More background...
I don't know a lot about the guts of a 914. So I took on this car to learn some things (reverse engineering). My intent was passionate to get it running again, but as I got deeper into the car, the problems got a lot deeper, and I don;t have deep pockets. I have a nice '75 1.8L that is the inspiration for this odyssey with the '70 1.7L.
And so... as I looked closer at this '70...
Some of the body welds appear to be "stretched". The engine seems slightly skewed compared to the engine compartment. Also there are some unusual vertical shims between the body and the trailing arms. And there is an extra tranny.
I surmise from this evidence that the body was damaged seriously in the accident, getting hit on driver's door seems to have "bent" the car body around the impact, and the engine and tranny got tweaked, perhaps tranny damage after running it while tweaked.
The rusted out cockpit and dash is because the roof and windows were leaking and filling the car with water. The rest of the car is not that corroded. The salvage man I got it from was driving it around town 11 or 12 years ago. I knew him then, and he did not want to sell it then. And so it sat in his yard getting rusty. He is now in his 90s, and so I got it with the title, but he could not find the keys. He has a few hundred cars in his yard.
And so, to cut, or not to cut?