coilover info 77 b1 audi 80

[tonka12]

I'm needing info on availabilty to lower a 77 80 b1,its a mates car and google insnt turning up anything.any ideas chaps

[craig1010cc]

due to the design of the front struts, he'll have to get a set of original struts converted to coilovers on the front. Dez made a set up for his B2, and PhilJ has got GAZ to make some B4 struts for him (so a set of B1's should be easy enough), but there isn't a cheap off the shelf option.

[trevorbrady]

there are no coilovers available "off the shelf". There was a writeup in Golf+ about a chap who got GAZ to make up a set for a B2 Passat, same kind of idea.

I got a bit DIY and used a set of clapped out mk2 golf ebay coilovers for the interesting bits (threaded tube, springs, adjusting nuts/collars/spring tophat disk etc). After carefully measuring and marking the angle of the steering arm I lowered it down the tube and welded it back on. Using a pair of mk1 Golf gas insert shocks, I got the length right, cut the coilover threaded tube to the correct length and welded it to the remainder of the Audi strut.

It was a bit of a head scratcher, the steering arm had to be lowered to avoid bump-steer and a lot of work putting it all back together. But the end result was nice





before:



after:



and the end result:



incidentally, anything from the rear of a mk1 Golf will work too. I used mk1 Golf Koni adjustables on the rear at their highest setting. With them on the lowest setting I got the slightest of reverse rake, not a good look...

[trevorbrady]

sorry, pics above all confused... I'll sort them now. Stoopid new Photobucket layout...

*EDIT* sorted. Stoopid new photobucket layout...

[tonka12]

cheers for that chaps

[craig1010cc]

Here is Dez's build tread with a good step by step of how he built his
retrorides.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=readersrides&action=display&thread=132772&page=2