Time to un-DAPO the "new" car, Bad things happened to a nice car Options

[BillC]

So, I bought a "new" 914 a few weeks ago (a '73 2.0). When I received it from the shipper, I noticed was the seller was quite artful about his pictures, with what was and what wasn't shown. And, now that I've had a chance to start taking things apart, I have uncovered quite a bit of DAPO-done-damage, and I'm sure there's more hiding somewhere (oh boy! something to look forward too....). Some of the damage appears to have been there for a loooong time.

I've already received a piece from a scrap car to fix this hole:


Once I took the rockers off, I discovered this:

Yes, they hole-sawed through FOUR layers of sheet metal, including the heat duct. Not sure what they were thinking, but there it is.

In the trunk, I found three hole-sawed holes. I think they might have been thinking about mounting the fuel pump in a 75/76 blister, but they never finished the work (and also picked the wrong location).

[BillC]

Time to take on the last rusty area I've found -- the driver's side latch post and jack point.

Here's what it looks like to start:



This side doesn't look much worse than the passenger side. However, I'm going to have to replace the jackpoint tube, since I poked through the metal at the bottom when cleaning out rust.

Also, when I unscrewed the latch post, the screw plate underneath wouldn't move. Turns out, that area was packed full of this god-awful light-brown sand. The only heavily-rusted places I've found on this car are places where the sand was packed in -- both jackpoints, the lower driver's latch panel where the vent tubes run and (of course) the pocket for the latch post screw plate. Some DAPO must have driven this car on the beach multiple times (or just one time very enthusiastically).

With some poking and prodding, I finally freed up the screw plate. I also knocked a surprising amount of sand on the floor -- could the inside of that pocket be like a tardis (bigger on the inside)? Unfortunately, it turned out that the backside of the pocket is rusted out, so I'll need to purchase or make a replacement.


I already have a replacement latch panel, latch reinforcement and screw plate, but can't find a replacement pocket cap (or whatever it would be called).
I'll make one if I have to, but would like to see if a new one is commercially available.

Does anyone know if a replacement for that pocket/cap is available? I've already checked Restoration Design and AutoAtlanta, but can't find the part on either site.
Any leads are appreciated -- looking for the sheet metal piece circled in red.