Re: 75 Audi FOX

[steveb@newkla.kla.com (Steven Buchholz)]

> I have a '75 Fox  (in Europe Audi 80 LS) with no goodies at all. 
> Now I am looking to push up the comfort in my car with things 
> like aircondition, power windows, cupholder (but everything 
> very ORIGINAL from AUDI!!). Does anyone know if those things
> are available in the US, and how expensive they are? 
> How can I tune up my 70 HP carb?
> Is it difficult to convert to a fuel inj.?
> 
Greetings Dietmar!

I can't say much about how easily the power windows and cup holders 
would be to retrofit.  The air conditioning probably would not be *that* 
difficult (of course it is a very subjective evaluation) ... I think that 
there is a unused V-groove in the crank pulley, which I would imagine is 
for the A/C.  I don't know about tuning with carbs, but I do know that the 
addition of the K-jetronic allowed the engine horsepower to be increased.  
I have a 1978 Audi Fox which came with FI.  It is my understanding that 
the carbureted Foxes were categorized as dogs, but IMO the '78-79 was one 
of the best performing cars of the era.  The fuel injection system is 
rather simple and doesn't have all the funky vacuum operated emissions 
equipment that the carb equipped cars had.  I would imagine that there 
were changes in the later model cars' sheet metal to mount the airbox, 
fuel pump, etc.  There aren't that many parts to mount (fuel pump, fuel 
pressure accumulator, fuel filter, airbox/fuel distributor) and you would 
need the intake manifold from a FI car.  The major issue is do you have 
the mounting accomodations ... probably the best way to answer that ques-
tion would be to compare your car to a newer one.  I'd recommend that you 
look at a '78 or '79 model ... even if it is carburetted it should have 
the mounting flanges for the FI goodies.

If you really want to improve the performance of your car you might want 
to consider retrofitting a complete engine from an even newer Audi 4000.  
You can get a higher compression motor with a knock sensing ignition system 
that can put out on the order of 100HP.  Given that you have the mounting 
accomodations the only additional work would be the wiring harnesses ... 
the new motor should bolt onto your transmission.  If you want to have a 
quieter car at freeway speeds you might want to consider putting a 5-speed 
transmission in as well.  I installed the 5-speed from an '86 4000 in my 
Fox, and found that in general everything hooked up, but I did have to deal 
with the larger tail of the new tranny fitting into the "tunnel."

I guess the primary question would be why would you want to do this to a 20 
year old car?  I am wrestling with this question myself ... I am the origi-
nal owner of my Fox, so I know what shape the car is in.  Since I live in 
California (USA) I know that there are no issues with rust.  I like the body 
style of the Fox, but it is hard to justify putting any significant amount 
of money into fixing it up.  Based on conversations on the list, I've actu-
ally been thinking about replacing the Fox with a mid-80's vintage 4000Q.

Hope this helps!
Steve
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Steven L. Buchholz	KLA Instruments Corporation - RAPID Engineering
s_buchho@kla.com	M/S A1-3400, PO Box 49055, San Jose, CA 95161-9055
(408) 456-6244 (office/voice mail)	(408) 434-4284 (fax)

'88 5000CSQ Avant				QCUSA #317
'83 Quattro Turbo Coupe				QTC Registry #?????
'78 Audi Fox GTI 4+5 (ACHTZIG)
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