'78 SC Elephant Racing Suspension Rebuild

[J-Mac]

Originally Posted by Chris Robb

J Mac, thanks for the heads up! Did you go with the dropped spindles? I just have to do the rear end now,C/V boots are shot hopefully won't need new axles.. and maybe trade out my sway bars from stock,20 to 21's. what exactly is corner balancing? I live on the Big Island of Hawaii, good shops and mechanics are scarce
...

No I didn't go with raised spindles. I raised the car about 1/2 inch. In discussion with Chuck we figured there was no need. The car drives dead neutral at 100mph with two finger steering with 1 1/2 neg front camber in front. That's quite a bit but I have 930 brakes and rolled fenders and & 7" Fuchs with spacers.

First picture with low and cool stance , but ****ty handling

Second picture raised 1/2 inch, poly/bronze all round, HD shocks, 21f 27r torsions. alignment, corner balance, amazing handling



]

[Chris Robb]

J Mac, nice ride, black seems to be the color! My targa is black as well. when i rebuilt the front end i didn't check the height but indexed it to Eruopean standards, it came in at 25inches, while the back is 24 inches, need some adjustment there, what is your height to the fender lip? I didn't go with the poly bronze bushings, maybe need to tweak it again, and change the sway bars to your specs. It does however handle a hell of a lot better than before the rebuild. Now to rebuild the rear and replace cv boots....lord knows what i'll find back there..

[J-Mac]

Thanks Chris. Measuring from the floor through the exact center of the wheels to fender is 25 1/8 front and rear. The polybronze don't create any noise (when properly greased), but neither do they dampen noise like the rubber would. For me the pb provide a crisper handling car.

[Craig_D]

Good additions to the thread! Good looking car J Mac.

Chris, I went with raised spindles so that I had full travel even when lowered, along with optimal steering/suspension geometry. My car isn't as low as it could be with raised spindles, but she may go lower some day.

Remember to be careful when comparing fender heights...these cars have plenty of variance, so good tuners use lower chassis points to measure ride height, and not fenders (although that can get you in the ball park.)

[Flat sixx]

Originally Posted by Craig_D

Thanks Charles, yeah it was fantastic to get out there on some beautiful roads yesterday and today!

Here are some pics from my run up through Rocky Mountain National Park to Devil's Thumb Ranch near Winter Park Colorado. Btw, if you've never taken your 911 on the dirt, it's a blast!

Hey is that caps on the rear bumper where the absorber holes were?

[Craig_D]

Originally Posted by Flat sixx

Hey is that caps on the rear bumper where the absorber holes were?

The caps are where the bumperettes were mounted, yes. Each bumperette is 7.5 lbs...so that's 15 lbs off the far end of the car.

[garment]

Just getting started on my suspension, figured I'd post a "follow in Craig D's footprints" pic...

[Craig_D]

Originally Posted by garment

Just getting started on my suspension, figured I'd post a "follow in Craig D's footprints" pic...

Ha! Deja vu. That's awesome! Have fun!

[JacobS911]

Looking good Craig! Are you making the trips down to the new C&C location in Golden?

[bugstrider]

Please disregard my earlier question I had posted for several hours, I was able to answer my own question, thanks for a great thread.

[Craig_D]

Originally Posted by bugstrider

Please disregard my earlier question I had posted for several hours, I was able to answer my own question, thanks for a great thread.

Oh cool, glad you got it sorted. Good luck on the rest of the build!

I still marvel at how well my car handles washboard bumps on the throttle, and how on-rails it feels in mountain corners of Colorado. Amazing cars, these 911s.

[bemmett]

I've been following this thread for quite a while and find it serendipitous that it happened to get partially revived today. I just dropped my '87 off at Elephant this morning to have a full suspension refresh (read: no garage space for DIY).

Can't wait!

[Craig_D]

Originally Posted by bemmett

I've been following this thread for quite a while and find it serendipitous that it happened to get partially revived today. I just dropped my '87 off at Elephant this morning to have a full suspension refresh (read: no garage space for DIY).

Can't wait!

NICE!!!!

If I lived closer, I'd spend time visiting Chuck and taking a look at the goodies in his shop.

Let us know what combo of parts you used and how it turns out!

[bugstrider]

Originally Posted by Craig_D

Oh cool, glad you got it sorted. Good luck on the rest of the build!



I still marvel at how well my car handles washboard bumps on the throttle, and how on-rails it feels in mountain corners of Colorado. Amazing cars, these 911s.

Thanks,
The down time has been killing me. I'm going full ER PB with 22/29 TB's.

Carrera sway-bars and I am rebuilding the steering rack. I am driving my Banana arms over to ER on Tues/Wed for their resto service they provide, considering exchanging the sport bushings for the mono-balls.



Although I didn't plan in going with the mono balls in the front. Will probably be picking up the QC spring plates and hardware kit as well. I'm doing as much as possible myself. Just for piece of mind, I changed out the fuel lines from front to back while at everything else.

Did you leave your 19mm Trailing Arm nuts on the bolts or did you upsize to the 22's like the bolt head?

Cheers

Just curious, I re read your parts list and you went with 21/28's on the TBs. Chuck recommended 22/29's since I want a firm feel but no intent of tracking the car. Your thoughts on the 21/28 vs 22/29 combo.

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[bemmett]

Originally Posted by Craig_D

NICE!!!!

If I lived closer, I'd spend time visiting Chuck and taking a look at the goodies in his shop.

Let us know what combo of parts you used and how it turns out!

I'll definitely post an update once everything is installed.

I've gone back through all the service records from the prior owner I have beginning in 1991, and other than re-welding a rear sway bar mount, the suspension has never been touched. 30 year old rubber will no doubt be the root of many of the minor annoyances and handling issues I'd been noticing (vibrations at speed, steering slop, general "vagueness", etc).

The parts getting installed are:
Stock ball joints
Rubber control arm bushings (sport hardness)
Strut top camber plate bushings (sport hardness)
Quickchange strut brace
F/R hollow adjustable sway bars
F Von Street shock inserts
R Bilstein Sport shock inserts
Turbo tie rods
Spring plate bushing (sport)
Trailing arm bushings (sport)
F 22mm hollow TB
R 29mm hollow TB

Plus, alignment, corner balancing and ride height adjustment.

And now, I wait.

[smadsen]

Check the rear wheel bearings.

On my '82 they're were supposed to be sealed, had broken in half exposing the ball bearings upon disassembly (like yours appear). Part of the race remains in the hub. Regardless you might consider it one of those "while I'm there" things. Easy & inexpensive repair (relatively) while banana arms are on the bench.

[safe]

Originally Posted by smadsen

Check the rear wheel bearings.

On my '82 they're were supposed to be sealed, had broken in half exposing the ball bearings upon disassembly (like yours appear). Part of the race remains in the hub. Regardless you might consider it one of those "while I'm there" things. Easy & inexpensive repair (relatively) while banana arms are on the bench.

You cant disassemble the rear bearings (removing the hub) without destroying the bearings.

[Craig_D]

Originally Posted by bugstrider

Thanks,
The down time has been killing me. I'm going full ER PB with 22/29 TB's.

Did you leave your 19mm Trailing Arm nuts on the bolts or did you upsize to the 22's like the bolt head?

Cheers

Just curious, I re read your parts list and you went with 21/28's on the TBs. Chuck recommended 22/29's since I want a firm feel but no intent of tracking the car. Your thoughts on the 21/28 vs 22/29 combo.

The closer you get, the harder it is to wait.

I re-installed the 19mm. Works just fine.

Regarding the torsion bars, it depends on weight of the car. My car is 2480 lbs and the 21/28s work great.

Cheers.

[jjeffries]

To Craig and the other guys who documented their suspension refreshes in this theead: How are the replacement components holding up? Are the Elephant rubber control arm bushes still as good as when you installed them? Same question for the polybronze? Thanks in advance, John in CT (82 Coupe I'll be doing the suspension on this coming winter..)

[1979-930]

I installed all new sport rubber bushings as part of a suspension restoration two years ago. Over the winter I found the left rear lower spring plate mount had begun to crack.
When I disassembled everything to install the Elephant reinforcement plates I found the inner rubber bushing had split half way along the top. It may or may not have been from the mount failure. The cracked mount was minor.

I ended up switching to the Rebel Racing rear spring plate mounts and bushings. There is no added harshness or noise from them. I wish I had put them on the front too. Amazing product.

Close up of how minor the crack was.
Not the cause of the bushing failure IMO.







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