externally adjustable Koni rear shocks

bxd · 07-26-2010, 05:25 PM

Well, here we are again talking about rear shocks...

During my search for the "perfect" rear shocks, I've heard many a wild and wondrous tale about externally-adjustable Koni rear shocks that fit my 1969 911. However, I can't find any part numbers or model numbers for such a beast. The only model I can definitively say will fit correctly are the non-gas, adjustable but NOT externally-adjustable, model 80-2088 Red Classics. These are fine, but you DO have to take them completely off the car to adjust them...which can be a PITA if you like one setting for around town, and another setting for, umm, "spirited" motoring out in the open countryside.

Supposedly, there is an externally-adjustable gas shock from Koni that will fit perfectly into a 1969 911, but after searching the high seas, I'm sad to say I haven't found them yet...even though I refuse to give-in without positive proof that they do or do not exist.

Can any of you shed any light on this mystery?

Vincent Hill · Vincent Hill's Garage

All of the Dutch and American made I have seen are Technically Externally because you do not have to take them apart to be adjusted! You MUST push down the Shaft and turn it. Only the Front can be done Installed! AS FAR AS I KNOW.

70SATMan · 07-26-2010, 09:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bxd

Supposedly, there is an externally-adjustable gas shock from Koni that will fit perfectly into a 1969 911, but after searching the high seas, I'm sad to say I haven't found them yet...even though I refuse to give-in without positive proof that they do or do not exist.

Can any of you shed any light on this mystery?

Well, they did exist. I know of a certain black 70S that had a pair of the rear externally adjustable Konis. Probably still does.

Now, whether they are available new??? Don't know.

bxd · 07-27-2010, 10:30 AM

-Yes, I do understand how to adjust the 80-2088's; you have to take them off the car, compress them, and turn to the desired rebound stiffness, then put them back on the car...but that's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about a model that doesn't require any dis-assembly to adjust, and there supposedly is (or was) a model of Koni GAS rear shocks that was adjustable from the top in the same way their front sport shocks are. There would be a small pin dial that you turn cw or ccw to add more or less rebound, thus stiffening or softening the ride.

If anyone has a set on their car, please help a guy out and post the part number, or post a photo, or tell me where you found them, or draw me a map, something...anything.

(fyi, there also was an even more rare Koni model that had both rebound and compression adjustment dials. On these, the top rebound adjuster was the same as the one I describe above, but it also had a brass dial or knob on the side of the bottom tube for compression. I've seen these in-person, and have been told that these are sometimes available from collectors, but they are crrrrrrazy expensive, and not what I'm looking for.)

Joeaksa · 07-27-2010, 10:33 AM

I have them on my Jaguar, the early one. Bought them new in the early to mid 1970's.

Part number will not help as its a different model. Cannot get to it anyway but know they are there.

RonDent · 07-27-2010, 11:17 AM

I have them on my '84. You do have to remove them to adjust them. But you don't have to compress them, just press the button and turn them.

bxd · 12:04 PM

Quote:

"I have them on my '84. You do have to remove them to adjust them."

Yeah, I know which ones you are talking about, but the model you have is for the 75-89 cars, and is not the shock I'm searching for. The 69-71 cars, those 3 years, have longer, slimmer shocks...and again, the ones I'm looking for are adjustable without disconnecting the trailing arm, or removing the shock from the car; they are adjustable from inside the engine bay, at the top of the shock itself.

Shoepop · 11:59 AM

You can get the gas shocks for your year. My trick was to jack suspension to full droop measure what it took to get my finger in to depress detent ball which you need to do to adjust and cut off dust cover. You will have to jack the car and need a helper to turn from the top but beats heck out of removing and the shortened dust cover will still do it's job. Pic is Koni gas on 67 911.

Tom C. · 12:13 PM

Yes they are available. I have them on my 69E. Call Jason at Paragon Products. I don't have the part number off the top of my head, but they are the Yellow Koni Sports with an adjuster knob on the top. Jason will tell you, you will need a 2mm sleeve to adapt the bottom 'eye' mount to comply with your 10mm bolt. Listen to him. Jason knows his stuff when it comes to our early 911's.

Best of luck.

BTW, I run mine with the dust covers on. Clearance is fine. They are great shocks . . . IMO.

bxd · 07-27-2010, 12:21 PM

Wow, that's weird, because I was referred to Jason by the guys at Koni USA (because they didn't have a clue how to answer my question), and I have already spoken to him (Jason) about this. He is indeed a Jedi Master with this stuff, but he never mentioned the setup you describe....then again I didn't have specifics to give him, other than what I've given in this thread.

If you could post that part number, it suuuure would make things easier. If you can't, no worries. Thanks for the tip, Tom!

TimT · 07-27-2010, 12:46 PM

I use Koni 3012 shocks on the rear of my 911... not exactly a direct fit, but.... they are double adjustable

bluesky · 01:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bxd

Wow, that's weird, because I was referred to Jason by the guys at Koni USA (because they didn't have a clue how to answer my question), and I have already spoken to him (Jason) about this. He is indeed a Jedi Master with this stuff, but he never mentioned the setup you describe....then again I didn't have specifics to give him, other than what I've given in this thread.

If you could post that part number, it suuuure would make things easier. If you can't, no worries. Thanks for the tip, Tom!

Tom C is correct. When I bought the Koni red adjustable's for my 73, Jason said he had them but then he offered up another option....he asked if I was going to be having a lot of track time with the car....if so, he said that he had the yellow externally adjustable shocks that didn't have to be taken out of the car to be adjusted like the red ones. I told him that I didn't see those in the Koni shock offerings for the '73, he said that they were not classified under the '73 model year in his system but were available. He quoted me a price and they were very reasonable; they weren't too much more than the red's.

bxd · 07-27-2010, 01:29 PM

Quote:

I told him that I didn't see those in the Koni shock offerings for the '73, he said that they were not classified under the '73 model year in his system but were available.

That's excellent corroborative info, thanks Bluesky. Any idea what the part number is for the Yellows you got from Jason? I'm thinking maybe he never mentioned these to me because he may not have them anymore....in which case, I'll need a part number to try to find them elsewhere. If you could find that number, I'd be grateful.

bluesky · 07-27-2010, 01:34 PM

I was restoring my car back to original and since it came with red's, that is what I bought.

I'll look back at my phone notes with Jason and see if I scribbled down a part # when I wrote down the price. I thought that I looked at them on his website while he and I discussed them. I've been scouring his site for the past 15 minutes but can't readily find them

Shoepop · 07-27-2010, 01:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bluesky

I was restoring my car back to original and since it came with red's, that is what I bought.

Get a rattle can of Chevy engine block red from Manny, Moe and Jack, no one will ever know.

bxd · 07-27-2010, 01:45 PM

Understood. Yeah, if you can find it easily, great, -if not, don't sweat it. I'll ping Jason again, I'm sure he'll know the deal. Thx!!

bluesky · 07-27-2010, 01:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shoepop

Get a rattle can of Chevy engine block red from Manny, Moe and Jack, no one will ever know.

Ha....that would work for the color but since the shocks were so shot that I felt the molars of all of my ancestors and all of my children rattling loose, I felt I needed something more than a cosmetic fix.

I think these could have been the ones that Jason was referring me to....

Paragon Products - Porsche Parts & Accessories - Koni, Sparco, Pagid, K&N, Bilstein, Weltmeister

Shoepop · 07-27-2010, 01:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bluesky

Ha....that would work for the color but since the shocks were so shot that I felt the molars of all of my ancestors and all of my children rattling loose, I felt I needed something more than a cosmetic fix

I was referring to the new yellow sports.

bluesky · 07-27-2010, 02:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shoepop

I was referring to the new yellow sports.

ahhhhh....now it all makes sense.....

bxd · 02:49 PM

This is one of those "ask and ye shall receive" type of things...

I called Paragon again, and this time got the skinny. Apparently, they do indeed have a fully externally-adjustable Koni Yellow (Sport), that, with the addition of a small spacer they also sell, fits the rear of 69-72 cars. The Koni part number is 8210-1159...which I've looked into before, but wasn't sure if the extended length would allow full suspension travel. According to Paragon, they will work fine, and the travel is not impaired at all.

There was one caveat; they might need to be re-valved depending on the size of torsion bar being used, but they do fit correctly, and, according to Paragon, "they should work fine with stock torsion bars".

So there you have it....externally-adjustable rear shocks from Koni for the 69-72 911. -It's NOT a gas shock, it's hydraulic, but it is fully externally-adjustable, and that's what I was searching for. FYI, they also said that if they didn't fit correctly, they'd take them back. I'll let you know if things don't end happily.

Here's the page for the part:
Koni Rear Sport Shocks for 1969-72 911 at Paragon Products
(kudos to Tom C. and Bluesky for this one)