Worth it or not ???????, Rust pics..... Options

[914momo]

About a year ago I seen a 914 sitting on the corner for sale and it was like love at first sight.So I ran to the bank as fast as i could, pulled out 2000 smackers,and bought the car before anybody else could buy it (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wacko.gif)


Well a few months later I found this website called 914world.com,an noticed lots of people talking about rust in the battery tray area, so I went outside and took a look at my own car....Holy F*&%in shit my car was rusted all the way through to the suspension (IMG:style_emoticons/default/headbang.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/headbang.gif) .........It looks like the right trailing arm mount busted at sometime or another, because the PO (IMG:style_emoticons/default/finger.gif) welded some 1/4 in steel to hold it together....



I started to look a little farther and found rust everywhere,the longs,under pass seat,everywhere.........I guess my question is would this be worth fixing myself or would it be cheaper to buy a rust free tub? Here are some pics..............

[914momo]

BULLSHIT.........

[anthony]

The most economical course of action would be to buy a whole other car rather than just a tub. I say that because straightening and painting a tub is expensive and moving everything over is time consuming. Buy a nice 914 and then part this one out. You'll probably get more than your $2K back if the rest of your car is nice and you'll have a ton of spare parts that you'll need.

[914momo]

More bullshit

[914momo]

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) +This pile of shit jus keeps getting bigger.........

[914momo]

How do you put more then one pic in a reply? more shit

[Jeroen]

wow... that's nasty!
If you like messing about and/or do a full resto, get another tub
If not, get another decent teener and part this one out. Hopefully, the parts will cover the cost of the car, so it won't be an expensive lesson.
Either way, don't bother fixing this one...

cheers,

Jeroen

[914momo]

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/ar15.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/ar15.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/ar15.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/ar15.gif)

[morph]

nasty nasty nasty.....
i suggest you get a new roller transfer everything or get another car and part this one out.
btw you get youre fuel pump problem fixed.is the car sagging yet ? i realize youre prob on a buget you can weld in more scab support and drive it for a year or two untill you can find a replace ment car or tub.
im local to you so if ya need any help with the car or info.give us a call.im allways happy to help a 914 owner keep his car on the road. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/cool.gif)

[lapuwali]

I'd buy another whole car and treat this one as a parts car. Once you've stripped it of everything you want to keep to maintain the new one, sell the rest for whatever you can get for it.

[914momo]

Yup I got the fuel pump problem fixed, it was a relay. It's sagging a little bit but not much. The car has alot of nice parts,so i'm sure once I find a good roller i'll have myself a nice car...........But untill then I guess i'll drive her till she splits (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

[skline]

I would start looking now though, we dont want to see you next post with this picture in it.

[TonyAKAVW]

I went through the very same adventure. I bought a 914 in 2001 and I even had my experienced friend take a look at it before buying. So I bought it and discovered a lot of the same rust you have. The whole seam of the firewall and floorpan was rotted away, the longitudinals had those big holes, etc. etc. I feel your pain.

Here's what I did. I drove it as long as I could, and eventually I had to drop the engine to replace the oil cooler. During this process I decided to patch up some of the rust and keep driving a bit longer. Overwhelmed by the amount of rust to fix, I decided to start over. I stripped the car of all its parts (which actually doesn't take a REALLY long time to do) and chopped up the remaining carcass and hauled it to the dump. Several months later I found an ad for a free roller. I now have this roller in my garage and I'm working on the body. It has virtually no rust, and although it needs a couple of fenders, the structural part of the body is very solid. If there's one thing having a rusted out 914 teaches you, its where to look for rust on a new car.

So a few weeks ago, the same friend from above points me to an ad for a 1970 1.7 for $1200. Turns out the guy works across the street from me and $1000 later I'm driving again. While this car isn't perfect and does have some rust, its not in bad places.

So my advice is wait a bit, look at 914 ads daily, and when you see a good deal, jump on it immediately and go look at the car. Look at a few cars before buying one, but buy the least rusty car you can find, and as complete as you can find. You really should part out this car, and trash the body. Its unsafe to drive. Imagine what would happen in an accident!

-Tony

[phantom914]

I bought a 914 in 2001 and I even had my experienced friend take a look at it before buying. So I bought it and discovered a lot of the same rust you have. The whole seam of the firewall and floorpan was rotted away, the longitudinals had those big holes, etc. etc.

So is he still your friend? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

Andrew

[bondo]

So is he still your friend?

I think so.. I am that friend (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) Tony drove all the way to burbank and then monterey park to look at a 914 for me on the evening of july 2nd (bad traffic day). I bought it the next day and gave him a 2.0 core for his trouble and a frozen pizza. (see my roller thread for a description of the adventure and pics) For the record, when I looked at the first 914 he bought, I knew nothing about where to look for rust on 914s. I didn't even know enough about 914s to notice that the sail panel chrome had been removed and replaced with fiberglass and bondo (the body filler, not me).

[freezing14]

I do not agree, with all of you, when I got mine about 4 months ago it looked like yours with the exception of the susupention console, i had to replace the inner long. bottom part, i made a replacement panel made of 1/4 steel as the replacement for the longs, changed the floor and the inner firewall and Bingo i have the stiffest 914 made, I have to admit that it was not that easy to bend and shape but it was the only thing to do the rest of the car was isn a not too bad shape a bit thin sheet here and there and this week end the car is ready for paint, the time involved is big but the final cost for the stiffest 914 is less than 100$ but around 150 hrs for the swiss cheezew fixing, if you gat an other tub or parts car, the trouble of parting the car selling piece by piece might be more trouble than the metal work (IMG:style_emoticons/default/welder.gif)

[RON S.]

To quote a cliche,Been There,Done That.

I bought my car,knowing full well it was a horror story when it came to rust.
I only fixed mine,cause it was an original 6cyl. car.
Had it been a 4cyl.like the other 97% of 914s,I'd a kept on walking.
Repairing all that rust on my car,mind you i'm doing ALL work myself.Cutting,fitting,welding,grinding etc.It took a solid year.I spent about $1000.00 with Restoration Design buying every piece of resto sheetmetal they had.I also spent $1200.00 on 2 914s that I cut up to use for the sheetmetal that isn't repo'd.
Do the math,it's not worth the money,time,or effort to spend it on a 4cyl.914.
On a 914/6,yes it's worth it,cause you have some rarity.But still only so far.
For your money,there are still Lots of 914s out there that can be had for a reasonable price that won't need all that Rustoration.

Ron

[tat2dphreak]

I'm sorry to say, that car's good days are over... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad.gif) I agree... get a better car, use this one for parts/part it out... better to find out now...

[Dave Bell]

Hmm... reminds of the last topic I posted on...

If you like welding and are decent at it... you got a project... if you don't/aren't.... cut the car up and part it out... Stripping the car may take a day or so, depending on how fast you are and what you call "a day". Cutting it up will take a day or less with a sawzall... longer if you are trying to save particular pieces... shorter if you hold a sawzall party.

The bracing the guy put on the suspension ear looked O.K. to me in that single photo... might be stiffer than the original if he did it right, although he could have at least cleaned it up and painted over it instead of letting it rust again. Other photos show need for some major rust repair.

You are on the west coast. Call somebody in the bay area or LA Area... have them find you a roller with less rust and then trailer it back up to Oregon.

The obvious guys that spend time locating cars for others are:

Brad in the Bay area
Mike Z in the Santa Barbara
Steve Malm in LA

I am sure there are others on this list as well, I just don't send enough time on the list to know them.

- Dave

[914momo]

Alright........I just found a roller right down the street from me. The guy wants 175 bucks (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) ,but it has the big ol rubber bumpers.Can you put the all steel bumpers from a 72 on a 74? It has no moter but does come with a side shift trany and has black interior thats in pretty good shape........

It doesn't seem like it has much rust in the battery tray area, but I looked on the other side and there was rust on the corner shelf area. Im heading out the door to go take some pics,i'll have them posted in an hour or so..............