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  • Long Term S2

    Hi,

    I've been reading this forum for a while, but never posted in the past. Do electronics and computing for work, but have been a car nut for years. Mini and Cooper / S decades ago, followed by various Alfa twin cam rust boxes for over a decade and the last Alfa, a GTV6, which did nearly 90 k miles in 5 years. Keep cars a long time here, gain experience in maintenance, work out all the niggles etc and better the devil you know.

    Really like 4x4's and have also run Land Rovers, Isuzu 3.1 and currently, an Isuzu Trooper 3.0td for the family hack vehicle. In the early nineties, needed a strong car for a weekly work trip from Oxford to Ipswich. Something like a ten year old Saab 9000 or Audi, but eventually settled on an 1985 Audi 90 quattro saloon. Revelation. Here was a car with 140k on the clock that burnt no oil between changes, had no rust and with not a squeek or rattle anywhere. Good in the snow cross country, where late model BMW. Merc etc at 10 times the price couldn't make it up the hills. I guess I was hooked at that point, as Alfas of that age and mileage are a labour of love, typically rotten, falling to bits and needing a full rebuild.

    I bought the S2 back in late 1999, a 4 year old, one owner example. Have run it on and off since then, sometimes for daily commute and at other times, laid up for months or more. It's not been thrashed, but used, driven and has had to live outside and be expected to work. It's arguably the best fast cross country car i've ever owned. Compact, pin sharp handling within it's limits and enough performance to be interesting without breaking the bank. Finally, old enough to have far less automation and electronics, so easier to maintian without a load of specialist tools. The red paint is suffering the usual fade and needs painting, but that may happen next year. It's been ultra reliable and has never failed get me home, with the only real show stopper being the com position sensor. It's expensive from Audi, but was rebuilt using the correct part number hall sensor. Have been thinking about what to replace it with for some time, but other than something mad like a TT or S6 4.2 V8, nothing really appeals, so have decided to keep it and do what needs to be done. Has been regularly serviced over the years, but no attempt to gold plate anything, just replaced what was needed. Fed up with replacing wishbone bushes and have a set of Powerflex coming to hopefully provide a permanent solution. Some surface corrosion underneath, but not serious and has had plenty of Waxoyl over the years. Odometer stopped working some time last year and the dials are flaking, so instrument cluster currently in bits. Found a broken gear in the odometer and panic, but available from several sellers on Ebay, so that's on it's way. Dials are a bit more of a problem. Several flashy "upgrades" available, but want to keep it original and no sign of them anywhere, so need to dig a bit more I guess.

    So there it is, 22 years old, 16 years here. Not a showroom example by any means, but still worth keeping...

    Chris

  • #2
    Excellent stuff. Do you have any pictures. Where abouts in Oxford are you?

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    • #3
      Nice story Chris. We need pics!
      Panthero Coupé quattro 20vt
      Indigo ABY coupé
      Imola B6 S4 Avant

      Comment


      • #4
        Great story / history about your S2.

        As mentioned, any photos ?

        Great first post after four years.





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        • #5
          Re: Long Term S2

          Hi,

          Thanks for the replies and encouragement. Should have started work earlier this summer, but no time and with autumn and rain coming, have been having a real bash at it for the last couple of weeks. Various faults to fix. Example, the oil cooler sprang a leak about a year ago, with the support frame (ali) rotted away, so welded the old cooler unions together and linked the hoses until it could be fixed. Made up a support plate for the new cooler last week and the new cooler is fitted and leak free. Still have to organise the airflow over it, but it's not driven really hard, so may be ok as is. Car front is on axle stands, which gives room to get at everything. Wishbones out waiting for the bushes and will replace the top strut bearings at the same time. Once the front end is finished, repeat the process for the back end.

          Did the cambelt last week, using a tool I made up for a cambelt change on the 90Q years ago. Too clumsy as it was, so modifed it to bolt on to the engine itself, opposite sides, air con and alternator support brackets. A bit Heath Robinson, but it didn't move at all. From memory, it's the first time the front bumper has been off since I bought the car. Just a bit of surface corrosion underneath and the intercooler looks ok, as do the hoses. Probably best to pressure test the system later, or at least measure the boost. No oil in the pipes, so turbo probably ok. On the 90, it's possible to gain access to the pulley bolt by jacking the engine up on it's mountings a little, but not the S2. Also changed oil / filter, plugs all the belts and new clips on some of the hoses. All the calipers were replaced around three years ago and still ok. Unplug all the conectors I could get at and lightly silicon spray the pins, helps to keep the damp out.

          For now, it's an exercise to fix long term niggles and get the car into a known state, then decide where to take it from there. The idea is to get all the mechanical surgery done first, then get it repainted early next year. The only show stopper so far is the instrument dials and wonder if anyone is remanufacturing them, or has old stock ?. Any ideas appreciated...

          Regards,

          Chris

          MontyRS2: Headington Oxford, just off the Green Road roundabout

          Here's a link to various pics. Car pic is from 2004-5, but will get some more posted of current state tomorrow if possible:

          http://s775.photobucket.com/user/Nik...?sort=3&page=1

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          • #6
            Nice write up and pics Chris keep up the good work

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            • #7
              I have one last set of S2 replica dials or can supply S2 dials in RS2 white, including aux gauges. Both are based on the OEM dials and are a very close match.
              Cheers'en, AndyC
              1994 ABY Coupe - Projekt Alpinweiss

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              • #8
                Andy,

                Thanks, will take the set you have for the S2. The dials here are slightly off white / light grey, assume the set you have are the same ?. The odometer gear is it's way as are 10 each of the lamp types (Ebay), so that will complete the instrument panel rebuild. Do you take Paypal, card, or what ?.

                The Powerflex bushes arrived today and got one side fitted. Bloody tight fit in the chassis and the kit doesn't include new nyloc nuts (wtf), though it does include new HT bolts and washers...

                Regards,

                Chris

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                • #9
                  Re: Long Term S2

                  The car is back on it's front wheels again today. Now just have to repeat the process for the back end and it should be on the road in a week or two. Have added a couple more pics, so you can see how bad the paint really is. Still, appearance should always follow function, right :-)...

                  Regards,

                  Chris

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                  • #10
                    H Chris, I am based in Didcot so not far from you at all! Before you commit to a respray. Let me check the paint, I would be very surprised if that could not be polished back to new. The problem with the solid colours is they don't have any clear coat so oxidise very easily especially if not protected. I would be happy to have a go on it with my machine polisher at some point if you like?

                    Good luck with the remainder of the refurb.

                    Cheers

                    Steve
                    The Perfectionist
                    sigpic
                    Audi Class Concours winner Stoner Park 2014, ADI Concours D'Elegance Class Winner 2008, Runner up 2014. Winner, S2Forum Show'n'Shine Billing 2006 & 2008.

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                    • #11
                      If you have any doubt about what Steve can achieve, see what he did to my car many years ago:

                      http://www.s2forum.com/forum/showthr...+quattro+resto

                      He saved me from a respray for 8 years and counting.... cheers Steve

                      Panthero Coupé quattro 20vt
                      Indigo ABY coupé
                      Imola B6 S4 Avant

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Wow, nice.
                        I was going to say after a really good polish- there's a coating that can be applied that seals in the shiny paint to protect it from re-oxidising ..forum member 'John' has it done recently to his red CQ and he swears by it- ask him for details.

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                        • #13
                          16 yeas huh? Snap, had my CQ20V that long too

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                          • #14
                            S2 Paint

                            Thanks for the offer, but I think mine is past recovery in some areas. I had it restored in a local body shop a couple of years ago, but as they pointed out at the time. the laquer coat is breaking away in places. You can see it in the photos, off side rear quarter. It must have had some body repair with the original owner at some stage and only had a partial respray, with added laquer coat. There's no obvious damage repair in the boot area, though one of the rear light clusters was letting in water slightly when I first got it. Lamp cluster a bit off line, which I fixed with silicon rubber sealant.

                            Once I get all the mechanics refurbished a complete resray seems the only long term solution to bring it back to original condition and the car deserves it, so saving pennies for some time next year.

                            As for the dials, strange that it's the speedo that has the most peel, but there's a damp patch on the drivers floor area that may account for it, as the speedo is nearest to the A post. Perhaps the sunroof drains are blocked ?. Something else to investigate and fix...

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                            • #15
                              Bowie69

                              They did make them to last in those days and in any case, what can you replace it with ?. Other than a TT Rs, still far too expensive, there's nothing anywhere that ticks all the right boxes as the older Audi coupes.

                              Don't know if ther's a connection, but back in the Alfa days, I lusted after a Guilietta Sprint Zagato. a 1950's snub nosed compact 2 door coupe that only the Italians could ever have styled and built. Even then (1970's) they were rare and expensive, but now probably worth 100K or more. I ran a 1964 1600 Spider for a few years, rebuilt the engine etc and eventually took it off the road as I needed a commute car. Eventually lost the storage and sold it it to a friend, who did a bare metal rebuild over 7 years, everything, and brought it round to show me recently. Looks amazing and is probably worth 50K now, though you could buy them for a few hundred pounds years ago. Alfa were a low cost way to get a quick car with properly sorted chassis at the time, so long as you could fix them and accept the inevitable rust problems :-). Outrageous prices for some cars these days, but that's what happens when they are seen as investments, rather than to be used for what they were intended for...

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