New style bonnet & grill conversion for Coupe

[Matt West <matt@tdraft.demon.co.uk>]

There has been a few questions recently about putting the later style
bonnet and grill (as on the Cabriolet) on the 88-91 Coupe.  This
conversion is possible as I have done it on my 1989 Coupe.

Last summer I had a minor accident which damaged the front corner.
Although the wings were OK, it required a new bumper, headlamp, grill,
bonnet and many parts within the engine they itself.  This job was
paid for my the insurance company but I had the work done by a local
garage where I could over see it.  Rather than fit the original parts
I got the garage to order the parts for a new shape Coupe and I paid
any difference so the insurance company still paid what they were
expecting.
A friend of mine has a 1992 Cabriolet so I could compare the
difference in panels.  As the wings on his car looked identical to
those on mine, it seemed that the new style bonnet would fit my Coupe.
The only other difference was the three metal panels that go along the
front of the engine bay that hold the bonnet catches.  As these are
bolted together they were easy to replace.  The bumpers on both cars
were identical.
There is also a slight difference in the headlamps on the later styled
cars.  The backing of the later headlamps include a fixing point for
the trim strip that sits below each headlamp unit.  Therefore new
headlamps are required to make this conversion.  As I needed one new
headlamp anyway, I only had to pay for one new one.

Here is a list of the parts required :

bonnet
grill assembly
under bonnet trim and seals
headlamps
headlamp trim panels
outer bonnet catch panels
centre catch panels

The gas strut should really be replaced with a longer one but the
original unit can be used.  You just hit your head on the bonnet a few
times in the future and you soon remember to keep your head down when
you are working in the engine bay !
The original under bonnet insulation panel can be used on the new
style bonnet.  I'm not sure whether the bonnet catches themselves were
replaced but I think the original ones were still used.
The new grill and under bonnet seals are made up of many many parts,
but the Audi dealer should be able to supply the bonnet and all its
parts together.

This conversion isn't cheap.  In my case, I only had to pay for one
headlamp, the three catch panels and the extra trim and seals
required.  The rest of the parts were replaced under the accident
repair job.  I am very pleased with the outcome though.  Only an Audi
enthusiasts can tell that my Coupe is actually three years older than
the shape suggests.
I would only recommend anyone doing this conversion if they had a
later shape Coupe or Cabriolet to compare with.  In my case both the
old and new cars were parked side by side which made the job easier
and probably we couldn't of done it without this.


Matt West
Oxford, England.
e-mail : matt@tdraft.demon.co.uk
1989 Audi Coupe 2.2E