My S2 coupe bit of a rebuild and repair thread.

[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.
2-cover.jpg
3-cover.jpg

Connect the pipes to the actuator
4-act.jpg

Painted the exposed metal where the speed nuts had removed it

5-paint.jpg


Not sure the centre silencer should be this close to the propshaft
7-poor.jpg

Underside almost complete
6-under.jpg

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.

[Lago Blue]

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

https://www.s2forum.com/forum/technical/engine-and-turbo/2116180-warning-silicone-contamination-of-oxygen-sensors-catalysts-and-its-prevention

[Bowie69]

It is a massive difference... flat cornering!

[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 .

[Rikki Kitto]

Put a whiteline arb on it they make a massive difference

[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.

[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]

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
2-exhaust.jpg
Thinners and 240 wet & dry did the job
3-exhaust.jpg

Had to do that with most of the exhaust, and still have the backbox to clean
4-exhaust.jpg
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
5-mount.jpg

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

[B5NUT]

I purchased it when I did the CV boots on my 3.0TDI A6, the boots on that car were of a plastic type material, and there was a specific torque setting for the boot. Also there was no way you could do the A6 boots using normal hand held ear-clip tool.

[newsh]

I’m impressed by that ear-clip tool!

[vonbeck]

Nice work stick with it and keep the pictures coming

[Mikes2]

For any torque settings not listed on the link above, ask here. I'll have them in the workshop manual and can add them.

[Bowie69]

I would yes, it helps seal, but also lubricates while assembling, makes it MUCH easier.

[B5NUT]

Question, exhaust silicone Yes or No?

Over the years all my cars have either been Audi or VW, and for the exhaust system I've always used the Audi OEM sleeve clamps. However on this S2 the last owner had a stainless system fitted and they have used U clamps to clamp some of the sections together. With this should I be using exhaust silicone when I slide the two sections together? I just wonder how well U clamps seal the pipe without silicone.

[B5NUT]

Thanks. That was my initial starting point for torque settings and I've been creating my own excel spreadsheet of all the different nuts & bolts as I've been working through the car.

Managed to get a fair bit done over the weekend. Started off getting the brakes on the car and got them blead & handbrake cables attached. However before I fitted them I found I had forgot the CV boot clip
1-CVboot.jpg

Standard S2 calliper's painted silver as just about everything else is black,
1-brakes.jpg

Next up propshaft alignment using these. I'm having to do this as I'm 100% sure there was no spacers on my prop when took it off.
2-tools.jpg

These marks had been placed on the mounts so I know someone had taken the prop off the car, so that mark gives me the side to side alignment, but not the required spacer.
4-marks.jpg

As I don't have access to the lovely expensive Audi alignment tool so I got a couple of magnetic spirit levels on either side of the shaft then aligned it
3-tools.jpg
5-align.jpg
So the required spacer on my S2 was 6MM

Only the 2mm spacer is still available to order
6-part.jpg

However that part number has been superseded, and surprisingly the new part is a lot cheaper
7-part.jpg

With the prop aligned the bolts were tightened with the help of 3 clamps
9-clamp.jpg
Track rod nuts tightened using a breaker bar to apply some pressure
10-track.jpg


Next up to drain the gearbox. Looks like this is the original oil as the drain & fill plugs were well seized, but eventual gave way without any damage
11-drain.jpg
Got over 2.6 litters out and including a little spillage and as you will never completely drain the box it looks like my gearbox seals are still working as they should.

Once drained I went magnet fishing.
12-fishing.jpg
Came out clean so at least I think the gearbox is not eating it's self alive
13-clean.jpg

Next to clean more parts and get the exhaust on the car, and maybe even try and start it up again this weekend.