914-6 wide body question

racerdon40 · 04-23-2010, 01:27 PM

Okay so mine ain't a real one....

That seems to be a problem. Just bought it and don't like the 4 to 5 lug conversion (drilling out the hubs) and I have to put REALLY big 1 1/2 spacers on it to look right - don't like that either.

I want to replace the front suspension with (up to 89 fits right?) 911 (?sc? carrara?) to bring the brakes up a notch or two and push the wheels (5 lug 911, looks like front "S" wheels) out further.

Anyone reading this thread done this or know which combination produces enough offset to fill up the flares? Can I just switch out the struts I'm guessing it needs longer tie rods if I do?

O yeah I already know about the front fender clearance problems up front!

HELP I NEED SOMEONE WHO KNOWS HIS POOP!

racerdon40 · 04-23-2010, 01:29 PM

Oops should have spell checked.

I meant CARRERA not Carrara, sorry about that.

Dave at Pelican Parts · Dave at Pelican Parts's Garage

You can just switch out the strut. I mean the whole thing, including the hub, the brake caliper, the rotor, etc. Yes, 911 struts from about 66 up through 88 will fit, and the non "Carrera 4" badged cars from 89 will as well. (In 1990 all of the 911s used the new chassis with a fairly different suspension.)

You can use the whole 911 front suspension, including the A-arms, torsion bars, ball joints, suspension cross-member, and even the steering rack. It will bolt on as a single piece. Or you can, to some extent, mix and match.

The steering rack is just about identical as far as I know. The later 911 cross-member is aluminum instead of the 914's steel, but it just drops in. The 911 torsion bars have different numbers of splines than the 914 ones, so the A-arms and torsion bars must go together. Many 911 A-arms do not have provisions to mount the 914 front sway bar (the 911 mounts under the body and has worse geometry than the 914 through-body type) but those can be added.

The earlier 911s (I do not remember the cutoff date, I assume early 1970s?) use a regular bolt to hold the ball joint to the bottom of the strut tube. So do the 914s up through mid-72. The later 911s use a wedge pin, as do the mid-72 and later 914s. If you are trying to put an SC or 3.2 Carrera strut onto an 914 A-arm, you must use the later 914 A-arm.

Not sure about wheel and spacer combinations to fill out the front flares, though.

--DD

racer · 04-23-2010, 04:44 PM

I ran '84-89 vintage front suspension and brakes on my narrowbody 914. Was a great upgrade from the stock set up. You will be able to run 7" wheels no problem, and many with flares run 7" front / 8" rear and other 8" front and 9" rear. Sometimes it depends on the quality of the flares installed as well as ride height and alignment setting of your car to see what really fills it out.

Matt Monson · 04-23-2010, 04:54 PM

I'm in the middle of doing this on my '74. It had the drilled out conversion up front. I'm using 1978 911sc struts and brakes. As was mentioned, I am keeping my stock A-arms because I do have the through body sway bar. I'll be reinstalling the 6x15" Fuchs onto it once I finish. I'll be adding 930 tie rods at the same time.

That's the point I am at now. I've got the old struts and brakes off and am changing the tie rods tomorrow or the next day. I'm still on the fence about whether to bother with the aluminum crossmember or not. I'm leaning toward not.

Jim Dorociak · 04-25-2010, 07:02 PM

guys I am going to fill in a little of the missing information. The later model 911 cross member is aluiminum and weighs 10 lbs less than the old steel one. It makes the most sense to use the 911 A arms as the torsion bars are 1mm thicker than the 914 bars (as I remember), as far as the new 911 under the body sway bar, you can cut that mount off the A arm and weld on the older U tab sway bar mount and continue using your existing thru the body sway bar. The later model 911 struts use the wedge pin, and if you must you change the ball joint and it probably would not hurt to replace those while you are in there anyway. Yes one of the nicest things I ever did was put the 930 Turbo tie rod kit as it really reduces and firms up the front end feel. I also like using the complete late model 911 front end components as many are 14 - 18 year newer and the rubber bushings should still be serviceable. Jim

Matt Monson · 04-27-2010, 08:38 AM

Jim,
All of your points are very valid and helpful information. The reason I am not going that route is that I am using what I have on hand. I only have one spare set of 911sc A-arms and aluminum crossmember and I think that I am going to use those parts on my '68 and add the under chassis sway bar to that car, which doesn't have one.

But I go back and forth. The '68 is an unmolested 42k mile car. I've considered just doing what it takes to install a through body sway on that car and putting all the other parts on the 914, which is going to be a hot rod. My answer which way I am going on which car changes as often as the direction of the wind...