Advice please...

todd914 · 07-08-2002, 11:44 PM

I have been working on my 73 914 for approx. 1 year and keep finding rust in bad places. It it turning into a massive money pit and I cannot see any way to get it all done soon enough to have it all pay off. I found a really nice 914 minus a motor for sale. It is a 73 factory orange with a/c. There is no rust anywhere on the car and it has been stored inside for the last 10 years. The entire car is complete and the interior is immaculate. It even has the key antenna action on it. My only problem with the whole car is that the owner removed the battery tray. There are no visable signs of rust and the area has not been repainted. The guy is asking $1500 for it and I will have to supply the wheels. Does this sound good? Does the absence of a factory battery tray affect the price that much? I am looking to put my motor into it and drive but I am also looking for something that will be worth something if I ever should have to sell it. Thanx in advance!!

cshogen · 07-09-2002, 05:36 AM

Todd- You can get a new battery tray and support for about $60 or so and it's pretty easy to install. Shouldn't really affect the vaue much at all.

The thing to check out is whether or not a patch job has been done underneath where the battery tray used to be, which it sounds like you have done. As you probably know, the battery had a tendency to leak down the side wall and into the rocker on the passenger side.

The owner may have just removed the tray to move the battery somewhere else for better weight distribution or safety.

Kevin Powers · 07-09-2002, 05:40 AM

worst case you'll have another $1500 parts car.

kevin

tod914 · 07-09-2002, 09:43 AM

Todd,

sounds like a good deal. I would really go over it again regarding rust. Pull the front and rear trunk weather seals, check the inner rockers by unscrewing the bolts on the bottom of the outer rockers and peeking in. The foward area of the engine bay, the air vents in the door jams (pull out the black round vents), lift up the carpets, check inside the headlight buckets. Im sure you know the drill - just trying to be helpfull.
I would highly recommend having the tank resealed and also replacing the 2 main fuel lines that run through the center tunnel. There is a tech art. posted on that.
Good luck!

SummerSledSix · 07-09-2002, 09:51 AM

$1500 might be a little on the high side if you have to supply the motor AND the wheels. Is the tranny still there? You should be able to negotiate a little lower on those points. The true value of that car is in its (alledged) rust-free condition. If you can hang up your sander, your time, labor and aggravation savings will be worth WHATEVER you pay for the car.

So your job is to really eyeball that car and see if it really is as rust free as advertised. Since you're no stranger to a sander, you should know where to look.

My favorite place to poke a screwdriver is on the underside of the floorpan an inch forward of the rear firewall seam on the passenger side. The bottom of the rear firewall is actually a "double hull" kinda like the longitudinals, and I almost bought a spotless red '75 until my screwdriver went right through an otherwise pristine layer of undercoating!

todd914 · 07-09-2002, 10:23 AM

Thanx for all the replies. I have looked at it already and it does seem pretty nice but the paint is real faded and missing in a few places. The battery area is good though. The trans is not provided which makes the deal a thinker...I want the motor with it but he wants $2000 for the car with the motor and the motor is not running..oh, it's a FI 2.0