1968 Suspension suggestions

[Max (SD)]

I have a 68 Targa currently stripped and at the dippers. I am now in the organization stage of seeing the parts I have and the parts to get. The intention is to restore to original condition as possible.

I have been given advice from some of my Porsche buddies as to which direction I take the suspension rebuild, and would like to get a wider audience of advice and possible pitfalls.

1. One suggestion is to upgrade the front suspension to a late 80's 911 with Bilstein struts that have 3.5 inch spacer that would accommodate S brakes.

2. One suggestion is to keep the existing suspension in place, just upgrade all the bushings, new shock inserts, maybe upgrade the torsion bars and install a factory style front and rear swaybar. Also upgrade to turbo tie rods.

3. One suggestion was to go all out billets struts, modern sway bars, adjustable spring plates such things like a full elephant racings street / track setup. But this I think takes away from its originality, and even with all of these upgrades, its still a targa, and will always flex like a targa.

The car is full numbers matching normal 911. The engine is currently being rebuilt and will look stock but perform much much better. So I would like to improve the braking.

Is there a way to retain the existing front suspension with the ball joints but upgrade the struts to accommodate the larger brakes?

Any help, comments and suggestions would be helpful.

[Fishcop]

I think the real value in the early cars (particularly a 68) is in keeping them as physically close to stock as you can. Given you have matching numbers and the rare FWT, I'd be going for stock look all the way.

I'm restoring my 68L at the moment and have chosen to keep the original suspension - it's really not much of a step back from my LWB S braked arrangement. Brake improvement has been discussed ad nauseum and there plenty of suggestions, from improved fluid/pads/lines through to Eric Shea's alloy 3" callipers which will fit the SWB http://www.pmbperformance.com/catalo...45/6862358.htm. The brakes on a SWB are carried on plates bolted to the strut - suppose you could machine different carrier plates to take 3.5" spacing but I doubt the performance improvement would justify the effort? You could also try and acquire a set of S or L vented front and rear brake set ups, but they're rare and expensive...

Suspension can also be improved, but it does cost! Olins make a high end SWB performance suspension package ($5k!) if you feel the need. Elephant do turbo tie rods for the SWB steering rack and are a worthwhile upgrade.

Just my 2c

[Anatol]

I have polybronze bushings and Turbo tierods from Elephant, adjustable swaybars, thicker springbars and custom Bilstein dampers on my 68S. The car handles like a dream!

[Richardnew]

My '73 was a full trick auto crosser/track car. Huge sway bars and hard bushings. I even had Derek Bell test drive the car on the track. Basically the car became a PITA on the street. It's was a great track car though.

I'm now back to stock 911S all around on the car and it's a joy to drive on the street. I'm replacing the hard bushings with stock rubber bushings and that makes the car much more pleasant for daily use.

I'm glad I had a nice track car but I'm also glad I can enjoy the car this way. Basically you just have to decide what you're going to do with your car.

Richard Newton