99% there!

[dest]

After alot of time, effort, money, blood, sweat, tears, perseverance, and help (thanks to those who have!) the S2 is just about how I want it..
Only 3 things left to do now;
Homefry, lowering, and finish the interior swap.
All of them are in the pipeline

From this humble starting block, which sadly came with plenty of problems when I first bought it, has finally emerged the car I had my heart on ending up with





To this.......

[dest]

[Rusty]

Glad it's on the mend, it took me over 2 years before I was truly happy and it's still a work in progress even now, don't think it'll ever be finished as there's always something else to sort . All worth while when you get a great 5 minutes on your favourite road or take it on track!

Homefries is a great mod

[AndersS2]

From this humble starting block, which sadly came with plenty of problems when I first bought it, has finally emerged the car I had my heart on ending up with

I know the feeling! I've been there too.

Congratulations on a supernice avant! although you actually dont need lowering (because it looks quite allright the way it is), it will be nice to see it with also. And those wheels really matches the car in silver (hmmmmm )

You lucky b*st**d

[dest]

Cheers
Ive said it many times, your car was the role model for mine, and also what kept me from giving up and selling it asI could see a good idea how what I could achieve!

As for lowering, it definitly needs it! You only have to look at yours and Jamo's to see that

[europeanme]

thats how I want mine!!.....what colour is yours?...mine looks like the same colour!!

sweet ride.....

were you not tempted by red calipers?....

[S2central.net]

Looks sweet - really like that Blue and wish I'd held out for 18" Avus every time I see them. Personally I wouldn't lower it, but RS2 dampers and ARBs would be great.

[A80Avant]

looking good!

[quattronutter]

looking the part now,the other 1% is about 400bhp i hope

[macspring]

Good Job !

Been following this all along. Remember your car when it was sale.

You've done a great job on it. Not spoiled it or gone OTT, IMHO.

The two '95 S2 Avants we have are the same colour as yours.

So more than a passing interest in your exploits with yours. Was glad for you that you didn't give up and sell it. I would have bought it from you. I know they can really do your head in, especially when you can't find the fault.

Homefry: Can I ask at what revs does your currently standard car starts to boost and also you might post a comment on when it starts to boost when it boosts after it has been Homefried? And also is there any difference is mpg?, assuming you can drive it the same as before the Homefry for say the first half of a full tank. The most one could ask any man to do!

Boost Threshold: My MTM S2 boosts strongly at 3k and feels slightly dead below that because the boost is so comparatively strong. Makes the car like a slingshot. One needs to adopt a driving style to take account of the apparent lag and then strong acceleration. Presumably a standard car doesn't have such a step at say 2k or 3k. Mine was chipped when I bought it.

Interior: Any comments or words of advice on the interior swop as you've recently just about completed it?

Lenses: Where did you get the wing indicators?

Brakes: Are you leaving your front brakes standard? All RS@ owners while they have nice big red calipers will long for a decent hand-brake that good S2 standard calipers will provide or better again Mk 4 Golf style alloy calipers. I am assuming RS2 calipers can never be got to work satisfactorily for any length of time due to their basic design. (last comment aimed at everyone rather than just Dest).

Wheels: The 18inch Avus look stunning. I'd be scared of bending them on our roads, and so I have stopped at 17inch Avus. When I put mine on with standard suspension I immediately, first half mile, felt them to be stiffer than 16inch, but not so much that one doesn't soon acclimatise to them.

Suspension: Our second S2 Avant is lowered with with luminous yellow'ish springs and I'm not sure of the shocks, haven't taken the back wheels off yet, and while it looks the absolute dogs, also 17inch rims, it definitely crashes into potholes and one has to crawl over speed ramps, not just to do with the ride height, but also to do with the stiffness of the lowered suspension. Granted it is good on smooth roads and smooth corners, i.e. ones with no manholes countersunk into the road half way round, and as I say looks fantastic. It's down about 2 inches, btw.

I am interested in what you have in mind for your suspension, I feel KW2 or Kw3 would be a good compromise as it is height adjustable and may not be too harsh? But they are dear, but it could be a case of you get what you pay for? Does anyone have any experience of KW kit compared to standard, Koni, or Bilstein?

ARB: Would agree with Paul about an RS2 front ARB and a Neuspeed rear ARB.

Standard Oil Breather: I cleaned out the black valve in petrol recently, but didn't take all of the pipes off as it would have taken too long as I need to drive the car everyday. It was about 40% blocked on a 95 Avant. Didn't notice any improvement, but can't have done it any harm.

Ignition Amplifier: Shortly after we got the second S2 it dropped onto 3 and 4 cylinders, it turned out to be one of the two ignition amplifiers on the bulkhead, once replaced with a second hand one from Mcandmar, thanks again Mark, the car was restored to five sweet cylinders.

Sorry for all of the questions, but I find it hard to be brief about S2s.

Thanks and kind regards.

[dest]

thats how I want mine!!.....what colour is yours?...mine looks like the same colour!!

sweet ride.....

were you not tempted by red calipers?....

It is Pearl Blue (LZ5T)
I would of prefered red calipers, but got the black for a good price.
Im happy with them though because they are nice and subtle.

Been following this all along. Remember your car when it was sale.

You've done a great job on it. Not spoiled it or gone OTT, IMHO.

The two '95 S2 Avants we have are the same colour as yours.

So more than a passing interest in your exploits with yours. Was glad for you that you didn't give up and sell it. I would have bought it from you. I know they can really do your head in, especially when you can't find the fault.

I was very close to selling, but knew it would be worth it in the end!
I am enjoing it even more now as I have moved house and dont drive it everyday to work.
Saving me a fortune in petrol, and no miles clocking up anymore!

Homefry: Can I ask at what revs does your currently standard car starts to boost and also you might post a comment on when it starts to boost when it boosts after it has been Homefried? And also is there any difference is mpg?, assuming you can drive it the same as before the Homefry for say the first half of a full tank. The most one could ask any man to do!

At the moment it starts to boost just after 3k or so.
I will happily post a comparison after its done, although I would of thought its been covered many times already?

[quote
Boost Threshold: My MTM S2 boosts strongly at 3k and feels slightly dead below that because the boost is so comparatively strong. Makes the car like a slingshot. One needs to adopt a driving style to take account of the apparent lag and then strong acceleration. Presumably a standard car doesn't have such a step at say 2k or 3k. Mine was chipped when I bought it.
[/quote]

Sounds like my old Cavalier Turbo, it was very tame under 3k, then you got 18psi of boost with no warning!
With experience it was easy to hold the throttle just off boost ready for an overtaking manouver etc and have full boost like an on/off switch.
Personally I like that sort of setup, you get a nice easy to drive car for around town, and lots of fun on the open road.
Having the boost all come in crash bang wallop makes for alot of fun!
Maybe I need an MTM instead?!

Interior: Any comments or words of advice on the interior swop as you've recently just about completed it?

I have the 3 door cards to finish (rain stopped play) and the dash.
The only advice I can give really for anyone else planning to do something as crazy is to just be methodical and take your time.
I planned it out to do in sections rather than rip the whole lot out and forget what order bits have to go back in!
Plus, if done bit by bit it doesnt look as daunting as seeing a totally stripped out interior.
In reality, its all been alot easier than I thought, but some bits were VERY annoying to get back in!

Lenses: Where did you get the wing indicators?

Ebay, they were about £10 I think

Brakes: Are you leaving your front brakes standard? All RS@ owners while they have nice big red calipers will long for a decent hand-brake that good S2 standard calipers will provide or better again Mk 4 Golf style alloy calipers. I am assuming RS2 calipers can never be got to work satisfactorily for any length of time due to their basic design. (last comment aimed at everyone rather than just Dest).

Did you mean rear brakes?
I have the Boxster S on the front...
Regarding rears, yes I plan to keep the standard.
I may paint them black to match the fronts when I get time.

Wheels: The 18inch Avus look stunning. I'd be scared of bending them on our roads, and so I have stopped at 17inch Avus. When I put mine on with standard suspension I immediately, first half mile, felt them to be stiffer than 16inch, but not so much that one doesn't soon acclimatise to them.

When I got them I wasnt going to fit them beleive it or not LOL because I was more than happy with the RS4's I had on, but a visit to Jamo's changed my mind when I saw his again!
To me there is no other wheel that looks as good on an Avant.

Suspension: Our second S2 Avant is lowered with with luminous yellow'ish springs and I'm not sure of the shocks, haven't taken the back wheels off yet, and while it looks the absolute dogs, also 17inch rims, it definitely crashes into potholes and one has to crawl over speed ramps, not just to do with the ride height, but also to do with the stiffness of the lowered suspension. Granted it is good on smooth roads and smooth corners, i.e. ones with no manholes countersunk into the road half way round, and as I say looks fantastic. It's down about 2 inches, btw.

I am interested in what you have in mind for your suspension, I feel KW2 or Kw3 would be a good compromise as it is height adjustable and may not be too harsh? But they are dear, but it could be a case of you get what you pay for? Does anyone have any experience of KW kit compared to standard, Koni, or Bilstein?

I am getting Koni shocks, simply because the price is good, and I have been very happy with them in the past on other cars Ive owned.
I am not too bothered about it being a hard ride, as I dont use the car everyday, have no speedbumps near home to worry about, and if anything, enjoy the feeling of a more sporty car/handling, its just another thing to make it feel like its NOT an every day car so is enjoyed even more.
Regardings springs, I hopefully have some in the pipeline, but if that falls through I will probably get some H&R's.

ARB: Would agree with Paul about an RS2 front ARB and a Neuspeed rear ARB.

Both are on the list of things to do in the future as and when I can afford it.
Ive changed so much on the car in a small amount of time, I just plan to enjoy it as it is for a while, especially as its finally running ok!

Standard Oil Breather: I cleaned out the black valve in petrol recently, but didn't take all of the pipes off as it would have taken too long as I need to drive the car everyday. It was about 40% blocked on a 95 Avant. Didn't notice any improvement, but can't have done it any harm.

Something I read about a while ago, and will be done when I attack the engine bay.
Its long over due a good clean and tidy up.
I put it off until we moved, as it was only going to get messed up again.

Ignition Amplifier: Shortly after we got the second S2 it dropped onto 3 and 4 cylinders, it turned out to be one of the two ignition amplifiers on the bulkhead, once replaced with a second hand one from Mcandmar, thanks again Mark, the car was restored to five sweet cylinders.

I have the 1.8T coils now, which have been fine so far!

Sorry for all of the questions, but I find it hard to be brief about S2s.

Thanks and kind regards.

No problem, Im being alot more passionate about them myself now I have sorted mine out!

[macspring]

Thanks for reply

Here goes again,

Boost Comparisons: I agree that it will have been covered before, but there's nothing like fresh text conversations for me, as we, the current active members, i.e. regular posters, (forum junkies), get older, hopefully wiser and more experienced with S2s.

( However, it's also always interesting when reading old threads (2005 or 2006) to see members names who one has never heard of, but have, in their day, posted replies to loads of threads. I always wonder what happened to them and their car and what they are driving now? Anyway enough, snap out of it David ! )

Sorry, I forgot you'd done the front brakes, can you remind me are Boxster S ones 304 or 323mm? What there a big difference, going from standard brakes, in normal driving and the odd high speed quick slow down or stop, when you upgraded? BTW what pads did you opt for?

ARB: Agreed, no one has a bottomless pit.

Ignition: Any noticeable improvement with the 1.8T coils?

Chip: I'd be inclined to go for the Homefry as opposed to an MTM one, just my gut feeling, but that's all. No factual info either way.

If yours has air con, if you could post a photo of where the switch for the fan lives when you change your dash, I'd been obliged. On our 2.0L 16v Avant, the fan is either off or full speed. Positions 1, 2, and 3 being inoperable.

Kind regards.

[dest]

Here goes again,

Boost Comparisons: I agree that it will have been covered before, but there's nothing like fresh text conversations for me, as we, the current active members, i.e. regular posters, (forum junkies), get older, hopefully wiser and more experienced with S2s.

( However, it's also always interesting when reading old threads (2005 or 2006) to see members names who one has never heard of, but have, in their day, posted replies to loads of threads. I always wonder what happened to them and their car and what they are driving now? Anyway enough, snap out of it David ! )

Agreed!

Sorry, I forgot you'd done the front brakes, can you remind me are Boxster S ones 304 or 323mm? What there a big difference, going from standard brakes, in normal driving and the odd high speed quick slow down or stop, when you upgraded? BTW what pads did you opt for?

Mine has 323mm discs that I got with the calipers, I also got the pads too (Texar I think) which seem fine so far.
When I first changed them I thought hmmmm this isnt much different!
Then I got out of the open road and warmed them up and was amazed!
When braking hard they can scrub off high speed without any drama, its easy to forget you are in a big heavy car

Ignition: Any noticeable improvement with the 1.8T coils?

Hard to say really, as when I got the car from day one it was not boosting properly, and the coils were one of many things replaced when trying to solve it, so cannot really single them out for comparison with the OE ones.
When/if they fail again, I know I will be prefering the price of the 1.8T's!

If yours has air con....

Sorry, mine hasnt got it.
I will post afew pics of what does live behind the dash though, for those that dont often get to see it!

[macspring]

A short post, can't be?!

Fair play, thanks.

Kind regards.

[Fat Audi 80]

I am looking forward to seeing the car in the flesh soon!