UberScheitzer

I have a 74' 911S and need to replace front/rear shocks as they are near blown. Going to do new stiff shock mounts as well since I am sure they are cracked to all hell. Looking to do some auto-x's soon and need to address this problem.

My question is what is the preferred setup on these older 911's?
I was thinking about doing a set of bilstein sports for now and possibly upgrading to coilovers in the future. I am currently running (from what the PO told me) stiffer springs with about 1/2 an inch lower profile (dont know the brand).

Are there better shocks then the bilsteins that I should consider? What do good coilover setups run?

Just trying to get an idea of whats out there and the best setup before I make any decisions or buy anything.

Thanks for any help you may be able to provide!

r911

Broad range of Questions..... is your budget in the hundreds, the thousands, or the tens of thousands. There are all asorts of setups - the best is very cost dependent.

For starters, we might eliminate the idea of putting an entire 993 rear susp. into your car, and of putting the erp 935 F. susp. on. ....

At the other end of the spectrum is just putting new Konis or Bils. on.

There's a lot of stuff in the middle ranges....

racer

Shocks and "springs" (or in your case, torsion bars) need to work together to manage the ride. The fact that your car was lowered has no effect on wht type of torsion bars your car currently has. If possible, you should determine the size bars your car has, and get a shock to match that stiffness...

And, well, you didn't mention your budget either...

paradisenb

Ok.
Coverovers are probably the best setup, though some might disagree. A set installed with solid mounts, alignment and corner balance will run between $5K-5500.
Bilstein sports shocks probably $5-600.00 front and rear.
Changing torsion bars(Glen Sanders): putting 22-23mm front and 28-31mm rears will run around the same money as coilovers. Perhaps a little less. They are very labor intensive to install.
Now you need to do sway bars. Sway bars can be done first and they are a lot less money to start. You will want them to be adjustable. Good manufacturers are The Racers Group and Smart Racing. I think your car came with through the body bars, if not the knockouts are there. Buy this type. Install is only a few hundred. Well that gets you started, there are a lot of tweeks you can do but you would be wise to decide what you are going to use the car for before you start and thoughly investigate what effects each change will have on other componets. Most experts recommend to create an entire upgrade plan, including all components, before starting.
Good luck and enjoy the ride.

pjc

I assume you are looking to lower the car as well - if so you will also need to change the tie bars to Turbo type to get good handling.

PJC

Bill Verburg

Forget the coil overs, Go w/ Bilstein Sports, redo all suspension bushings, get some through body adjustable sway bars, et some decent wheels/tires.

UberScheitzer

Can't spend too much money on suspension right now. I am thinking I will create a plan and build the suspesion up in pieces. The bilstein sports sound like a good route. Wasn't sure if the coilovers were going to be that much better. The 911 currently has koni's which deffinetly need replacing.

Anyone know where I can find a good set of lowering springs? I can't find H&R's anywhere! Also where is a good place to get the sway bars? I currently have carerra bars on the car.
I need to measure the torsion bars to see if those were already upgraded (hoping). hehe

Turbo tie rods look like a good upgrade as well.

Hmmm. Will keep doing research.

Thanks!

Thanks for all the comments.

Noel

Your car doesn't have springs, it has torsion bars (unless the car has been upgraded to coil-overs). I would suggest you get a copy of the book "101 Projects for your Porsche 911." This will help you to learn about your car and walk you through the projects you mentioned.

r911

Sanders is a high quality manf. of torsion bars. Coilovers are spendy and the major adv. seems to be adjustability for varying tracks, so I agree on leaving that option out.

Do the tires first. Then shocks, bushings (unless really bad, in which case do them first).

You have to think about the end result from the beginning -- if you are going to do track only, you might go very stiff, very low and very wide, but not if street use is involved.

UberScheitzer

Good suggestions Randy.

Noel... wow do I feel dumb. haha no springs. I am still learning.
I actually have the 101 projects book you referenced. I will look at the suspension section tonight.

Thanks again everyone.

UberScheitzer

Just found out that according to the PO and his list of upgrades, the car has Turbo Torsion bars. Woo HoO!

I have another question...

Is it a bad idea to run different manufacture shocks for a short period of time? I might want to replace the rear shocks from koni's to bilstein sports and do the front shocks a little later. Is this going to create any problems?

AZ911

Torsion bars are no were close to coilovers in terms of price. $600 for the bars F and R plus $400-$500 labor to install then $100 for alignment. $1100-$1200 seems much better then 5K