Bolt-In Goodness: 1982 Audi Quattro Suspension Retrofit
The upgrade Mike Burroughs is doing on his Audi UR-Quattro should be a piece of cake compared to his last project.
Over the past two years, Mike Burroughs from StanceWorks has been getting loads of attention for his wicked Honda-swapped Ferrari. Now, he’s working on a new project, and it’s of a considerably less heretical nature. The goal of his latest build is to create the ultimate street version of the Audi UR-Quattro, and he’s off to a fantastic start. In his latest video, we get to learn about his plans for the suspension, and why he decided to go the route he did.
While Burroughs is a master fabricator, he isn’t an Audi expert, so he turned to one of his buddies that it is —Brian Scotto from Hoonigan — for some help. Scotto has a love affair with the Four Rings, and since he’s also a well-known parts hoarder, he also had the complete running gear from a Quattro Coupe on hand. As Burroughs explains, though it’s more refined than the stock hardware, given the family history, it’ll bolt right into his 1982 model.
But while this swap will require far less fabrication than the Mount Everest-level required to marry Maranello’s bodywork with the mighty K24 engine, it’s still a big job. And the first step is taking everything apart. That’s what we see in this video, and if you’re like me, getting to watch teardown without having to get your hands dirty or draw blood is like getting into a hot tub after some time on the slopes. By which I mean awesome.
For the most part, everything goes smoothly. That said, Burroughs did encounter a few issues. One seems to be the result of some previous wrenching, as an improperly oriented bolt meant the brake caliper had to come off to undo the shock. The control arm bushings are also fuzed in place, and even hitting them with a torch didn’t help loosen things up, so he ordered a special tool to pop them. The bearings in the steering knuckles proved even more stubborn, and even with heat and 10,000 pounds of force from his hydraulic press, they remained seated. So their removal will be covered in another episode.
At this point, Burroughs is faced with a choice. The hubs are a unique 4×108 pattern, and while he’s considering drilling them out, the easier path would just be to upgrade to the five-lug S2 units and call it good. That tactic would line up with the rest of the build, as one of the reasons he’s doing this swap is part availability. For example, the stock suspension integrates the knuckle and strut into one unit, which would make it tough to swap to coilovers.
But what would you do here? Is there a good reason to drill out the hubs? Or is the five-lug swap a no-brainer? Hit me up and let me know!
Image Source: YouTube
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