I just got my 914 in today to find much more rust than the car was said to have. Most if very minor and I can repair without a problem. The one spot that has me worried is the section located in the spot in this picture. There is a nice 3" hole there and while looking up in the whole I see some custy rust on the wall between the engine and seats but its not that bad. Other than that it just looks like the rust is in the floor. The battery tray was rusted up bad but to be honest the area under the battery does not look bad at all. I guess this is the Hell hole that everyone is talking about but mine is not near as bad as the others I have seen. Maybe Im missing something but It looks like I can clean up all the rust inside the whole, treat it and then weld a patch on the floor. What do you think?

Mike

Grind out any SUSPECTED rusty area with a wire wheel. You will find more, but you will be able to fix it all. Sounds like you probably got a good one.

Zach

Well this is by far the worst rust. The foors are rust free and so is the passenger rocker. I have yet to pull the drivers rocker pannel to see. The only other ust is a very minor holes in the rear trunk that I can fix as well as a few holes in the tail light panel below the lights which will be an easy fix. Oh yeah the only rust on the front of the car is the channels around the head lighs have a little rust but its nothing I cant fix. I will take some pictures later tonight.

Mike

I was going to ask if there is just a small section of floor that I could by rather than buying a whole rear floor section?

Mike

Some guys part out cars, and you may find one that has a good section of floor where you need it. Check the classifieds here...

For that matter, I need a whole pan, but that spot is good on mine. If you are not in a hurry, you can have it when I get it cut out... could be a while though. I don't want to cut the pan out until I'm ready to put the new one in... I want to maintain as much structure as I can. Waiting for the IRS...

Auto Atlanta also sells a rear floor patch that might work for you.

Sure seems like that would be a popular patch pannel if these cars rust out there. I may need more than I think once I get into it.

Mike

Mike,

When I go home on Saturday I'll look to see if I have any cut pans with that section in them.

I think my floor pan pieces got brought to the scrap yard, but if they are still in the garage you can have the piece you need.

Have you pulled all the black tar out of the floor pan yet? If so, and that was all you found, you are going to be in great shape. If not, get a heat gun and a scraper, and pull that crap out before planning any rust repair.

For my rear trunk patch, I just got some sheet metal from Home Depot and welded it in. You would be able to do the same with your spot. In the area with the divots, I hit them flat with a hammer, and sealed any potential gaps with seam sealer. In that spot, you will never see the metal under the seat, carpet, and sound deadening. If you already have the welder, this is a $5 fix (your time is free).

Zach

Never mind as I found more rust. I thought it was just bad surface rust but after doing some major scraping The Hell hole appeared. LOL It looks about like most all the ones I have seen so I guess I need more than just that little floor patch. I also got under the car and found another soft spot on the rear floor so I will be ordering the full rear floor pan just in case. Who has the best hell hole repair kit?

Mike

Engman makes the CSOB kit:
http://engmanparts.com/hellholekit.php
Restoration Design makes some of the parts, but oddly enough, nobody makes a stamped part to repair the hell hole itself, at least as far as I know...

Do like Zach says... get all the tar off the floor to see how bad it really is. Check the lower inner firewall. Check the longs where the floor pan meets them. Pull the rocker panels off and look at the longs and jack points. Pull the vinyl off the sails. Check the cowl at the base of the A pillars. Check the trunk floors.

I Have done all of that beside the lower inner firewall and removing the tar from the floors. The sails are perfect and the cowl looks good but I have not removed the glass. There is no bubbling in that area at all so Maybe Im good. The trunk floors has a very very minor holes I will just patch. So far I have the hell holes and at least the rear floor section that I will replace as a whole.

Im going to try to drop the motor, trany out this weekend and get to searching for more rust.

Mike

Fer realz!
We have all gone through this, in one way or another. I learned how to weld by fixing my hell hole and front trunk.
Zach

Why oh why did I have to remove the tar from the floors. LOL Its not bad but the rear wall has holes all along the bottom side. How Am I to get that old undercoating off the car so when I weld it does not catch fire?

Mike

Wire wheel... scraper and lots of time. Kerosene may soften it up as well.

I used an angle grinder and a knotted wire wheel. Undercoating is going to liquify and go EVERYWHERE in long, stringy strands. Sometimes I had good luck heating it with a heat gun and scraping it off. Less messy, but did not always seem to work really well.

Some guy here used dry ice, I recall. He said then it chipped off easily with a hammer and chisel. :shrug: I never tried that, it might work. Anyway you slice it, its a messy job.

Zach

Every 914 should come with a mig welder and a 4x8 sheet of steel....

LOL, thats seems to be the case. My mig welder will get some time on it for sure with this car.

Mike

Is the engine shelf needed on these cars? The passenger side shelf is rusted on my car and I figured I would just remove it and leave it off if thats OK. The subaru 3.3 will need all the room I can get anyhow.

After hours or chipping away at the tar on the floors I have found them to be in great shape other than at the rear where it attaches to the firewall. I think a rear floor pan will take care of all my floor problems for sure. The rockers are in great shape and the tunnel is in good shape but there is a good deal of rust in the floor under the rear tunnel. I will take some pictures today.

By the way who has the best prices on sheet metal parts? I know these are not camaros but damn these patch pannels are big $$$.

Mike

The engine shelf is primarily part of the cooling system on the aircooled engine. I don't think it is structural.

http://www.restoration-design.com/

Here are a few pictures of the rust.

Mike

Rust.

More rust.

rusty hell hole, common

914's rust from the inside out! Like Doritos...there will be more

I have a good tail pan found so that should be easy to repair. Im going to get the plasma out and cut out the bad area from the Hell hole so I can check it out better. I guess I will just replaced that whole section on the lower inner firewall and just patch the outer as its solid other than a few holes that can be patched. I plan to add lots of metal in areas to stiffen up this car so if the metal is just pitted I may not repaced it being it will be behind new metal braces anyhow. Whats the best Por or Rust bullet? Rust bullet would be easier to apply as there is almost no prep but seems like I heard of some problems with it.

Mike

There can be problems with both. All the prep is NEEDED for por 15.

I like the eastwoods rust products better.

And I still don't think you need a new pan. Just some flat stock to make patches with.

Zach

You very well may be right. The only real problem with not getting a rear pan is the center section under the rear tunnel is rusted bad. I guess I could cut till I get to good metal and see were im at.

Mike

When you cut the engine shelf, watch the brake line...