Hi All -
About 3-4 years ago I bought a set of inner long overlays at one of our local swap meets (carquip I think). They look exactly like an inner long, but I guess they are a touch over sized to actually go over and be welded to the existing long. I totally forgot I had them until my folks called about an hour ago and aksed me if I still wanted them - they were taking up room in there storage unit.

So, I am getting a bit of the "while you are in there" disease and was thinking of installing the Engman kit in my car. I dont want to throw good money after bad, so would these overlays achieve a similar end result?

Here is something funny - one of them has some rust on the edge. I guess they really were a decent copy of the originals.....

Thoughts? Thanks!

Actually, I just thought of something - if these were in my folks storage unit, they must have been in there since 96-97, as I have not even been over there since then.....

They sound exactly the same, but without a picture, who can say for sure.

Take a pic and post it Scott.

Are you sure they're overlays for the inner longs and not the outers? Pics would definitely help.

I am sorry - my terminology was wrong. Yes, these cover the outside of the long.

I just got back from the shop. No camera (wife has it in DC this week) however, there was a return address on the box..... Georgia.

Pulled up the AA site and there they were. Here is a pic from thier catalog.

Thoughts?

Thanks!

I just got done putting those on my car, great fit, very little cutting to make them work. Also made my chassis way more rigid...it doesn't bend when i jack it up anymore

Thats the first I have seen those.

Back to your question- I would just do one or the other. I dont think there would be a benefit to lining the inner and outer long.

I did the brad meyeur kit (outer long style) last year and it worked out really well. I had a good chassis so, I mainly did it for track and a/x. My car feels really tight on the track now...

So this is not a replacement?

I actually goes over the rusty metal to cover it up?
Andy

Yep -
The guy who owned them was selling them really cheap (if I recall, I paid 100 for the pair). Now that I am pulling the car apart, I thought it would be a good way to stiffen things up, but still retain the stock appearance - that is, if they would actually work for this purpose. My longs are pretty clean already.

According to the AA website, they will also stiffen the chassis. As I'm sure they would, it looks similiar to the brad meyeur kit, except its formed more to the car... Its probably lighter than the brad meyeur kit too!

When I first got into 914's I used to see those. It's actually been a while since I looked at one. I never could figure out whether or not those things are supposed to fit over the outer long or they are a replacement for the outer long. That looks like a replacement, but I suppose all of the dimensions could be a bit bigger so that it fits over the long. Only one way to find out for sure I guess...

If you have a good clean car, then you might consider other options. To install those you've got to remove the sills and that involves drilling a bunch of spot welds and cutting through the sills on each end.

as stated above, those require greater labor and skill to install. an Engman inner long kit is MUCH faster and easier to do. both will provide additional chassis rigidity that you will feel as soon as you drive onto the street or hit a bump in the road. these are good for a car with compromised longitudinals where budget prohibits a "correct" repair. As Andy stated, "goes over the rusty metal to cover it up"

I have seen these before; all have been pooly installed over real rusty cars.

Restoration Design makes a kit that looks like this one. It goes over the long after removal of the sill & triangle braces.

I was interested in using these after stabilizing the rot on a car. Anyone done this before?

If you're planning to do a lot of track time with big sticky tires and not cage the car do both. If not I would just do one or the other. I have no experience with the Engman kit so I can't tell you which is better if it's one or the other.