Hello,

I have an early 1972 Porsche 914 1.7L that is very original and with very little rust. I am trying to get it back into good driver shape. So far I cleaned up the interior, replaced all fuel lines and cleaned up the tank, changed the transmission bushings and redid the brakes. The engine and transmission now work nicely.

I used to have a while ago a 1975 1.8L which handled beautifully. So I was very surprised at how the 1972 handles at higher speed and slight turns. (If, on the highway, I wiggle the steering wheel left and right the car wobbles quite a bit and is quite unsteady.) I am pretty sure this is something that will be fixed with the addition of sway bar(s).

From reading around the front sway bar is anyway a must, so I'll certainly install that one. My main question is how important the rear one is for (spirited) street driving. (I don't plan to race.) Is most of the improvement in handling coming from the addition of the front sway bar, or do I need both to get most of the improved handling? I am hoping to keep the cost (and time for installation) at a minimum.

Thanks,
Andrei.

Front should be fine, though I like the feel of both...

If it's squirrely at high speed you want to add more + caster to the front alignment.
The down side to more + caster is steering gets hard for low speed maneuvering. If the wife is doing a lot of 3 point parking she might not like it.
Upside is less twitchy and running true at high speed.
It's been a while but IIRC about 7 degrees + caster is the most you can do on a stock 914.

Sway bars are largely personal choice, on street many like both, for AX, DE, track just as many like front only.

Short answer = front is enough.

Andrei is the front struts in good shape along with bushings? Are you driving it now on our fine Wisconsin roads to determine the handling? If so the roads are in horrible shape right now throwing cars every which way.

For your car you probably don't need either but if you insist a front is plenty.

Before adding any additional parts.
Make sure all current suspension parts are in good shape and the alignment is set to factory specs.
The wobble can be from any number of worn or out of spec parts.
Adding a sway bar before checking everything out isn't going to help fix worn components.
First order...check everything out.
A 71' 1.7 is a light and fun 914.
Good luck on the project.

I’ve run adjustable front bar with stiffer rear springs on my cars. My old ‘74 had factory front and rear bars, but I feel the front does a great job by itself.

Make sure the front of the car is lower than the rear, if it's not you'll get weird handling at higher speeds

A-arm new bushings make a huge difference. those could be 45+ years old.

Ben, it may not “need” either but not putting at least a front sway bar on each and every 914 was a glaring omission. Kind of like the drum brakes on the rear of the 240Z. All of the contemporary cars had them. It was a stupid cheap-out move...

Ok, so what I get from this conversation is that I should check the front suspension first. How can I check it without driving it? The roads are a mess (salt, slush) and I won't take the car out of the heated garage for the next few weeks, if not a couple of month.

When's the last time the shocks and springs were replaced?

If you’re just looking for a winter project, do the front bar now. Then you can check the suspension more carefully when you can get on the road.

By the way, putting the sway bar on the front of my 914 was one of the most dramatic improvements I’ve ever done to the car.

Spot on. Huge difference.

Let's see, the car is 47 years old. What sort of mileage does it have and what previous maintenance? Has it had an alignment recently?

It may be time for new ball joints, tie rods and shocks. Sway bars are a great addition, in my opinion. When I added them to my car, Front and rear, I was impressed by the improvement in handling.

I added a front to my '72 and found a big difference. My stock '76 had both and didn't seem any better in normal street driving an a little canyon strafing.