Oh yeah!!!! Got my 87 suspension installed Friday to take care of the ball joint and spacing issue on my car (PO installed late offset wheels on an early offset car and I was getting rubbing on the inside of the fenders on the rear....doh!) and got it aligned yesterday and finally was comfortable in starting to push a bit in a few corners.....wow!!!! Just digs in and takes off...amazing! Can't wait to get it on a track so I can push it a bit more.

The change in the suspension really makes the car look 1000 times better, too since the wheels aren't way up under the fenders now as well. Will have new pics on my P-car profile very soon.

BTW, for any interested who want to move up to Turbo suspension/brakes on an NA, I have all of the 86 turbo parts I have removed still and they are all in great shape except that the driver's side control arm needs the ball joint replaced. I have control arms, tie rod ends, front hubs and spindles, rear hubs, and 4 rotors in good shape that just need to be turned a bit before using, still good life left in them. Everything else on my car remained the same....so no swaybars or springs or calipers are available.

Cheers!

 

first off congrats on the install, I bet the widened track makes a huge difference.

Out of curisotiy when did you get the car? I know of an 86 that was traded in to a dealer with late offset wheels on it in NC and was wondering if this is it popping up again? It would be a red 86 951....

Anyway if this is the car, you are sorta lucky the PO was not very car savy, but her father took good care of the mechanical bits on the car, and it would have had all the required mechanical work done on time, if not you can completely ignore these comments...

Also, where did you get your suspension? I have been looking for late hubs and spindles for quite some time, and I am having hard time coming up with them....

 

Thanks!! Yes, I can tell a difference...and best of all, the 255s in the rear aren't rubbing anywhere anymore.

I bought it 2 months ago, it is a stone grey metallic....

I got my suspension parts from Rob at DC Automotive and he was very helpful on getting them and helping me move up. <a href="http://www.dcautomotive.com" target="_blank">www.dcautomotive.com</a> The swap impressed the mechanic whose shop installed it enough to make him want to upgrade his own 86 951 in the same way. I replaced all the wheel bearings at the same time, I've heard you usually destroy the rear ones taking off the hubs. I got those from Paragon.

And a big thanks to Chris White for helping me out with knowing exactly what parts to order to make the swap....forgot to mention him the first post although I meant to.

Cheers!

 

Just a quick question a little off topic..

'replaced all the wheel bearings at the same time'

Just wondering if you have to remove half the car to replace them or if they are easy to remove.
(bcus i both my front bearings are fckd)

thanx

 

Hey Andrew, I am interested in your old 951 suspension / brakes. I live in Birmingham (not too far away, eh?).

What's more, my 944 is going into the shop soon to have a ball joint replaced. We might be able to swap the suspension & brake parts at that time.

Just drop me an email with your thoughts on this stuff.

 

Honestly Lars, I'm not really sure....I know that on the 86 you really end up removing at least one of the bearings when you take the rotor off (or so I've heard), but I'm not sure where the inner bearing is at....if both are on the spindle/hub though, I wouldn't think it's too hard. Don't know for sure when mine were last changed, but with 114K on the chassis, it saves me grief down the road. Prices at Paragon were an average of $10 per bearing for the front (2 on each side) plus seals at like $3.50 each. Not an expensive thing to fix.....I would have done them myself, but since they had it apart at the time.....

Cheers!

 

You have a PM, Sean

Cheers!

 

Andrew, how about a parts list for those of us who might want to do the same. Prices would be nice too!

 

Parts List:
Front:
hubs and spindles
control arms
tie rod ends
rotors
inner and outer bearings and seals (changed as a while we are there and so I won't ever have to probably worry about them again)

Rear:
Hubs
bearings (told these are usually destroyed when removing the rear hubs...one of mine actually came out whole and looks pretty okay....dubious reuse ability though...)
rotors

I got the whole package for a little over $800 including shipping. Bearings added another $120 to that. Don't have the list in front of me for prices on each item.....

<a href="http://www.p-caronline.com/directory/need4speed" target="_blank">http://www.p-caronline.com/directory/need4speed</a>
You can see the difference between the first 3 pics with the new suspension and the 4th with the old suspension. Of course this only effects those who are running spacers or want have late offset wheels on an early offset car....

Cheers!