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

[wonkipop]

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...

the triangle things are porsche logos.

triangle with a P inside it (a stylised P).

this is what i understand that to mean.
its a production line part.
the sigla windscreens when fitted on production line had the triangle and P.
the kinonglas windscreens had the VW logo (and later VW and audi rings).
along the way the cars had either sigla screens or kinonglas depending on the batch - months of year basically. but the big difference between production line installed parts and then later spare parts is the vehicle manufacturer logo.

after the production line fitment, replacement OEM parts just had the supplier logos or names. but no longer the vehicle manufacturer logos.

i still had orig boge shocks and struts on mine in 2019 when i recommissioned.
cleaned them up a bit and put the bil inserts in at the front.
all they had were the date stamps on the struts.
date stamp was 1 week before the VW production number stamped on the chassis and k plate. nothing else. struts 22 jan. car chassis stampe 28 jan.




EDIT.

so what i am saying is if its got the triangle with P that alone means its very likely unless the struts came from some other car that its the orig production line fitted front struts.
the other empty triangle might well be a koni symbol i don't know.
and its got a 914 first three digits part number. so its 914 specific.

and konis were not standard production fitment. you had to tick a box to get them.

you can see from my photo the bog standard boges.
not much on them. just the date stamp. i could look again closely at mine.
but i don't think there is anything else there. no boge logo. no vw logo as far as i have ever been able to detect. maybe there is and i can't remember but the date stamps caught my eye. i cleaned up of stray undercoating and kept clear of those date stamps and then reinstalled.

anyways. i think you might have original struts. koni option ticked. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/confused24.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)