5 lug conversion planned!, sweetness! Options

[Aaron Cox]

well, my stock front suspension needs to be rebuilt. so i figure what the heck why not. my plan is to accumulate parts in advance. i talked to german auto dismantlers (i think that was them) and asked for a price on an early 911 front suspension. i was quoted 200 for a "rough one". i need to buy Torsion bars and shocks as it is, so why not put that money into a "rough" 911 front. i figure i dont need used struts and stuff, just the brakes and rotors....ill replace t bars, and shox

what i need to know is:
*someone said early 911 struts are interchangeable with 914's? is this so?
if so: ill put new struts in my car now, and carry them over to the 911 front at the time of install/switch
* how much are my 2.o liter fuchs alloys worth? original, no curb rash on most. have 5 of them
*911 fuchs go for about 100-125 apiece
*what size wheels should i look for, on my stock fendered 914. 15x6? 16x6?
*how hard is it to restud stub axles? cost?
*this front setup will give me 911 M calipers w/ vented discs right?
* i need to use 914-6 rear dics right?

the only downside to this conversion other than cost is, my rotors and brakes are all redone as of last year. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad.gif)

[seanery]

if the 2.0 fuchs are good, then $400 + is easy to do on ebay. I got $550 for 4 about 2 years ago.
I got $100 for the wheel studs.
I like 16x6 but others like 15x6 & 7.

[Aaron Cox]

and.....my uncle has a prts car that has a 2.0 and fuchs alloys and all. ill offer him 500 for it, then part it out and make some dough! (reason i know he will take that is because- technically it is already sold. a long lost friend of his gave him 500 for it like 10 years ago.....and has yet to claim it....i figure, ill mail the guy a check!)

also, i could take the stub axles out of the parts car and have them restudded, and have no turn around time on the conversion! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smilie_pokal.gif)

[Mueller]

Just to clarify a few things.....


You need the 911 struts in order to do the 5 lug conversion.....you can bolt these onto your existing A-arms or use the 911 a-arms if you buy the entire suspension.

The 911 hubs will not bolt onto the 914 struts.
Different size wheel bearings.

Now the strut inserts should be interchangable depending on the year of the 911 parts. Also, the valving might be different between the 914 inserts and the 911 inserts, but I have not seen the numbers to see which is harder or softer or more aggressive valving.

I've seen the rear hubs available re-drilled with studs in the 150 range.

4-bolt Fuchs: 400 to 500+ depending on condition and your location

5-bolt Fuch: yep, expect to pay what you listed.

15" or 16" depends on personal preferance...Demick has 16x6 rims on his 914 and they look really nice

Front vented? Yes

Rear rotors: use 914-6 or you can have your 914-4 re-drilled at the same time. (you need to do a cost comparison)

[Bleyseng]

GPR has the rear HUBS re-drilled with studs in the $150 range in stock usually. So no turnaround there, they charge a core charge until you send yours back. Use the new 914/6 discs and maybe clearance your rear calipers a touch to make them work.
The 4 bolt Fuchs at $400-500 should include the long bolts and caps and sell fast.
I was able to find nice 15x6 Fuchs Windmills online at the junkyards for $100 each. Locally, I was able to get a set of the black alloy nuts for a $1 each. I stayed with the 15" rims because of AX class rules here.
As Mike M said, you need the 911 struts, calipers and hubs to set up the front. If you want you can use the entire 911 front suspension but you will have to rebuild that before you install it too. The advantage of the 911 set up is there is more sizes in T bars available.
Geoff

[Demick]

16x6 Fuchs are no more expensive than 15x6, so cost isn't a factor. I prefer the 16's for street, because you can run a nice high performance tire, and be very close to the stock overall tire diameter. 205/55-16 is what I run (very common size, lots of choices). You can also go with 205/50-16 if you prefer, but is sort of an oddball size (1 mfg as far as I know). This size tire/wheel combination really 'fits' the 914 in terms of overall porportions in my opinion.

On a 15 inch rim, you have to make a choice between high performance and reasonable RPM's. If you go with something like 205/50-15, you will be running 4000rpm just to keep up with freeway traffic, plus you end up with wheels that look too small for the car (my opinion). Or you sacrifice performance and go with a high profile tire to get somewhere near a stock diameter tire.

I use 2 sets of wheels to get the best of both worlds. 205/50-15 for autocross, 205/55-16 for street.

Demick

[anthony]

The advantage of the 911 set up is there is more sizes in T bars available.

Everybody says this but you can easily get up to 23mm 914 torsion bars which would be massive overkill for any street 914. The advantage of the stock 911 setup, IMO, is the 19mm stock 911 torsion bars you would get with the a-arms. This makes for a nice upgrade on a 914 over the stock 18mm bars. That way you don't have to pay too much extra to increase the spring rate at the front.

[Brad Roberts]

I have a complete 9146 front end that I need to sell (350$)

Everything but the cross bar.


B

[Aaron Cox]

good brakes? swaybar u tabs?

[Brad Roberts]

Yes and Yes.

The pistons are not stuck... and rebuild kits are 12$ per side.

I have several sets to choose from. I pull them apart so people dont resuse the old bearings and rotors.

The setup from this 6 is complete however (see pics on the other thread)

B

[Aaron Cox]

seriously thinking about it brad. also, what is required to do the rear conversion

*restudded stub axles
*914-6 rear rotors
* can i use the /6 rear rotors with my stock /4 calipers?
* what am i missing?



also, i know i can be dumb, but can you give me a link to "the other thread" please (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

[anthony]

Here's my parts list:

911 front suspension $500
911 front brake lines $30
Ball joints $88
A arm bushings $50
front brake pads $50
turbo tie rods $120
911 rotors $120

rear hubs predrilled $60
rear studs $50
rear wheel bearings $70
914/6 rear rotors $120
914/4 rear brake lines $30
rear brake pads $50
rear 140lb. springs $100

15" Fuchs $500
alloy lug nuts $60

total - about $2000

So, if you do it on the cheap it can cost as low as $300-$500 plus wheels. Done with all new/refreshed parts - figure on $2000. If you need new shocks figure on another $500 for Bilsteins or Konis.

[Qarl]

I've got a rear Carrera brake setup for sale...

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/showthread....threadid=112240

[Aaron Cox]

to use 914/6 rotors w/ stock /4 calipers, do the calipers need to be spaced out or what?

[J P Stein]

The 914/6 rotors & 4 pooper calipers are a bolt-up.
The 6 rotors are slightly thicker. Setting the venting clearance is a bit of a challenge, tho.
I needed to torque the rotors down to spec (without tiars/wheels on) to set the clearance.