newer wheels & fenders on a 66?

[mnmike]

My 66 has newer front and rear bumpers, but the wheel arches dont seem to stick out like an sc or newer carrera. How difficult is it to make the fenders flare like a newer 911 and will much newer wheels fit (like 993 wheels)? Would it just need spacers? Anyone know how wide you could go? Ive searched but didnt find much on the earlier swb cars..

[ttweed]

You might try searching on the Early 911S Registry forums for more info on the SWB cars. You are correct that the early cars lack the fender flares of the later cars, but some people think that is part of their charm. The later flares and bumpers can be fitted to the early cars, but there are complications involved with the placement of the torsion tube access hole in the rear when grafting them onto a SWB chassis. Please think twice about modifying an early car in this way, as there are fewer and fewer original examples on the road as they age, with rust and accidents taking their toll.

With stock powerplants, there is still room to fit enough tire for most purposes in the stock SWB fender wells, especially if you are willing to roll the fender lips. I use 205 tires on 7" rims and there is plenty of grip, even for a 2.0S engine @ 160HP. There are many vintage racers able to keep pace with the newer cars even though they are running skinnier tires, due to the lighter weight of the early cars.

You can also fit the later offset wheels on the SWB cars by using spacers, but personally, I don't find the look of the later wheels appropriate on the early cars, but maybe that's just me.

TT

[mnmike]

i like the 70s style front and rear bumpers on my car and now that i have the car and have stared at it in person for enough hours, i like the look and wouldnt need the wider fenders. The car has fuchs right now with 205/55/16 so im sure i could fit the 17 inch newer style wheels (front widths all around) but cant decide if id like the look.

[Brentdog]

I've heard of rolling the fenders but nobody has said how it's done.Where can we find out how to do this, I'd like to do this on my 68 L.Can I do this myself?

[304065]

You will destroy the value of the car and it will look wrong and if you are using the original suspension it will place an unreasonably high load on the spindles and stub axles.

If you want a flared car, go with the LWB or find a project RS-look. These are much better from a wheel width standpoint.

The widest you can go on an SWB is about 205 without modifications. The car originally came with 165's.

[mnmike]

yeah 205's is as wide as ill go, and i wont destroy the value of the car considering ill keep the wheels it has now and put them on when/if its time to sell etc.. thanks guys

[atlporsche]

a 6" wide wheel is as wide as you can go. Cup I's were available in 16x6, but with the later offset so you'd need a spacer.

I found a set of 15x6 mcafees for my '67 that I got powdercoated and totally rock now.

sjd

[berettafan]

so do you have the accordian bumpers on the '66?

all things being equal you might find it to your advantage to sell the '66 and buy an SC to get what you really want.

changing wheels is one thing but definitely don't fool with the fenders.

[mnmike]

yeah i have the accordian bumpers with black fuchs. Ill take some pictures today and post. I just like the look of newer 17 inch wheels, dont really care about fooling people (not to mention true enthusiasts would not be fooled so what would be the point).

[mnmike]

heres some pics

[rvanderpyl]

I intend to put SC Flares on the front/rear of my 68. I am replacing the front suspension with a complete later system and will end up running 17" BBS LM wheels. I know a lot of people say you shouldn't modify the earlly cars like this, and I have even considered selling this one and buying a 69-73 to work with, but this car is already a bit of a frankenstein with blacked out trim, late model seats, later dash instruments, a 2.2 motor with Webers instead of a 2.0., but it is remarkably rust free

Being in Canada there is a very limited market of Porsches to select from, and everyone thinks that their 120,000 mile 73 T is worth 14,000 because it's a 'collectors' car. I paid $7800.00 Cdn for this car back when the exchange rate was only 1.51 Cdn to US I doubt I could sell it and find a running later car without having to cough up a lot of cash.

So I am going to work with what I have. I figure if I make sure everything lines up correctly, IE torsion bar holes are repositioned to be in the correct place I will just end up with a bit of an R look that has a bit wider flares, but in the correct proportion.

[ttweed]

Originally posted by rvanderpyl
I intend to put SC Flares on the front/rear of my 68. I am replacing the front suspension with a complete later system and will end up running 17" BBS LM wheels.... I figure if I make sure everything lines up correctly, IE torsion bar holes are repositioned to be in the correct place I will just end up with a bit of an R look that has a bit wider flares, but in the correct proportion.

I have no beef with anyone doing whatever they want with their cars, but if you are going to all that trouble, why not just replace the rear trailing arms too and make it into a long wheelbase car? I don't see how you could achieve "correct proportions" otherwise, and there are some good reasons why the factory evolved the 911 in that direction.

TT

[304065]

Van,

Reversing the trim, the seats and the instruments would take all of a day and wouldn't be that expensive. With the SWB cars getting rare, particularly the ones that are "rust free," you could take a $10,000 car and make it into a $3,000 car. The value of SWB's that are "drivers" is already in the mid-teens and the concours ones are trading for the high twenties to mid thirties.

Flaring the fenders adds aerodynamic drag and the wider tires work better with appropriate suspension modifications. When a 911R clone is constructed for racing, one usually starts with a rusty SWB tub, because you end up cutting off the roof, fenders, quarters and rear seat area and welding in a tube frame-- there's not much left of the original car when you are done. But you would only do that if the car were so far gone that the only way to save it from the crusher is to race it.

SC's can be so inexpensively had with all the work done that you propose (flares and later suspension already present) that it would make more sense for you to capitalize on the current market for SWB cars and flip into an SC than to cut up that '68. The SC had many stiffening mods and the LWB from the factory, providing a better basis for a high-performance platform.

Obviously you are free to do what you want with your own car but I would hate to see you make mods that can't be reversed. The supply of original metal is almost gone and I have seen so many of the early cars modified over the years beyond recognition.

[rvanderpyl]

John I actually agree with you stock would be great but....

In addition to the trim/seats and dials I would have to replace the motor which is a 2.2 that needs a rebuild, get some real Fuchs, find some door panels without speaker holes cut in them, find a dash for a 68 that isn't cracked and torn, get the correct rear deck grill, mirrors, steering wheel, dash trim etc, etc, etc.

Then having spent all the money required to do this, I have a car that is only good for driving around on nice days, so I need another car for flogging on the track, or 'aggressive' driving.

If this was a nice survivor that justed needed some freshening and a paint job to be an original I'd go that route. As it is it is a mish mash of multiple years already so what I want to do is make sure it can do what I want. Be a driver and sometimes track car.

Hey but keep trying, you just might convince me yet.