shortyboy

ok,i recently got a awsome deal on some good m030 front struts.great timing because my 83 944 needs some new struts.so my question is:will the late koni struts fit on an early 944?any modification needed?thanx in advance

Campeck

WEEE!!!
this is where i get to shine!

ill brb with the thread!

Campeck

https://rennlist.com/forums/showthre...ht=konis+early

there you go.
the spindles need to be milled 1mm off each side.
and the bottom hole of the strut needs to be drilled upwards about one hole length.
you local machine shop shoul dbe able to do it.

shortyboy

thanx campeck.btw,i did some searching and i found a thread i made a while back on 86 konis on an 87.so im guessing the konis im going to take out to put on the 944 is an early offset.so it should deffinatley fit right?thanx again.

Campeck

if the konis are pre '87 then they will fit your '83

tifosiman

Just to clarify a few things..........

The strut really doesn't have anything to do with 944/951 offset. So a late strut in theory will fit an early car (in that regard).

I think it is a bad idea to shave material from your spindle, and then hack the top hole out on the struts, to make a used pair of late struts fit your early car. Think this one through. If it were me, I would roll those used late M030 struts over for some profit and then take that money and put it toward some new Koni inserts for your early struts. The early struts are nice in regards to the fact that the strut cartridges are a snap to replace.

Campeck

whats the problem tifo?
you really dont think the things are going to snap in half do you?....

Travis - sflraver

When I did mine (late *turbo* konis) on my 86na I didn't shave the spindle. I threw the strut up in the Bridgeport and shaved the inside of the strut clamp. Also, I slotted the top hole as seen above in Campeck's thread but in the Bridgeport as well. All together with setting up and measuring it probably took me around 2 hours.
They haven't given me any problems as of yet and I rag on my NA just about as hard as one can. If I did it again I would just go with the new inserts that fit into the early strut housings.

tifosiman

I wouldn't say they are going to fail catastophically, but I just don't like the idea. I tried this once (going the other direction, putting early N/A struts on a 951 spindle) and "squared" out the top holes of the struts to make them fit. I saw stress cracks on the squared out areas corners after some time (a few autox's and some street driving), probably because I didn't do it perfect and left some sort of stress riser area there (not certain though). Anyway, my point is that this is an area of the car that is under great stress and new inserts for the early struts are relatively cheap (and good piece of mind). Why go to all of this work, for used (I am assuming) late struts?

This is all just my opinion, YMMV.

Campeck

brand new for me!

Manning

I like tifo's suggestion merely from the standpoint that you can so easily replace the inserts in the early strut housings. You can use Koni Reds, Koni Yellows, Bilstien HDs, whatever.

Lousailor

I did the next step and replaced the two front corners with a turbo set-up. Did the turbo struts and springs (cutting the housing to install koni inserts), and replacing the stock spindles with turbo units, as well as replacing the stock brakes with overhauled turbo calipers and drilled rotors. I kept the stamped steel A-arms, but upgraded to a 26.8 anti-sway bar, all on my '87 924S project. A lot of work, but I'm looking forward to big changes in handling and braking performance.

aribop

We did not slot the top hole. We slotted the bottom hole. The pic in Ashton's thread shows the strut upside down. I would not feel comfortable messing with the top hole since that is where the camber adjustment is.

The struts that we modified were the Konis I took off my car when I replaced them with the M030s. It was more cost effective to shave the spindles and slot the struts than to buy inserts. Oh, and all this stuff is going on the euro car.

shortyboy

is this statement true?thanx again guys.

Jason @ Paragon Products

Here's the low down, if the Koni's are pre '87 NA, they will fit because they would have just been inserts...not many cars came that way though. All Turbo's 86 on were sealed struts so a 86 Turbo strut will not bolt on an early car without the shaving/slotting mentioned. Is that clear as mud?