My S2 coupe bit of a rebuild and repair thread.

[newsh]

When I took the door cards I made a note of the angle of the allen key, as I was poking around for a while in there trying to get it on the socket head.

Everyone does that! There should be a little plastic tube in there to guide the Allen key but they’re fragile and I’ve never seen one unbroken..

[B5NUT]

Took the car out for a small drive this morning, tracking is all over the place as expected, but the car worked and drove without fault thankfully.

The lower trims were painted and put on the car this morning
1-trims.jpg
2-trims.jpg

Found I had some paint that I used on the A4 to restore some of it's trims so used this stuff
3-paint.jpg
4-paint.jpg

When I took the door cards I made a note of the angle of the allen key, as I was poking around for a while in there trying to get it on the socket head.
5-allen.jpg
6-allen.jpg

Will look to paint the lower sill's today as they are looking a bit faded.

[B5NUT]

Also can anyone recommend a radio to fit the car, was looking for one with DAB & bluetooth and does not cost too much (under £200)

[B5NUT]

Not a problem Kit. Figured there could be variations in models Avant, Couple, b3, ABY etc. Anyway got sorted. Was a bit of a pig finding the correct angle to get the tools in as well, Also surprise, surprise someone had been in there before as bits were missing and damaged Still all sorted now and another job off the list.

[K Simmonds]

Spent 1/2 an hour trying to get the middle & upper cap head screws out with a 5mm allen key, turns out they were 4mm on my car. Nothing on this car has been straight forward. Still both door cards are now off.

Oh bother, sorry mate, glad you got there in the end...

I've just looked in my tool box and I've got cut off 4mm and 5mm Allen keys for this job, so thinking about it I must have come across both sizes at some point, I know the two front clamping one's on my RS2 are 5mm as I checked this morning and for some reason the back one is a Philips head, perhaps someone's been in there before me, God knows!

Edit..

Just gone back and noticed I also somehow managed to do a double post as opposed edit a single post while using my phone, durrr. I'll go back and tidy it up a bit and edit my guide to say 4mm or possibly 5mm Allen head fixings in case anybody else try's follow it.

[B5NUT]

Thanks that's a big help. I know why I could not find the sticker as my car at some point in it's life has had a full respray. So 36PSI it is

[johne]

'96 Coupe tyre pressure sticker from tailgate. IMG_3658.jpeg

[B5NUT]

Spent 1/2 an hour trying to get the middle & upper cap head screws out with a 5mm allen key, turns out they were 4mm on my car. Nothing on this car has been straight forward. Still both door cards are now off.

[B5NUT]

Thanks for the help guy's I would have most likely removed all the screws rather than just having them lose. I'm about to start on the door cards as I've been finishing off a few jobs this morning.

Got all the wheel arch liners fitted, and fitted the bonnet stops. These are from a Ford MK1 Escort, so that means the car will now completely disintegrate due to rust!
1-stop.jpg

Also got the front lower lights on for the first time in 5 months, I'll look to start painting the grill's later today/tomorrow
2-front.jpg
Finally I see light in what has been a very long rusty and bodged tunnel.

[K Simmonds]

Yep, that's right, the one at the back does need to be completly disengaged but not fully removed from the handle. It's a bit of an odd arrangement, but I'm sure Lee will work it out.

Sent from my SM-A115F using Tapatalk

[Bowie69]

Yes, one at the back is Allen on my car, and yes, there is three!

even the back one doesn't need to come out of the handle, just loose enough to disengage with the bracket. ?

[K Simmonds]

Double post...

[K Simmonds]

Just checked my car and there are actually three acess holes in the interior door handle, the two at the front are for the Allen head clamp bolts and it appears the one at the back is a Philips head screw, though I'm pretty sure I've also encountered an Allen head here as well. The one at the back must be fully undone, but not removed from the handle.


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[K Simmonds]

Looking good, those new lower trims finishing the car of a treat...

Door car removal is pretty straight forward...

Fully lower the window.

Undo the obvious screw's at the top, front and rear.

Untighten but don't actually fully undo the two 4mm or some case's 5mm Allen head clamping bolts through the access hole's in the interior door handle, three or four full turns should be enough, this is the worst bit IMO. I use the long bit an Allen key cut off straight combined with a 1/4 drive socket and ratchet, though a proper long Allen socket is also just fine, however if it's 3/8's drive you'll probably find it cumbersome.

Remove interior door handle by pulling it towards the car at 90 degree's to the face of the door card, it'll need a bit of a jiggle and you may need to untighten the Allen bolts another turn or two.

Unplug and remove all the switches.

Undo and remove the screw's along with the two little L shaped brackets that the interior handle claps onto.

Carefully lift the door card straight up from the underside of the door pocket, again a little jiggling may be required but you shouldn't need to go wild.

There's a little spring clip that keep's the interior door pull cable in place on the back of handle, noting it's position as it's possible to reassemble this incorrectly and that will really piss you off. Don't ask me how I know.

Pull the interior door pull and unhook the cable from the back.

Feed the wiring through the holes in the card.

Remove the door card completely.

Now spend half an hour finding all the rubber things that protect the door card brackets and prevent rattles. They'll be in the bottom of the door, on the floor, in the plastic brackets on the back of the door card and some will still be where they're supposed to be located on the door itself.

Have a cup of tea.

[B5NUT]

Few further jobs of the list today.

Replaced the lower trims
1-trims.jpg
Starting to look better.
2-car.jpg
Replaced the boot seal.
3-seal.jpg

Easy enough to fit but was a little tight, also takes a little more force to close the boot but there in no more play.
4-seal.jpg

Tomorrow I need to replace the inner upper door card seal. Looking at that seal I will need to remove the door card as I was able to replace the outer one without removing the card. Not sure how easy that's going to be.