I was recently gathering up parts for a suspension upgrade of a ’66 911 and when I got to the shocks I noticed a slight problem. This car originally came with Boge shocks so I needed the conversion shock for this car. (Koni insert for Boge strut housing). In the Koni catalog, there were no listings for externally adjustable (Sport) front shocks for cars built before 1975. This hardly seemed fair to me, so I ordered two sets for comparison. One set of standard Koni’s for an early 911 and one set of externally adjustable Sport shocks for the later 911.
After receiving both sets, I compared them to see what their differences were. The later shock insert was shorter and fatter than the earlier version. It also came with a spacer to go between the top of the shock and the bottom of the threaded cap. Without the spacer, the installed shock and cap had an excess amount of up and down play. It seemed simple, just drop the spacer in and check for fit. I quickly discovered that the supplied spacer had too large an outside diameter and wouldn’t fit inside the shock tube. So off to the lathe I went to give it a little shave. I then dropped the modified spacer into the shock tube and threaded the cap on tight. It only turned about 1 ½ turns, not quite enough safety margin for me. So back to the lathe I go for a little more shaving, about 5mm in height to be exact.
After reducing the outside diameter of the spacer to fit inside the shock tube and reducing the spacer height from 10mm to 5mm we have a perfect fit. Why Koni doesn’t sell a separate adapter spacer for this application I can’t tell you. Fortunately, all that needs to be done it a little shaving of the supplied spacer. With this done, you will be all set with your own custom set of externally adjustable Koni Sport shocks for your ‘65-‘74 911 (Originally equipped with Boge shocks).
Good Luck
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