on a narrow body 914 with a V8 or suby - there is a ton of room between engine and rear trailing arm - i wonder if anyone widened the swing arm and moved the inner trailing arm mount inward a few inches?

note that longer pivot shafts would be needed and custom axles too.

Aside from relocating the inner swingarm piviot , one would have to shorten the axles , relocate the upper strut / shock mount , consider the location of the brake line mount that is just above the motor mount that is in relation to the swing arm.Determine if it will impact the heat exchangers , if used , probably a lot more that others more versed in chassis mods that I missed.
All in all a good question you have there Jim.

Jack / Jaxdream

The problem is the space allowed between the inner & outer fender walls......there is about 9-10 inches there, usually less on one side. A half inch clearance is needed on either side of the tire, IMO......I had 3/4 inch clearance static to the inner fender & ended up with black streaks on it (an extreme case, addmittedly). When lowering the car to a decent ride height the space becomes even less.
I couldn't come up with any alternative to going out.

It may have looked better with paint....never got there.

don't mean to hijack, but those flares look really good! Which are those?

They are "hammer & dolly" flares. They are free, moneywise .....you pay for them
with pain...in the ass & hands. I was younger then........
The fronts are still there. They look OK with paint

"how to avoid needing rear flares, for v8 or suby powered 914..."
drive slower

Nice work, I can imagine that takes blood,sweat and tears....looks really good, front wheels are pretty wide!

Also don't jump on the gas in a corner. A huge sway bar in the front helps. The more understeer you can dial in, the more safe the car will be on the street.

If I don't run any spacers on my car the tires also rub a bit on the inside of the fenderwell where the 914 stiffening kit is welded in, so you'd have to cut out that part of the rear frame and move it inwards. Not to mention the track would end up being a bit narrow.

You can see it a bit at the top of this picture:

The problem really is how much rubber you can fit between your fender walls, not the location of the trailing arm.

On a stock body car, that space is less than 9" ...

Sounds like somebody is having regrets on not jumping in on the AA flare group buy. J/K

I know some people don't like fares, but I can't wait to get mine on. One project at a time though.

But now you got like 30 guys trying to thing of ways the fabricate a sturdy inner mount for the trailing arm. I'm curious if anyone tries this.

hindsight is 20/20

flares - while they have the agressive look - no hiding THAT : )

are clearly the straight forward way to accomodate wider rubber.

thanks

jim

i will just drive slower : )

Sturdier mounts is not a bad idea. The old stock jobbies are none too stout and fail with some regularity. If you go the fat tire, big HP route, they should be inspected regularly for cracking. On race cars they should be strengthened.

Lots of hot rod guys put wide tires under stock fenders. They call it Pro Street.
The existing inner fenders would need to be cut out and the shock tower moved inward.
I already have all the pieces required to narrow the rear pickup points. My raised suspension kit could easily be adapted to the job and standard length pivot shafts could still be used.
Stock axles could be kept if the trailing arms were modified and wheels with greater backspacing were installed.

What, are you shopping for work? I'm sure you could pull it off.

Here's a pic of the area.....with a nice black rub mark giving some idea of the effected area. (there is nearly 3/4 inch clearance there to the tire...got carried away with low tire pressures.... ONCE. )
The area would need a whole of cutting...all structure. Were I to contemplate actually doing this, a rear tube frame and do away with them GD arms all together would get my vote.