S2 Restoration Options.

[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!

[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]

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]

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

[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

[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]

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!

[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.

[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

[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.

[Twenny Benson]

At least it looks good!

Just caught that! Only from a distance, but blapping past it would look alright I guess, but im one of those that can only see the bad stuff in my cars

[Twenny Benson]

Well Andy if I do change my mind on the wheels you can have first dibs on them, I do think they suit the car quite well. I might look into making some custom caps for them if I can't track any down.

As for the laughing gas, I think you are supposed to retard the timing a couple of degrees for every 50hp or so i think, but please don't quote me on that! Mine is a wet system also and if used I will weld a boss to the inlet hard pipe thingy i think, I need to give the engine a once over first though. I'm going to eventually pull it out and give it some attention! Christ listen to me, I can already see where this is going

[andy10v]

The wheels are 16" 7.5J ET30's they've really grown on me, at first i didnt like them at all. I think they are going to stay on the car as the 18's I have are alot lot heavier plus the tyres are cheaper. I've been tring to find some replacement centre caps for them but so far drawn a blank anyone got a good contact to try?

******** I was hoping to snaffle them if you put on the 18s. No idea on the centre caps, I just remember when I had borbet c on my 80 one lifted off, might be worth making sure the rest are secure.

As for the NOS kit, i picked it up for almost nothing and thought why the hell not, I could use it as a push to pass set up on trackdays, but not sure yet.

Just wondering, a mate has got a wet kit for sale cheap and I think it could be a laugh. Stick it in the tb hose and start with small jets and work up. Not seen anybody use it on an 20vt so curious how it would get on. Also want to know is it ok to just dump nos and fuel in on stock timing or will it go bang. Nogin has it on a 7a converted 80q which apparently keeps up with an aby on nos iirc.

My only thought so far is to get wideband, then monitor egt and afr, start with small jets and work up to 75-100bhp jets and a pub c02 bottle :mischeif:

At least it looks good!

[Twenny Benson]

Theres me jumping to conclucions again! My apologies David, im still new around here and haven't got to know you all yet

I like Andy10V's style, I think thats what im gonna go for, a lighter weight daily hack / track thing, make the best of it and like you say these motors are always welcome in another chassis once the tin worms all but done.

The wheels are 16" 7.5J ET30's they've really grown on me, at first i didnt like them at all. I think they are going to stay on the car as the 18's I have are alot lot heavier plus the tyres are cheaper. I've been tring to find some replacement centre caps for them but so far drawn a blank anyone got a good contact to try?

As for the NOS kit, i picked it up for almost nothing and thought why the hell not, I could use it as a push to pass set up on trackdays, but not sure yet.




I will update the thread or maybe start a project thread dare I say it, its always nice to have a diary of the progression even though it ain't gonna be car porn it is a project none the less.

[macspring]

Twenny,

I think David was referring to to himself as "harping on" rather than yourself. He's a big boy, I'm sure he will clarify that.

Nuvo was spot on, I was referring to myself, harping on at you, I was apologising in advance for "butting in" to your thread a couple of times with my tuppence, trying to funnel you into a particular course of action based on my own set of life experiences.

But I naturally accept that the unwilling recipient of my harping will more than likely make a different choice based on their own set of life experiences. lol.

Hope that clarifies the bussiness of me harping on.

Certainly not aimed at you, it's only by posting your thoughts on something and reading the replies, whether positive or negative, that you'll be in a better position to make a more inform decision.

"Big boy", yes especially round the waist, older yes, more mature, no.


"As far as your car goes if it was mine I would weld it up, make it presentable and beat on it, not worth the money to make it mint, in my opinion. The engine can be stuck in something else if the shell dies".

Andy's advice above is eminently sensible also.

Keep the photos coming, always good.

Kind regards.