replacing shocks

[r14]

I have a 73 E which is very original car w/ the original Koni shocks.The car has 37000 miles.I drive the car apx .2K street drive par a year. It drives fine,but those are almost 40 yrs old shocks. Should I change them? If I change shocks, should i use same Koni for time period correct spec? Or would you put Bilsteins? I put Bilsteins in my 97 TT w/50K miles,it made a night and day difference. Are konis good as Bilstein HDs?What else should I change while the shocks are replaced? Thank you

[smedley]

Hi Ryo,

Everybody has a favorite shock. The Konis seem to have a sharper response or more harshness and need to be set on the soft side for regular street driving. Bilsteins certainly give a more supple ride with similar damping. I've had both on cars through the years. So it's a mtter of taste and feel. A point to consider. You say your car is very original....do the rear Konis have "porsche" and the original parts triangle stamped on them?? If so, those are the original factory installed shocks. Koni will restore those at a cost similar to buying new shocks. If you don't mind the wait, you can keep the original factory installed shocks. If originality is not a concern or you find you already have replacement after market Konis the issue is moot. If you go Bilstein, go green for the street....yellow waaay too aggressive for street.

Mark Smedley
RG #171

[karlusmagnus]

As Mark says, with a low mileage original car, why not just have Koni restore your shocks. Best results all round, and no need to have any 40 yr wonky pieces when you can have them rebuilt as new.

[r14]

Hi Mark and Karl
Thank you for your kind replies.
Koni restoring sound good. I will look into it. Thank you.

[Harvey Weidman]

Bilstein didn't make a instert to fit a "Koni" strut, only a "non Koni" strut. Unless something changed recenty, you have to replace the struts to change brands because only Koni made Koni thread insert. We use Boge struts when we change customers from Koni to Bilstein. I would agree with Mark and use the original brand. I kept Koni on my own original Koni car.
H

[smedley]

Ryo,

Koni's official restoration shop is in Lexington, KY. You have to wander through their web site to get the address. Also they do not rebuild the front strut inserts, but only the rears...and those are the ones with the cool original markings. So shop a good price on front inserts and ship the original rears to Lexington!

Mark

[MoparBoy72]

My 2 cents,

Leave them; I did not read that you have any issue with them performing well. You can't complain about a high quality product. I have read many articles that state 993s go through shocks very quickly (35-50k is not uncommon). My '72E has rocker stocker OE Boge shocks all the way around; they look terrible but work just fine. If you are looking to replace anything from a safety / age standpoint I would go with tires instead.

[r14]

Thank you guys for inputs. For my 993,I thought my shocks are still good at 50K miles. Because all say 993 shocks only last up to 50K ,so I changed them. Then I noticed the big differences. That is why I am wondering if this is the case for my 73E since the shocks are almost 40yrs old. My cars DOB is 9-5-72. The tires are 9yrs old 195 Pirellis.
w/ less than 10K miles on it. Changing tires may bring better result more than changing shocks? Than you.

[RSTarga]

from a safety standpoint, changing 9 year old tires would certainly come before shocks.

[r14]

David
You are right!!