New 9" Fuchs - move rears to front?
 

I have 7 and 8 stock Fuchs on my '83 SC and was curious if I could move the rears to teh front and purchase new 9's to put in the rear? It shoudl fill out the tire wells much better but what do you guys think? Better handling? It it worth the $1,500. Should I just replace the rears with the 9's and keep the 7's in the front?

HELL YES.. thats agreat set up.
but you'll need the 951 8x16's and the 930 rear 9x16's are for sure the way to go ..
but hey .. I'd go 7/9x16's... for sure.. and yes they will fir fine and should for sure improve the performance..
Eric

First it's unusual for an SC to have 7 & 8 x16, that was not an oem option but perhaps someone added them at some point.

Assuming that they are SC o/s Fuchs in 7 & 8 x16 then the 8s cannot be used on the front, the o/s is +10.6(+23.3 is needed at the front)

If on the other hand you have the more usual 6 & 7 x16
Fuchs then yes, move the 7" rear(+23.3 o/s) to the front.

Vance,
If your 8's are 911 offset, they won't fit the front. If they are 951 offset, they may fit with some massage work. The wheels in the pics of your car appear to be 6's and 7's though.

Std wheels for your car were 15x6 & 15x7 cookie cutters. Options were 15x7 & 15x8 Fuchs or 16x6 & 16x7 fuchs. Just glancing at your home page, it looks like you have 16x6 and 16x8 wheels. Unless those are 951 (944 turbo) offset rear wheels, they won't work on the front.

Regards,

Jerry Kroeger

My '79 arrived with factory paperwork in german and, although I needed a dictionary for much of it, the 7/8x16 entry was a clear indication that they were an OEM order option. I had to give up the original document when sorting out a title fiasco (not an importing issue, the US dealer was playing games) but I have a photocopy in a file drawer somewhere...

I've heard 16s were a very popular option, no numbers here 'tho 'cuz I don't have BV's ENORMOUS library :D

Charlie it would be interesting to see that document.

The only cars from that era w/ 7 & 8 x16 oem were the 930s

7 & 8 x15 were options on my '76 C3 and on the '77 C3 as well but were dropped from the option list for '78 SCs, they again became optional in '84 and then std in '88, then back to std 6 & 8 x16 in '89

There was aways the "special wishes" program which could providde most anything for a price

If you replace and want to sell the 8x16's, please let me know. I'm looking for some.

Vance,
You have 6x16's and 7x16's on that "Triple Black" SC. Wishful thinking on the 8's & 9's. Also, I think you need Carrera HP to muscle the 8's.

John

I knew you couldn't resist :D (more data Pepé!)

I'll try to find the folder, it also has a photo I want to find of the car at the german dealer before it was crated over. Hope all the papers I saved are there.

Thanks guys. You are right, I have the 6 and 7's. Someday I will move the 7's to the front and put some 9's on the rear.

Wheel Enhancement has them for $725/per - does not sound unreasonable? WE is not a favorite of this crowd. Who has some restorable 9's ??

Your local Porsche dealer has them for around $650 each, new. :)

1" spacers will do the same for a lot less cash and I would not expect a significant improvement in handling.

Bill V,

I found the folder with the photocopy of the orginal paperwork. The original was on a light tan color paper about 16"x8" and folded in roughly a 2:2:1 parts like a brochure.

I used a web translator to get a fix on some words (wicked resource gains in the last 20 jahres!). It has "Fahrzeugbrief" everywhere, so it's a registration. The thing that made (and still makes) me think it's factory paperwork is the preprinted "Dr. Ing. h. c. F. Porsche Aktiengesellschaft" mark on the last page. It also has several Aug/Sep '78 dated stamps and signatures on it that would put the docs age at the time of original delivery, not that that makes it OEM but makes it a possibility.

On P.2 (lefmost inside page), there are two sets of tire sizes listed on lines numbered 20-23.

20 | vorn | 185/70VR15
21 | hinten | 215/60VR15
22 | oder vorn | 205/55VR16
23 | hinten | 225/50VR16

farther down the page item 33 has multple lines to the bottom of the page and lists a number of 14" and 15" wheel/tire sizes and a warning about short trips on the spare under 160KM/H.

On P.3 (middle inside) an item 33 "Bemerkungen" (remarks) says "Ziff 22: A. Felge(rim) 7Jx16H2 Porsche Fuchs 91136102044. Zu Ziff. 23: A. Felge 8Jx16H2 Porsche Fuchs 91136102045. Zu Ziff. 13: Höhe: nach Tîeferlegung Porsche Techn. Information Nr. 14.****"

EDIT: Oh yeah, forgot to mention the handwritten notes in the upper section of the narrow P.4 that folds in at the right; the 7J & 8J x16s are relisted as both being part # 901.361.012.05...wierd Harold.

OK, 'nuff rambling for now. That's the gist of what made me think factory option, in spite of last night confirming that the shop binders and spec books both confirm your impression that these were turbo-only wheel sizes. Incidently, I was told that the tail was also factory-installed when I bought the car and haven't been given reason to doubt that either.

I'm voting for your "special wishes" theory. I can scan it for you to add to your database if you want.

Charlie, it sounds like some sort of dealer or possible T&#220V documentation. When I bought my C3 in Dec '76, the dealer was willing to swap whatever wheels I wanted and install a tail. At that time the 7 & 8 x15 was the best choice, the 7 & 8 x16 became available the next summer.

Yes, Please, I would love a scanned copy.