Time to confess, I've gone to the Darkside!

[mcandmar]

You know you have a problem when you buy a car you do not need. It was the impossible situation of being too close to home to ignore, and then i went to look at it. Previous owner bought it as a project and invested time and money putting it right but unfortunately luck was not on his side and had to let it go. I could tell he was hurting as i drove away

The car is fairly honest and original, has been resprayed at some point and had the clutch and timing belt replaced but there are a few problems. The big one is a noisy bearing related to road speed. It might be a prop shaft bearing but i suspect it’s inside the gearbox. Also the clutch pedal feels strange and the gear change is tight and notchy. Basically i have resigned myself to pulling the gearbox out to see whats wrong. It also has a leaky PAS pump, knackered bomb, the exhaust is rusting apart, handbrake is useless, and the brakes are spongy as hell. But you know what, i cant wait to get stuck in!

I also have to decide what to do with the CQ and project engine, my mind is working overtime thinking of all the possibilities

Mark.

P.S. Seems weird to own an S2 after all these years

[Big Lee M]

Nice buy...................Is that the one that was on eBay?

[Ross]

Welcome!!

You know what to do - build that monster engine and dump it in the Avant :mischeif:

Ross

[Jamo]

Welcome my Padawan

[Azman]

Go on son bwahahahahahahaaaaaaaaaaaaa.

[Acidburn]

Nice find, iirc thats the one in the for sale section which newsh was interested in. At least its gone to a forum member who knows that they are getting rarer and rarer.

[S2central.net]

Well done Mark - LOOKS great... All those mechanical woes are fixable - time and money permitting as usual. Welcome to the forum properly now

[mcandmar]

Yep this is the car from ebay, it didnt seem to attract much interest but that was probably due to it being in Ireland. He did get a few offers from people wanting to part the car so i had to do my duty and rescue it. Cosmetically there is little wrong with it, would have been a shame to use it as a parts car.

I spent the evening fixing boost leaks, scraping my kuckles changing the diverter valve, and pulling the dash apart to fit a boost gauge. Guess that completes my initiation into S2 ownership

[S2central.net]

That would have been tradgic if it had been split for parts... Extra credits Mark for saving this fine looking car from that !

Can I ask how much you paid - in Ireland in this crazy climate - for an old S2 with some health issues ?

[mcandmar]

Just under 2,500, however the car needs the VRT paid ~2grand, a gearbox, and probably the guts of a grand to fix the rest of the problems. Its going to stand me about six grand when all said and done. I'm lucky in that i can do all the work myself, if you were to try and source a gearbox and pay somebody to fit it the cost would be monumental. So as a project it made sense for me.

Then again can pouring money into a 15 year old car ever make sense

[S2central.net]

2k VRT ?

OMG - TIFO