Explain the 300 dollar shock to me, What the... Options

[emerygt350]

An insert for 275? What and why? Is it just rarity? Some strange one off design that no other car uses?

[mepstein]

If the struts have been switched out, you need to figure out if they are Boge, Bilstein or Koni and if the caliper spacing is 3” or 3 1/2. Early 3” Boge 911 struts will take the same Boge inserts as a 914 but everything else is different.
The most practical way to tell if the torsion bars are bigger is to measure them. If they are 911/914-6 size, they are 1mm larger. That makes them stiffer but doesn’t automatically make them “harsh”.
So the first step is to figure out what you have so you can decide on the best solution.

[chmillman]

If the struts have been switched out, you need to figure out if they are Boge, Bilstein or Koni ...
So the first step is to figure out what you have so you can decide on the best solution.

It looks like the strut uses an early pinch bolt (large nut securing the bolt, split between the ends that secure the ball joint). If that’s correct, they are probably early 911T struts and probably Boge. Boge struts will have an embossed area halfway up the body with Boge name and part number

OK, so the first thing I did was look for the part number on the struts - which was more or less where you said it should be, but of course facing outward. So I pulled the front wheels off and tried to read the numbers... A bit hard because I think the struts may have been painted over once. With the help of the phone camera - which sometimes sees more than the naked eye - and some oblique light and chalk, I got most of it...





So, from what I can read:

Left side -
1 0221 32 090 0
914 341 091 00

Right side -
1 0221 32 091 0
914 341 092 00

Those numbers do not correspond with the Porsche parts catalog numbers I have here, which show

914 341 081 02 (up to '72, right side is 082)
914 341 081 05 (after '72, right side is 082)

And then there are those triangles you see in the photos... The Koni logo is triangular. So, maybe Koni replacement struts? Or what?

Aslo, looking at the parts diagram, the A-arms are separate parts from the struts. So might it be possible that they are still the original 914 parts with the 17.9mm torsion bars, or would they necessarily have to have been changed to 911 parts to go with the struts?

Always an interesting "archeological dig" to try to figure out what is really on/in these cars...

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/zXos_BJBX-Q