Awhile back, I purchased Patrick Motorsports' Adjustible Coil-Over Rear Bilstein Sport shocks.
They include Eibach 8.00 inch (static free length) x 2.50 ID coils.
Click to view attachment
Everything was warm 'm fuzzy until I did a fit check.
(Oh, yeah, they didn't come with new bushings or bumper, nor new washers, sleeve or anything).
It did have a new nyloc nut ! (whoopee doo)...

Question: is the lowest ring groove on the body the stock setting?

On the assembly table, if I measure to the center of the shock body, it works out to be approx 5/12 inches. I was going to place the lock ring near the center of the body.
For some reason, the numbers are not working out...maybe it's my math, but...
there is a huge difference in static free length...
I know that the shock is correct F4-B46-0179-HO, and that the shaft will compress into the body, but its' 4.00 inches above the upper perch, with the threaded collar set at its' lowest setting.

Any help here would be appreciated...I ran out of Smart Water.
Dave

Dave, I used Bitstein shocks in the past with coil-overs. Try the lowest ring groove. Cable tie the spring to the top of the coil-over cone. Start there and adjust height by screwing the lower coil-over perch up as needed.....

Why cable tie the spring? Couldn't you use a helper spring instead for a better fit rather than a mickey mouse workaround?

You must not have this type of setup. You cable tie the spring to the top cone so you don't have to reseat the top of the spring in place every time you lower the car after it has been raised up off the ground. Otherwise, you have to reseat the spring when you let the car back down......

JT is correct. Cable ties aren't mickey-mouse if they're used properly and are good quality. In fact, there are two holes cast into the aluminum caps specifically for this purpose... at least mine have 'em. They do have to replaced now and then. Any other spring would bind and perhaps add the the correct spring rate.

I didn't know mine (the ties on that side) were broken at Mid-Ohio one weekend when I came in for rain tires. The coil didn't seat properly while putting the car down and I didn't notice... obviously in too much of a hurry to get back on the track. Anyway, the spring seated on the track in an off camber turn called madness. BIG pop. I knew exactly what it was when I heard it but it was still a momentary distraction at a time when the car was in a four wheel drift. Fortunately, it didn't make any difference in the handling, so all was well as long as I didn't flinch.

This wouldn't be an issue if we ran a rear sway-bar since the spring stays loaded with one side in the air, but so it goes.

There might be a better fastener like a small, insulated cable, but unless well inspected, it might start rubbing on the spring.

...thanks guys....
now I have a decision to make...
nylon tie wraps
tender springs...46.00 each
tender spring perches...29.00 each

two more questions for those guys that have stiffened their cars.

I have installed the chassis stiffening kit for the rear suspension, have boxed trailing arms, have installed trailing heim supports from firewall to suspension console, have welded in a roll cage in the cabin interior, running Bilstein Sports on all four corners and running FUCHS 15 x 8s all around.
The Eibach spring rate is 180. I am running 911 torsion bars up front and running a 21 or 22 mm swaybar.
1. Would the 22mm be overkill or effectively reduce the oversteer induced by the stiffening of the car.
2. Are there any stress signs showing up after the stiffening process? and Where?
tks
Dave

I can answer a bit more later but here's the quick-and-skinny to my way of thinking.
It sounds like you have a stiff car, short of a full cage. That's good

1. Do you have an LS or TB differential?
2. Do you have a rear anti-sway-bar? Usually not in the 914, but a really stiff car with a full cage and LSD may benefit from one.
3. Are you asking about the front torsion bar sizes?
4. What's your application? AX, DE, Road racing or aggressive street?

In a VERY general sense, if you want the car to turn in quickly... like AX
- Soft front springs (sway bars and shocks are essentially springs too... set 'em way soft)
- Big rear springs / hard shock settings (I'll assume no rear anti-sway bar)

For bigger speeds and sweepers (like road race or street car)
big on all corners. Here's the rub though.
All of the above come into play. weight balance, differential, stiffness, and on and on and on. In a street car I like a road-race setup. In the tight twisties it's a little too much understeer, but it can be modulated with throttle and short gearing. To your tender springs.

If they are tuned to provide a softer takeup until your main springs take over then you may want to tune them progressively. That'll give the car a newer, more compliant road-handling feel, and keep the tires on the ground better. If you just buy them and the tender rate overlaps with the mains, or they are both linear, then you'll have a "two-step" spring that will be one rate until it's all-of-a-sudden another. Might be weird but unless one of these other hooligans has some real data, your gonna be experimenting with several spring sets.

Hopefully someone else has done this and can comment.

Here's my spring setup and you can judge compared to yours. It has a 993 motor and I can modulate lots of gross changes simply by adjusting the rear shocks. Everything else is throttle. If I want to go AX I can soften the front anti-sway bar settings if the shocks won't do it... and they usually won't.

- Fuel cell, battery, fire system, etc in the front trunk
- Caged
- LSD

Front:
16 x 8 wheels
Bilstien sport gas shocks
23mm torsion bars
22mm anti sway bar
turbo tie rods
Elephant polybronze bushings

Rear:
16 x 9 in wheels
Koni gas adjustables
200# springs on Coleman perches: 180's were perfect for the 2.7L but not enough for the 3.6
no anti-sway bar (might change that)
Elephant poly-bronze bushings

Hope that helps! Good Luck.

For this exact reason and my own story to go along with it...I now use only safety wire, and I drilled two additional holes so I have four ties up top now.

I wont use plastic zipties for this specific application again...its to hard to see up there to check them and wire holds up for the season.

Rich

http://www.arcflashlight.com/?gclid=COO2_-...CFR5HagodLHwjMA

...I may have used an incorrect reference to "tender" vs "helper" springs.

Some sites confuse them, so for the sake of not confusing anyone, I will use
tender as a spring [49.00 bucks] with almost no spring rate and used for
taking up the space, [gap] in the assembly while the wheels are at full droop.

Now about the helper springs, ones with progressive or linear rate. I would
like to have the progressive [89.00 bucks each], as discussed earlier. But for now,
I will run the tender [no rate] with the 180 lb Eibach coils.
My engine is only a 2.0 four when I first go out.
During the restoration, I stiffened the car with a 2.4 six that I have waiting for
rebuild, while I'm running. So most of my effort in designed for the six in mind.

Since it has been seven years since I put the nose of a 914 through a corner, I
will have to learn how to drive my car all over again. Too many things have been
upgraded and the car has changed.
I'm not running a rear sway bar for the moment. I'm waiting for that seat of the
pants adjustment. I will be playing with toe settings and height adjustments
and at the end, corner balancing.
My question about the front sway bar size was driven from the following:
I am thinking that a step up in torsion bar size and 19mm on the sway bar.
Until I was reading settings that were running 22mm and higher, which in my
mind is a little too much in the front.
My intentions are aggressive street, PCA DE events at the moment.
I want to leave the car a little loose and adjustible and not tighten it so much
that it pushes.
I will be running the Brembo AM with Porterfields in front and stock calipers in rear.
(I have a M set waiting in the wings for the rear), but want
to feel the car as I adjust it into balance. I tend not to use the brakes hard,
rather modulate them, using the car's momentum, gear choice and throttle.
If I have to go deep, then...I'm dancing on the pedals, keeping my revs up
for max torque out of the corner.
I guess the short of it is I'm use to the 911's throttle-lift oversteer, and I want the
the 914 to bite with a little ass and minimum opposite lock, to nose in on medium
braking and expand out to neutral on exit.
At this point I'm not sure where I'm going to be....






of the corner.

Gosh, three or four restraints on the springs... I like it! I thought about safety wire also but opted for a non abrasive approach since that once was the only time it happened. It's like a firewall engine access panel. You don't need one very often but when you do... and light IS good.

Do the safety wires damage the springs much? Surely there is wear... or what protects them?

To that 911 balance thing. I have one of those too. They tell you clearly when they're coming around. The 914 and that small MOE? Karts are good.

Zip ties usually last for a long time. It only takes 5 seconds to check them every time the car goes up in the air. And as mentioned above, they won't eat into your metal coatings.

Has worked for me for years ...
Andy

Is this setup (coil over shocks) worth the extra money over regular Bilsteins (like 2-3x the cost)?

What spring set would be best mated with them? I am in the market for a rear set up as my tail end is dragging, and has little or no recoil. Aggressive street/canyon carver. Recommendations? Anyone with coil overs?

Coil-overs give you a larger set of springs to tune your suspension with. The rate depends on a lot of things. Your weight, what the front springs/shock/sway bar are, and what you want to do with the car.

I am thinking of 140# springs and stock yellow Bilsteins, or new springs plus coil overs at 3 x the price.

Whats the opinion as to the value. Worth it? $300 vs about $800

Is there any advantage/disadvantage of this system vs. others out there?

I'm looking to source rear coilovers within the next week or two and want to determine the best option.

They all work similar. Threaded collars are the only way to get any real ride height adjustability in the rear.

I have Koni shocks with the collars and 250lbs springs.
Andy

One advantage of the coil-over adjustable over stock is ride height adjustment. You can corner balance a 914 to make it better with them. The spring rate is important to think about too. If I were only going to drive on the street (normal/easy) with an occasional auto X I'd stay stock unless I wanted to throw money into the car. That kind of 914 should use 140-180 lb. springs. I use my six on the street and DE's. I'm using 200 lb. springs. They give a good street ride and work well with the adjustable shocks on the track. Rear spring rate is determined by the type of driving and the size of the front torsion bars and sway bars. The weight of the engine, four, six, eight or others has a small effect on spring rates too. Race cars use much higher spring rates. The most important thing, I think, is to determine what kind of driving you plan to do with your car and go from there if your budget allows....