This is going to be my first time trying to repair rust on a 914, so hoping to get lots of help and advise as I try to tackle this job. I'll keep this thread updated with photos and questions as I move along.

Here's the areas that I'm going to look into/repair. I realize the visible exterior rust is probably only the tip of the iceberg, so I'm preparing myself mentally for the worst.

This is the passenger side where the rear floor pan meets the rocker area. Someone thought they were doing good by putting a crappy spot welded patch over who knows what.





Here's the same area viewed from the back. Notice the rust extends around the donut as well.






The driver side looks better but there is one bad area with a hole. Similar location as the other side but the donut section is all good.







Current questions....

Are there reproduction panels that will replace these areas? I thought maybe floor pans would extend all the way to the rocker, but looking at the catalogs it seems they stop right in the middle where my rust is.

Am I going to have to custom make patch panels?

I see the donut triangle is available for that section.




I'm going to start by removing my interior and then the rocker covers. I'll then post more pics of what I find.

Thanks in advance to all who help me out along the way!

Ok, Yes there are replacment panels for the floor and then some. I could not find

the example I was looking for but This Guy
should have just about everything you will need to restore your teener.

Shopping around could save you some coin. And if I didn't say it before

You need a plan, and in order do that you need to know what is available in reproduction or from the factory.

Get a catalog from AutoAtlanta and also print out the catalog from the Restoration Design web site.

A lot of the metal stuff is available, but don't assume you can get everything you need. Know in advance so that if an item isn't available you can deal with it as required.

As an example, the suspension outer console is not available and can be a problem area. It can be removed and replaced by drilling out spot welds (BTDT) and you need to know this in advance.

Wes Vann

He's right you may have to source some parts from dead teeners. When I said


I thought that was clear...My Bad.


Say Wes, which part are you talking about? Is it shown here?
http://www.autoatlanta.com/model/porsche-9...arts/801-10.htm

Phil,

I agree with that Wes and Paul say. Before you start cutting stuff out, have an idea in advance how you are going to put it back together. I have seen where someone started to cut out the floor pan on a car but did it in such a way that they cut out a lot of good metal in places that they didn't. They then would need to go back and fabricate stuff that they didn't need to cut out.

As you already said, I would start by removing the outer rocker covers and interior to get an idea what is going on. There are a lot of options regarding replacement floor pans. As you noted the rear donut section is available. I think you are going to have to replace that. You are right that the floor doesn't go all the way to the edge of the longitudinal. It is welded to the inner longitudinal. The outer longitudinal is available as a replacement part. The inner is not. If the inner is rusted then you will need to fabricate something for that. My car was worse off in this area that your looks. Here is my page on my repairs...

http://motorsport.zyyz.com/project_914_03_04.htm

Other suggestions is that I would study other people's progress threads. It helps you understand how they have solved problems as well as gives you an inside view of the areas you are looking to repair.
I would also suggest that you get a good spot weld bit. I use a 3/8" Blair rotobroach and a center punch to create a dimple for it to center on when drilling. Use cutting oil to extend the life of the bit. I have been very happy with it.

You know what the worst part of this is? Here's what the rest of the car looks like... My 914

This was supposedly a "restored" car. Needless to say, I got ripped off, but I have myself to blame for that as well. Oh well.

I do have some catologs such as AutoAtlanta, Pelican Parts, and Mid America Motorworks. I'll look into the others mentioned as well.

I spent over an hour reading this thread last night... diggin into hell . I sure hope my car doesn't turn into a project like that! I'm not looking to do a show car restoration, just want it to be safe and solid. I'm a beginner welder as well, so my skills are limited. Hoping the repairs can be made without disturbing the exterior paint.

I'm off to the garage now to get the interior and rocker covers off. Will post pics of what I find tonight or tomorrow.

Only take apart sections that may be re-assembled and when rusty areas are exposed start probing around. You can discover alot without cutting the car all up. If its more of a project than you can handle, assemble the car and sell it off. If you don't want to do the work, I think its better not to screw up the car and leave it to the next person to restore. I'd guess your money ahead to sell the car as it is at a loss rather than cut it up and sell it as a failed project.

By the way, I've had a blast doing my restoration. Taking a driveable car down to the bare bones and then bringing it back to life again is the ultimate model building hobby.

I don't have mine back togeather yet......

So.Cal.914;

I try to not rag on AA because I feel that they try to supply as much as possible. However;

That diagram doesn't show the "outer" suspension console. It goes on the opposite side of the framerail from the "inner" suspension console (item #2). It is not available from any restoration shop that I know of.

I do know that they don't have the rearward suspension tie, item #20 in the diagram.

I tried to order the item and was told by the salesman that they had them. When I asked him to actually lay his hands on one, the story changed and was told that they are having them fabricated, but are not in yet.

I asked to be added to a list to be notified as soon as they come in.

I latter got an e-mail from AA which provided the link to the page showing the item.

I called only to be told that it wasn't available and there were no plans to make it.

I ended up fabricating my own.

The lesson I'm trying to get across isn't that AA doesn't try, just that unless the guy taking your order lays his hands on the item, you have no idea when it will be shipped or even if at all. This is pretty much true of all restoration shops.

Wes V

Got the interior out and rocker covers off. It doesn't look as bad as what I thought it was going to be. The rust seems to be limited to the same areas on both sides.

Here's what it looks like inside the car...

Passenger side looks to be all solid. The little surface rust you see on the floor by the inner rocker is just that, surface rust. I jabbed at all of it with a screwdriver and it's solid. Notice the patch on the upper firewall. I thought the lower firewall is the area that usually rusts? What do you think the deal was there? I don't think that is a main structural part of the car, and it's hidden so I'll probably leave it alone. It is metal spot welded on with seam sealer slapped on the edges.







Driver side is about the same, all solid...







Now onto the passenger side rocker/long area...







Outer rocker looks great and may have been replaced?







Here's the bad spot. I noticed this area wasn't right so I ran the wire wheel over it.







Guess someone thought they were making things better? This was covered with bondo. I can understand if you can't weld good, but why the hell would you go to the trouble to patch just some of a hole?







The jack post and plate has been replaced, but I might have to remove it if it looks like there's some cancer under it.









On to the driver side, and again the outer rocker looks great.







This side is pretty much exactly like the other side. Has the rust spot in the same exact place, but for some reason was left alone without any attempt of repair. Jack post/plate was repaired or replaced.








Surprisingly everything above these areas, like by the suspension consoles, hell hole, battery tray, etc look very good. All is solid with no signs of rot. I'm thinking I might get away with just patching the bad areas I've shown so far. What do you guys think?


..

I'm just starting my first forrey into rust repair myself and my experience thus far has been that rust is much like an iceberg in the sense that you only "see" a fraction of what is actually there. From the looks of that patch I think the guy that did the "restoration" on your car must have worked on my car at some point!

BTW, it looks like you are missing the triangular gussets that fit under the threshold.

oh, and

thats what i thought it looks like they must have did some work on those rockers to leave out the sill triangles

Can't be, they wouldn't leave those out on a fully restored car.

I have added them on the list of parts to buy.

The interior actually looks pretty good and the exterior not too bad at all. But someone has obviously done some repair work on the exterior on both sides. From the photos, the repairs don't look too bad, but not perfect. The triangle threshold supports are missing (love the wire loops on the driver side. ). The seam sealer also looks to be slathered on pretty thick as well, so it's hard to see what is going on behind it. Were they just putting it on thick or trying to hide/cover something? As you show, they either didn't fix some stuff, or didn't do as good of a job as the could in the places they fixed.

If it was me, I would strip the paint off both exterior longitudinals (everything behind the covers) down to bare metal. Then you can tell how much is real metal vs. thick seam sealer, bondo, etc. I would redo the patch you see on the passengerside (probably not hard to do) and fix the same area on the drivers side. I would try to obtain replacement triangle supports for the threshold on both sides. I don't know if you can get those on their own, but I know you can buy the entire threshold and supports for about $50 each side.

When done, you can seal it all up really nicely and either try to color match to the car, or paint it black since most of this is going to be covered by the covers anyhow.

Richard

Oh man, not good...








Don't know what to say. I bought a pretty parts car!

Going to take a step back and do some research before I do anything else.

Also going to call my lawyer tomorrow. I know there's probably nothing that can be done, but just want to make sure.

It can be fixed, just look at some of the other threads in the classics section.

The rust on the rear of the pass side long, the corrosion on the donut and the welded patch on the rear firewall were probably caused by rain water and battery acid washing down into the hell hole. I think you should review that area very carefully. It's difficult to get to with the engine and transmission in place, but that rust doesn't occur in isolation and you may have a poorly patched suspension console and engine shelf and that is dangerous. But the rest of the car is pretty, the interior is great looking- does it have the corduroy seat inserts?- and the front and rear trunks seem to be in good shape. You have a 2.0L engine and lots of appearance group items- does the car have sway bars? This is probably worth fixing, unless you paid more than $10k for the car.
Chris

The car is a nicely optioned 73 2.0. Yes, it came with corduroy seat inserts and it does have factory sway bars. Also has rear defrost as well.

I might end up dropping the engine and trans to check things out. Like you said, the hell hole area probably was rotted away. Who knows what kind of repair was done in that area.

The other thing to consider is the age of the repair work. Sure it's not a pretty job, but good repair parts haven't always been available.

Bottom of both sides of the quarterpanels looks to be cracked or filler coming loose. Try to get a 914 guy with experience at replacing those areas to look at your car. The triangles missing says they were either rusted out and removed or the outer long was replaced back to the jack points. Look at the front of the ol and see if you can see a joint were it was put on. Restoration design makes a outer cover ol panel that goes up the rear. It might be hard to install with the rear quarter on but they say it can be done. Check to see if the door gaps are where they should be before you start removing too much. You don't seem to need to replace the entire ol but you also don't know what the stuff under it looks like either. Has this always been a ohio car? They only good thing is that the top side looks good and the bottom doesn't have to be color matched it just needs to be sound. It does look like a good project and you will really know the 914 when you are through if you stick it out. Hope you've got a big garage.