I am starting my '71 project, and decided to start with the brakes.
I found the front ones are worn out to the limit I was wondering how involved is it to go to 5 lugs on the four corners.

In my case, I bought an entire front end from a burned out 1971 911T and bolted that on, the rear hubs I bought from HPH with their conversion kit that uses modified hubs and 914/6 rotors, I got the wheels from the same 911T.

Many different ways you can go. The easiest and most simple would be to go with early 911 front struts and M-Calipers and 911 vented front rotors. These can be used with your existing 914-4 steering, A-arms, torsion and sway bars. Then, you can get the rear 5 bolt conversion that Eric Shea of this board puts together. His company name is PMB Performance. Here is the link to his site.

www.pmbperformance.com

You can then get his v-caliper kit to convert your rear 914-4 brake calipers so they will be able to handle 911 rear vented rotors. You can see what this all looks like on my "bcheney 6 conversion" posting on this board. Just do a search under bcheney. I hope this helps.

The answer would certainly depend upon what the car will be when done.
CSOB way is to drill out the rotors and hubs, press in new studs and bam...you are five lug now.

Next up is bolt on spacer/4-5 lug convertors. Alot of people dont like these and dont think they are safe. Porsche used them on the 356 with some M7 studs to hold the convertor onto the rotor...those are damn small studs, but those cars were fine.

From that point forward, you are spending more money and buying all new strust, calipers, rotors etc etc.

The answer is really dependant upon how you will use the car, how much stopping power you will need, motor, etc.
Rich

For a basic 914 that wants 911 wheels I recommend:

Front - The 911T system Jamie mentions in his post. They utilize M-Calipers with vented rotors, Beefier 911 spindles and are a simple bolt on solution.

Rear - 914 Hubs re-drilled to 5x130. They are bulletproof (when done properly) and they simply bolt up to all your current stub axle/CV combos.

Nothing more is needed. Nothing less is recommended.

As Rich points out, you can simply drill your rotor/hubs (front) but... you'll have to do it every time you need new rotors. In the long run the proper front end is more cost effective.

I had adapters on my very first 914 some 20+ years ago. On a long trip they loosened and wobbled. Loc-Tite solved that but, I'm not a big fan as they throw your offset off and... it's hard enough getting a good contact patch under there without sacrificing almost an inch in needless spacers.



Spot on. If you're plans include a flared ride with a HiPo six our recommendations will change.

For a basic narrow 914 (stock engine or a little better) that wants nice wheels (I love the 5-Fuchs look) then the above is all you'll need.