I few of you I've spoken with recently asked...you here's a progress thread with lot of pics.

The specs on the build...

Car: 72' 914 body completely gutted with FG flares.
Engine/Trans: Audi 2.7tt w/ audi 6 spd gearbox
Suspension/Brakes:
Front: TBD
Rear: TBD
Sway bars/spings/shockd: TBD
Wheels/Tires:
Front: 18x8.5" 225x35x18
Rear: 18x9.5" 285x30x18

Starting point: My 1.8t conversion, after having driven it for only 2-3 days...into the garage for the new conversion.

Removed doors and hoods:

And some SawsAll fun...

1.8t engine/trans are gone....new 2.7T has arrived:

Holy sheep shit, batman!

After a few months of collecting dust....started working on the car on Monday and got this much done: Half of the roll cage...tried to make it as hidden as possible.

Got some more work done today, as of right now, everytning is Tac'd in with the old MIG, will TIG weld the thing later.

Good day today...My Tig welder came in....the old Mig will be seeing a lot less use now:

Also yesterday, porsche1026 stopped by and got a roll bar isntalled that I had in the classifieds....I would have made it a little different but made it the way he wanted. It was a little tricky as I had to bend it wierd/uncemetrical in order to keep the hand rests on the door panels in...and they are diff on both sides.

Nice meeting you.

Wow...my hands are tired of typing and posting....any feedback or ideas are welcomed.

WHOA!

Did you do ANY small 1 inch square tubes to hold the tub in place? prior to gutting the tub? Typically we support the door openings and such with *something* You have seen our bent tubs..

Also:

Are you using 1 5/8 DOM ?

B

hey Sonu....good progress...

comments??

yes, I'd add plates that'll attach the bar to the seat belt mounts up on the targa bar....


that "petty" bar is a waste of material in that location as well as being dangerous to him and any passangers....hope the owner has a good dental plan....

the bar needs to go as far foward as possible and ideally attach to the longs on the pass. side....

Not much....but yes I did use some although not in the pictures. Also the car is supported in the front and back to ensure the tub doesn't flex. The body will basically be just hanging onto the chassis. I test fitted the doors today and they close perfect (line up like before.).

1 1/2" x .120 DOM with 3x2x.125 boxed frame.

I suggested making it as you said...but that the way he wanted it.

And yes...plates will be attached to the seat belt points as well as other places.

nice hoop....

but yeah.. petty bar and street car dont like each other LOL

subscribed...

are you going to be using the stock rear shock mounting? (looks like you specifically cut around the "shock towers").

are you going to stay with the rear trailing arms? the more I see my 5-link coming together, the more I find my pants around my ankles... Probably won't work for crap knowing my luck, but makes nice room in the back.

byndbad914: That pic your referencing was before with the 1.8T conversion. Now there is nothing there...basically only the outer shell exists, even the inner part of the longs and fenders are history. It will be a variation of uneven length A-Arms front and back.

And I don't mind getting comments/critique on the design of this build...let me know if you notice anyting obviously wrong with what I'm doing or if you have any advise about the tube chassis build.

Hey Sonu - that is quite a project! I met you briefly at the swap last weekend while we were all drooling over the v8 headers. Keep those pics comming.

Just curious why the 1.8t didn't hold your interest longer than a couple of days? That seems like a decent little engine for a 914....I guess bigger is better.

Nothing glaringly wrong, but just a note - I looked back thru the pics and sho nuf the rear is gutted. That doesn't leave much for rigidity to the whole rear/targa area at the back. All the rear weight is transfered thru at the long. You might want to weld some tabs onto your roll cage to the old seat belt mount holes in the targa bar (but be sure to have the doors and roof on to get the sails/door jams all lined up again.

I say this from experience - I went to the chassis shop after they had a cutting heyday and I realized if I took the top off, the whole rear would probably break off So I made some tabs, "yanked" the sail back into place and tacked them in place. The rear was sagging almost 1/2" with the doors closed and top on!

Just hate to see you working away, hear some creaking, then the whole ass-end hits the dirt.

ChrisNPDrider: I love the 1.8t engine and think it's great...the car felt awesome with it. But when I decided to do the tube frame...I also decided I wanted a motor with more potential as well as a 6spd.

byndbad914: Thanks for the advise...I've got the back supported and so far the hasn't sagged at all as the doors fit and everything lines up. But I'll get it braced better to avoid movement/misalignment. No point in risking it and ending up doing more work later. Any new updates on your project...I'll look for your thread.

you can click on the card button below the member info and go to my website tube chassis progress page. Lots-o-photos there.

So this is going to be a tube frame car with the original steel body panels hung on the the tube frame, correct? What are you going to use for suspension? Stock pieces somehow welded back together on the tubing?

Designing and building a complete tube frame car is some job. My car has all the stock suspension and floors and it was still a lot of work.

Good luck.

I can only open week 16 and even then all the photos don't load. Maybe Firefox won't let me view it or something

sucky geocities - seems if a few people view it, they quit allowing downloads unless I pay some BS fees. I need to get my own .com probably..

here is the first thread on the forum - after the virus stuff I started a 2nd thread and at the end of this there is another imbedded link. Most of the pics frmo the site are in the 2 threads anyway.

http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?act=ST&f=2&t=46192

geocities

byndbad914: Thanks for the link.

URY: Yeah, it's a lot of work but fun at the same time.

Still havn't decided on what spindle/brake combo to use...or if I should just fab it myself modifying stock trailing arms for this configuration. I wanted to decide on Monday but guess will make my decision and order something on next Monday. But, I've somewhat limited my options since I've decided to run the 5x112 whells that I already have.

Is 5x112 an Audi pattern?

I am guessing those wheels have a fair amount of positive offset by looking at the pix. Do you currently run a spacer on those?

I ask because you could open up your options by putting NASCAR-style stuff on the car from Wilwood (NASCAR stuff is "reasonably" priced and easy to find replacement parts for) with a 5 on 5 pattern, then make an adapter to mount the wheels you have that is the same thickness as the current spacer. Then, if down the road you decide to track the car more and want to buy cheap racing wheels with slicks to change out at the track, there is a vast array of choices in the 5x5 pattern.

Just a thought...

914_1.8t,

I have a question with regard to the slave cylinder on your transaxle. Where do you get the quick coupling (fitting) for the slave cylinder hydraulic line? The Audi hydraulic hose assembly is $100. Is there a cheaper alternative? I have the same slave on my 6 speed.

Andys

jd74914:
Yes Audi. It's also same as Mercedes and VW Passat.

andys:
I was able to get hose along with my slave cylinder from a salvage yard for around $40. Unfortunately, I did not find any other alternative for that fitting...and the dealer price is ludicrous. See if you can get one from a salvage yard/junk yard. It's the same slave for all Audi Manual and VW Long (Passat) setups...not sure if it's the same as other VWs also.

byndbad914:
What am I looking at price wise to get the hubs/spindles you are talking about? If I went with that I would also need to find an axle solution. I'd appreciate any leads, ie web links, for information on price/configuration.

The Alternative is use the Porsche setup (w/ adapters) that I already have (left over from the 1.8t conversion) for the rear....or adapt a VW/Audi front Spindle/Hubs for the job (I'm leaning towards this). Just a quick check and the distance from outside of both front wheels on my passat about what I need to fill out the back flares. Since the the distance b/w where the driveshafts mount on the 6spd and 5spd is the same....I should be able to run off the shelve axles (~$40/each jy price) in the rear and have everything work w/o any spacers/adapters. That way they are easy to replace should I break one. I could use either Willwoods with this setup or for now run front brakes from either an A4/Passat/S4 for the time being in the rear. But then I'd need to find some 5x112 wheels to mount slicks on for the track.

have to admit I kinda forget that you have all that Audi stuff going on, which might make the rear a little more complicated

Also, I definitely don't have a diffinitive answer of "buy this at this place" since I had already started down the Porsche parts path when building based on the stock tub, I just wish I had done it differently from the start.

That said, I would look into a front suspension clip kinda thing for a SuperLate or Tour car (like SouthWest/Northwest/Midwest Tour).

Howe Racing has tons-o-stuff for NASCAR and is a popular source. Here is a front susp example and links at the bottom for others. You would just use a simple GM drop spindle and a hub/rotor/caliper setup of some sort (like Wilwood)
http://www.howeracing.com/Chassis/Index-Front-M.htm

just have to be sure whatever hub you use, they typically have that long "snout"/bearing cover, so be sure your wheels will fit over it.

You may or may not be able to adapt a stock rack to work - you would have to determine pivot locations of the arms and see if you can set the rack to minimize bump steer. Otherwise, they probably have a rack that works. Maybe even use a power steering rack (hmmmmm!!)

you can start at the home section of Howe and go thru all the links for hours of enjoyment
http://www.howeracing.com/

As for the rear, you can get hub assemblies from Baja sources that you could build into your own upright. As to whether you can specifically get a 5on5 pattern I didn't check into, but seems plausible.

Then just get a custom set of axles that are the right length with the correct CVs at each end to mate to whatever hub assy you got and the Audi trans.

Looks great so far!!

Watching!

Andrew