needs to much to justify the higher prices of the above cars.
It is really too bad that their are few 914 bargains around these days.

I live in Spartanburg, and could perhaps come up to look at the car with you on Sunday afternoon. I agree with all the above comments. I am currently finishing up on a repair of rust on my car that I have had for 34 years, and I let sit out for a while in the rain. My back window leaked, and ended up rusitng the floorboard, and also the back firewalls behind the seats. So, I pretty well know what to look for. Sometimes it is hard to see the extent of the damage. If my car wasn't one that I had bought new, I would have maybe tried to find a verified rust free car , maybe from AA or maybe get one from California. That said, 914's around here that ae in half decent shape go from 3-5,000. I paid 1500 for a parts car last year. It had been "restored" sometime before. I mainly bought it for the FUCHS, the 2.0 engine, the good dash, a rear quarter panel, sway bars, and AC unit, so I knew what I was getting. However, after I got it home, I thought I could maybe cut out the firewall section and use it. When I started cutting, I found that it had been rusted, and re-painted over, and although looked good from the outside, it was o-good inside. I ended up not using any of the firewall metal.

I would at least ask him to pull off the rocker panels to see inner longs, as well as check out the area around the battery tray and below the battery tray- the hell hone area. Leave me an email if you would like me to come up. Joe

Do I see these on your website, George? Have you updated your For Sale area yet?

Paul