I have had a few Porsches but I am ready to buy my first 914. It is mostly rust free, but if it's anything like a 911, "mostly" can mean "costly" if the rust is in a bad spot. Could anybody tell me what to look for, what's real bad, what's no big deal? It would be hugely appreciated. It's a great car in Maryland so it's not a NE rust bucket, but I want to be safe and avoid big resto projects.
Thanks in advance- Matt

There are a number of threads on this here somewhere. Generally, you want to check the battery area on the passenger side of the engine bay. Rain water hits the battery, grabs the acid and then destroys the battery area, usually taking the passenger long, floorpan and other areas of the car along with it. You can check the area visually. You can also do the big butt test to see if the car is sagging. that is, sit in the passenger seat and with the windows up, open and close the passenger door and see if it sticks which would indicate the car is sagging.

Other areas prone to rus are around the jack supports. You could also take a screwdriver to the rocker covers and see if there is anything soft there (if the owner lets you ofcourse).

Good luck!

we need to put this all together on a tech info or something - it comes up so often.

Adding to Chucks start:

The interior floors are covered with a tar like substance. That can hide some pretty nasty rust. Look for cracks in the tar an go poking with an ice pick. Like any other porsche/vw replacing the floor is no biggie as long as the longs and firewall are solid.

Peel up the interior carpet that goes over the longs and have a look for rust where the long and floor join. Particularly look at the indent for the hand brake handle. Any rust here can be nasty. It starts from the inside and works out. If you see it it is probably worse than you think. Ice pick it.

Rear firewall at both corners of the floor pan. Passenger side rust there suggests the hell hole problem Chuck described. There are interior reinforcing kits that you can weld in if there is minor rust damage to the longs/firewall. Major rust in the longs will kill the project unless you have the skill and patience show in 'digging into hell'.

On the underside check the area around the lift donuts. The rear ones are easily replaced. Forward is part of the floor.

The trunks rust - particularly the rear. Water tends to leak in through the taillights and then sit under the sound proofing pad. Not structural easy to fix (ha - at least if you weld. I don't - yet

Cosmetic problems around the door striker plate and above the door handle recess of the door jamb. They used some kind of sealer in that area that seems to attract rust.

Gas tank. Hard to tell on a ppi but there is usually surface rust inside the tank. As long as it hasn't perforated it just a weekend's work to renew the tank.

Bottom of the doors.

cowl at the bottom of the windshield particularly around the gasket to the fenders. Haven't read to many threads about that area but I suspect it would be a bugger to fix properly. Look for hack repairs in that area.

who else wants to add to the list?

Just look here. It's everything and everywhere the factory said it would be in 1970.

I think with the big butt test you should remove the top as this will add some support to a weak (even ok) longitudinal.

Also with the screwdriver or ice pick, be careful how hard you poke as the hardened tool could eventually bend or even poke through a good piece of metal. I did this before realizing that with a screwdriver and just moderate to heavy pressure with some twisting, not poking, rust will give way.

Jack points on both sides of the car should be in place. If not, it means either they've rusted away or the owner has done some rust repair w/o replacing the jack point. Get the stock jack out and jack up the car on both sides. The jack points shouldn't flex when lifting the car.

The rocker panels are a bitch since they hide one of the worst rust points (the longitudinals) on the 914. The panels are also held on by rivets so it's not an easy off and back on again piece. If the car as passed the muster to this point and you still want the car, you could negotiate with the owner that if he removes the rockers and it looks ok under them, that you will buy the car. I would imagine that the owner would not remove the rockers for a tire kicker potential buyer.

Jack the car and look inside the rear wheel wells towards the front of the car. You'll find lots of ugliness there as road debris tend to accumulate there and cause rusting. Do the same for the front.

Bubbles on the painted surface anywhere means either direct rust or bondo. Either one isn't good.

Rust under the rear trunk lid rear edge once you open it. Same for the front trunk.

Rust under the front trunk lid gasket and at the bottom of the front trunk lid gasket where all the water runs to.

Rust bubbles on the bumper edges, especially chrome ones.

Heater boxes on the ends of the heat exchangers. All heater related items should be in place. You live in NY so if you want to drive in weather below 60F, you'll need heat.

Check condition of heat exchangers. They shouldn't be loose on the exhaust pipes nor have holes or clamps (like mine ). Replacing the heat exchangers will cost $100-500 depending on used factory HE's or stainless steel HE's.

Not rust related:
o Check for protective cover under steering rack. This item rusts or isn't replaced when work is done.

o Front and rear valences for condition and/or if they're even there.

o Engine: if the FI is there and running, you should be ok. If there is a center carb., first on it. If you want the engine with the center carb, expect to either re-FI the engine or buy dual Webers or Del'atoros for good performance.