Can anyone tell me if late rotors and calipers Will fit correctly on earlier struts thanks

Check with PMB. I think as long you use same late parts it should work.

I remember reading this a while back.

http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?sho...20late%20struts.

Thanks for that link!

More to it than I originally thought.

I have a 75 and don't have this issue thankfully!


The switch to later style was a big one.

New struts, rotors, calipers, maybe more...

Seems an expensive route to get this done from a manufacturing perspective.

Why did they not just use 911 stuff from the start?

It was already in process, and it cannot be any cheaper to design and build stuff that is less than 20% different.

Question for you parts nerds: Was the 914-4 suspension pieces used on any other VW product?
I don't think they were, but I may be wrong.

That makes them "Porsche" all the way.

Re-tuning 911 front suspension would have taken lower spring rate torsion bars and different strut valving for the lighter weight 914s.

Seems the less expensive way to me.

And it would have made it easier for enthusiasts 50 years down the road...

The front rotors used on a 914-4 are from the super beetle, so they had to turn the spindle smaller to fit the bearings. So they made special spindles for the 914.

And then they changed it up again in late 72...

All for using the front rotors off a VW?
I think the later ones were a 412 part.

And they did use 911 stuff on the -6 cars...

Seems silly to me.

Thanks for your information but I found out later strut mounting flange is more offset then the early strut wouldn’t be a bolt on situation

911 parts are complicated (separate hubs, fasteners, rotors) - they are way more expensive than 914/4 parts by a large margin.

Redesign between early and late costs very little for the engineering. The ability to use more common and cheaper parts vs changing a few machining operations on the strut is overwhelming. In automotive, variable cost of parts is always way more than the overhead cost of engineering the part. Parts get changed to save penny’s. $0.05 per part x 100,000 part on something like a Silverado (600,000 per year) is $30k saved per year. If that change is transparent to the customer, transparent to the manufacturing plant, and doesn’t degrade warranty costs, it’s just lost revenue. Despite what the public may believe, automotive is a low profit margin industry. Cost efficiency matters a lot.

No one, and I do mean no one, engineers a car for service 50 years down the road. In modern age, no one engineers beyond program life cycle (6-10 years).