thirdgenbird

The welt springs are OEM diameter for direct replacement. The coilover kit uses smaller springs so you can't use the welts. The hypercoil springs are a good product. They are common in an out of the Porsche community. My coworker uses them on his ford rat rod

I have Koni yellows and 350# springs up front. It's too stiff to match your rear, but the ride isn't nearly as bad as you would think. My wife and I both prefer taking it on trips over our fusion. Not saying it rides better, but its not so bad we can't take it anywhere.

What torsion bars does your car have and do you plan to change them? That will help guide you up front.

thirdgenbird

If you don't plan to do a lot of changes I would consider passing over the coilover kit and doing the weltmeister springs.

DSMblue

I agree, OEM spring diameter from Weltmeister, H&R, etc. would be fine, then you can still just drop the koni inserts into your existing housings. If you were considering coilovers, then you may want to consider an M030 setup to get better braking, etc. That can be fairly expensive, as that involves different spindles, rotors, top hats, etc.

thirdgenbird

This is an early car, so the MO30 setup would also add speedometer complexity.

If it were my car, I would consider Koni yellows all round, weltmeister springs, uprated torsion bars, and MO30 sway bars. It would be cost effective and result in solid performance.

mikemyers924s

Holy crap this is a lot of information! Thanks guys.
Again, apologies for my ignorance here...what I'm picking up from this is that the coilover setup requires a different lower spring perch. Is that correct?

I would be satisfied with weltmeister springs in front, yellows all around, and and new torsion bars. However, I have never considered a torsion bar replacement project, from what I've heard it is a pretty substantial piece of work. Also, paragon only has welt 250s...are you recommending 350#s with the new torsion bar?

My apologies for all the questions, I'm really looking forward to learning all of this, but it's definitely a fairly long process.

thirdgenbird

The lower spring perch comes with the coilover kit. You don't have to, but cutting off the old perch is recommended. It is no longer needed and gives you more tire room.

Torsion bars are a good sized job, but the way to go if you have the old steel rear suspension. Swapping rear suspension with your old 924s would have paid.

350# is too much for stock torsion bars, I was just giving you a frame of reference for what I feel is livable on the street. If you don't want to swap torsion bars, you will need to see if the previous owner knows what is in your car. Then buy front coils to match.

FRporscheman

Sorry, I forgot to mention that I was using koni yellows from a 944 turbo (and therefore 250# welt springs for a 944 turbo).


It depends. 968s are heavy, at 3086lbs curb weight. In theory, you want to match the shock and its valving to the spring, which are both chosen to handle the weight of your car how you like it. Physicists and Engineers like me like to use the term 'critical damping'. For your car, which is around 2850lbs, the same springs and shocks will result in more heavily damped motion.

It's all subjective, so try to find some locals and test drive their setups. But if you plan on using it for autocross and backroads, then I'd recommend 250# springs, they will probably feel better on your car than mine. Probably something like 275 on your car would feel like 250 on my car (just a random guess but you get what I mean).

mikemyers924s

ok, definitely going with 250# springs. I think I would be disappointed with less, and don't want to gamble on anything higher being way too stiff.
Still shaky on whether or not to go with weltmeisters or coilovers, I'm pretty sure I'll be happy with just the lowering springs, and it would be nice to save some money. On the other hand I've only been able to find weltmeisters up to 250# which won't be enough if I do end up modifying the rear end.

I think for now it will be just lowering springs, unless one of you thinks it would be wiser to go with the hypercoils/coilover kit.

Now I need to find strut mount bearings, mine are shot. Anyone know a good source?

thirdgenbird

Paragon has strut mounts. You could also use the money you save to upgrade to KLA solid uppers. I'm the first to admit it isn't the best design ever side loaded spherical bearing) but mine still feel smooth after a few years of use.

mikemyers924s

The KLA ones are tempting, however I can get strut mounts out of a vw fox for 4.50 that will fit the 944. So if I can find a bearing I will be set.

thirdgenbird

I think there is a thread about the fox mounts. Worth looking into.

Gawernator

Okay, I got those mounts for $4 each from Rock auto and they came with the bushing and bearing, all greased up too. If you are going to change the front you need to change the rear too. You will be fuching up your handling if you go up to 250# front and don't touch the rear. I find 250# front to be very drive-able on public roads, but I'm also young and have pretty nice roads. I went with 'coilovers' and added a 150# spring in the rear, and have a 23.5 mm torsion bar IIRC so it's pretty well matched. Koni dampers are the way to go! I have Eibach springs and Hyperco helper springs, they are both good. Go big or go home right...

mikemyers924s

That is awesome! I didn't think the bushings came with a bearing!

Gah, Gawernator I was just about to pull the trigger on the weltmeisters and then you say "go big or go home" Thanks for fueling my indecisiveness....

I expect to see to the rear as soon as I have some more cash in my pocket. Being young as well means upgrading things one project at a time when I have a few paychecks worth of savings. Thanks for the insight on what you run for the rear end.

mikemyers924s

Ok, Just ordered weltmeister 200# lowering springs, koni strut inserts, and 2 koni bump rubbers. Just need to go over to rock auto and buy those strut mounts and I'm all set. Thanks for the discussion and insight guys.
Now to start thinking about the rear. Do you all have any more thoughts or insight on what to do back there? I'm thinking a thicker rear sway bar would be a very good start.