For a while I've been noticing that almost all hte 914s on this site have the 5-lug conversion. What is the reall advantage of having hte 5-lug done? Does it matter if its 4 or 5?

The only thing I can think of is that with the 5-lug you can get a wider tire underneath the fender (for flared cars) instead of spacing out the tire. Also the rims selection for factory rims is low for the 4 lug and all the newer P-cars have 5-lugs on them. Someone enlighten me and is it worth the $$$$ to get it done.

For me, I want to restore the car that I have sometime but I want to get another one later and have it as a project car and make it look like a 914 GT, but a way better interior.

For a stock car, 4 lug would be my choice. The reason to go for 5 lug is bigger brakes. You can find 15 X 6 1/2" or 7" 4 lug wheels that will fit. There is also a 17 X 7 4 lug wheel out there that will fit also. It is not worth the expense to go to 5 lug, in my book, unless you are converting to more power in the form of a six or V/8.

Van

There's also another reason to go 5-lug.

You get a wider range of wheel sizes, and thus, a larger selection of performance tires available to you.

take care,
Rusty

Mostly I'm just restating what Van said.
This is only my opinion so take it with a grain of salt.

the short version is:

no its not really worth the money.
Its expensive.
The main thing it allows are:
-vented front brakes (easily)
-More selection of STOCK looking wheels
-The appearance and prestige of looking factory.

I'm doing another 5-bolt conversion as we speak. It does not make the car faster... just looks cooler. But looks are in the eye of the beholder.

brant

Its worth it for the range of rims sizes available in the 5 bolt. For a stock car the 4 bolt fuchs are the best IMHO. You can fit 195x50's even, and some cars will take a 205 but its not the best fit since the rim is only a 5.5".
6x15 Fuchs are still pretty cheap and fit great. I use those for street tires.
The other thing I like with the 5 bolt set up is it uses studs instead of lug bolts. Much easier to put a tire back on.
Geoff

Short and Sweet -
Street car, Daily Driver - 4 lug.
Race Car, Show Car - 5 lug.
Bottom line - It's your car, do what you want.
Go for more. See if you can fit some 8 lug truck rims.

i actually think the bigger brakes that come with a 5-lug was a important improvement, even for my /4 1.8 ...

plus, you get a complete front suspension in your car that is 15 years newer (and improved technologie) if you go with a mid/late 80s 911 suspension. not only do my brakes now have a "bite" but the handling of the car also improved considerably.
for the rear, i got the conversion kit that replaces the complete hub/rotor, not just redrilled 4-lug.
plus, it's still all porsche
the late 911 suspension is probably what the factory would have put in the 914s anyways if they had continued to make them into the 80s.

i think that was (besides the roll-cage) the single most important improvement on my car.

the selection of wheels/tires was not that important to me, i had nice (wide) wheels on the 4-lug, centerline vw-bug drag-racing wheels. if you look around in that scene you'll find a lot of wide wheels for your 4-lug suspension ...


just my 2 cents,
Andy

I do have the 2.0 Fuchs and have 205s at all corners, and i think with a little restoration with paint and interior (along w/ polishing the rims) it would be a show car, but it does have the 2.0L rebuilt engine which of course is not original and Koni rear adjustables. This car is going to be mostly stock as I stated before and will consider a project car in the future after this restoration

Ok Andy, what is the new features of newer 911 suspension? It still A-arms, bushings, shocks and maybe a undermount sway bar. What changed to make it so much better?

Geoff

IMHO, 5 Petal Fuchs look much better than 4 Petal Fuchs....the 5 Petal design is more aesthetically pleasing

While certain items look better in even numbers
(especially has a pair ), wheels in my opinion are better suited to have an odd number of main features for the eyes to view.

I heard a rumor that vented rotors for the 4-lug cars are being worked on right now as we speak...they'll use pre '73 911/914-6 rotors (cost is about 39 per rotor if you shop around)

also, an easier 5 lug conversion is in the works...it'll be very easy....just remove the old hub and bolt on the new hub (vented rotors as well, with options for "big brakes")

The biggest part of it is the money involved. You gotta get the conversion which is like $400 for parts not to mention you'll need 5-lug rims and tires whihc could cost you at least another $500-$1000.

I do agree with the odd numbers being more asthetically pleasing but with my 2.0 fuchs they don't have the black inlay in them unlike some of the 5-spoke fuchs. You can only tell they're 4-spoke when the car is stopped or parked otherwise they look the same when rolling.

the 911 sway bar for one. even the underbody bar is much better than none. aluminum crossmember, 911 shocks, blah blah blah ...
simply 15 years younger parts.

yes, you can get new shocks for the 4-lug and new bushings and a factory sway bar and and and ...
by the time you're done, you invested the same amount of money as if you had bought the 911 suspension, but you still will have 4-lug and NO bigger brakes ...

Andy

Actually its more like 500, cheap, then whatever your wheels. Im doing mine because I just LOVE the polished fuch's.. and I want to run a meatier tire. Also I got vented rotors front and rear, while retaining the stock ebrake. I Also got 911 m calipers (without pistons ) for the front, and koni red inserts. For me, I just love the look, and I am putting 225's front and rear if I can make it fit..

Mike who is "developing" these items? My .02 is that aside from personal taste there is not a significant diff from a 5.5 to 6" rim/tire fitment due to
wheel-well space so it come down to the heat dissapation capabilities and clamping area of the weak stock brake system compared to that of evan the simalar period 911.
Ill stay with my Mahles (light weight) if I can find some vented rotors and brakes that will fit.

Andyrew,

How are you keeping the ebrake?

He has bolted a long 2x4 in place of the stock ebrake handle that when you pull on it, jambs against the road.
Geoff

I hope your fenders are flared then to fit a 225, I run a 205 and it used to rub a little when the tires got warm (made a little squeling sound in the back)


Damn we've got a lot of Smileys

slightly OT:

just saw a 912 here in SF with flares and wide tires on deep-offset factory steel-rims. obviously widened with a rewelded center, but man, that looked cool!
he even put the (chrome?) center-covers back on ...

for all you 4-lug freaks out there :-)

Andy

Andy.....912's use the 5-bolt pattern wheels

Bleyseng, although that would be fun, I bought this already done, but there is a spacer in the stock caliper allowing major guns vented rotors..

dos

What is the spacer from? I have heard you can use ....something but I can't remember.
Geoff

spacer

oh, couldn't tell because he had the nice shiny covers on
anywho, it looked cool and i think it would look cool on a 914 with the stock steel wheels too ...

Andy

I have no clue what the spacer is from, but if I ever get in contact with the person who sold me the stuff, the I'll tell you guys

Making the spacers is not that big of deal, I heard it's harder find the correct longer bolts

The two most outer bolts are okay, I'd replace the two inner bolts, they do not look long enough.

Don't freak out on me, k?

Your local Cat dealer has an incredible variety of metric and standard hardware, of all grades, available to him. You can get the stuff as standard bolts, hex socket heads, etc.

It's what I used when I rebuilt my /6 calipers.

The nice thing about Cat, is that they normally can get any part within 24 hours, and no extra shipping costs. The owners of those machines lose BIG BUCKS when one goes down, even for a few hours. The support network is incredible - far better than your average car dealer.

-Rusty

Local Cat? I havent ever heard of Cat (Should I), Mueller, now that you mention it, I should look at that. Thanks

Catepillar. They make/service construction equipment.

I think they also sponsor a NASCAR team.

-Rusty

Ok, thats what I thought, but then it just didnt make sense.. I'll check those guys out.. Thanks

Mike and all,

I've spaced rear calipers before. I made my own blocks (no its not that tough) and then had a machine shop surface them and make the square shoulder'd passages in them.

I'm trying to remember, but I think I stole longer bolts from a core set of 911 vented calipers.

Its hard to gather all of the small parts. You need longer pad pins too....

(I got screwed at tech after having pulled an all nighter and then driving 3 hours to an event, when the tech person called me on one of my pad pins being too short..)

still its really not hard to do, but why? You get more rear heat sink, but no additional stopping power and I don't think that overheating/fading of the rear brakes is a big problem.

LOOKS COOL Though.
brant

and the joy of more expensive rear rotors too

And don't forget a 19mm master cylinder, new brakes lines, a "T", new brake pads, turbo tie rods, 914-6 rear rotors, new rear wheel bearings, rear converted hubs and studs. It's a pricey upgrade after all is set and done.