TT Quattro off-roader

Hi all, new to the forum so apologies in advance if I commit any horrendous faux pas. I'm building an off-road TT Quattro with my daughter. It looked something like the below until last weekend, when it gained a welded stainless snorkel intake. 

Not expecting the finished article to be as good on-road as a standard TT, or as good off-road as, say, an actual SUV, but the journey's fun.

I've got a few videos of the build up on Youtube - we lifted the front suspension here: https://youtu.be/2tr9b8hy308 and the snorkel went on here: https://youtu.be/B6tac9oUmvM
Lots still to do to get it properly sorted and running and ready to teach my girls to drive (off-road) in.

Cool project Dave. I took a wrecked Beetle and made it into a...   well, I don't know what to call it, but it's a lot of fun and makes people smile. The 'Dung Beetle':

When it wears out or breaks badly enough, I want to get an Audi TT and do a project similar to yours. I'm going to catch up on your videos and I'm looking forward to seeing how it all comes out. Welcome to GRM.

Nice project!  A know a guy who did the same thing with a Coupe Quattro.  It was pretty awesome when it was done!

Thankyou :)

Loving the Beetle. When the time comes, I can recommend the TT as (in some ways) a good base for this - it wasn't expensive in the first place, and with selling the bits I don't need, it doesn't owe us a lot. TT suspension is an upgrade for the Mk4 Golf boys who want to slam their rides; meanwhile, stock Mk4 Golf suspension is exactly what I need to sort out my suspension lift.

Not sure about long-term reliability of the TT, and the 1.8T is no old-school diesel when it comes to water, but those are doubtless adventures for the future. Not a lot of deep water in front of my garage...

I dig this!  It gives me Gambler 500 vibes already, so I can’t wait to see it come together!

I started it before I was aware of the Gambler 500 (it's not a thing over here in the UK, sadly), but I do agree that that event is probably the spiritual home for this car. Bringing it over to take part would be an awesome road trip 

Well, lifting it put the front suspension geometry way out of line, so we've modified some Golf lower control arms to:

- widen the track by 80mm to get the camber back,

- stretch the wheelbase a little so the tyres don't catch on the arch

- crank the arms to get all of the ball joints and bushes back towards the middle of their movement range: https://youtu.be/gv3GF2ivg8k

Had some fun making the steering rack and driveshafts work with the new width too.

Control arm:

TT:

Quick video this week - a rear suspension lift. Rear spring spacers made from Land Rover spring seats.

Now it sits at the right height at last, instead of riding like there's a tonne of cement in the back end. Well, or a tonne of anything - you get the point.

Video here: https://youtu.be/3Zjtl4vsX5E

That's badass! 
not much to say other than that lol 

In reply to rustybuckets :

Thankyou :)

Really looking forward to getting it all together and on - well, off - the road. I think the forthcoming engine change probably marks the low point - not in a bad way, just that from here, things should be being finished off and going back together.

The rear mount spare is perfect 

In reply to Patrick (Forum Supporter) :

Thankyou :) I think the low angle flatters it a bit, but I didn't want to put it on the roof and there weren't too many other options...

As Audi appear to have misunderstood the "for" in "design for maintenance" as meaning necessitate, rather than facilitate, I think I'm going to take it slow with the engine change. Might do some rockslider side sills next instead, as the present sill covers are rusty and dishevelled and some proper steelwork is required. I might cheat and rivnut them to the body with multiple rivnuts rather than welding them on, simply because I don't like the idea of creating a big rust trap I can't access.

Created a set of rocksliders to protect the sills:

Video here: https://youtu.be/gjzAaEmDvQ4

Have since gotten the Schutz gun out and sprayed the silver area matt black. Quite like the effect; I'm minded to do the whole car both to protect it from off-roading scars and because it looks great. Anyone else tried it?

Got round to finishing the rear wheelarches:

With more time and skill, I could perhaps have made a better job of the detail line, but I'm not a body man and so I'm pretty happy with how it came out. Video here: https://youtu.be/mhJad3FLz_o

There was/is one in Basingstoke that's been converted in a similar fashion, it has had the tailgate replaced with a pickup style opening like the Audi TT Safari...

In reply to Addicted :

If you see it again, I'd be really interested to see pictures. There's a Safari All The Cars group on Facebook that is quite eye-opening too - looks like half of America goes wheeling in lifted Golfs and skeletal 'Vettes!

Update - compression tested the engine to track down the cause of some verrrry suspicious white smoke that the dealer was very sure hadn't existed when he parked it up. No.3 cylinder was 40psi down on the others. The worn rings weren't the issue though; they were worn because they'd been running over some nasty-looking cracks in the block. New engine procured and (mostly) installed here: https://youtu.be/u8AbwE27Xnw

Overall the TT is coming together:

With that rear flare, it's got a bit of a Karmann Ghia vibe going on.

That is without a doubt the most safari Karmann Ghia I've ever seen. I'm not sure whether to be delighted or horrified :D

Opted to spend some time making the front end look a bit more complete and coherent by adding a suitably chunky front bumper.  Came across exactly the right tubing in the scrapyard, and then returned a day later and found the perfect grille bars for it too! Still needs finishing but it's most of the way there.

Build video here: https://youtu.be/fgBrjKUdC9I

!Me Gusta!

Love the bumper and great video Dave. Keep 'em coming.

In reply to AAZCD (Forum Supporter) :

Thankyou! It's starting to come together. Looking forward to getting it on (and off) the road. Hopefully the CV joints stand up to the newly increased articulation angles or we'll be learning all about driveshaft failure...

Got the rest of the metalwork into the bumper and a coat of paint on it. Bash plate next.

Build video here: https://youtu.be/kdSot8x_8e4

Built a new frame to carry the radiator and lights - zipties weren't really going to be enough...

Oh, and tried starting the engine too. It's rough, unsurprisingly, not having run since who knows when.

https://youtu.be/5X7sxYbRXKE