Hi, this might not be the place to post this but anyway, I might have a chance to buy a porsche targa (70s?)that was my neighbor brought back from germany.
He gave the car to his son who lost the key and left it out in the rain with the top off. I don't know
how long it was in the rain and since he doesn't have the key even if it runs. Now it's sitting in front of his garage with
a tarp over it because he can't unlock the steering wheel to get it in the garage without the key. I would like to buy it
to restor it but how much rust can a unibody take before it's gone (I think its a unibody)? Is there anything else I should look for before I make an offer?

 

All depends on how bad it is. You can reweld things like floor pans (Please remove the fuel lines that run in the center tunnel before doing so) and front pans, but it all depends on the amount of work, time, money you want to put into it. Make sure to check the underbody for rust, especially the underside of the front pan below where the battery sits. Also check your fenderwells, etc. We recently spent about a week replacing the just front pan on Ms. IA's 76, as the battery had corroded and was starting to eat through the pan. We could have done it a little faster, but we used new factory pans and made sure it was exactly like when it came off the assembly line (you could tell the handwelding that was done from porsche, pretty interesting to see). You can take a screwdriver and poke upwards (you can use a little force) on the underside of the pans. If the pans are good, you can not hurt them. If the screwdriver starts to go through the pan, you have significant rust problems.

 

Thanks I will do that. If I get the car time won't be a big consideration. As long as It has the potential to turn out nice
I don't mind spending the time it takes. Is there going to be any special issues with the water that got inside when the top was off?

 

Hard to say, as water can do nasty things to electrical wiring etc. Check under the dash good to see what condition those wires are in, it will give you an idea of the rest of the car. I would be that there is water in the center tunnel though (there are a couple of wires going back to the engine in there), he needs to pull the plastic plugs from underneath and let everything drain. If it has been sitting in there a long time, i am guessing it is going to be rusted pretty bad....didn't think of that in my earlier message.