I recently decided to do a 6 cyl conversion with a 911e 2.2l engine. I figured that if I am doing that, I should probably change to 5 lug Fuchs. I have a large amount of work ahead of me for the 6 cyl conversion so I wanted to do a quick 5 lug conversion until I get a chance to do it right. I was planning on buying 4 to 5 lug adapters (I will change to the correct 5 lug setup once I get time). I will be using the car primarily for spirited street driving. My car is not and is not supposed to be a concours car so I really don't care if the wheels are stock size- I would really just like the best size for my purpose. Also- where can you get the 5 lug adapters?

Just drill and stud your front discs and rear hubs and have studs pressed in for a "Quick" 5 lug setup. Forget the adapters.

PMB does the screw-in lugs for the fronts; may do the same for the rears. Contact Eric (Eric_Shea here on 914world).

Don't use the adapters; Do the job right.

For the front you could look for a 911 front end. Get everything at once and bolt it in. Prices go all over the map for the 911 front end. I purchased front and rear suspension for a '73 911 for $150; delivered to my door!

I just saw PMB's conversion kit. I think I will just do that.


What size Fuchs should I buy?

What year 911 front suspension can I use? My friend has a 1986 911 (3.2?) front end that I may be able to get. Would that work?

all the 911wheels should fit in the 6 or 7 inch width.

'86 911 front end will work. Plus you'll get the calipers with 3.5in bolt spacing.

For Fuchs, look for 16x6 or 16x7. 16x6 will fit without issue front or rear. 16x7 may require pulling out the rear fenders; 16x7 should fit under the front fenders.

Don't look at 15 inch as the selection of tires is dwindling. Same is true for 16 inch but there is a larger selection.

With narrow fenders, I'd do either 15x6 (great period looks, limited tire selection if you want a performance tire) or 16x6 (good looks, great tire options in 205/55R16).

Once you start getting into sevens, things get trickier and you can have fender clearance issues. Good luck!

pete

What's the deal with "deep Fuchs"? Are they good or bad? Will they fit a 914?

Deep 6's are pricey. $500-1k/wheel. Buy a set of flat 15x6, add 195x65x15 tires and you will be happy. Larger than that and they may rub without mods to the fender or speedo.

Go 16" and you will need a lower profile tire to keep the stock ride height and speedo reading.

So I talked to my friend about the 1986 911 front end. Includes everything including brakes, steering rack and struts.

He is being somewhat difficult about getting rid of it. How much should I pay?

Like you, mine is a conversion so I wasn't necessarily concerned with originality and my goal is just fun driving with a smooth -6 behind me. I chose 14" Fuchs. They were less expensive and look proper if anybody besides me notices. The disadvantage is the limited number of tire choices from current manufacturers. And remember, whatever you do on this one, you can do differently on the next one while you drive this one.

My opinion - $400-1k depending on condition. Core condition or bolt on. Does it need new bushings, do brakes need rebuilt, condition of shocks, can you reuse rotors and pads, ect.

And remember, if you use a 911 suspension you will probably have to hunt for some early 911 torsion bars or the front end will be stiff.

Don't shoot me but what about the fake Fuchs? What are the problems with them?

Generally speaking, Fachs have been suspected of mediocre quality for decades. True or not, I can't say. Someone else will.

This company, however, seems to get high marks from the racers...and makes Fachs in interesting sizes. No affiliation or promotion.

http://www.braidusa.com

pete

Nice...pricey suckers..makes those 52 Outlaw rims "reasonable" almost

If I was going to buy repops go with deep sixes from pierside vw parts. That's is what I'm doing for the street. Flat four makes a quality repop.

http://www.piersideparts.net/CB4855.html

Not sure what you mean by early torsion bars as they used the same size torsion bars from 65-89.

early meaning 18 or 19mm instead of 21 or 22. I'm pretty sure the earlier cars were lighter and used smaller diameter bars.

I am considering the polished 15x6 (10-1103) would do nicely for a low cost wheel and Dunlop DZ102 is available and won't break the bank.

http://vwcatalog.empius.com/vwcatalog/2014/211.html

Is the 4 7/8" back spacing comparable to the Flat 15x6? Anyone know if 4 7/8 BS will bolt right on with out spacers?

For a daily driver.. Is there anyone who has experience with the EMPI wheels? If they work out nicely I could always finish them to look like a traditional Fuchs or even body color match etc.

seventeeeennss

No offense intended, sixnotfour, but I don't care for that look at all. Plus those are replicas, and they're probably rather expensive as well.

I would recommend 14x5.5", 15x5.5", 15x6", or 16x6". I don't think there are 16x5.5" Fuchs out there.

Running 7s lessen your odds of being able to fit 205s under the stock fenders. If you're OK with pulling/rolling your fenders, the 205s on 7s can be fine. If not, there's a reasonable chance they won't quite fit under one rear fender or the other.

With 6es or 5.5s the tires will not be as wide, so your chances of fitting under the stock fenders are better.

If you use bolt-on adapters, they will act as spacers and move the wheels outward more. So the wheels that work with the spacers won't work without them, and vice versa. So yeah--skip the spacers. Drill and stud the fronts for your interim solution, and the rears for the permanent solution.

--DD

None taken Dave , I bought em for 500 bucks with tires, 225's they fit great offset is perfect..... I have since lowered the 914 and installed the front valance looks way better.......tire selection is unlimited

I decided to scrap the adapter idea. I purchased a full front suspension from a 86 911. Since I am going to have my engine and transmission out, I figured I might as well just do the rear hubs then. I plan on just having the hubs drilled.

Does anyone know of any where that I can send my hubs for drilling and studs?

Also- does anyone know if 914 torsion bars are interchangable with 911 bars (in this case-1986 911).




One nice thing is that my fenders are already rolled!

911 does not interchange with 914-4, only 914-6

Adapters will not fit 7 inch wheels under stock fenders,

If you find some 5.5 in 5 lug Fuchs, that might work, but you need to buy the right tires.

In theory it could fit, but you would need to have a set of custom wheels made.

Look at PMB performance, he has a whole kit you can buy, bolt it on and you are done.
It's in the suspension section at the bottom, and the price seems right.

Rich

5 lug 15" ATS Cookie Cutters are a pretty good wheel for the money. Not quite as light as Fuchs but certainly within a pound. And they are strong... SCCA racers use them a lot. I bought 6" fronts and 7" rears and put the new version Dunlop Direnza 195's and 205's (sp?) on them - an inexpensive pretty good performance tire.

I'd leave the 911 front torsion bars in there. With a six in it, the 914 will carry more weight on the front than a 911 does. Somewhere around 140 Lbs spring in the rear is about right for that engine. You want the rear softer and the front harder to help balance the car. Also, with the stiffer 911 front torsion bars, you don't need to go very big on the front anti-roll bar. But I tend to prefer a car balanced with springs rather than bars.

Bought my car with empi wheels with polished lips. They looked nice but back spacing was different. 195s were tight even with the fender rolled. I did Eric Shea' 5 lug conversion and bought a set of 5 lug 14" fuchs. Stock restored calipers from pmb as well. I now have 195s and could easily put on 2 05 ' s with out rubbing. I will be getting a set of 16 x 6 early boxster wheels that will fit with 205s. (Previous owner says they fit fine with no spacer) so that would be an option as well.
Also the 14" were on the 914/6 and are period correct.
I would not go with the empi.

These are 14 ' s with 195s. Still need to repaint them but they look good from 20 feet.

For drilling out the rear hubs PMB can do that but I'll bet Bruce Stone has some. I got mine from him. You could just use 914/6 rear hubs too. He might have a pair as well. ..... when I did mine I got newly re powder coated rear trailing arms and front a - arms and dust shields from Bruce.the studs were pressed into the hubs so no fear of them backing out. The fronts have the rotors drilled fro 5 lug and then I installed the studs supplied by PMB using locktite to secure. So far no issues.
While I was doing it I also did the turbo tie rods and ball joints. I have stock springs with bilistien sport shocks but with your conversion use 140's.