Way to go!!! Now if she also owns a boat, I'd say you just won the triple crown!

My wife bought me my third 914 for Father's day last. I think I've got a set of the new Craftsman ratcheting sockets coming for Christmas too!

Pictures
 

Finally, some photos.

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Another:

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And, now, for the nice pretty shot:

So, the wedding went well, and after a honeymoon cruise to the western carribbean, I'm back to play with my 914. It does have some rust on the rear passenger long, and also on what I think is the jack point? Looks like a PO did some repair under there near the trailing arm pivot points. I think it will need some repair before it's really driveable. If you back it up, the right rear wheel tends to walk out a bit. There doesn't seem to be any body flex, so that's good news. The engine runs pretty well, although by the looks of the engine compartment, it's definitely a driver, not a concours car. I'm just waiting for this cold weather to pass so I can have some fun! :)

"Back wheel walking"

Right rear as in battery side?

I don't want to be the one, somebody else tell him...

Let's hope not Scott.....

Ahhh.... have you per chance checked the suspension console for rust Applescotty? That "walking out" stuff sounds like trouble...

It does look nice,

Glad that the honeymoon went well.

Right rear "walking" sounds serious. :eek:

Well, that's kind of where the previous owner did some repairs. Any decent chance of fixing it, or is it somewhat hopeless?

Can you take some good pics of the area and post them? Suspension console rust is quite a serious thing, but it CAN be fixed in some cases. It's a very difficult fix for an inexperienced person though. It depends on how far it has spread as to whether or not you should actually bother to fix it.

Post some pics of it.

I will take some pics of it when I get a chance. I have no experience with those types of repairs, but I'm willing to learn, and have plenty of patience.

There are patch panels available for most of the common areas. If you want to tackle it, go for it. If it doesn't go well someone here can help you find a doner shell to transfer parts to.

Either way, consider yourself initiated into the 914 addiction.

Since the car was a gift, it has some sentimental value, and so it's worth a little more to me to try and fix it, rather than finding a roller to swap stuff in to. I'm more than willing to spend time fixing it. Anyway, guess not much more can be said until we survery the damage. I'll try and get some pics of the area posted soon.

Your pictures look great!

Sounds like you do have a serious suspension issue, but don't despair, worse things have been repaired on these cars. This can be a significant bonding opportunity for you and your very cool new wife.

We're all speculating at the moment what you're dealing with, so those extra pictures will give us more to go on. A couple of suggestions. First, avoid driving your car for the moment, potentially not safe to drive. Second, jack up your car carefully, you don't know what other rust is waiting to be discovered, ie the panel you are applying the jack to. I'd suggest using a floor jack with as long a 2x4 as you can fit to spread out the jack pressure on the underbody. Chances are the right-rear corner of the floor pan may be weak also, so be careful. Use jack stands.

Photograph as much of the underside of the car as you can, post the pix.

There will likely be welding required, so start looking for someone who can do automotive sheet metal work for you, or use this opportunity to convince your new wife of the need for a family welder ;) . Welding is actually kinda fun (it's the setup that's a b*tch).

Memorize the Pelican website and get a copy of "Excellence" magazine for sources of parts. Maybe other guys can chime in with sources of repair panels, etc...

Welcome to the "club"!

I nearly ripped the console ear off of my car a couple of months ago at the track. The good news is it's been repaired and is back on the road, so your car is not terminal. The bad news is the engine had to be dropped to gain enough room to work properly, the rear suspension needs to be disassembled and some serious welding needs to be done by an experienced person. I wouldn't learn welding on a suspension repair. Don't give up on the car. After you get it fixed it will have even more sentimental value and you'll realize that there's nothing on the car that can't be fixed with a little effort. Sort of like a marriage, well not mine, but I might get a little misty anyway.http://www.pelicanparts.com/support/smileys/smlove2.gif

And watch where you put the jack stands before you get under the car. If you can stick an ice pick thru the metal anywhere, that part is probably going to have to come out or some metal scabbed over from good solid metal to same. Pelican has most of the pieces you will need. Some can be had from a parts car, but most of these cars rusted in exactly the same place. So, it is rare that a car that is being cut up will yield good metal in the area in question. (The right rear console under the battery tray.)

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Well, here's some pics of that area. Looks pretty bad. I haven't driven it since I found out about the rust problems. So, just how bad is it?
This pic is of what I think is called the suspension console. Appears that there were some previous repairs done there.

Here's another shot of the 'suspension console'? Looked like maybe it was this weld that cracked. Up until about a month ago, there didn't appear to be any problems with that wheel.

And, just for fun, more rust pics. Nice and scaley, just like all rust should be, right? :) Obviously, this jack point is not very useful. I tried the 2x4 on the long, that worked okay. Previously, I placed the jack near the engine mount, that part at least seemed solid. It wasn't actually on the bar, but on the piece of metal that it's attached to.

One last, showing some rust in the floor. I could swear that all the rust has gotten worse since I looked at it last week. :)