UFO to G60 conversion 91 200 20vt

[Tom Nestor]

Greetings all,
    I just finished spending a rediculous amount of time converting the
front suspension and brakes on my 91 200 20vt to the G60 based brakes on a
UFO equipped car. It has been educational. First and foremost, the only
strut bodies that will work are from the 92-95 100, the 95-98 A6, and the
92-94 V8. Other permutations of these basic models, the urS4, and S6 should
work as well. The determining factors rendering the strut bodies from the
earlier cars useless here,  is that prior to 1991 audi used a .040" smaller
ball joint........ask me how I know. So if you want to use the earlier strut
bodies for this conversion, you must switch to the earlier track arms / ball
joint combo, in addition to pressing in the later stepped wheel bearing and
hub combo. The later struts, listed above, are good to go right out of the
box; complete with the correct hub, bearing, and ball joint receiver. I had
purchased a "kit" from a local audi parts salvage vendor about six months
ago. Unfortunately the "kit", which included the correct rotors, hubs,
bearings, and calipers, also included the early 5000 quattro strut bodies.
It wasn't until after refinishing, pressing in the new bearings and hubs,
fitting new strut cartridges, and swapping over my original springs, that I
discovered the particularly stubborn ball joint joint fit. After dozens of
calls, and six days without my car, I finally got the straight skinny on the
part # Audi used in the refitting recall they did in the early nineties when
they were doing this conversion on a recall basis. Currently, due to the
fact that I have not yet been able to return the "kit" originally purchased,
I have more dough into this conversion than I would have had into purchasing
NEW UFO's and pads! What a week. The moral of the story ? Never, ever, jump
in without doing your OWN research.

Tom Nestor