I'm doing a Audi 1.8t conversion into my 914. I'm using a complete engine/tranny out of a FWD a4.
I've got the engine/tranny into the 914 and the transmission lines up perfectly with the rear hubs.

Now I need to have a set of custome axles made.
Anyone know of a place (preferrably in the Bay Area, CA) that can make these for me.
I've found a place on the east coast but feel more confortable being able to take my car to the place and letting them do the measurements. Also, I only know of the one place right now. I'd like to know of other places (even east coast) that may do it so that I can compare/shop for the price.

Thanks in advance.

Wouldn't it be cheaper and easier to make up an intermediate plate between the output flanges of the trans and the CV joint?

I need to see a pic of this conversion.

Sounds cool

Are you going to weld each axle half together to make the custom? Sleeving it for strength of course.

The problem is, the axles need to be a little shorter than the stock ones since the the a4 tranny is wider.

At first I considered doing this...but don't know if it will work out.

Firstly, I've got a 5 bolt rear conversion with either a /6 hub or 911 hub (i guess that would make it an early 911 hub). So, the stock axles/stub axles don't fit. With this approach i'd have to go out and get 911/914-6 axles and a4 axles. Plus I don't know if welding them together will how the 350whp i'm expecting to make.

For that reason I was looking for custom made axles that can hold the power.
I've spoken to the the Driveshatshop about getting some cutoms made.

So, i'm looking for other places (local hopefully) that can do this for me.

If you have the 911 hubs that you can use the shorter 911 axles, IIRC. If you have the original hubs then you can use stronger, shorter bus type axles.
For idas check out this link to an axle upgrade:
http://www.pelicanparts.com/catalog/shopca..._pg4.htm#item22

You could likely have these adaptors made thinner as these were made to take up the length difference as well.

What kind of price do they want to make a set of Axles??? Might need a set of longer axles made for a project.

Bob

Here you go:

SmartRacing Products, custom axles

also try;

Mark Williams Enterprises and sway-a-way(??)....i might have a few more bookmarked at work

welding is a bad idea with a part such as this, you want one piece axles.

oh yea, where are you located? I'd like to see this conversion, I'm in Antioch and have got time to kill this weekend

510-484-8700 cell

Thanks for the link. I'll give them a call on Tuesday.

I'm located in hayward. I'm not in town this weekend, but i wouldn't mind you checking it out ... maybe sometime in the future?

Count the splines and measure the diameter on the axles and CVs. There is a good chance Lobro makes something that would just happen to work. Like the VW bus axles above using the same 930 CV...
Sway-a-way probably has all the measurements of everything and could be a good resource.

Chris

PS. Mueller... take pics for us

Welding Axels, bad idea. BTDT got the pile of broken parts to prove it. How much shorter are you talking. The stock axles have a pretty decent amount of plunge.

914 1.8t,

What year A4 are you swapping? AFAIK, there are two styles of flange on the trans. One with external ears for the bolts, and the other style has the bolts contained within the circular ring. The one's contained within the circular ring may fit the 108mm Porsche CV, but you'd have to check. Do a search for Raxles. They are very knowlegeable, and may be able to put together a mix of parts to fit your particular application.

Please keep us posted on your progress, as I am adapting an Audi/Getrag 6 speed to my V8 conversion and would be interested in youroutcome. Do you have any pic's of your conversion?

Andy

What Doctor Evil said

The 911 axles are already shorter and use adapters.

I'll conunt the splines and take some measurements (length...ect...). The two axles will be slightly different lengths because of hte way the engine fit/centered. Hopefully, like you guys mentioned, I can use the 911 axles with adapters (I can probobly have these made). How much can I get a set of 911 axles from a salvage/junkyard?

The engine is out of a nDBW 98 A4 w/ 5spd Tranny. The bolts are contained inside the ring on this tranny.
I'll try to take some pics this week if I can find my Digital camera.

Since you guys are pretty helpful, i'll list what i've got and what i need (my progress on this project):
I've still got a lot of work left to do on it. So far I've done the following:
*Front suspension/brakes/sway bar from 83 Carrera.
*Rear 5 lug converison. Not sure if hubs came from /6 or carrera. Got the complete trailing arms.
*Radiator if from the same a4 and I'm in the process of mounting it and creating ducting.
*Fuch's 16x6 Front/16x7 Rear. I've got a set of glass flares sitting around but am just trying to widen the quarter panel first. If it doesn't work out i'll throw on the flares.
*Just bought a 916 front bumper off ebay and have a gt style rear bumper. They're not in the best shape and will need some work.
*I'm using a cable shifter from an early Boxster. I had heard that the linkage mounts to the audi tranny b/c its almost identical to the porsche tranny. Still need to find the assembly that bolts the linkage/cables to the tranny.
*Leather seats from a late model RX7.

I still need to locate or do the following:
*Axles of course.
*Radiator hoses. I still need to call renegade as I hear they have them. Is there anywhere local that I can get these from? Or can I just run 1 1/4" plumbing pipe under car and conncect with radiator hoses?
*Attach the linkage for the cable shifter.
*Mount master clutch cylender directly behind the clutch. Where can I get a brake cable or high stregth rubber hose to run from master cylander to the slave cyl. (located on tranny)? Any Ideas?
*Rear springs. I'm thinking 180lbs but wonder if I should be going heavier?

As for the engine, i'll be running one of these:
Turbo
Dyno
I am expecting to put out a little more power than the dyno on that page due to my other supporting mods.

I'm open to any advise about other mods that I may need/like. Feel free to suggest.

Also, in regards to the rear springs. Can I use one of those cheap height adjustable systems off of ebay?
Anyone have experience with those?Link

I'll be up in Hayward this evening around 9 or 10pm (going to the father-in-law's house, he lives off of Tennison and Industrial), want to show off your car or is that too late??

Mike

depends on a few things:

the OD of the shock, will it allow the sleeve to slide on.

what kind of rear shocks do you have?

the rate of those springs??


for that price, it would still be a good deal if the sleeve fit and sell off the springs and get new ones (about 80 to 100 per pair)

SC <-83 or 84-> Carrera. Difference is SC 20mm thick, Carrera 24mm, and spacing on the calipers.

A local hose shop should have them. RH likes Gates Green Stripe, but it is soft and tends to sag. My local place (Alternate Hose) carries Dayco, has a wire molded in and is tuff/strong but doesn't like to bend. Same place can make you a clutch hose. If it will fit, run it through the center tunnel where the cable used to be. Check old treads for hydraulic clutch installs.

I'm running 180 springs with a stock Carrera front end. It's firm but not rough for me. You should be like 50lbs lighter than my Nissan6 so it's a good starting point. For reference, my car is 2250lbs without me in it.

Is this engine a side winder or front to back set up

front to back set up.........much better than the side to side since with those setups, you lose the mid-engine configuation since the motor is really sitting on top of the axle centerline in most cases.......

I hope to go see his car this week, I'll snap some pictures if he allows it

Front to back...similar to the way the 914 enigne/tranny sit.

The springs that come with it are ~300lbs. I wonder if that is driveable in the 914, I would like to very stiff anyhow....but maybe too stiff.

Anyone running springs stiffer than 200lbs?
Currently I have KYB shocks and springs the car came with....I'm thinking they're stock springs.

Finally someone doing the same conversion as me.

How did you mount the engine and trans? Would it be too much trouble for some specs and pics of the mounting etc.? I was thinking of making adaptors from the stock mounts on the 914 to the 1.8t that way I could take it out again etc.

I would love some pics!






BTW I hear with springs around 300 (even less) you need to reinforce the shock tower. It starts to separate over time. There is someone on here who has 450# front and 350# rear I am sure he will chime in.

it's interesting (ok, maybe just to me! ) but 914 _1.8t is using alot of the same things the guy back in NY did. His 1.8t-powered 914 racecar was in European Car last year.


Part of his email to me:

"The car is a semi-tube with a 935 Porsche E.R.P. front suspension, RSR-Bilstein coil-overs, Carrera coilovers in the back, modified swing arms, but the attachment points stayed the same. Some think that you should raise the pivot up about 2 " to improve the geometry with a lowered car, a colossal project. The front suspension points where raised with welded in boxes right up to the hood. Custom axles, Audi 5 speed front track, welded diff., Boxster shift cables & bracketry, custom radiator, Willwood calipers & pedal box, Carerra OEM rotors, 911 front spindles, custom 5 lug rear wheel flanges, rewired Audi ECU with an APR 3+ program, 4 different body suppliers, A.I.R., Sheridan, GT Racing, etc. Bogart wheels.
At the moment I am changing the IC into a liquid/air with a Spearco IC and a Sirocco radiator mounted by the passenger door".

and

"The Engine choice was easy, I had one out of an A4 I put in the wall at the Glen. The engine I had already built, but the car was to heavy and not safe. Some of these cars in DE these days are pretty scary with 3800lbs+ and 450hp+ no safety equipment and bad drivers. The 1.8T is like the small block Chevy of Germany, it is in about everything and abundant.
I melted my first one playing around with a thick head gasket that screwed the quench zones. I replaced it with a new engine, valve cover to oil pan, no induction etc. for $3000.00. Try to do that with Porsche.
There are a lot of tuners playing with this engine, a 100hp increase is simply a bolt on affair. It fits in the 914 very nice with about the same weight as the 4cyl Porsche.
I used a 5-speed front wheel-drive tranny out of a 96 A6. It will bolt to the 1.8T.

It is noted as an 012, however the older ones, which this is, have smaller bearings on the diff., so the Quaiffe won't slip in. The newer ones it will. A plus side to this A6 version is that it has tripods instead of CV's. You could weld the tripods to the 914 axles eliminating the need for custom axles. I use the stock 914 outer CV's with success. I just replace them once a year.
I would replace the 5-spd with the Boxster 6-spd if I had the funds. I THINK it will bolt up to the 1.8T".

and finally:

"I might consider looking at horizontal version of the 1.8T. Might get more weight centered and a better selection of gear ratios. That would probably wouldn't be hard to shift as it is a cable anyway. Might even be able to get the radiator in the rear between the engine and the back bumper. Even with the longitude engine I think with proper planning it could be done. Engine management was a challenge, but in the end not difficult. Get the wiring schematics to the ECU and just light up the power supplies".


Sure sounds like a fun project, huh?

VR6 - 1.8t? 1.8t - VR6? Decisions Decisions.

the article was my inspiration, though I won't be as extreme with my setup - at least not initially.

Any pics of the mounting?
Would you be interested in selling me a mount kit?

I had the opertunity to get an a4 engine/tranny for really cheap and was thinking for a lightweight car to put it in. I was checking out a coworkers new 914 and got the idea and the same day just happened to see a 914 on ebay in my area for $200. So I figured why not, lets try it.

Later on, while looking for more info I came across the EC article and that's where I got the idea for the cable shifter from the Boxster. Although the tranny is different than the one he used, I'm hoping i'll be able to get the cable shifter to work.

For mounting, I used the 914's mounting points along with the 914 rubber mounts. I just welded together a sub-frame (so to say) that mounts the 1.8t motor and the frame bolts up to the original mounting points on the 914. This allows me to drop the motor out just as easily as the 914 motor. Perhaps I will have to convert to stiffer mounts later on (I guess from a 911?). It was really pretty easy to make, as long as your measurements are good/accurate.

I can't find my digital camera, so no pics for now.