HI,

I am thinking about buying a 1971 914 with the 1.7 engine in it.

I have not seen the car yet but intent to make a trip to see it this weekend.
From what I can gather from the seller the car has been sat for the last 3 years but has been occasionally driven around the block. The car needs a new starter motor, battery, exhaust system and some other minor parts.

My concern is not with the engine or any of the fixtures that go along with the engine as I have a 2.7 911 engine that I intend to put in.
My only concern is rust!!!!!! I am not worried so much about exterior panels as I intend to change all of them to fiberglass. My concern is the structural soundness of the car.
I know it does have some rust both drivers and passengers side foot well.

My plan was if the rust was very bad to simply replace the floor pan completely!!!!

My question is...... how far can a 914 that has rust be brought back???? Lets say I get this car and it turns out to have a lot of rust..... can I replace all the parts or is there a point were you cant save it or the structural integrity becomes unsafe?

Cost is a factor but when I can get the car and engine for next to nothing, a reasonable amount of work and money spent on taking care of the rust situation wont be so bad.

Any help on this would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Paul

 

Rust in the longs/rockers is what kills the 914. 914s are unibody and do not have a "pan"like a bug that can be switched. Welding in new floor pans isn't too hard but where else is the rust? Look in the passengers side of the engine compartment under the battery tray. Is there a battery tray? Now look down and under the battery tray at the engine shelf. It should be nice and solid with minimum rust without much battery acid damage. If there is a gaping rusty hole there, big trouble. Can you open the passenger door if you jack it up in the air on that side. If the door is jammed the long is toast $$$$. Forget the car unless it is a 914/6, easier to find a Calif rust free car.
Geoff

 

The typical rust spots on the 914 are underneath the rocker panels (goes right to the frame. Dirt gets trapped behind them and there you have it. Usually eats up the jack points first), under the battery tray (people tell me this is the worst one, but I have not seen it so bad personally. This rust can eat through the battery tray and eat up the suspension console etc.) I think another one is underneat the headlights in the front compartment. Doesn't really do too much anyway, unless it gets through to the front suspension connection points). One more I could think of would be in the pedal board area. Easy fix in my opinion. Last, I've seen this a couple of times, in the rear trunk and the trunk edge. Sometimes it seems to seperate. I had rust there, but nothing eaten through.
The "problem" with the 914 is, that it is pretty much a convertible. It doesn't get support from the roof. So if your rocker panels, and floor is rusted out, you can get mad body flex. Good way to test is get a really big person, take off the top, roll down the window. Then sit the person down in the car and try to roll up the window. If it sticks you have body flex. That's pretty bad news and repairs can get expensive.
Honestly if you have some experience with rust, and metal work, you could get things fixed good. On the other hand, if you don't know how, you may get in way over your head fast.
Theres an article in the pelican parts tech site you might want to look at.

Allright, do you think I may have had to deal with rust in the past or what?
Hope this helps

 

I'll 2nd and 3rd those remarks. Don't mess with rust. The extra money you spend for a rust free car is well worth it. Also check around the windshield moulding and under the front fender welt. The jack receiver should be solid and as others noted, the doors should not jamb when jacked up. The doors do deflect a little even on a rust free car but not jamb tight.
I have personally rejected two original Calif. 914/6 cars in the past. Both were very attractively priced but had rust damage that exceeded even 914/6 values now.

 

My old 75 2.0 rusted away so badly that I had to jack up the pan just to get the roof on & off. In the end, I could not even open up the doors if the top was off.

I recall that there is a stiffening kit (see autoatlanta), around $800 + much labor. Unfortunately, there was nothing left to weld it to.

I ended up selling the car to a guy who didn't seem to care.