Republished with permission from the July 2015 issue of Fourteener Motoring Magazine

Anyone who has owned a 914 knows that it isn’t typically a matter of whether the car has rust. Rather, it is a question of how much and where it is. When we were looking over the car before we bought it, we found minor rust under the rocker covers on the outer longitudinals by the jack posts. These areas, along with the infamous “hell hole” under the battery tray, are the two spots that most commonly breed rust on the 914. The problems typically begin behind the rocker covers due to a build-up of dirt and road grime around the jack posts. The rocker covers can easily be removed (with a few screws and rivets). But owners are often reluctant to take the rockers off and clean them out. Eventually the dirt and grime allow moisture to build up, and rust forms.

Compared to many cars we have seen our project 914 was relatively “rust-free.” The hell hole was in excellent condition. But, rust had started to form on the outer longitudinals behind the rocker covers.

There are a handful of people in the United States that have both the metal skills to repair the 914’s chassis, as well as experience working on a dialy basis with the classic Porsche convertible. Scott Burnett of Kahiko Customs & Restoration in Virgnia is one of those few. Off the car went.

Fortunately he found that we had caught the rust before it got serious. He removed the damaged metal and replaced it seamlessly. In addiiton, while he was repairing the chassis, he treated the inside of the longitudials.

The car was at Kahiko Customs & Restoration for a few weeks and we were happy to get it back. Now it was time to make a tough decision. Overall the body of the car was in fairly good condition. The previous owner had the car stripped to bare metal a few years earlier, and it had been stored inside since. A motorcycle, however, had fallen into the driver’s door and left a few dents. There were also dents and scrapes here and there on the body.

It is always a tough decision whether to repaint a car that is in fairly good condition. You never know what you might find and the job can quickly get out of hand. We, however, knew that if we put it back on the road without repainting we would always regret it. It was already partly apart. Why not do it right?

So we began to disassemble the car for painting. The engine and transmission were already removed. So first the interior came out. Seats, back pad, and then rubber and trim. As the car came apart we continued to be pleased with the 914’s condition. 

We did, however, find more rust in two small areas. First, there was minor surface rust inside both doors. Since it was very minor, it was easily treated with Ospho and primed and painted. The second area that had rust proved to be a little more complicated to address.

The problem came to light when we removed the vinyl on the targa bar. We noticed a couple very small pin holes in the driver’s side targa panel. This is a common problem on 914s. There is foam inside the targa bar which can hold moisture, causing rust. It is often not found until the targa vinyl is removed, and even then it is only visable if the rust has come through the panel from the inside.

To repair the area, we enlisted the help of Black Forest Racing, and the advice of the experts on 914world. Rick Olah (aka Alien) of Area 51 Works and Scott Burnett both suggested that we cut the infected area out, treat the inside of the targa bar with Ospho, epoxy it, and then butt weld the replacement piece back in. 

When we were done we drilled a small hole in the front of the targa bar, and treated the inside of the targa bar with Eastwood Rust Encapsulator.

With all of the rust addressed the car was off to be prepared for paint, while we began to get the parts together for reassembly.