hey everyone (at least here in los angeles). i want to lower my 73 a little, or at least explore the idea. i want it done as best as possible, i.e. ride quality, steering geometry etc. does anyone know of someone or a shop (here locally) that i can trust and that has plenty of experience doing this on 914s. i also want to strip the paint on my rivieras, and repaint them, i suppose that would just be any paint shop right ?

I have had tons of work done at TRE motorsports.... The are in the valley 818.509.0257
I would suggest bead blasting then powder coatintg... Tons of places in LA or the Valley for this....

great. i live in venice, but i grew up in studio city, so i know the valley quiet well. think i will pop by when i visit my mother this week. thanks for the tip.

by the way does anyone have any opinions on lowering a car that is already pretty low in general. it's cool, don't do it, you'll ruin the ride, looks great, but you will sacrifice wheel size? anything, what are your thoughts...

If you're in Venice, check in with Alex at Pre-Tech. He's on Washington across from the Cost Co.

ok i have heard his name mentioned a few times, and i live close by. thx.

Otto's in Venice knows 914s well for the suspension & any other mechanical work.

You could refinish the Rivieras yourself - strip & repaint, smooth out minor curb-rash, if they're not too bad. Look up some of the wheel refinishing threads on here & adapt to Rivieras.

I believe Otto recently passed away.
There is a thread here on that.


Lowering the car will create compromises that you need to understand.
To low, and the car becomes stiff, hits potholes and shakes teeth.

To low and you end up with twitchy steering sometimes called "bump steering"

We have all scraped the ground and all raised them back up again.

Never let the front a-arm get beyond level, that is to low and requires modifications to get it to be right...

You will need to get an alignment after you lower the car.

You will need to buy adjustable perch rear shocks to give you any adjustment in the rear.
Front is simple, turn the adjusters to lower it.

rich

Tom - I haven't heard what the future of the shop is since Otto's (John's) passing. Have you heard anything?

that is good insight. as it turns out, it is the front that i want to lower more, to create a slight racked look. when you say, the front is easier and just turn adjusters is that something i can do without taking everything apart?

yes if you look at rear part of the front suspension arm were it meets the body you will wee that there is a small bokt that looks like igoes up into the crossmember, that isa the adjuster for the torsion bar that is the "spring" for that side of the front end.
the "lever" has the bolt go thru it, make the lever go up the body goes down
looks like this.

Simple to do, see pic above.
Measure at the bottom of the rocker panel, both front and rear.
I shoot for about 1/4 inch lower in front than in the rear when measured at the rocker panel.

Measuring the fender lip is filled with to many variations....

I also use a block of wood put right under the adjuster, measured to the exact height I want on one side...then go to the other side and slide the block in place....lower car to block...

Its faster than trying to hold a tape measure while adjusting the bolt...while trying to read the tape measure....etc...

If you want it perfect, sit in the front seat and have someone do it again with the weight on one side..
Then the car rides perfect with you in it, but looks odd when you are not in it.

rich

man, you guys are the shit. i love this website, this community... and i think i just found a place where i can do this with the right tools and such. in stead of my drive way.

ya, original moons, wanted to give the 14 a soCal look plus im not a big fan of rivieras, which is what they are covering. so until i can afford the 911 fuch set-up the way i want, thought i would roll with these. here are some better shots. as ma be you read, i want to lower the front just a tap and i think it really add to the look.

hey Tom T

thanks for the advice, it took some searching but i found a post in a thread that is what im looking for in regards to the wheels. i think im going to use a Eastwood refinishing kit for aluminum wheels. going to clean the rivieras up and then decide to either paint them my self or have them professionally done.

Hey JP, you only need an 11mm wrench to lower the front end You don't need to turn the adjuster bolts very much.

If you don't want to tackle it yourself, come on down ...


Gotta love them 'Moons'

Click to view attachment

straight up.......

Not so much.

Is there a way to add an adjustable rear perch if you don't have bilsteins? Otherwise it seems like you need a host of rear springs to get it right. Any ideas?

You are generally constrained to buying a rear shock that has adjustable perches unless you want to mess with spring length and k factor.

Get the adjustable perch shocks, it is worth it.

+1 And very easy to adjust.

Also, I know it was said, but you will need to adjust your toe-in on the front suspension once you lower it.

Plan for that as a step or you'll have mediocre handling and chew through tires quickly.

You can buy some Bump Steer spacers also. This will allow you to lower the front by maybe 1/2" to 3/4" depending on how your front is now. You can find them on-line at Weltmeister I think.

There was a great write-up ona website that is no longer maintained.

Frank

cool thx.

Here's the tech article on 'How to install the bump-steer kit' Click here ...

Labor cost to install it is about the same as two cases of Starbucks Mocha-flavored Frapuccinos

... and the kit is relatively cheap, available from Pelican: Click here

Click to view attachment

Copy that....

enough said...

I'm hoping changing the tires will level her out. I have 185 on front 165-15 on back. I have the torsion bar adjusted about 3/4 screwed in on front and it still dips in front. Is it possible for the front torsion bar to have been installed incorrectly?

If you remove the adjuster bolt you can pop the cap off the torsion bar. Re-index the cap on the bar to give you more adjustment. Cap might be froze on the bar. When you try and pop off the cap the bar comes out with it. No biggie. Re index the bar. Do this when it's up on jackstands. Dont want the car falling on you.

Cool, thanks!

hey Mark
just ordered a vacuum hose kit, so as soon as it gets here i will PM you and come down (wth the mocca's of course) and we can tackle the front end and the hoses. jp