How Many Hours Needed for Coilover Conversion

[HamiltonSeth]

I have purchased a full Rebel Racing suspension setup for my 1972 911. The car is already caged and reinforced for the coilovers. How many hours, roughly, should I budget for the suspension swap? I have the following parts:

-Full Rebel Coilover kit F/R with Bilsteins
-RSR Bump steer kit
-930 Turbo tie rods
-All bushings, ball joints, etc.
-RSR 935 Spring Plate Set
-Hollow adjustable sway bars

I won't be running torsion bars. I will also be installing my 996 big red brake kit at the same time but my real question is how long the suspension will take. Trying to balance out DIY vs. having a shop do it.

Thank you everyone,
Seth

[Cory M]

It really depends on how good a wrench you are, if you have a lift, if you have all hand tools, if you have airtools. If you are alone or have a helper. If you are working on jackstands it will take a lot longer and be a lot less comfortable. Doing things like bushings and balljoints can be pain if the old ones are tough to remove. The prep work (drilling holes and installing plates for front swaybar, installing bearing races, removing old bushings, etc) is what kills time usually,bolting on the new parts is easy. Figure several hours at a good shop that knows Porsche for the alignment too. Since you are tearing it down you should think about flushing the brake fluid with good racing fluid, replacing the brake lines if needed, replacing or at least greasing the front bearings.

[Josh S]

I just finished putting a Rebel Racing suspension package (Stage 4) on my 86 911. I'm a complete novice at this sort of thing, but I had a friend helping me that is much more experienced. I'd estimate that it took us anywhere between 40-50 combined hours. Keep in mind, some of that combined time is me watching and learning from him. We did not install the new front sway bar since it's through body. I'll wait until I do body work to add fiberglass fenders etc. for an RSR look. We also didn't install the rear monoballs yet because it would have been a more work / time to remove the trailing arms. Most of the work was pretty straight forward, but there's always lost time for unexpected things and in my case trips to Pep Boys / Harbor Freight for tools / parts.

As mentioned above, the amount of time it will take you will depend on a lot of factors. Feel free to send me a PM if you want more information. I'm even happy to talk over the phone if you want to talk through how the process went for me. I will say that doing the work myself was a very rewarding experience and I'm looking forward to more projects on my car. I can also say that the car handled like a champ at Mid-Ohio the first weekend in April.

[HelmetHead]

Slippery slope...You'll find other things while 'in there" that need your attention. Blasting and re-finishing parts, fasteners that aren't long enough, etc, etc.

[HamiltonSeth]

Thank you all for the feedback.

Josh,
Your quote gives me a good idea what to expect. I really need to get the stance of the car finished so they can finish up my bodywork (RSR fiberglass) and make sure everything tucks just right. I would guess from you post that you probably have about 80 man hours into it if just one guy did it.

The suspension is fairly stock so my guess is the majority of the stuff will be very warn and could take some time to remove.

Thanks again

Originally Posted by Josh S

I just finished putting a Rebel Racing suspension package (Stage 4) on my 86 911. I'm a complete novice at this sort of thing, but I had a friend helping me that is much more experienced. I'd estimate that it took us anywhere between 40-50 combined hours. Keep in mind, some of that combined time is me watching and learning from him. We did not install the new front sway bar since it's through body. I'll wait until I do body work to add fiberglass fenders etc. for an RSR look. We also didn't install the rear monoballs yet because it would have been a more work / time to remove the trailing arms. Most of the work was pretty straight forward, but there's always lost time for unexpected things and in my case trips to Pep Boys / Harbor Freight for tools / parts.

As mentioned above, the amount of time it will take you will depend on a lot of factors. Feel free to send me a PM if you want more information. I'm even happy to talk over the phone if you want to talk through how the process went for me. I will say that doing the work myself was a very rewarding experience and I'm looking forward to more projects on my car. I can also say that the car handled like a champ at Mid-Ohio the first weekend in April.

[$ Short]

Pm sent

[mreid]

Wow, only list the hours spent working. 10-20 tops, but are you grinding off the flimsy rear sway bar frame brackets and welding on wevo heavy duties (add two hours)? Are you replacing the banana arm bushings (add three hours)? While the banana arms are out, will you replace the wheel bearings (add two hours)? Add three hours to do the brakes, but if the rear parking brake requires more work add another one to two hours. If you're taking 40+, you're doing a lot of noodling or fooling around. Oh, and if you're doing rear coilovers, you really need to weld up the rear shock towers and reinforce them. Here's my 74 with rebel racing bushings and coilovers I installed a couple months ago:

[mrm930]

I just completed mine with parts from Rebel Racing. As stated in a few posts - it really depends on what you have to work with. Easier with a lift, air compressor, correct tools, bearing removal tools and especially the tools for the rear bearing.

I had everything cleaned and powder coated, new stainless steel bolts and nuts (non-structural), new wheel bearing, etc. So there is some down time if you do everything.

However, becasue I am very detailed oriented - it always takes me longer. I always seem to take it one more step than I originally planned.

Good luck

[Josh S]

Seth,

My 40-50 hours was my time and my friends time in total. Props to the guys that can do this job in 10-20 hours! I hope to be that good one day, and it would certainly be faster for me if I were to do this same job again. If you're like me and you've never done major surgery on your car like this, I would budget at least 30 hours of actual work time. I didn't include trips to the store in my numbers, but like I said some of my time was watching and learning.

Best of luck and enjoy the journey.

[HamiltonSeth]

Thanks again to everyone who has contributed to this thread.

Can anyone advise me as to which specialty tools are required for the job?

[Cory M]

Originally Posted by mreid

Surprised you didn't go with the Rebel 935 spring plates since you are on coilovers.

[Cory M]

Originally Posted by HamiltonSeth

Thanks again to everyone who has contributed to this thread.

Can anyone advise me as to which specialty tools are required for the job?

I don't have time to run through a complete list of everything from memory but you'll need an impact gun (air or battery) to remove and install the front shocks, you need a special socket for the ball joints, large drill bit or holesaw for the front swaybar install, if doing the front bearings a press is best if you aren't replacing them you need to remove the race and swap it to the new ones which is a pain (gearpuller should work, other methods can damage it), large set of metric wrenches, metric sockets including allens, breaker bar maybe...

[HamiltonSeth]

That get's me started, thanks Cory.

Originally Posted by Cory M

I don't have time to run through a complete list of everything from memory but you'll need an impact gun (air or battery) to remove and install the front shocks, you need a special socket for the ball joints, large drill bit or holesaw for the front swaybar install, if doing the front bearings a press is best if you aren't replacing them you need to remove the race and swap it to the new ones which is a pain (gearpuller should work, other methods can damage it), large set of metric wrenches, metric sockets including allens, breaker bar maybe...