Rusty 914 Pics, Would love some advice.

kingjp914 · 08-01-2001, 08:54 AM

Good morning all. I've owned this '74 914 2.0 for about 3 years now. Since then I've bought an '87 944 Turbo and have been primarily driving it while neglecting my first love. It wasn't this rusty when i bought it and about a year ago things began to go downhill. The right side trunk lid pivot weld broke, the battery tray came loose, and all sorts of things began to rust off. Lately it's been bothering me a lot and I've decided to begin taking steps to restore my '74. I've created a MS Project file and started to itemize everything I can think of that I need and want, and assigned prices to some things such as an engine rebuild and a paint job. I've taken the following pictures to show everyone the cancer of my 914 in hopes that those who have already faced this problem can give me some useful advice and maybe a ballpark figure for what you've paid to fix this. I'd also appreciate the names of any reputable 914 bodywork surgeons in the SoCal/San Diego region.

kingjp914 · 08-01-2001, 08:58 AM

I've recently requested a verbal quote from Malibu Auto Body in San Diego. They were refered to me by BlackForest Automotive who I trust very much. He quoted me about $275 to start for the battery area, plus the cost of any parts. I thought that was quite low considering, but he also hasn't seen the car. What do you think? More Pics, this time of the trunk and rocker.

bowlsby · 08-01-2001, 09:26 AM

2 years ago, I had a local Nor Cal reputable body shop that does primarily BMWs replace the battery tray, reweld both rear trunk hinge mounts and some very minor engine shelf repair patches, and then paint the entire engine bay. The car was towed in engineless and I did the paint removal to bare metal in the entire engine bay, as well as supplied the new battery tray piece.

They quoted $400 initially, and although they didn't charge me any more than that, they told me they should have charged about $550 to break even.

Buy an Optima and don't even think about anything else.

TimW · 08-01-2001, 10:04 AM

If you are so inclined do the work yourself! Take that (under) $300, buy a gasless mig, and have at it. That’s what I did to fix the rust on my 914. Prior to doing so I had zilch for welding experience; “never had one lesson” as they say.

But then again I WANTED to learn how to weld, and I purposely bought a rusty (and cheaper) 914. I’m very happy with the results; and while the welds may not look as pretty as a pro’s, they will hold up just as well.

Just something to consider…

Tim
'73 914 2.0L

[This message has been edited by TimW (edited 08-01-2001).]

kingjp914 · 08-01-2001, 10:53 AM

I like your suggestion Tim, but I don't think I really have the space or other tools required for such an undertaking. I'm living in a rented house and sharing the garage with housemates. I may be able to coerce a friend who owns a huge workshop to let me borrow his tools as well as his 70+ years of experience. He builds hot rods.

John Rogers · 08-01-2001, 10:54 AM

Malibu did the door replacement after our 1987 930 got hit and the work was perfect although a little slow. The new door fits better than the original one which is nice. I agree with the comment about getting a MIG welder and learning yourself to do the repairs. The SD area Costco's had a complete MIG setup with hoses for $300 and I bought one last winter. I can get good welds up to 1/4 inch steel and I have done several repairs on my race car and my daughter's 914. I use a gas bottle so there is minimal splatter. The sheet metal can be obtained from SD Metal Mart and Harbor Freight sells a great 30 inch sheet metal 3 in 1 tool for forming things like batt trays, etc. Good luck.

DDS · 08-01-2001, 11:27 AM

You'll probably want to get friendly with someone with sandblaster. Try the local monument (tombstone) shop.

My car was worse than yours (I live in Toronto) and I ended up incrementally expanding my project to a stripped, bare chassis on a rotisserie, GT stiffening, rockers, and flares. I don't mind this as I know that had I done a halfway job of anything I would have regretted it in the future.
One thing I would do differently in restrospect is define (broad) scope to the project early. ( I would have then decided to buy a completed six)
If you're the kind of person that wants it done 'right' and is inclined to say "might as well fix this while we're at it" you might want to consider that mig welder and build a rotisserie as your first project, and let the fun begin.

BTW - If you list the work required, I can post the hours each job took as my car was done professionally and I have itemized invoices. I don't imagine that yours rusted much differently than mine.

------------------
-- Dave
Pics of my '73 project here: http://members.tripod.com/mike4g/dds73_b4pics.htm

John Rogers · 08-01-2001, 09:21 PM

I forgot to add in my previous post, if you want to contact me and come over to see what I have done to setup a support system for our 914's you are welcome to. I live in Chula Vista and except for the nights I teach college computer classes I am fiddling with one of the cars. Finally, another alternative is to get the work done in TJ at the shop I use called Garage Los Panchos which has about 1/3 of the labor rate we do in SD. They have done 5 or 6 cars for me such as dent removal, dash recovering, painting, etc. My number is 619-544-7513 days. Good luck

funnyguy · 08-04-2001, 04:07 PM

So has anyone used one of those "Easy Mig" welders? I'm thinking of just buying one in anticipation of welding the stuff my self, and doing it right the first time. These are 40/65 amp welders, anyone have experience with them ? is that powerful enough to say, weld the rocker supports?

------------------
Mike Brancato
AIM: funnyguy00
ICQ: 9348858

Conrad W Peden · Conrad W Peden's Garage

Hey that looks just like my 73 did before I started the resto!

Now I,m $5k later and the car is rebuilt from the dash back, still havent put it back together. No seals.

The $5k aint too bad the car was $400 (these are Canadian funds too)

Canada's new motto: "USA gets 50% off! No membership fee"

Good Luck with your resto. dont get carried away like I did!

[This message has been edited by Conrad W Peden (edited 08-04-2001).]

SteveStromberg · 08-06-2001, 07:41 AM

I would look around for a non-runner that has a "rust free" body and a bad motor. Maybe one of the AZ members has one out back. Then transfer your good stuff onto the better body. In the long run you will save money and time. Body work can cost far more in time and money than fixing the drive train. Steve