Mr Simmonds 3B lite project.

[K Simmonds]

Thanks for the offer mate but I'd rather just stay good friends

In seriousness I seem to recall you getting a rack modified to be quicker again, take it you've got that fitted now?

[Error404]

Its not any quicker mate, I had it modified to reduce the assistance and give more feel

[K Simmonds]

Its not any quicker mate, I had it modified to reduce the assistance and give more feel

Ah yes, I remember now, how does it feel compared to a stock ABY rack mate?

Been for another little blast this evening, pretty much use to the feel of the new rack, dying to get the alingment done now. Just got the rear wishbone to sort out before I can get it done. Going to do the pair so I can do a proper job of freeing off the the ball joint sliders with lashings of copper grease and get a bit more negative camber with ease, will aim for 1 degree 30'.

Got all new shiny OE hard ware to bolt everything back together with a little copper grease.

[andy10v]

Mm lots of nice shiny bits there!

Its always suprisingly pleasant to assemble fresh hardware, especially in contrast to winding out rusty bolts!

[K Simmonds]

Yep and much nicer to take appart again in future. Plus I'm replacing a lot of non orginal poor quaility bolts the previous owner used, a few with the wrong stress rating.

Which is going to happen as my rear subframe only has a couple of years left in it even though it was powder coated 8 years ago so I'm on the look out for a decent one from an 80 Q etc that I could weld the ARB fittings onto and get zinc plated or galvanised.

My plan would be to drop the lot and put it back together when I tackle the minor rot in the back end from previous accident damage, which I've found out happened in back 1995 so the repair has faired up pretty well. I may have to replace the lower rear panel if I can't do a tidy job of patching it ala Tonks, mine isn't as bad as his was either.

[K Simmonds]

Had a day pottering on the S2 today started fitting the tidy interior I picked up as well doing some light weight sound insulation.

Used some left overs from work, weighs sod all.



Got the stero working on all four speakers at last.



Fitted the leather rear bench I got from Dubmanted along with the rear trim cards after swapping the carbon trim over.



Going to use some of this underlay tomommow to get the carpets to sit right as well as for a bit of extra sound insulation, again it weighs next to nothing.

[andy10v]

Its not a house Kit......

In all serious though I would imagine that will make a world of difference, let us know how it is once done, I might get sick of bare metal and rattles yet!

[K Simmonds]

I've done just that over the past year mate, I hate rattles and squeaks etc so don't mind sacrificing 5KG's on a bit of extra comfort, and that's all it is tops. Plus it was free. I've got her to the stage now where my bro is a bit gutted, it's more comfy and refinded than his 2001 S3. And there's no point comparing performance.

After dong away with various solid alloy bushes as well as reverting to stock springs from the Coupe correct H&R's I'm finally dead chuffed with my set up of poly bushes fitted to all suspensions componants, decent dampers, late spec stock springs, a serviced ABY rack and some fairly decent 225/45/17 rubber on 7.5" ET 27 Compomotive rims weighing in at 21.5 KG' with a 225. It is however worth noting that the handling is much better again when shes fitted with my multi spoke wheels that weigh in at 18.5 KG shod with 215/45/ Toyo R1R's. These give the best handling and grip by a mile over all the options I've tried, and there's a 3KG saving over 225/45's on the Compo's!

However theres a part of me that really wants to run a mint set of OE 3B rims with 225/50 R1R's.

Before I commit to 330mm rotors I'm going to take the time to mock up an hardwood bracket to find out how much I would need to reduce the rotor size to get it to work with satisfactory stock 3B wheel clearance with my Alcons and still have the pads sweep the disc properly.

If I can get 320X30mm or pos 316x30 mm rotors on there I reckon I'll have the option of running OE rims for ultimate stealth, as well as having the option of my Compo's on light weight multispokes for show's or trackdays. The 215/45 R!R's would be my first choice om track, wet or dry as ther awesome in both conditions.

[K Simmonds]

Used the sound proofing underlay to mimick the shape of the original sound deadening and get the carpet to sit right then gave it a good clean before refitting the seats.

It's a fair bit more quite now, I weighed the stuff I used and it came to 3.8 kg's.

Also fitted the rear bench, it needs a good clea but is in near mint condition.

[K Simmonds]

After I'd tracied and sorted a central locking fault I fitted a permanant OBD2 socket using a cheapo 2x2 lead, note the obligatory rats nest Work a treat and safes faffing with the 2x2 converter, pulled the codes after covering about 1500 miles with the RS2 turbo and PRJ ECU, no faults.





I've been doing a bit of boost leak testing and found the very slight hiss I could hear behind the IM, it was the ISV so I did the standard repair with Alraldite and it's sorted that. I found a new 90 degree ISV elbow in my parts stash so I fitted that and made the short straight hose out of tidy bit of old VAG coolant hose, looks nice and stock. The only leaks I have now is a couple of miniscule ones from around the threads of the injector seats, it holds pressure for ages and the bubbles in the soapy water are very, very slow so I'm not sure it's worth the hassle, I'll test it yet again and concentrate on them to make a decsion.



I also fitted a new turbo oil feed gasket as when I whacked the RS2 unit on i had to reuse the new ones I'd used when fitting the hybrid and there was slighest of weeps from the conection, that's now 100% oil tight.

So all she needs is a wash and maybe a polish if I can find time before I'm ready for ADI.

Not all good news, took her for a quick blast this evening and I'm quite sure my clutch is on it's last legs, it's OK to cruise along in and overtake etc, but full right foot application results in slip while in 4th and 5th. Thinking of getting a Sach SRE kit as their pretty bomb proof and last as well be nice to use.

[piotr]

Thanks very much for photos,i will speak with my mate tonight and i let you know.
Cheers bud

[dubmanted]

Ah yes, I remember now, how does it feel compared to a stock ABY rack mate?

Been for another little blast this evening, pretty much use to the feel of the new rack, dying to get the alingment done now. Just got the rear wishbone to sort out before I can get it done. Going to do the pair so I can do a proper job of freeing off the the ball joint sliders with lashings of copper grease and get a bit more negative camber with ease, will aim for 1 degree 30'.

Got all new shiny OE hard ware to bolt everything back together with a little copper grease.

Where did you get all new bolts & brackets from if you dont mind me asking?

Thanks

[K Simmonds]

I'll drop you a PM now Ted

[K Simmonds]

Not updated this thread for a while as I'm very busy with work and not getting much time to spend working on my cars, that's all good though means I've got bit of £ spare to lavish on the old girl.

I've been driving around the slipping clutch but have a Sachs SRE kit waiting to go in, it has occurred to me that I need to order a new release bearing ready to do the job, any suggestions as to what's the best quality one to use?

The coolant going missing and excess water in the catch tank has been completely cured with 1/2 a small bottle of K-seal so the head gasket wants changing by rights. However I'm loathed to pull the head off given that the compression is between 152-158 PSI on all five cylinders and she's running perfectly. By the way, I wouldn't recommend putting that stuff in our cars, I only did it as an experiment and am fully aware that it's a bodge.

I have all the parts put by to do a head gasket change as well as a new windage tray and sump gaskets, there's currently a slight oil leak being caused by a distorted tray that I gambled on using when I put her back together last year. I was planning to do the head, sump and clutch all in one hit, it would be much easier to change the clutch with the head off. But for now I think I'm going to pull the starter motor and check the flywheel for oil contamination, if it's clean I'm considering just doing the clutch and rebuilding the drive shafts and prop for the time being. I'm not fitting my somewhat expensive new clutch if there's the slightest hint of oil in the bell housing.

Anyway the main reason for this post is today is MOT day and I have a day off work which is nice. It also kinda of a mile stone, after seven years of ownership last years and this this years MOT's are the only one's I've done, it came with 11 months test which I used then sat for a long time in bits.

This morning I'm going to give her a good clean on top and underneath to make the testers life easier and she's ready, I've pre MOT'd her and she's all good as far as I can see.

Oh, and the genuine Bosch recon MAF should be with me today so I can check that out closely before I decide to fit it. I have every hope that it's going to be fine as it came from the same company as I got my clutch from and they appear to only sell quality stuff.

[K Simmonds]

MOT passed with no advisories, so another year of S2 motoring can proceed.

No more headlight washers and colour coded front bumper, just whacked it on quick so the gaps still need a touch of adjustment but I can live with it for now.