couple questions and looking for guidance on solution-

currently here is what is on the car -

Rear: has new sport bilistien shocks and new 100# springs. spring perches are set right in the middle currently, 4th from the bottom, i think there are 3 more slots above that.
Front: i have no idea- stock shocks etc, seem fine and no need to change them out. have not check to see if ride height etc is where it should be.

I just completed putting all new 5 lug on front and back, with new calipers, brake lines, bearings etc etc., but now am going to put new turbo tie rods on. Once this is complete i was going to take it to local shop to have alignment done. They are fully familar with all older 911 air cooled , owner has a bunch of his own, so i guess he should be familar with the adjusting proceedure for the height balance?
- i could move the rear spring perches up one or two spots but then it may make it a bit bouncy-more spring than shock.

anyway any advice and direction also for threads that show how to measure these things would be helpful.

A corner balance\height adjustment has nothing to do with a alignment.

Make sure you specify that you want both. Otherwise they probably won't do both.

Are you measuring ride height from the bottom edge of the rockers, or somewhere else?

Ride height/rake is pretty subjective, but I think the 914 looks good riding level or ever-so-slightly nose high, which is what you have now. If you raise the rear ride height slightly, it won't make it any more bouncy…you're not changing the damping, just moving the perch relative to the shock body.

You could always lower the front and leave the rear alone…it's just a matter of turning the splined adjusters.

A pic would help but what you're describing sounds like the normal stock ride height. The nose is a bit higher than the tail on the US models. Many people adjust the height to level by bringing the nose down using the adjustment screws up front as mittlemotor mentioned. It's very easy.

Been a while but I think I read (in haynes?) or this site, set the front so the control arm is horizontal, then set the back level or slightly higher or lower depending on the look you want. The height will affect your camber so you need to do it prior to your alignment. Also, drive it around before final set as it will settle.

i remember reading that somewhere too, so i figured after driving about some i would recheck, and if they are horizontal, just leave it as is. As someone else mentioned it being a stock set up so i will probably leave it if so, but i will take your advice, before getting the alignment, drive it around the neighborhood a bit. I'll be replacing the tie rods anyway so i knew i would have to do the balancing and front and rear alignments, but i'm hoping it will be fairly close. I now have taller tires so it just looks different with the 14" fuchs and 195/65's than it did with 15" empi /50's.(in a good way).
/pjw

i'll take a picture and post later, but if that is a stock thing i probably will not mess with it.

- and i was measuring from the bottom of the rocker -
phil

Front height at the control arms will also affect "bump steer" as well.

Finally took a picture. Pretty close to stock. When I do the new a-arms and tie rods I will look at dropping the front just a 1/2" maybe but for now I will leave it as is.

Good strategy. A 0.5-in. front drop will look perfect.

Looks fine as is but you can level it easily. As mentioned before if you do it yourself count the turns on the adjuster screws, do them evenly, and do one turn at a time and "bounce" the front shocks a bit then drive it around before you do the next turn. I got mine a little too low up front at first.

Lowering it 1/2" probably won't cause bump steer. Mine came down a lot more than that.

I heard all the stuff about hand made cars...... where do you measure from? The best advice I got, and it worked, was to measure from the jacking donuts. There is one at each wheel. Or at least the car came with 4. Mark it so you remember what side you measured from and always go to that spot.

Just my 2 cents.

thanks Chris, i'll take your advice, going to give it a shot tonight , still have a leak at the M.C. i think the gromets are'nt sealed in properly, so i'm going to put it up for that and going afterward adjust the height just a bit, re- bleed the brakes and see how it sits.


that seems like a good place to measure. should be consistant from one side to the other too, rather than the rocker panels

I did a 1/2 inch rake down on the front, measured from the donuts I think. I also put a couple hundred pounds of weight in the drivers seat when I did this.

I hadn't thought of that, good idea!

Thanks for the tip

To lower the front...Looking at the bolt head on....Clockwise or Counterclockwise turns? Thanks for the buttin-in questions!

Well it is tough to look at the bolt "head on" since it points straight up. You would have to be under the front suspension looking up.

But counterclockwise lowers the front end.

Always keep careful track of how much you turn 1 side so you can turn the other side the same and keep both sides even. Go with small adjustments, 1 full turn is the most I would go at once. Short drives between adjustment settles the suspension so you see how much change you made.

Jim