The time has come (and passed) for getting under the 914 and tending to the rust 'issues'.
We've had it up on ramps and had a (pretty damn scary, I'll tell you), poke around with a screw driver and a grinder [eek].
'Not too bad' is the considered opinion of my tame, award-winning restorer friend...'I could have you through the MOT in a couple of hours, but you'd have to promise me that you'd sell the car within 3 months - and you want to do it right don't you?' - I do enjoy the brutal honesty of old-school car-knowledge...he won't do all the work for me, but he's happy to do it with me; to guide me and teach me what I need, and do the trickier bits, but I don't want to become a pain in his a**e, hence my asking you lot!.
There's a seam at the rear of the front left wheel-arch that needs re-welding, but no metal needed.
The outer sills (rocker covers?) are off, and the interior is out (the better to see) and on the right (passenger / battery side) shows good news - 2 small holes and lots of sound metal; 'just a bit of waxoyl and some patching', says restorer friend...
The driver / gutter side, however, whilst still being substantially there, is more lace than metal, from behind the jacking point onwards around the 'corner' in the metal, where it turns in towards the engine - this is the bit where I want your help!
He's happy enough to fashion repair sections, but is more used to old Jaguars, MGs and Mercedes, and has asked if I can find out about an off-the-shelf panel - specifically if one exists for this area - from the jacking points, and around the corner.
I can see in a parts diagram online, that the area is (originally) the exposed part of a much larger, complex part that carries the rear suspension 'ear', but all of that is fine - I just need to replace the underside and outer surfaces for a distance of about 10 inches, either side and including the corner it turns through at the rear of the door, and up towards (but not including) the bodywork proper, between the rear of the door and the front of the rear wheel arch.
So does anyone have any idea what I'm describing?
And is a repair section available?
And is it cheap enough that I want to buy it, rather than telling him it's unavailable, and that he's just going to have to make me one?
Thanks,
Carl
