RS2 - a new lease of life

[Ross]

I've spent a bit more time on the car. Acidburn came round and swapped the gearbox mounts

However the snub mount bracket was still not fitting, so I took drastic measures:



It's on the cross member tight so I don't think it's going anywhere. I can't detect any harshness or vibration either which is good.

I've fitted the Wagner Intercooler - I had to modify the cross member slightly to get it to fit, due to it being an early example not designed to direct fit the RS2. I've added a brace as the mount point was broken off, which keeps it solid:



I've had the car running this evening but I am getting the coolant light and no temperature on the gauge. This is pretty frustrating as I took the old corroded plug off and attached a new one to the loom, at least before I could see temps - now I have nothing

Getting access is going to be a right pain in the ***** now, and I need to get this sorted before ADI in 2 weeks...

[Ross]

With my RS6 now gone I can stop spending all my car time fixing it and look at the RS2 again.

I have top mounts + MSII's to put to the set. I also have Bambridge tie rod bushes and adjusters to tighten up steering, and HD wishbone bushes already fitted.

I intend to replace the stock springs + Koni's with a set of H&R V1's. I like the idea of the V3 but for an extra £600 I am not sure I can justify it (road only with a view to occasional light track use). They quote a 30-60mm drop; 30 is as low as I want to go - looking for a nice even gap round the arch.

What's the best place to get poly bushes now and has anyone who's done this on an Avant recently have the correct part numbers? I'm want subframe front+rear and any rear suspension bushes except the fat lower arm one - I have a Bambridge pair for that. I don't think I need any other poly's for the front (I have fitted gearbox, engine, snub mounts recently)?

It has a Neuspeed RARB and poly bushes fitted with new drop links all round 40k miles ago - also had ball joints done at the same time - will check all these and replace as necessary as well to tighten her up

Does it makes sense to drop the subframe and do all this - was thinking of sourcing one to be blasted + coated and then sell the old one, as it's looking rather rusty in places. Same for the rear (in which case i may as well polybush that too!)

[A80Avant]

Ross,
If you intent to use this car everyday then be prepared to not enjoy the ride that much with all the stiffening.
30 mm drop as well may give you bumper issues when going in and out garages or possible tow.

I am having my subframes galvanised by Tonks in July as spey and paint just only lasts for a few months.

I have staid with OEM subframe bushes and only went on poly bushes on the control arms as they get worn faster. Mine still has OEM rear subframe bushes without issues. Only going to change them as galvanising will have to have them renewed

[irishs2]

When I was doing mine I could not find any polybushes for the rear subframe. I had to use bambridges solid for it.
I also went with bambridges tie bush too. Link to tie bush

I used powerflex all around for the others except the lower outer 8A0505171C , I went OE for that. Link to Lower outer
Rear Lower Arm Front Bush PFR3-205 x2
Rear Lower Arm Rear Bush PFR3-206 x2

Rear Upper Arm Outer Bush PFR3-208 x 2
Rear Upper Arm Inner Bush PFR3-209 x 4
or
Rear Upper Arm Inner Bush (CAST ARM) PFR3-212 x 4


Can you post a pic of the 'fat lower arm one' from bambridge?

[Jamo]

034 do uprated bushes for rear subframe, I went with solid and powerflex polybushes front and rear

I didn't notice any real difference in comfort ( I didn't go solid upfront for me that was a step too far )

Larkspeed is where I got my kit, they should have it on their website and ebay

[Veg]

Russ, let me know when you have a shopping list as I need to do exactly the same to mine now I have it back on the road! Oh and the handbrake cables, headlining, bit of paint, gliptone the seats etc etc.

[Ross]

Vas - the car hasn't really been used more than a few times a week and very infrequently for the family now. So it gives me the chance to make it a bit more of a 'play thing'. I admit I do still want it to clear the speed bumps at the tip though

I don't want to go quite as low as H&Rs but stock is definitely too high now. I've been driving a slammed RS6 on H&R coilovers and I've not had any issues with that as a daily, so my reasoning is that a decent set of coilovers on the RS2 must be in the same league.

Irish - I've attached the Bambridge bushes and a stock pair I have - looks like the same tie rod and stock lower bushes in your pics actually... proof I need help getting the right parts here

One question - how do I tell which set I need out of these:

Rear Upper Arm Outer Bush PFR3-208 x 2
Rear Upper Arm Inner Bush PFR3-209 x 4
or
Rear Upper Arm Inner Bush (CAST ARM) PFR3-212 x 4

[irishs2]

Thanks, yea they are the ones I have too.

If you look at your upper wishbones and compare with this



Cast left , pressed right.

[Ross]

So it's been 3 years since the car came off the road after a rogue rear cam cover bolt dropped into the cambelt and jumped it 2 teeth!

On axle stands since, this year I made an effort to clear out the debris and weeds that were growing out from underneath on the driveway. It was a start!

I've entered a 'car share' scheme with Sonic the bad news is the RS2 has to go away for a while and will be 50% his when all is done. The good news is we can tackle it together and with his lack of kids that allows more resources to finish the project

Oh, and he had to put some cash which helped buy a nicely modified TTRS to ensure I can still have a 5-pot soundtrack for my daily

We're going for a staged project now, the intention to keep her road worthy as much as possible. First phase is to get the KW V3's and poly bushed suspension back on. Get her rolling. Second phase to sort out brake lines, get a rolling and stopping chassis! Third phase, drop the sump, change the oil pump and get her timed up and running, before summer is out.

The headlining has dropped which may be temporarily glued back up, then she'll be roadworthy.

We still have front + rear subframe bushes, prop bush, Apokil rear diff mount + seals, new balljoints to fit at a later stage. New fogs, headlights, bonnet grill and bumper grills have been lying around for a few years as well as the heated windscreen - that along with some paint, leather recondition and head lining should finish it off...

Some pics and update to come as it progresses, but here's teaser after a productive evening, first evening in a long time of actually putting things back together!

[PaulJ]

Hi Ross, great to see progress has been made, I've not forgotten about your channels, chased the guy making them last week and he has promised me them for 2 weeks time.
Ive been building blast cabinet so I can blast all suspension, calipers, wheels and repaint them all then thats mine done
Paul

[Greg_S]

Great to hear it's making a resurrection, kids definitely reduce the time and funds for tinkering on cars. Does this mean that Andy's s2 is going to be out and running too?

[Sonic]

S2 and RS2 are both in full swing... RS2 should be driveable following this weekend and then just require some TLC. S2 will be a while but work is progressing...

[Sonic]

I feel this thread should be renamed to "Group B RS2" now both me and Ross are in joint-ownership

We've had a pretty productive couple of weeks prior to Ross disappearing to the US for the summer, and we've managed to get all the suspension and new bushes back on, plus a set of custom braided lines to replace all the hardline rubbish, some of which we had to cut off, and so with the wheels back on we have a horribly aligned but rolling chassis capable of stopping itself!

This has now been transported up to my place where i've made room in the garage, so she's safely stowed away again and sheltered whilst Phase 3 takes place.

Phase 3 will be to get the car road-worthy and driveable again and will involve:

• Fitting the correct b3 rear tie rods, replacing the b4 ones we incorrectly fitted which are longer and seriously mess up the rear.
• Changing the position of the arms on the steering rack as it appears we fitted these incorrectly.
• Drop sump, refurbish and fit a replacement oil pump to prevent premature wear given a dent by the bearing in the existing one.
• Fit RS2 exhaust cam which i have in the garage somewhere, no longer required on my S2 project.
• Fit new water pump and timing belt..
• Geometry.
• MOT.

Pics make everything clearer and show the progress!