widening pre facelift cars rear track??

[germanmetal]

Hi, i have searched the forum and google but to no avail(however my internet skills are probably severely lacking).Basically i want to widen the rear track of my square dash 944 8v.I have a nice set of cookie cutters but the rear needs spacing out to sit closer to the arch.

I am wondering if this is do-able,i accept a slight trade off in straight line stability with tram lining etc but having seen the 924 carrera gt's with the widened rear track i am wondering if it is going to make much of a difference?

Here is a pic i found of the carrera gt rep(All rights to owner)showing wider rear track with cookie cutters.Kind of thing i am after.

As an after thought,and i know its probably a long shot,but any ideas as to roughly the tyre size?

Many thanks,

 

[Peter Empson]

I guess it depends how far you go, but you will increase understeer if you don't do something for the front too. Spacers are available in a huge range of sizes but it can be rather tricky to judge what works (I have shredded side walls to prove it []). If you only go for say 10mm then you'll need to do something about the bolt length, larger spacers provide you with a second set of bolts mounted to the spacer itself getting around this problem.

 

[944 man]

Id achieve this by fitting late hubs to the rear, along with late alloy trailing arms too, seeing as the stuffs virtually worthless (when bought from the right sources). Youd be better of doing all four corners as Peter says: the only disadvantage with wide-tracking an early car will be the loss of your speedo drive from the NSF hub, though thats not an insurmountable problem. Afterwards 23mm offset 7" rims will completely fill the arches. Kevin Eacock built a number of series one racers in this fashion and they do look nice.

Simon

 

[germanmetal]

Hi,Thanks for the reply.
Simon that is quite an interesting thought regarding wide tracking.I have spoken to someone who can supply the parts from a 1986 transition model but he reckons that i would need to mod the arms to suit.He for some reason mentioned the torsion arm mounts?Could you elaborate on maybe what i would need?Also how would i get around the speedo drive issue?

 

[944 man]

A 1986 model year car wont be of any use to you. The rear arms are alloy, as are the fronts, but the car uses 23mm offset ATS telephone dial wheels and is the same width as series one cars. Youll need a 1987 model year (manufactured from September 1986 onwards) model which will be running 52mm offset telephone dials.

I certainly be looking for a comnplete 87> rear axle and trailing arms, rather than trying to fit late arms into an early car.

 

[germanmetal]

Hi,
Thanks for the reply.Would spacers be an ok compromise?I am not sure as to what direction ultimately i wish to take so a cheaper option would be more viable.If i do go ahead with the spacer option would i remove the existing spacer..ie the standard cast alloy item?

 

[944 man]

At the back, sort of: though Porsche used spacers and long studs themselves, so it wont really be ideal. In the front itll affect the steering quite badly, but so would using 23mm wheels on wide track wishbones and hubs...