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You might want to make yourself a cup of tea before sitting down to read this...
Those of you who've read my Mental Wheels thread might remember me buying an 'N' reg RS2 from Derby in October 2014, and the most eagle eyed of you will have spotted this picture at the bottom left of page 99 in issue 15 of Audi Tuner Magazine:
Well, following a fairly brief but immensely fun stint at drag racing the car at Santa Pod and the Shakespeare County Raceway:
...whilst on my way to another event, might've been GTI Festival, something went 'twang' about 15 miles after leaving the house. I wasn’t quite sure what it was but over the next few miles I noticed it had become unusually difficult to change gear until it became clear pushing the clutch pedal no longer had any effect on the transmission. No more clutch. So I turned around and drove as carefully as I could, rev matching the gear changes as best as I was able, all the way back home.
Then I had to face backing the car into my narrow garage which is a bit of a trial with a fully operational clutch, let alone no clutch - I’ve scratched the wings on two of my cars backing in (one of them my other RS2) although I was being silly and trying to reposition the cars when I should’ve just gone out and started again, sometimes I just don’t learn!
So anyway, there is a bank up to the garage door so there was no pushing the car in, I had stop outside my driveway kill the engine put it in reverse and turn the key using the starter motor to back into my drive way and hope I ended up with a good line into the garage. Of course when the engines starts to fire up you end up going faster than you want to so have to pull it out of gear and start again. The line wasn’t quite right so I let it roll down the bank slightly until the car was on the right line again. Then I had to take my shot, stick it reverse and turn the key hoping the back end makes it safely in, which normally isn’t too scary but when you have no clutch control things are different. Anyway the back end went in and I killed the engine once more making sure the line was still good, pulled the wing mirrors in and for the final time use the starter to bring the car all the way in. And there the car sat until about Saturday 16th of April.
As I had helped Kit in his acquisition of his RS2, Kit in kind, has been helping me with my RS2 problems that I have no hope of dealing with by myself. Initially my plan was to get the car delivered to Will at VRS so he could do the clutch as well as do a little bit of swapping this and that around between the 3 RS2’s of mine he would then have. Just before the car was due to go up Kit offered to do my clutch, as you might imagine I was delighted and over the course of the next few days he would continually blow my mind at the way he casually dismantled* the car, laying out all the many parts knowing exactly where each of them went back.
[*expletives may or may not have been used during the dismantling process]
Now if you were paying attention during the Mental Wheels thread you will remember that the clutch taken off that car was virtually new and as I mentioned at the time would possibly be required should dragging my other car cause it’s clutch to fail. Well fail it did and what follows is a pictorial story of how my special, beloved, almost OEM and unmolested (but for a Supersprint exhaust) RS2 came to be reunited with a clutch and become driveable once more…
Unfortunately I didn’t think to start taking pictures until the car was in Kit’s garage with the bonnet up and the airbox removed, so that’s where I’ll start.
Incidentally, watching Kit go about his business in his garage is like being in a David Attenborough documentary about watching a small animal like an ant or a beaver going about his daily tasks, doing things out of pure instinct.
A little grubby but gotta start somewhere:
Access to some of the parts is less than desirable but you've gotta work with whatcha got:
Underneath the car now, exhaust needs to go:
What's this? Not sure duct tape will patch this up, job added to list:
Other Side looks okay:
Rear end of exhaust supported so I can support the downpipe as Kit detaches it from the turbo:
Holly project managing, making sure there's no dilly dallying:
Kit's nice array of sockets:
Detached from wastegate:
And it's orf:
Nearside driveshaft off:
Offside driveshaft off:
Underneath shot showing 20 years of assault from the UK highways:
Kit getting intimate with a driveshaft:
Propshaft keeping out of the way:
Bell housing detached:
Clutch and flywheel, not sure if my phone is objecting to the lack of light or the condition of my clutch:
Interior of the bell housing strangely black, again the phone taking up issue with something:
The flywheel, not much appears to be wrong with it, do we stick with this one or go with the one that's attached to the new clutch?:
The abused clutch:
That's what went 'twang'! ...Kit? Is that you??
Beware the drag racer...:
Now, back to that dodgy CV boot:
Off it comes:
Shoving on the new boot/gaiter:
Liberally applying new grease:
Nice:
Back together again:
Giving the splines a little love:
Nice:
New flywheel bolts, I think:
Flywheel off:
Yep, definitely not there anymore:
Deciding to go with the flywheel that was already on the car Kit begins meticulously surface prepping the face:
Knocking in some locating dowels:
Ready:
Locating the flywheel with the original bolts:
Then finally putting all new bolts in:
Here we see the Kit in his native territory, burrowing amongst the internals of the automobile transmission system:
Finding something that needs fixing he is compelled to tackle the issue:
The slave cylinder
:
Clutch and pressure plate affixed:
One of the things I was tasked with, cleaning the bell housing:
Bringing the parts one step closer, Kit keeps his keen eye out for any anomalies:
So close, but not quite there yet:
Some more cleaning jobs for me to do:
And POR15'd:
Now I'd been sent under the car to get scrubbing, I wasn't going without protection:
I mostly just attacked the subframe:
Using the phone as a mirror to see how covered in sh*t I was, it was about half past midnight at this point:
Then I started messing around with some heat shielding to see if I could come up with something that looked better than the corroded shroud that was there:
Kit ingeniously using the low pressure of a deflated tyre to force the clutch fluid in:
The interior fan only has 'off' and 'flat-out' so Kit showed me how to remove the fan. What a complete f*cking t'wat the top screw is to get at. I was all set to give up until Kit said it could be done with mole-grips and so that's how I undone it, mm by mm, turning the screw about 10° at a time:
Separating the fan from the motor proved to be a ball ache as well, but after liberally applying some teflon lubricant to the bearings in the vain hope that because it's dry it won't accumulate dirt and cause the resistor to burn out again, it now spins nice and freely - it didn't before:
Some of the nuts and bolts I took a wire wheel to:
Now back to the heat shield, rather than use my shabby looking knock-up, I thought it best just to spray the stuff already there with a load of high temperature paint to hide the rust
:
Kit doing something under the car, also one of the few shots of evidence of trying to clean up the turbo:
Here is the more fun Kit in motion version:
There, see, good as new:
It was decided that my drop links were in a slightly undesirable condition, so Kit kindly put on a couple of new ones he had lying around:
Here's that CV boot that was torn, or it's replacement at least:
It's back together and IT WORKS!!!:
Looking a bit dusty after being stowed away and only started once in a while for over 6 months... and still marked from it's last strip session:
Bit of engine bay cleaning:
Kit in motion:
Bit of spit on a rag and wipe it off:
One final aerial shot as I put it away until I tax it at the beginning of next month.
Now all this didn't go quite as smoothly as the pictures might imply but Kit did an amazing job essentially swapping the clutch out, refitting a CV boot and a couple of drop links all by himself, Kit may choose to recall some choice occasions such as the frustration of putting the replacement slave cylinder in and suddenly having a eureka moment and wanting to sing and dance and tell the whole world about it. Perhaps he'll write his own thread on it but rubber grease was the key to it fitting in place. He won't forget that one!
So just the sodding interior fan to sort out
Also have a locking wheel nut issue to fix. One was on there so tight it cracked the key trying to get it off!!!
Anyway HUUUUUUUUUUUUUGE thanks to Kit for all his after work hours on the car, you are a massive legend!!!
Soooooo good to have an RS2 again!!
How is it I have 3 and haven't driven one for over 6 months... 
...and well done anyone who is still reading this!!
Those of you who've read my Mental Wheels thread might remember me buying an 'N' reg RS2 from Derby in October 2014, and the most eagle eyed of you will have spotted this picture at the bottom left of page 99 in issue 15 of Audi Tuner Magazine:
Well, following a fairly brief but immensely fun stint at drag racing the car at Santa Pod and the Shakespeare County Raceway:
...whilst on my way to another event, might've been GTI Festival, something went 'twang' about 15 miles after leaving the house. I wasn’t quite sure what it was but over the next few miles I noticed it had become unusually difficult to change gear until it became clear pushing the clutch pedal no longer had any effect on the transmission. No more clutch. So I turned around and drove as carefully as I could, rev matching the gear changes as best as I was able, all the way back home.
Then I had to face backing the car into my narrow garage which is a bit of a trial with a fully operational clutch, let alone no clutch - I’ve scratched the wings on two of my cars backing in (one of them my other RS2) although I was being silly and trying to reposition the cars when I should’ve just gone out and started again, sometimes I just don’t learn!
So anyway, there is a bank up to the garage door so there was no pushing the car in, I had stop outside my driveway kill the engine put it in reverse and turn the key using the starter motor to back into my drive way and hope I ended up with a good line into the garage. Of course when the engines starts to fire up you end up going faster than you want to so have to pull it out of gear and start again. The line wasn’t quite right so I let it roll down the bank slightly until the car was on the right line again. Then I had to take my shot, stick it reverse and turn the key hoping the back end makes it safely in, which normally isn’t too scary but when you have no clutch control things are different. Anyway the back end went in and I killed the engine once more making sure the line was still good, pulled the wing mirrors in and for the final time use the starter to bring the car all the way in. And there the car sat until about Saturday 16th of April.As I had helped Kit in his acquisition of his RS2, Kit in kind, has been helping me with my RS2 problems that I have no hope of dealing with by myself. Initially my plan was to get the car delivered to Will at VRS so he could do the clutch as well as do a little bit of swapping this and that around between the 3 RS2’s of mine he would then have. Just before the car was due to go up Kit offered to do my clutch, as you might imagine I was delighted and over the course of the next few days he would continually blow my mind at the way he casually dismantled* the car, laying out all the many parts knowing exactly where each of them went back.
[*expletives may or may not have been used during the dismantling process]
Now if you were paying attention during the Mental Wheels thread you will remember that the clutch taken off that car was virtually new and as I mentioned at the time would possibly be required should dragging my other car cause it’s clutch to fail. Well fail it did and what follows is a pictorial story of how my special, beloved, almost OEM and unmolested (but for a Supersprint exhaust) RS2 came to be reunited with a clutch and become driveable once more…
Unfortunately I didn’t think to start taking pictures until the car was in Kit’s garage with the bonnet up and the airbox removed, so that’s where I’ll start.
Incidentally, watching Kit go about his business in his garage is like being in a David Attenborough documentary about watching a small animal like an ant or a beaver going about his daily tasks, doing things out of pure instinct.
A little grubby but gotta start somewhere:
Access to some of the parts is less than desirable but you've gotta work with whatcha got:
Underneath the car now, exhaust needs to go:
What's this? Not sure duct tape will patch this up, job added to list:
Other Side looks okay:
Rear end of exhaust supported so I can support the downpipe as Kit detaches it from the turbo:
Holly project managing, making sure there's no dilly dallying:
Kit's nice array of sockets:
Detached from wastegate:
And it's orf:
Nearside driveshaft off:
Offside driveshaft off:
Underneath shot showing 20 years of assault from the UK highways:
Kit getting intimate with a driveshaft:
Propshaft keeping out of the way:
Bell housing detached:
Clutch and flywheel, not sure if my phone is objecting to the lack of light or the condition of my clutch:
Interior of the bell housing strangely black, again the phone taking up issue with something:
The flywheel, not much appears to be wrong with it, do we stick with this one or go with the one that's attached to the new clutch?:
The abused clutch:
That's what went 'twang'! ...Kit? Is that you??
Beware the drag racer...:
Now, back to that dodgy CV boot:
Off it comes:
Shoving on the new boot/gaiter:
Liberally applying new grease:
Nice:
Back together again:
Giving the splines a little love:
Nice:
New flywheel bolts, I think:
Flywheel off:
Yep, definitely not there anymore:
Deciding to go with the flywheel that was already on the car Kit begins meticulously surface prepping the face:
Knocking in some locating dowels:
Ready:
Locating the flywheel with the original bolts:
Then finally putting all new bolts in:
Here we see the Kit in his native territory, burrowing amongst the internals of the automobile transmission system:
Finding something that needs fixing he is compelled to tackle the issue:
The slave cylinder
:Clutch and pressure plate affixed:
One of the things I was tasked with, cleaning the bell housing:
Bringing the parts one step closer, Kit keeps his keen eye out for any anomalies:
So close, but not quite there yet:
Some more cleaning jobs for me to do:
And POR15'd:
Now I'd been sent under the car to get scrubbing, I wasn't going without protection:
I mostly just attacked the subframe:
Using the phone as a mirror to see how covered in sh*t I was, it was about half past midnight at this point:
Then I started messing around with some heat shielding to see if I could come up with something that looked better than the corroded shroud that was there:
Kit ingeniously using the low pressure of a deflated tyre to force the clutch fluid in:
The interior fan only has 'off' and 'flat-out' so Kit showed me how to remove the fan. What a complete f*cking t'wat the top screw is to get at. I was all set to give up until Kit said it could be done with mole-grips and so that's how I undone it, mm by mm, turning the screw about 10° at a time:
Separating the fan from the motor proved to be a ball ache as well, but after liberally applying some teflon lubricant to the bearings in the vain hope that because it's dry it won't accumulate dirt and cause the resistor to burn out again, it now spins nice and freely - it didn't before:
Some of the nuts and bolts I took a wire wheel to:
Now back to the heat shield, rather than use my shabby looking knock-up, I thought it best just to spray the stuff already there with a load of high temperature paint to hide the rust
:Kit doing something under the car, also one of the few shots of evidence of trying to clean up the turbo:
Here is the more fun Kit in motion version:
There, see, good as new:
It was decided that my drop links were in a slightly undesirable condition, so Kit kindly put on a couple of new ones he had lying around:
Here's that CV boot that was torn, or it's replacement at least:
It's back together and IT WORKS!!!:
Looking a bit dusty after being stowed away and only started once in a while for over 6 months... and still marked from it's last strip session:
Bit of engine bay cleaning:
Kit in motion:
Bit of spit on a rag and wipe it off:
One final aerial shot as I put it away until I tax it at the beginning of next month.
Now all this didn't go quite as smoothly as the pictures might imply but Kit did an amazing job essentially swapping the clutch out, refitting a CV boot and a couple of drop links all by himself, Kit may choose to recall some choice occasions such as the frustration of putting the replacement slave cylinder in and suddenly having a eureka moment and wanting to sing and dance and tell the whole world about it. Perhaps he'll write his own thread on it but rubber grease was the key to it fitting in place. He won't forget that one!
So just the sodding interior fan to sort out
Also have a locking wheel nut issue to fix. One was on there so tight it cracked the key trying to get it off!!!
Anyway HUUUUUUUUUUUUUGE thanks to Kit for all his after work hours on the car, you are a massive legend!!!
Soooooo good to have an RS2 again!!
How is it I have 3 and haven't driven one for over 6 months... ...and well done anyone who is still reading this!!
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