DAPO Pictures, Things that make you go hummmmm!!!!!! Options

[914Sixer]

I bought a z-green 74 and am in the process of sorting it out to run. I am replacing everything that is missing and not correct. I started sorting out the fuel injection and found the fuel pump moved to the front of the car with a piece of zip cord run through the tunnel from the rear to power the pump. All of this was mounted on the front suspension pan cover.

Wonder why this door rotted out? It is completely covered with 1/2 " carpet pad. Every surface had pad glued down including the bottom of the door where the drain holes were. Both door were done like this. Back wall had same carpet pad behind the molded wall.

[Superhawk996]

When I see the stuff done to these cars, I’m not sure if it is a testament to how desperately folks want to keep them on the road, or just how many people have no clue about what they are doing.

[get off my lawn]

When I see the stuff done to these cars, I’m not sure if it is a testament to how desperately folks want to keep them on the road, or just how many people have no clue about what they are doing.

Another possible explanation is that not all that long ago, around here these cars were darn near worthless if they had rust or were in rough shape.
In good condition you could pick one up for under 3 grand, if it didn't run or was rusted out you might have to pay the junkyard $50 to tow it away.

If you look at it through the lens of today, it seems hideous to hack on of these very expensive, very sought after collector cars.
But if you Look at it through the lens of 25 or 30 years ago, it would make sense to cobble a beat up old 914 just to keep it running than to let it go to the scrap yard. And a LOT more reasonable than spending a lot of money on it to fix it up.

Spending a great deal of time and MONEY to go concours-weenie on a beat up 914 when it was cheaper and easier to find a decent one made almost no sense at all.
Plus, these cars tended to attract a demographic that was either financially challenged, or were simply very frugal. Probably because you could pick up one so cheaply at the time.
Not many people would spend $10k to restore a 914-4 that would be worth $5k unless the car was something very special.
I remember when a really nice example of an original 914-6 could be bought for under 20 grand.

Although most 914 enthusiasts were into fixing them up and making then right, lots of folks out there were just interested in getting that ole VW out back running again without spending any money on it.
Or maybe they bought a rough one for not much $$$$, and then realized just how much of a money pit it was to fix up so they found the cheapest way to get it running they could.

I remember going to a sawzall a party where they cut up a rust free 914 because the quarter panel had a dent in it.
Or at a D&G event when we were asked to bring our sawzalls and help ourselves to parts of a collection of shells that were destined to be scrapped.
I scrounged over maybe a dozen 914s in junk yards over the years, and about the only things I can remember snagging was a driver's door mirror, a front bumper, and a transaxle.
The rest just wasn't worth bothering with.