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Thread: Spacers for "R" Wheels on '73 S

  1. #1
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    Spacers for "R" Wheels on '73 S

    I would like to fit 911 R wheels front and back on my stock '73 S. What size spacers do I need front and rear? Nowadays I think Porsche only makes 5 mm and 17mm. Did they ever make what I need, or what other suppliers are there? At what point does it makes sense to use the bolt-on kind as opposed to a simple disk?

    Thanks in advance!
    Early 911S Registry #224
    911S Targa 1973
    356B Roadster 1962

  2. #2
    Goldmember ttweed's Avatar
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    Re: Spacers for "R" Wheels on '73 S

    Originally posted by Edwin Ek
    I would like to fit 911 R wheels front and back on my stock '73 S.
    You don't really want to use 911R wheels on the front. Their 49mm offset is made specifically for the rear of a narrow body 911. Just use a standard 23mm offset 7 x 15" Fuchs wheel in the front and save yourself a couple of megabucks on the deal.

    TT
    Tom Tweed
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  3. #3
    R's in the back and standard 7's on the front? Errr, wouldn't that look a little weird. Tom, I hate to disagree, but here's a pic I took back in the early 70's...a factory prepped race car known here as "the silver weenie"...I believe the wheels in this pic, taken at an auto-X after the car's race days were over are R wheels...on all 4! If it was done back then on a short wheelbase car, I don't see why it couldn't be done on a later model.
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    Paul D. Early S Registry #8 - Cyclops Minister of West Coast Affairs
    "Now, to put a water-cooled engine in the rear and to have the radiator in the front, that's not very intelligent." -Ferry Porsche (PANO, Oct. 1973)

  4. #4

    Re: Spacers for "R" Wheels on '73 S

    Originally posted by Edwin Ek
    I would like to fit 911 R wheels front and back on my stock '73 S. What size spacers do I need front and rear? Nowadays I think Porsche only makes 5 mm and 17mm. Did they ever make what I need, or what other suppliers are there? At what point does it makes sense to use the bolt-on kind as opposed to a simple disk?

    Thanks in advance!
    7mm is what folks here have told me to use. A machine shop could knock out a pair as they are quite simple. I found mine hidden in the parts room of a restoration shop.
    I second the notion of not using later 7's up front. That would look a lot like an import drag racer where the big tires go up front and the little ones are in the rear. Balance (in this case "the look") would be completely wrong. Get some early deep sixes to compliment the package.

    Good luck,

    Tom
    Early S Registry #235
    rgruppe #111

  5. #5
    Then sell the other two to a less fortunate enthusiast!
    Chris
    70 911E
    FA-18C
    R Gruppe #295

  6. #6
    In fact, if you have 4, I have a set of 4 deep sixes on my car that I'd gladly work some kind of deal for.
    Chris
    70 911E
    FA-18C
    R Gruppe #295

  7. #7
    I agree...deep 6's front, R wheels rear are a good set-up, the way many guys go...but I did want to point out that R's on all four has been done...
    Paul D. Early S Registry #8 - Cyclops Minister of West Coast Affairs
    "Now, to put a water-cooled engine in the rear and to have the radiator in the front, that's not very intelligent." -Ferry Porsche (PANO, Oct. 1973)

  8. #8

    Spacers for 911R wheels in the Rear

    Spacers required for 911R wheels in the rear of a narrow bodied 911 depends on the tire used. 7 to 10mm for 215s and up to 16mm for 225s. You will need longer studs as well for most of these spacers. You do not want to use bolt on spacers. Most people go to 6x15 deep dish Fuchs in front when using 911R 7x15 in the rear, as the outward appearance is the same. You can use 911R wheels in the front, but to keep from rubbing on lock to lock you will need to use spacers or limit the steering travel.
    Randy Wells
    Automotive Writer/Photographer/Filmmaker
    www.randywells.com/blog
    www.hotrodfilms.com

    Early S Registry #187

  9. #9
    Goldmember ttweed's Avatar
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    Re: Re: Spacers for "R" Wheels on '73 S

    Originally posted by sithot
    I second the notion of not using later 7's up front. That would look a lot like an import drag racer where the big tires go up front and the little ones are in the rear.
    I don't get it, Tom. If you are running 7 x 15s all the way around, why would you have to put a smaller tire in the rear? I have run 225/50s on stock 7 x 15s F & R on my '73 and it looked and worked fine. The R wheels would move the rears inboard and reduce track, which you would correct slightly with a 16mm spacer, but the tire size would be the same F & R. I don't see where you would be "out of balance".

    I agree that the deep 6s would be more of a match aesthetically, but the stated goal was to run 7s all the way around. Personally, I wouldn't mess with the R wheels except on the rear of an unflared SWB car. It is no easy, cheap job to replace all your wheel studs with longer ones, and you cannot use the alloy closed-end lug nuts anymore when they stick out too far. Not to mention that the R wheels are what, 7 times more expensive?!?!? Why go to that trouble and expense when a standard 7" will work fine?

    The problem with the R rims on the front is that the 49 offset will require a 26mm spacer to put it in the right place in the wheel well (that is over 1" thick!). You could probably get away with less, but without any spacer, the inside of the wheel will contact the upper dust cover on the shock on the top, besides hitting the body at less than full steering lock on the aft side. Porsche never intended for the R wheel to be used in that application, AFAIK.

    TT
    Tom Tweed
    Early S Registry #257
    R Gruppe #232
    Rennlist Founding Member #990416-1164
    PCA National DE Instructor
    Read my surf novel!

  10. #10
    Tom, you must have one of those "magic" narrow bodied '73 911s. Most cars like yours will not accept a modern day 225 tire on a regular 7x15 Fuchs in the rear. The only tire that worked on those wheels on my '72S was the old R-1 with the flat sidewalls. No other 225 tire (Bridgestone, Kuhmo, or Yokohama) would work in the rear of my car except when used on 911R wheels - many others that I know have had the same experience. By the way, the rear track of a 911 with 16mm spacers and 911R wheels with 225 tires is almost exactly the same as the rear track of a stock '73 911 RS Carrera.
    Randy Wells
    Automotive Writer/Photographer/Filmmaker
    www.randywells.com/blog
    www.hotrodfilms.com

    Early S Registry #187

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