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Posted by: 86motoman Jul 7 2004, 08:24 PM

My 914 is leaning after a wreck....even the back which was not hit. I looked for damage and found none. Is it possible a bad strut would make it lean over? I thought the spring would hold it up but maybe not? Anybody

Posted by: vortrex Jul 7 2004, 08:25 PM

what side is it leaning on?

Posted by: ArtechnikA Jul 7 2004, 08:29 PM

i once had a spring perch come slamming down off the dimples that were supposed to hold it onto the damper after hitting a bit pothole.

we're going to need much better descriptions, or pictures - ideally both ...

Posted by: SirAndy Jul 7 2004, 08:45 PM

Posted by: skline Jul 7 2004, 08:53 PM

Well, if it was hit in the front, you may have damaged the front torsion mount, that will change the rear ride height on the opposite side.

Posted by: 86motoman Jul 8 2004, 09:28 AM

It's leaning on the right side...both front and rear....at first it was only the front until I started pulling on the car to straighten the windshield. Then the rear (same side) also just kind of went flat.

I am going to work right now...I will get some pics up. I pulled the wheel off and took a look and nothing jumped out as odd at all.

i.e. The wreck was on the front right...It did push the front suspension around.

Posted by: 86motoman Jul 9 2004, 11:13 AM

drivers side


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Posted by: 86motoman Jul 9 2004, 11:15 AM

pass. side


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Posted by: 86motoman Jul 9 2004, 11:17 AM

rear


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Posted by: 86motoman Jul 9 2004, 11:20 AM

front suspension


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Posted by: 86motoman Jul 9 2004, 11:23 AM

Front right suspension


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Posted by: bondo Jul 9 2004, 11:26 AM

Ouch. It could just be from the front suspension damage. I have tried to jack up just the front of my 914 to work on the brakes. I put the jack right behind the left front tire hoping I could lift both front wheels.. I ended up lifting both left wheels. It seems these cars like to lean more side to side than front to back. Try jacking up the front until it's level and see what the back looks like.

Are you really going to try and fix that? it doesn't look easy!

Posted by: 86motoman Jul 9 2004, 11:28 AM

another front right suspension


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Posted by: 86motoman Jul 9 2004, 11:31 AM

right rear suspension

I see nothing out of the ordinary here except the strut is compressed


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Posted by: 86motoman Jul 9 2004, 11:33 AM

Left rear suspension. This strut is not compressed..if anything to high??


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Posted by: 86motoman Jul 9 2004, 11:41 AM

That would be great if it is only the front suspension damage tweaking on the car. I will try jacking the car up in different locations and see what happens...that is a good idea.

I don't know if I am going to get it going or not. One thing is for sure, it will never be a "914" again. I miss my little car. I love the configuration on this car, midengine, light, targa top. Depending on how difficult the damage is to fix, I will either:
1.) Get it to sit level and not wear out tires driving down the road and give it a playful custom bug eyed fiberglass front end. And hope it lasts until college is over.

2.) hack it up...eventually putting it back together on a tube frame with no body and ad a 915 transaxle (maybe zf) and a Big Block Chevy and have one hell of a go cart. hehe (This is one of my dreams I will accomplish someday)

3.) Part it out and find a different 914 or possibly a 914 tub.

But for now....let's see if we can get it level.

Posted by: nebreitling Jul 9 2004, 04:20 PM

IMHO, there's no way you're going to get that level (at least correctly) without fixing the front end. looks bad -- what happened?

Posted by: 86motoman Jul 9 2004, 04:21 PM

I believe you called it my man!

I put the jack on the right front and it leveled out the rear. Unfortunately the front had to be jacked way up there...But the issue is in the front suspension!

Next step will be to cut off the crap and see what I can do up there to get it back close to where it was.

Anybody have any suggestions on how to approach this?

Posted by: bondo Jul 9 2004, 04:33 PM

Hold on, that may not be the case. Of course if you level the front (by wahtever means) you will either twist the car, or level the rear. If you had to jack the front way in the air, and the rear is way down, it could still be something in the rear, but now the left side is holding the whole rear off the ground. In theory if it's just the front you should be able to level it out by jacking the front back up to normal ride height, but you will have to do it as close to the tire as you can. (obviously if you jacked it up closer to the middle, you would have to go way up to add enough twist to get it level) Ideally you would want to lift the right front tire, but that may be hard.. maybe jack it up and set the tire down on some blocks?

Posted by: 86motoman Jul 9 2004, 07:01 PM

We are shooting for the best we can do. Whether that be roadworthiness, go cart, or parts car. I want to learn and do my best.

I rearended a minivan on the highway. I was going 60mph and had the brakes locked for 24ft before impact. I am not sure where that puts my speed at impact. It happened fast and violent....nothing I care to repeat.

Posted by: Aaron Cox Jul 9 2004, 07:09 PM

oouch.. bent tie rod/ bent a arm

Posted by: 86motoman Jul 9 2004, 07:17 PM

Okay...I put the front left wheel on blocks. Don't have the camera with me at the moment. First I blocked it up about 12". That was to much. The whole car was leaning the opposite way. I lowered it down to a 6-7" block. That was just about right. There the rear was level. The front was almost level, leaning slightly to the left. Though the front was still a little high. About 2-3inches high. Keep in mind the bumper, hood spare tire...has all been taken out of the front end, as well as other misc...body pieces.

It's definitly closer. If I can get the front end down 2inches.

Is there any other kind of tests we can do? Or is it time to start tweaking on the front end?