Thread title says it all.

The rebuild on my 1.8 is almost done, and now it's time to start thinking about dropping parts back into my teener.

Since the fuel tank needs to be pulled to install the Tangerine SS lines through the center tunnel, this would be the ideal time to add front sway bars, right?

Which ones? Weltmeister from the Bird shop? Tarett? Something else? Or maybe don't even bother?

This car is going to be 100% street. And I'm not really a "vroom vroom" guy. For those of you who have installed them, how big an improvement are sway bars? I was never unhappy with the handling of the stock 914.

But since the fuel tank is going to be out anyway, this would be the time, if I'm going to do it at all.

(And after that, I'm going to install the speedo and clock I got from Mike, the Fuchs I got from Gerold, and that awesome steering wheel I got from Jerry. I hope you three don't think I have forgotten about you -- seeing as I promised to post pix (and send cash in one case) as soon as the work was done.)

Oh, and before someone posts that this thread is worthless without pix, here's a shot of the engine. The tins needed to be sandblasted. So I had them painted the same color as the car. Not exactly "stock," but I really like the way it looks:

I've been wondering the exact same thing. I'm pulling my tank tomorrow to replace fuel tank sock/strainer and fuel hoses underneath. I do a lot of in town driving, but with some curvy country road drives. I feel my 914 without a front sway already handles very well. Though I wonder if a stock sway bar up front will be a worthwhile project "while I'm in there".

Yeah, that's exactly the same spot I'm in. I don't have the luxury of comparing sway vs. stock -- I don't know anyone nearby that I can take a spin with.

The weltmeisters are something on the order of $350. So let's assume $700 all-in to have it installed. $700 isn't going to break me financially -- but I'd love to know what kind of "bang" I'm getting for the buck.

I just went through this last fall.
Because of price and based on Racer Chris' advice I went with the stock swaybar.

The car corners much flatter and has a lot less trailing throttle oversteer!
You won't regret adding the bar!

I also like Chris' mounting plates for this (CFR-Tangerine Racing).
Rather than being just a triangle, they are curved to match the indentation in the fenderwell making them easier to locate.

The rear bar goes in this spring (Chris makes those mounts too)!

Scott

If you can afford it do it make it so. Even the stock bar will transform the handling of the car. But remember that it's part of a system.

Since you added some spring to the front (via the sway-bar) you may want to add a little more spring in the rear to balance the car if you find a more understeer than you like. It's one of the advantages of adjustable bars.

I've had both H&H and Tarrett and the slotted bars are IMHO, the easiest to adjust. That said a stock bar is a good addition to a bone stock car.

In either case, be sure to add the reinforcing plates if your car didn't come with them from the factory. If you don't you'll eventually be welding up some torn metal there... ask me how I know. I knew better, was in a hurry, and then forgot about them.

Good luck

For the sway bars, the price really does reflect the quality. The WM parts are inexpensive. They work just fine, especially for a street car.

The Tarrett bars are better. Cleaner install, better quality parts. They don't work much different from the WM parts, but they are better parts.

Smart Racing stuff is probably the highest-quality you can get, but it is priced accordingly. Probably $$$ overkill for anything but a serious racer, and possibly even then. But they're nice pieces.

I'm not familiar enough with the H&H to comment on them.

The stock bar(s) are fine, but not adjustable. The adjustability is nice to have, even though you probably would set-and-forget it.

--DD

H&H bars are ancient ('70's) and I don't know if they're still around. I looked into them and found they've apparently converted to a drama stage-hardware firm.

The 25mm front bar was on my car when I bought it. Good quality but a PITA to change stiffness since they have multi-piece bolts, washers, aluminum "cone" spacers and adjustment holes instead of slots that you can just slide to where you need them without worrying about preloading the bar. That way you can make the drop-links the same length and just bolt them on without adjusting them after the fact, which is a pain while on the car. Here's one from long ago shown without any droplinks...

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-911...e-sway-bar.html

Ron

Tarret front bar and 180lb rear springs...that will do the trick.

-Britain

Not ONE comment on the engine picture?

Every other damned thread I start gets a "this thread is worthless without pix" admonition.

That is a wild looking engine btw....

I was checking out the mustang in the background

That mustang was part of some TV show where they restore a classic car in 30 minutes. The mechanic told me the "TV Show Garage" did a whack job on the thing, and everything that CAN leak, does leak. He said it's going to take him a lot longer to fix it right because everything was done so Mickey Mouse by the last wrencher.

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