My Front Suspension Project - Part1

[CT944]

I took my car to a reputable 911 shop in CT, and after a 10 minute test trip, he recommended a complete front end suspension re-fresh, given it is an all original 1977 911S factory set-up.

I then debated about when to make the appointment, how I would get the car to and from his shop, etc, etc. I also studied at great length other suspension rebuild threads for the perfect combo of strut/torsion. After completing a complete suspension rebuild on my old '98 M3, I decided to quit reading every thread known to man and get out to the garage and get to work. After all, I have Wayne's book and a Chilton!

Here is the car:



Coated all nuts/bolts with PB Blaster:



Tie Rod boot is shot:



Original Bilsteins:



Strut out and bad ball joint exposed:

[CT944]

Strut bodies out:



Strut inserts out, will be replacing with Bilstein HD's:



Torsions out:



A-Arms, Brackets and Sway Bar mounts painted, all new bushings installed:



I had a very tough time removing the Ball Joints. I spent hours heating the crown nut with a torch and working them with a pipe wrench, but had no luck whatsoever. A shop nearby wanted $180 to remove both, so I decided to go with the "Dremel Method" which worked like a charm and both were off within 30 minutes.

Bump Steer Kit Installed:



Turbo Tie Rods and Boots installed:

[CT944]

Sway Bar Painted:



21mm Sway Away Torsions arrived:



Waiting for re-assembly (Part 2):



I certainly did not take pictures of everything I did along the way, because once I get into a groove I do not want to stop for anything. All the disassembly is done, the new a-arm bushings are installed, everything that can be painted was, so now I look fwd to re-assembly!

[ischmitz]

Nice work. Out of curiosity, what bushings did you install into the A-arms. You might want to think about elephant racing or similar stuff since that will make a huge improvement over the stock rubber or aftermarket neatrix stuff. I should have done that when I re-did my front suspension.

Remember, once all is done you have to get it re-aligned at a shop and that will run you 100$ at least. And every time you change something, the alignment costs hit you again so you might want to get it all done at the same time rather than doing it in stages.

To offset some of the costs you could have your original Bilstein inserts revalved and rebuild at the factory rather than buying new ones.

Cheers,
Ingo

[jpahemi]

No Sanders bars?? Did you have a hard time threading the rack bolts to the body when installing the spacers??

JP

[CT944]

Thanks. I used the Poly-Graphite bushings from Pelican. This (for now) is purely a street car, so I did not want to go over-board on PolyBronze for normal use. I am going with Bilstein HD's with 21mm torsions.

I will likely get the full alignment and corner balance once I am done with the rear suspension, hopefully be November.

I actually already bought the replacement Bilstein HD inserts, so I have the original Bilstein inserts for sale. Asking $100 shipped, so good for anyone who wants custom re-valved inserts.

Originally Posted by ischmitz

Nice work. Out of curiosity, what bushings did you install into the A-arms. You might want to think about elephant racing or similar stuff since that will make a huge improvement over the stock rubber or aftermarket neatrix stuff. I should have done that when I re-did my front suspension.

Remember, once all is done you have to get it re-aligned at a shop and that will run you 100$ at least. And every time you change something, the alignment costs hit you again so you might want to get it all done at the same time rather than doing it in stages.

To offset some of the costs you could have your original Bilstein inserts revalved and rebuild at the factory rather than buying new ones.

Cheers,
Ingo

[CT944]

No idea what a Sanders bar is!!

I had no problem whatsoever threading the rack bolts to the body after the spacer install. It was very easy (easiest part of the whole job so far).

Originally Posted by jpahemi

No Sanders bars?? Did you have a hard time threading the rack bolts to the body when installing the spacers??

JP

[Facey]

nice project... but what i really wanted to say is that i love the look of your car. the colour is a nice compliment to the curves of the car.