New to me - 911T - suspension???

[Carbster09]

Hello,

I recently bought a '71 911T, that is fairly original / rebuilt. I like the car, but she rides like a Caddy .. and that is not in a good way.

The car came fitted with the Comfort pack, i.e. 14" wheels and I believe Boge struts. I want to get the car handling better for more aggressive driving. What are my options, easy (not so expensive) and not so easy (expensive)? What is the best bang for the buck. I will be upgrading the engine and need the suspension done first. I live in Houston, Texas, which isn't the best for driving. Although I do know a few good roads and the Hill Country is near.

I am going to do some research and start asking about some shops. I just need someone to point me in the right direction.

Thanks Chris

[Jack Stands]

Assuming you don’t have the hydropneumatic suspension, you can always swap out shocks first and renew the bushings. Bilsteins and Kong’s are popular choices, but there’s nothing wrong with the Boges for street use. If that’s not enough for you, stiffer springs and sway bars are next, but don’t overdo it. A street driven early car is a wonderful light vehicle that will never be duplicated again.

[Trackrash]

Nice car. I would be nice if you posted a picture.

There are a couple of books you should get that have more information than most mechanics nowadays have.

They are available here in the parts catalog.

Wayne's 101 projects and Bruce Anderson's Porsche 911 Performance Handbook. A workshop manual and Owner's manual will go a long way in helping you get familiar with your car.

As far as the suspension goes, new rubber bushings and shocks are a must. Shocks can be either be Bilstein or Konis for a more performance oriented ride. Konis have the advantage of being adjustable, while the Bilsteins may be a little firmer to start off.

You also need to check if your car has sway bars. Many of the T models did not come with them installed. If not, adding sway bars would be considered a must by most people.

And those 14" wheels are valuable and you could sell them and go to some 15s or 16"s which will make a big improvement as well.

[HarryD]

My 1973.5 with 166,000 miles has a mostly stock suspension. A few upgrades were done a few years ago. I drive on the street for fun and autocross 5-8 times a year.

My suspension has turbo torsion bars (21 mm front/26 mm rear).
Front and rear 19 mm adjustable sway bars.
I replaced my rear spring plates bushes with neatrix parts. All other bushes are stock and original.
Bilstein HD fronts and Sport rears.
For the street I use 16x6 Fuchs with 205/55-16 Continental Extreme Contact Sport as tires and auto cross on 15x6 cookie cutters with Toyo RR 205/50-15 tires.

I had Rothsport lower/corner balance/align the car and apply his "secret sauce". Car rides and handles great.

One data point for your consideration.

Find a good Race Shop in your area that does air cooled 911 and see what they recommend.

[Bill Verburg]

Originally Posted by HarryD

My 1973.5 with 166,000 miles has a mostly stock suspension. A few upgrades were done a few years ago. I drive on the street for fun and autocross 5-8 times a year.

My suspension has turbo torsion bars (21 mm front/26 mm rear).
Front and rear 19 mm adjustable sway bars.
I replaced my rear spring plates bushes with neatrix parts. All other bushes are stock and original.
Bilstein HD fronts and Sport rears.
For the street I use 16x6 Fuchs with 205/55-16 Continental Extreme Contact Sport as tires and auto cross on 15x6 cookie cutters with Toyo RR 205/50-15 tires.

I had Rothsport lower/corner balance/align the car and apply his "secret sauce". Car rides and handles great.

One data point for your consideration.

Find a good Race Shop in your area that does air cooled 911 and see what they recommend.

I like what Harry did a lot
only thing I'd do differently is
replace the rear spring plates w/ adjustable Rennline versions(sport bushes are included)
w/ the lower torque cars wheel and tire selection is critical, these cars just can not afford big inertial and gearing costs to continue to be fun. To that end I'd use 6 or maybe 7 x15 Fuchs wheels. Theoretically 14s could be retained but there just isn't a very good selection of tires for them. Stock tires on 6x15 were 185/70, 195/65 can be used and has about the same inertial cost and a tad less gearing cost, 205/55 has about the same inertial cost and much lower gearing cost, 205/50 even more so. 7ET23.3 would make the 205s work even better.

If buying t-bars a good case can be made for the drilled Sanders bars and Rennline spring plates

[Carbster09]

Hi, Thanks for the input. The problem is I do have the Boge Hydropneumatic suspension

I did upgrade to a set of 7R wheels from TRE (replicas) and I have fitted Avon 185/70/15 CR6ZZs on all corners. They are just so nice. As I said this "comfort" suspension is not so comforting in the corners!

[Carbster09]

Funny, maybe my 914-6 has just been a bad influence on my driving style??

[Carbster09]

First attempt at loading pics. Here is the with the new wheels/tires. I have a set of seats in fab by GTS with "my" Tartan for the 914-6, but I might fit them to the 911.

[Trackrash]

Originally Posted by Carbster09

Hi, Thanks for the input. The problem is I do have the Boge Hydropneumatic suspension
As I said this "comfort" suspension is not so comforting in the corners!

Now you tell us....

A friend of mine had Konis installed in his hydro.... front struts. It took some custom gland nuts to hold them in place, but has worked.

Otherwise you might want to consider replacing the front struts. There have been a number of good used struts available on the used parts Forum.

Newer struts will have the advantage of allowing you to upgrade the ball joint mount. '71 was the last year of the problematic pinch bolt ball joint attachment on the bottom of the struts.

[HarryD]

Originally Posted by Bill Verburg

I like what Harry did a lot
... snip ...

Bill. Thanks but the credit needs to go to Steve Weiner and Jeff Gamroth on helping me get the result I wanted with my limited budget.

[Bill Verburg]

Originally Posted by HarryD

Bill. Thanks but the credit needs to go to Steve Weiner and Jeff Gamroth on helping me get the result I wanted with my limited budget.

Always nice to have good help

[Bill Verburg]

Originally Posted by Carbster09

Hi, Thanks for the input. The problem is I do have the Boge Hydropneumatic suspension

I did upgrade to a set of 7R wheels from TRE (replicas) and I have fitted Avon 185/70/15 CR6ZZs on all corners. They are just so nice. As I said this "comfort" suspension is not so comforting in the corners!

are you sure that those a

Are you sure that those are 7's? 185/70 x15 Avon is only spec'd for a 6 max, should be very stretched out on a 7

There may be something amiss w/ the suspension. Back in the day the test results didn't show a significant difference in cornering between t0-bar and hydro-pneumatic suspensions, both came is ~.83g depending more on tires.

when these were raced(mostly rallied) they used 6 x15 front and 7 x15 rear

[Flojo]

I see, long studs, S calipers, Avon tires... nice racy details.

the tartan 's gonna be a great upgrade!

[Flojo]

Originally Posted by Carbster09

Hi, Thanks for the input. The problem is I do have the Boge Hydropneumatic suspension

rip it out and install Bilsteins... at least Koni sport.