1970E questions

[ubiquity]

Hi folks,

I am pondering an early car thats fairly remote from me. Was hoping to get some opinions / advice.

The car has had A LOT of money spent on it. The owner is not a diy type so has spent a ton of money on
1/ rebuilding the engine to ‘RS specs’ w/ MFI about 10,000 miles ago. The original 2.2E case was used- Is this unwise?
2/ rebuilding the suspension (all new parts Carrera spec)
3/ updating brakes (Carrera rear & Brembo front)
4/ restoring the interior

The downsides are:
1/ the car is not rustfree. One front fender has rust issues (see pic), as does the front bumper. Its claimed that these are the only areas affected- but the owner clearly doesn’t get dirty under the car.
2/ the 901 transmission needs rebuilding. Apparently second gear is AWOL.
3/ tires are worn

I really like the idea of a sleeper like this one, but am very concerned about rust. Mechanical work I can DIY (most of the time), but rust repair & bodywork I would not touch. I would obviously want to get the body checked before moving on this. Assuming the car isn’t a rust bucket what would be a fair starting price?
Thanks!

[SandyI]

There's quite a lengthy thread on the Rennlist about someone considering this same car. You might want to check that out.

Yes, lots of money has been spent on this car.
The next owner will continue that checkbook draining tradition...

[ubiquity]

Sandy,
thanks for the info.

Do you think that the owner has simply been throwing good money after bad? Is it the future rust repair potential that leads you to believe that the trend won't change?

[ckissick]

The car seems worth looking into. Get someone who knows where to look for rust to do a ppi on it. Until then, it could be worth anything. Sounds like you could do the tranny fix yourself pretty easily, so rust would be the only issue.

[ubiquity]

How much is an MFI 2.7rs spec engine generally worth? This one is built from the original 2.2E case. Does that raise a red flag re: longevity? I understand most recommend a 7R case for the basis of this engine?

[ubiquity]

I received a few more photos from the seller, including this one.


I think I'm going to pass because of this (the photo is showing the front A-arm bracket mounting point.) My instinct is that this rust is not easily repaired?

[Cornpanzer]

That picture would not worry me at all. There is a lot of wisdom in avoiding rust if possible, but there are very few truly rust free cars out there. On the other hand, rust like shown there is not that big of a deal to replace as all the replacement panels are readily available. I think that we tend to err to the conservative when talking about rust here. That is probably a good thing, but you dont want to walk away from a potentially good deal because of the rust shown in that pic. If that is the worst of it, I would use it as buying leverage and spend the winter repairing it.

Even if you cant use a welder, you can do much of the work yourself. Strip all undercoating to bare metal, cut out the offending panel, fit the new panel. temporarily fasten the new panel and trailer the car to a qualified welder and have it TIG'd in place. This will keep your costs down.

Of course the big concern is whether there is more rust. The PPI is very important in this case.
Dave

[Zeke]

That underside pic was on Pelican. I don't remember if it was you, ubiquity, that put it there. Over there, I responded about the susp pan. Here, I will tell you that the front fender most likely is toast. I had 2 like that. They are double wall down in front of the door, so it's real hard to make a good repair.

Of course, that's just a fender. But, you know the story: If you can see rust, there's 4X as much you can't see. After a couple 914's and my current rusty wonder, ask me how I know.

[ubiquity]

Milt,
yep that was me. I figured the fender has to be rusting out from the inside & from where it is showing seems to be the inaccessible area between the door jamb plate & 'inner fender' (have just been examining my galvanized SC for reference). I guess this is a case where you start sanding & don't stop until you reach the other side.

Rust repair is quite a mystery to me. I'm not ready to give up my sorted SC for a project, & not looking for a temporary fling to pass on to someone else when the rust overcomes. I think the car may have potential as a longer term 'fixer' though. If I can get the owner's price to an acceptable level I'm thinking get the body checked out & proceed w/ full mech. PPI if there are no other surprises.

Dave,
very true- there are much scarier images out there!

I'm thinking of asking for rocker panel trim, headlights, taillights to be removed & inspected. Would there be other specific areas I should ask to be looked at more closely if I go ahead?

[Cornpanzer]

Feel around the bottom of the windshield posts where they meet the glass on the inside. Back side of the door sills. Put the car on a lift and check out around the torsion housings in the rear very carefully.