S2 Restoration Options.

[macspring]

The 16" may have grown on you, but the best compromise for an S2 is 8 x 17" 225/45/17, gives the best compromise between grip and comfort.

7 x 16" 205/55/16 are comfortable, but too squigy and not enough grip.

8 x 18 225/40/18 look fantastic, but are not as comfortble as 17".

My tuppence / harping.

I run S8s, i.e. 8 x 18 225/40/18 because I love the look of them.

Thanks for the photos.

It's your thread, keep it all in the one place.

[andy10v]

Depends what you are driving on. From personal experience 235 17x8 gave more feel on nice road surfaces. However 17s broke away noticably earlier than 16s on scabby road surfaces. And a lot of the roads are not smooth so 16s can be faster as sidewall flex lets the tyres stay in contact with the road. Same idea as suspension, super stiff is great on track, but travel can be good on the road. I did love the feel of the 17s on smooth roads, steering felt so much more positive/precise.

Its all compromises.

I am on 225 16s now, ok compromise, I want a set of 16x8 et 30.

The 225s give less grip in the snow compared to the 205s.

If I had more money I would have a set of each

[K Simmonds]

I agree with Andy on this. Wider tyres DO NOT necessarily give more grip, though they will dissipate the heat generated more effectively. You can get just as much grip with a 205 as with a 225, the 225 will just last longer and not over heat as quickly. Grip (friction) is calculated from mass over area. Obviously there is an opitimum size for a given weight, power, driving conditions ect. Having a bit of extra side wall is an advantage on rough roads for the reason Andy has stated. The main issue in my opinion is getting decent size brakes under standard size wheels.

Anyway good luck with this project, don't think I've seen an Audi of this age as rusty as yours. If it were me I'd strip the car to shed some weight, cage it to get some strength back then thrash it. As you probably know it's not going to be worth top money due to the amount of repairs required. To repair that to factory standards would be very expensive and you'd never get the investment back.

[Twenny Benson]

Well the 16's are staying for the time being weather they will compromise the grip or not, after all once the grip runs out the fun starts!

I agree that repairing this car back to factory standards would be throwing money away, I would never see it again and the tin worm would only return again a few years down the line. The obvious answer is stripped & maybe caged then flogged to death, at least it will be a fitting end to this coupe and lots of fun for me. If i come into any money I could always look for another S2 to look after properly.

The floor is now cut and there's no going back!

[Twenny Benson]

Right chaps, I've been cracking on with it! As said the floor is now cut and to be honest patching the floor doesn't worry me as the metal around it is sound & rust free and I got away with cutting a minimal amount of the floor out, the fact the sill member has also rotten right through has me a little scared, it was only the underseal holding it all together lol. Now I have a feeling there will be nothing I can weld to without it being visible and if thats the case surely replacing the entire sill section would be the way forward, there not massively expensive & still available!

So has anyone here changed a sill section on a coupe & should I even be contemplating this on my driveway without a jig of any sort?

[Twenny Benson]

Update......

It's clear I've been well and truly sucked into repairing this thing properly despite all my previous witterings, some of you probably think its not worth it but I reckon I can bring this one back from the dead! I have been scraping knuckles getting stuff done. I'm all about pictoral updates, cuts down on my pointless rambling lol, so here goes....

Rear suspension stripped, zooshed and POR 15'd

Before for reference


Painted


Assembled


HD Bushes


I saw somewhere on here about stitching the rear wishbones, i didn't want to feel left out so I did mine as well




Suspension bits are done, Im going to stash them away for now as the subframe is going to get the same treatment, the diff is also a bit leaky so might as well just replace seals & bushes and be done with it and give everything a clean over & paint. It will also give me the perfect chance to assess / repair the underside of the rear floorpan.

I'm having thoughts of converting my struts to coilovers now, who's done this and specifically with what parts? Also are there any options for uprated rear tie rods, mine are pretty chuffed and replacements are silly monies.

Rambling again! Continued the stripping of the interior, pulled all the rear end wiring forward, can the majority of this wiring be removed from the relay end under the dash? I want to remove it whilst I work on the inside. I've labelled up every connector I've removed as well as made notes on masking tape round the loom of where it sits/routes etc with lots of pics haynes manual style so its taking ages.



Got disheartened everytime I saw rusty bits, so out of sight, out of mind....




Thats better!

Got sick and tired of whacking my knees on the mounts for the rear bench, so off came the brackets, two seater it is then! Oh and more rust


Next out was the headlining


Then the dash


I have to say a big thanks to all the peeps who've contributed to the S2forum as its been an invaluable resource, couldn't of got this far without this website

Next out is the sunroof, fuel tank, rear subframe, diff etc. Once the fuel tank and gubbins are out the welding can start, very close to hitting the add to cart button on a brand new Portamig 185, keep telling myself it will pay for itself several times over and will hold its value well.

Other bad news is it really does need a new sill member, its completely shot and beyond my ability to repair that, only option is replacement. I've been under the car and removed some underseal, does a great job of hiding the grot. This sill has been replaced before and badly thats why it needs another go at it, its completely seam welded to the chassis which means a bit of a ball ache getting that off. I will wait until its on two wheels and I intend to weld some internal braces across the door apetures before attempting to remove the sill, getting to the boundaries of my comfort zone now but its good to push yourself or you learn nowt!

And thats all for now folks

Andy

[irishs2]

Wow, you really got stuck in and nice stitch welding there, Looking forward to the updates.

[Twenny Benson]

Wow, you really got stuck in and nice stitch welding there, Looking forward to the updates.

Cheers mate, they took a couple of attempts to get them welding nicely, was hard to clean out the seam completely and TIG hates filth, there's gonna be loads of updates as I have so much to do, I can see where this is going already! I've even taken the tax disc out to get a rebate & SORN it for a while, insurance will also be cancelled until its road worthy, I'm only kidding myself if I think this will be a quick turn around, i know what I'm like!

[irishs2]

While mine was idle, the rubbers holding the fuel lines to the car dried out a bit, this caused the "rubber-rust seal" to fail, causing a fuel leak. This all happened while the car was just on the ramp over the course of a few weeks, just a caution if welding the sill.

[Twenny Benson]

Good call, I think I will strip out all the fuel components & lines as I can smell petrol anyway, better safe than sorry I guess. Probably all needs replacing anyway!

[andy10v]

Good call on checking the fuel lines, worth doing now, its not expensive, there is a good how to one here as well.

Where did you get the HD bushes from? How much? Look good?

Looks like you are getting well stuck in!

[Twenny Benson]

Andy all parts were from Pete @ quattro corner. All well priced and off the shelf, every thing delivered in a day or two. Top service! Will post up the prices when I get home for you.

I've been having a think and I think the best way forward is to bare shell it and rebuild it in a minimalist stylee so everything is coming out, everything! I've always faniced a complete rebuild/resto so now's my time.

Has anyone here had there S2 coupe on a rotisserie? I would like to see some pics please

Probably a stupid question but is the Renn-tech S2 coupe bodykit available to buy? I can't find any info on it anywhere, but damn it looks good!

[newsh]

snip.. I really don't know what to do with it, can't allow it snowball into a mega money build again.

Top man!

[Twenny Benson]

Woha woha woha, I've convinced myself this is going to be a cheap rebuild, budget track car if they exist lol! We'll see how it progresses, getting to the point of no return though with the things I'm looking to order :mischeif:

[andy10v]

I've been having a think and I think the best way forward is to bare shell it and rebuild it in a minimalist stylee so everything is coming out, everything! I've always faniced a complete rebuild/resto so now's my time.

And so it begins!