My S2 coupe bit of a rebuild and repair thread.

[B5NUT]

Started fitting my Exhaust system today, and as usual with aftermarket components it did not go well. Also used copper silicone which does not give you very long before it goes off.
1-sealent.jpg

Before the exhaust went back on the car it had to be cleaned up and remove all the oil that had covered it over the years from the engine & gearbox leak
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Thinners and 240 wet & dry did the job
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Had to do that with most of the exhaust, and still have the backbox to clean
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When I tried to fit the centre section I came upon a problem I did not have enough room the get the curved section between body & the diff mount. So I had no choice but to remove the right diff mount. Then had to remove the cats that I had fitted first as there was no way it was going to fit with them in place first
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This all took far too long and trying to get it to align correctly was just a nightmare. This hole exhaust system in my eyes is just a bodge and at some point this year I'll replace it with a better manufactured system.

Just need the rear wheels, bumper and the backbox on now then I should be able to get the car started again. However the weather is against me for the next few days

[Tractor Dave]

On no. I thought you were over the worst but this car seems to have many surprises up it's sleeve for you. That exhaust looks quite thin in the pics. Have you measured the pipe diameter?
I too will be looking for exhaust options. My middle box isn't great.

[B5NUT]

I think I'm over the worst. The exhaust was the last bodge on the car as I knew it was done by the last owner, and after the fuel pipe issues (also done by the last owner) the exhaust was on my mind.

Also the tailpipes for my liking stick down far too low so it was on my list of things to fix. It's a good enough system for the time being and will sort out a replacement in the summer.

Now just waiting on an order from tradition for a few bits including rear ARB bushes. For the time being I'll just stick the old ones back in and replace them when they arrive, as it's an easy enough job. Once the car is back on it's wheels it's on with the interior.

[Rikki Kitto]

Put a whiteline arb on it they make a massive difference

[B5NUT]

There are lot's of options for this car that would make it better, but I'm trying to keep it factory where I can, so the original arb will be going back on. It's also a £200 saving using the old arb, and I'm now trying to slowdown the spend on the car .

[Bowie69]

It is a massive difference... flat cornering!

[Lago Blue]

Not sure if this applies to your silicone sealant above, but just in case...

https://www.s2forum.com/forum/techni...its-prevention

[B5NUT]

Well there are no sensors near when I have put silicone, and I've only put the very smallest amount between the downpipe & cats, as I could see it has been leaking there at some point in time, so wanted to put something on to stop that.

Almost finished the underside of the car. Last few remaining jobs done today

Removed the old rusting cover on the downpipe, need to replace with exhaust wrap.
1-heat.jpg

Finished repairing the fuel filter cover and got it back on the car, that putty is good stuff.
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Connect the pipes to the actuator
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Painted the exposed metal where the speed nuts had removed it

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Not sure the centre silencer should be this close to the propshaft
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Underside almost complete
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Final jobs are to sort of the ABS sensors, tighten the rear driveshaft bolts and all the bolts that require the wheels to be on the ground.

[Tractor Dave]

Looking good.

[B5NUT]

Well today was good day for me, sun was out it was warmish and I finally have 4 wheels on the car.

Amazon order arrived with replacement bulbs. The B5 uses some of the same bulbs so ordered bulk packs where I could. The old bulbs were a mixture of ring & osram, so just replaced the lot. The third day I got the car one of the headlight bulbs failed so already replaced all the front bulbs
1-bulbs.jpg

Sorted or the ABS sensors, converted some front sensors into rear sensors
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Found that the front sensors use the same colour coding of wires so hopefully they are not wired the other way around at the sensor end.

Cut the cable at the plug end, swapped over the grommet and then solder the cables together and protected with heat shrink & harness tape.
5-abs.jpg




Got the wheels on the car and fitted the ARB, not fully secured it yet as I'm waiting on the bushed from tradition which should arrive mid week
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Removed the plastic trim I was struggling with, what a place to hide a screw.
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With that removed the top strut nut was tightened up. So apart from the ARB nuts & bolts the suspension is complete.

Now onto the interior. I hoped no one had touched the interior, but the hand of bodge had been in there.

Screw in as hard as you can..
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If it won't budge then jut rip it out.. They had no idea you remove the plastic cap to remove the screw!
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On a side note. I know you should grease the door hinges, but you must get to the point where you have applied enough.

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Took the lower trim off and found this. It's the only bit of bodged wiring I have found on the car and it goes to the ignition barrel, anyone have idea on this?
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Found the inner top seal had failed so a replacement have been ordered from tradition for both sides + the boot seal.
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So the rear is just about stripped, the seats will be out tomorrow and the centre console. So hopefully the carpet will also be out tomorrow.

[newsh]

Ignition switch is where stereo and alarm muppets go to get power and interrupt ignition feed for immob purposes. I had similar on a couple of my cars, in fact both my coupe and the Nothelle had two alarm/immobs and dead trackers to remove plus the Coupe had a dreadful stereo with extra amps shoved up behind the dash which all fell out if you unbolted the glove box
Oh yes and extra wires going to all the centre console switches for some reason.. somewhere on here there’s pics of the piles of wire and random boxes of electronics I pulled out, literally kilos of it.
Anyway, carefully un peel the leccy tape and you should be able to see what’s going on, I always remove all that stuff and put it back to standard as best I can.

[newsh]

Same story with the hidden screws pulled out too!
Hope it’s dry under your carpet!

[B5NUT]

Thanks. I'll get the seat out and start removing the tape and remove all traces of the electrical tape and whatever that fuse holder is.

Same story with the hidden screws pulled out too!
Hope it’s dry under your carpet!

It should be dry as it's been under a car cover for the last 5 months. Will hopefully find out tomorrow.

[newsh]

There’s a very useful dodge that a lot of people do which is to take the radio switched power feed from a thin red wire on the ignition switch, this means the radio stays on when you switch off the engine until you pull the key out. Nice if you want to park up and listen to the cricket ;-)

[newsh]

Thanks. I'll get the seat out and start removing the tape and remove all traces of the electrical tape and whatever that fuse holder is.



It should be dry as it's been under a car cover for the last 5 months. Will hopefully find out tomorrow.

Good move, coupes can be leaky.