Quattromog: The Original

[alxdgr8]

P1180019 by Vex Art, on Flickr

P1180020 by Vex Art, on Flickr

P1180094 by Vex Art, on Flickr

And the other car

P1180162 by Vex Art, on Flickr

[the german]

Awesome pictures as always, thanks Alex!

[PRY4SNO]

Awesome pictures as always, thanks Alex!

It's funny... I tell people at work about my project (or those of local friends') and try to get them pumped on a 600 hp this, 500 hp that... barely a non-committal "huh," or "oh neat." This car gets the biggest reaction -- by far -- and Alex's pics take it to the next level. Not bad... for a 4-cylinder.

[the german]

Awesome pictures as always, thanks Alex!

It's funny... I tell people at work about my project (or those of local friends') and try to get them pumped on a 600 hp this, 500 hp that... barely a non-committal "huh," or "oh neat." This car gets the biggest reaction -- by far -- and Alex's pics take it to the next level. Not bad... for a 4-cylinder.

HAHA! I'm glad you and others still like it.... despite being a 4-cylinder

It's been pretty entertaining to see the range of reactions it gets. It seems almost nobody notices it when it's driving around town, but once it's parked people realize it's not an SUV and it draws a some attention due to it's.. unique nature. One of my buddies has gotten so excited that he's decided we are doing to Washington Backcountry Discovery Route, which is a 575 mile overland trail going across WA from Oregon to B.C.. He's already started building bumpers for his '86 Toyota pickup and talking trash about pulling me up hill with his truck in low range, so I gotta make sure this thing is bullet proof.

[lorge1989]

Awesome pictures as always, thanks Alex!

It's funny... I tell people at work about my project (or those of local friends') and try to get them pumped on a 600 hp this, 500 hp that... barely a non-committal "huh," or "oh neat." This car gets the biggest reaction -- by far -- and Alex's pics take it to the next level. Not bad... for a 4-cylinder.

HAHA! I'm glad you and others still like it.... despite being a 4-cylinder

It's been pretty entertaining to see the range of reactions it gets. It seems almost nobody seems to notice it when it's driving around town, but once it's parked people seem to realize it's not an SUV and it draws a some attention due to it's.. unique nature. One of my buddies has gotten so excited by it that he's decided we are doing to Washington Backcountry Discovery Route, which is a 575 mile overland trail going across WA from Oregon to B.C.. He's already started building bumpers for his '86 Toyota pickup and talking trash about pulling me up hill with his truck in low range, so I gotta make sure this thing is bullet proof.

Now that is an adventure. Trip of a lifetime for sure.

[the german]

A quick update on what I've been up to since Audi Expo:

To correct my crazy "stanced" camber in the front (due to extended control arms), I came up with a pretty trick setup. I am not a huge fan of aftermarket eccentric bolts and the way they are most commonly used in front suspension to correct geometry. In my opinion, its a band aid that I have little confidence in. Instead, I did something a little different which I haven't seen done in front suspension before.

There are a few companies out there (Garagistic, Ireland Engineering, etc.) that make caster/camber adjustment kits for correcting rear trailing arm suspension geometry on lowered BMW E30's. These kits use OEM eccentric bolts from a late model BMW application in combination with some machined slotted brackets that get welded into the rear beam/subframe of the E30. I've installed a handful of these in E30 race cars and street cars with great results, and I thought they might be just the ticket to give me the larger adjustment range + strength and reliability I need.

The M12 BMW eccentric bolts are pretty cool in that they are slotted to fit a keyed eccentric washer, meaning load is shared between the bolt head and the washer when adjusting and when shock loads are applied while driving. These bolts are longer than the CQ strut to knuckle interface, so I had to mill the slots in the bolts longer and machine a spacer bushing to get the correct thread engagement. Here is what all the pieces of the kit + my fabricated bits looked like before installation:



The machined flats on the steering knuckles had to be extended a bit to allow for the added adjustment as well, and the top holes slotted and more material welded on to the strut tubes. Here it is after installation and paint:



I welded the machined brackets in position so that neutral camber is in the middle of the adjustment range of the eccentrics. In measuring, it looks like my camber adjustment range is now roughly +/- 7*.

With camber corrected, the final step was to measure for and order my new custom axles. I ordered them from RCV performance, and also picked up a set of their Ultimate 930 inner joints which give 28* articulation and 1.1" plunge, as well as a lifetime "no questions asked" replacement warranty. The axles take about 6 weeks to make and deliver, so they should be here in about a month.

While the lifted car is on summer break waiting for parts, I'm taking the time to complete my much dreamed of garage remodel so I will finally have a lift at home. Woohoo!!

To make this possible, both of the coupes and all the kayaks were moved into their new temporary home in a storage unit.



That's it for a bit!

[audifreakjim]

Awesome! That's a really good idea. I have the H&R Camber bolts, and they are all over the place, never int he same spot. Nice job.

[dougkehl]

I was looking into using those E30 camber adjusters on the rear of my QSW when I lowered it. The syncro rear beams have a tendency when lowered to add a ton of negative camber and too much toe in due to the mounting points of the control arm.

I'm glad to see someone used one's for an E30. I'm not really that low on my QSW so my negative camber and toe in are very tolerable, but the thought of using two sets to gain adjustment of both my camber and toe sounds nice to me.

Anyway excellent work on this! As with the whole car!

[the german]

Thanks Jim and Doug! Here is a link to them if you want to pick up a set or two

https://store.garagistic.com/e30-performance-parts/E30-Rear-Subframe-Camber-and-Toe-Correction-Kits

[dougkehl]

Those were exactly the sets I was looking at! Awesome. I'll have to look up the part number they spec for the bolt and see if I can get a length on it. That's my only fear is that the bolt may be a hair too short.

[the german]

Those were exactly the sets I was looking at! Awesome. I'll have to look up the part number they spec for the bolt and see if I can get a length on it. That's my only fear is that the bolt may be a hair too short.

The bolts are decently long; how long do you need?

[dougkehl]

The bolts are decently long; how long do you need?

I'm not 100% sure. I'll measure them when I drop the rear subframe to do the bushings and reseal the diff after I pick the car up from my buddy who's polishing the clear coat for me.

[the german]

It's been a while...

I have been waiting on my custom front axles, which has taken quite a lot longer than advertised (currently 17 weeks vs. the 3 I was promised...). As you can imagine, there has been a few issues along the way.

'These are the measurement I took for the custom axles:


I sent this along with a junk shaft as a spline sample for the outside joint. Unfortunately I hit things just right and the guy I was working with at the axle company left and lots of balls were dropped in the process. Long story short, after about 13 weeks I finally got a pair of shafts, but unfortunately they were two very nice copies of the junk shaft I sent in as a spline sample. Ugh.



So we started over again. I send all the parts back and am now working with a new representative. They sent me the drawings to validate before making the new shafts, which are supposed to be completed in the next few days. Given the issues, they have comped me a pair of beefy inboard CV boots worth $100 which I appreciate. I'm now more than 2x deeper in axles than the original purchase price of the car. "Cheap" has officially become a relative term.

[the german]

Just in case you thought I was sitting on my hands just waiting for axles for the last few months, here is what I've been up to: a garage remodel!

I'm lucky that my 1800 sf house in the burbs has a 19' x 31' attached garage; it's the smallest house and the biggest garage on my street.

Up until now it had 8' ceilings and drywall that was installed in the late '70s but never finished or sealed so it had turned to brown crumbly junk. Above the ceiling was trusses every 24", then the roof. I have been dreaming of a lift since before we bought the place 5 years ago, and my wife was nice enough to let me make it a reality. As happens with these things a good amount of scope creep set in and I ended up vaulting the whole ceiling, insulating everything, and.. well here are some pictures to tell the story better.

Started at the front and moved my way back with the new framing and cutting out the trusses.


Storage loft above the garage door:




Chimney before it was demolished:


Demolition...




Digging out the lift footing:


So much concrete.. 6x12' pad, 8-9" deep, #3 bar on a 1' grid. Two layers of bar under the posts. My neighbor owns a concrete business and I hired two of his guys for 4 hours to help me mix and pour. Could not have done it without them.








My first experience in shake roofing..




As covered elsewhere, F*CK DRYWALL!

This is a 12' sheet of 5/8" sheetrock. I used them for the whole ceiling and firewall to the house. Never doing 12' sheets again. Also, my wife is a trooper.


I hate textured walls, and I suck at finishing. Other than mixing concrete, taping and finishing is the only part I farmed out and didn't do myself. These guys did an amazing job and were done in 4 days to a level 4 finish w/ PVA. Money well spent.


Painted and lights installed. I'm a big believer in well-lit work spaces. They look like skylights, but those are 2x4, 4-bulb T8 fluorescent fixtures. There are 13 of them total. It is sooo nice and bright! (enough so that it messes with the exposure on my iphone camera, making it look much dimmer in pictures than it actually is)



And finally... LIFT-OFF!!

[dougkehl]

That's a real bummer about the axles, but I guess at least they're trying to make things right with a quick turn around time on the new ones. Also on the bright side, your renovated garage space looks awesome! You have to be stoked on that! I'd dying for the day I can have a lift in my garage!

[ringbearer]

2nd that! Dream shop for sure

[heartlessnomad12]

[the german]

Thanks all! I’m beyond happy with the garage. I keep standing out there just staring at it LOL

[vt10vt]

So jealous. I also have the smallest house on the block but also have the smallest garage haha. Congrats and enjoy it (I'm sure you will haha)!

[the german]

Thanks! I got back from vacation last weekend and have been tinkering with the car all this week. It is sooooo nice having a warm garage, lots of light, and the car up in the air at a comfortable working height. I had also forgotten how much faster I can get things done vs. working from my back on a creeper. Loving it!

While I was out of town the (correct) custom axles showed up and it looks like we finally have a good solution. I bolted them up for a test-fit and both sides turn properly and the CV's don't bind up or fall apart at full droop. Woohoo!

For the record, the winning combination I've ended up with is custom axles from RCV Performance, "Ultimate 930" inboard CV joints from RCV Performance, and stock Coupe Quattro outboard CV joints. While it took forever and a day to finally get them, the parts supplied by RCV are beutifully made and should be bulletproof so I'm still quite happy.

Passenger side fit-check:


Driver side fit-check:


Given the angles on the CVs I expect to go through boots at an accelerated rate. In light of that, I ordered a handful of new outer boots from FCP Euro so that I can take advantage of their lifetime warranty when they inevitably fail. Even though I ordered the parts two weeks ago, they wont be delivered until Friday so I've had all week to work on knocking out some other work items on the car.

First up, the driver's lift subframe tie bar rubbed on the inner CV boot with this axle setup so that needed to change. I cut out the big tube and replaced it with a smaller .095" wall 4130 tube which run under the axle instead of over it:



Next up, was getting the front swaybar back which I lost with the custom control arms. I came up with a pretty trick little set up which allows me to connect the sway bar for good road handling, then easily disconnect it for maximum articulation off-road.

To do this I welded some brackets to the control arms, used a metric quick-disconnect rod-end from McMaster-Carr, and machined an M10 stainless into a link. I'll let pictures tell the story:









Having the car up in the air I noticed that the driveline was actually angled up from the trans to the center support bearing, then sharply down to the rear differential. I machined and installed some simple aluminum bushings to lower the center bearing and correct the driveline angle.



Hopefully my boots show up tomorrow so I can install the axles go for a drive. The goal is to go flog it up some logging roads and cut a Christmas tree this weekend

[dana]

Kirk, you are a master in the art of perfect execution of incredibly stupid projects.

The level of work that has gone into this car and the quality is outstanding. Many would have given up long ago due to all the complications in such a project. I don't know which crazy project I like more, the death scooter or this wheeling coupe.

[the german]

Kirk, you are a master in the art of perfect execution of incredibly stupid projects.

The level of work that has gone into this car and the quality is outstanding. Many would have given up long ago due to all the complications in such a project. I don't know which crazy project I like more, the death scooter or this wheeling coupe.

I think this might be the best compliment I have ever received. In one sentence you have managed to rather perfectly articulate my philosophy toward life . I should add that to the end of my resume, kind of like how they print book reviews on the back cover.

[dougkehl]

Those axles are sweet!!! Looks like you could drive over just about anything you want with that amount of flex in the joint now possible. I'm going to keep note of those for my Quantum. I've been tossing around the idea of pushing the engine back a few inches and I think those inner CV's might to the trick if I decided to do it.

Also, the attachment of the sway bar was wonderfully executed. So simple, but very effective. I love it!

[the german]

I hope so! LOL Thanks Doug!

If you do move your engine back you could probably get away with using the stock axles; you may not even need a spacer. The inboard joints on the stock axles handle a TON of articulation.
With the manual trans and ~4" of suspension lift I was using the stock axles and something like an 8mm spacer between the inboard CV and the axle flange. Worked perfectly.

[audifreakjim]

Kirk, you are a master in the art of perfect execution of incredibly stupid projects.

The level of work that has gone into this car and the quality is outstanding. Many would have given up long ago due to all the complications in such a project. I don't know which crazy project I like more, the death scooter or this wheeling coupe.

LMAO, This thing is rad.