How to inspect the underside and longs without a lift, now the Not another novice project thread Options

[seanpaulmc]

I've just purchased a '73 914 and owned it long enough to ship it to Orlando and take it to go get titled. With only having it for this short period my list of concerns is growing. I have no intentions of driving the car around until I can assess how rusty it is. I appreciate the support and responses to the questions about transportation and engine identification. This is a superb community.

What advice do you have for lifting the car to inspect underneath and such without having access to a lift? I have read some of the build threads on here and you guys have some amazing shops and do incredible work! ...one day. But, at this point I don't have that.

For now I'd like to lift the car, take the wheels off, and take the longitudinal covers off to get a good look at the structural areas of the car. However, I have concerns because this is a snowbelt car and I've read the stories about putting a floor jack through a rusted out car. Where should I lift with the floor jack (trust the jacking points?, other areas) and where should I put the jack stands so that I can poke around some and get pictures?

Merry Christmas!!!

[seanpaulmc]

Really for the first time I feel like I am making an improvement rather than replacing or repairing…

Off the jack stands for the first time in ??? With her shoes back on, I started on the inner stiffening kit. Just getting started on it but you’ve all seen this before.







The top is on and I have it braced so I hope the gaps won’t shift too much. They’re already uneven from side to side from when I got the car and the obvious accident damage but they’re workable. I’m going at it slowly with aim to finish this weekend.

The whole piece has been osphoe’d, cleaned, and then hit with self etching primer on the inside before being installed. I didn’t remove any paint from the longs prior. I wanted to leave as much coverage as possible. So, before welding I have a tiny wire brush from my dremel in my cordless drill to clean the metal before starting a weld. It has worked well.

Once this is done, I look forward to finally having a solid chassis to work with. There is still a lot of other metal work to do but once it’s solid I can work towards a rolling restoration.

Thanks for watching!