Doing a friend a favor...

[Efrain68912]

A buddy of mine is having me check out his 914 for him. I have restored a 912 and am pretty familiar with Porsches, but the 914 is a new animal for me (I've only seen two up close). I am aware of battery tray rust. Anything else special I should look for when I check this car out? Don't want my friend to end up with a turkey. Thanks.

Efrain
68 912 Coupe

[Rouser]

Might as well begin here:

The Pelican Parts Official Guide to Buying a 914

Seems to cover all the bases, with info not worth repeating.

[Joe Ricard]

I have found more rust in my car the more I look. Take a good look at the bumper mounts at the front. Inside the rear trunk both back corners. Get a handy dandy magnet to find bondo etc. Pretty paint is cheap / rust repair is not.

[efeinsmith]

Besides the above mentioned areas, look VERY carefully around the jack receivers, behind the rocker panels, because rust there may indicate weakened longtitudinals (the structural members that run along the car sides). You can also get a good view of this area by looking from the rear wheel well, forward (the best view is achieved by removing the rocker panel, but the seller would probably not be too thrilled in you doing that). If the jack receiver itself is badly rusted, then you have good odds that the longtitudinal behind it is also damaged.

A quick test for structural weakness is to have someone sit in the seat (do this for both sides) and see if the door/window clearances change (a "large" friend is useful for this :-). If there is body sag, then the repairs will be $$$$.

Eric

[DDS]

Also, door posts/sail panels/inside rear fender. If you open the doors and look at the rear door posts you should see the seam where the body sheet metal folds over and is spot welded to the door post. Most cars that I have seen that have had rust repairs in that area have that seam bondo-ed right over so it looks smooth. The rust can be bad inside the rear fender b ehind that door post around and above the little vent tube that passes air to the rear window. Look (or reach) inside the rear fender up behind the sail panel where the chrome strip is fastened at the fender/roof junction also.

It's simple math really.

(amount of rust found without removing anything form the car) X(20) = (amount of rust actually on the car)

If you can see any rust then there's lots more where that came from. Pull up the carpets and look behind the seats. Run your hands through the grease and leaves near the battery and feel the fire wall to see how bad the rust is.

ShawnO