TheSamba.com :: View topic - Any one have any experience with a 1974 Audi 100 LS?

Sat Mar 08, 2008 9:38 pm

I'm looking into purchasing a cream puff 1 owner 74 Audi 100. And I'd like to know what I'm getting into with it. Parts availability, things to look for, etc. Thanks gang.

Mon Mar 10, 2008 10:05 am

Cut and paste from another forum. General rule is avoid them like the plague.

Let me first say: "Be careful what you know". A car like this will challenge you at every step. I was only able to keep mine semi-driveable because it came with a truckload of NOS parts collected by the previous owner who died in 1974. Quite literally, a truckload.

There are a few maintenance items still available, as things like brake pads, ignition parts, etc are shared with other 60s/70s cars ie: Ford Cortina, Porsche 356, VW Beetle. However, many of the essentials and common wear items are not available. They eat valve guides, pinion bearings, and can chomp through a cam if you aren't careful. Valve Cover Gaskets? HAHAHAHA good luck with that one.

The only "reliable" source for parts is ebay, or the C1 Group on Yahoo. Often, you'll find sellers that have bought-out old european auto shops that resell the NOS stuff on ebay, and the C1 guys horde this stuff.

Anyway, the thought that "if something breaks I'll just VW-swap it" is false. This engine is an OHV cross-flow that descended from a line of Mercedes industrial engines from the late 50s. Eventually, they made an OHC version and stuck it in the 924.

There were a lot of build revisions in the 100LS line. The most desirable cars (IMO) were the 1970 and 1971. These were the high-compression 1.7L motors with no emissions controls and skinny bumpers. They went to a low-compression 1.9L in 1972 and kept adding emissions controls until 1975, when they went to CIS for the US market until 1977. No other part of the world got CIS in the 100LS.

The 1970-1974 cars all have inboard front brakes. As a result, front CVs and/or driveshafts have been known to break. They are a PITA to service as well. These cars are also 4x130 bolt pattern. The 1972-1974 automatic models have 4-piston calipers and slightly larger solid rotors. In 1975, they went to outboard disc brakes, along with revised suspension and 4x100 bolt pattern.

The cars are horribly unreliable. The 100LS is the reason that Audi called models "4000" and "5000" while the rest of the world called them 80, 90, 100, 200. They wanted to distance themselves from the model. In fact, Audi stopped supplying parts in 1984, only 7 years after they stopped production of the car. They have terrible problems with carburetors, valve guides, pinion bearings, brakes, axles, suspension rubbers, ignition components, motor mounts, shift linkages, and of course, RUST. The exhaust manifold is probably badly cracked as well. Most of those parts (including the motor mounts) are NLA.

All in all, they are a cool car and they drive surprisingly well. However, the work involved in just keeping them running will become tiresome. Also, the cars are worth basically nothing. I wound up GIVING mine away because I had nowhere to keep it and no time for the endless repair game. Unless you are some sort of sadist, stay away.