Das Smaragd RS2+ Coupe

[John B]

2 January 2012 - Handbrake solution

Well the handbrake adaptors arrived thanks to Kev (Bambridge).

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So I just had to try them out for size

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These were the prototypes in mild steel and they fitted perfectly......so had a plated set made up.

[Greg_S]

Nice neat solution

[John B]

8 February - Car ready!

Just before the front bumper is re-attached
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All shiny and clean
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Just loving that rear brake set up
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The boys giving her a last once over
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Finally the day has come and the beast is ready. Now which one is it?

[ATTACH]47997[/ATTACH]
The Lambo was one of Keith's friends cars, which needed a clutch change if I recall. It was eye-watering in terms of a parts bill

Keith's car was also ready for the hill climb season
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Now, if any of you has driven a car that has been rebuilt it is a scary thing because you listen out for the slightest noise. You have you be prepared that the car is like a bag of nails as the suspension, engine and transmission settle down.

I could tell the engine was great - it really was smooth - in Keith's words "as sweet as a nut!" but he recommended not to go beyond 3,000 revs for the first 1,000 miles

Here is the beast in Broughton-in-Furness on one of its test runs

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[John B]

17 March 2012 - Leaking Boot !

Whilst breaking the car in, I thought I would address one of the coupé owners' worst issues.....the problem of the leaky boot......so I thought I would have a look and see if I could trace the culprit after a night's rain.

It looked like someone had been there before on the left hand light with the amount of white sealant in the screw holes.......it was silicone
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One of the leaks seemed to be coming from the number plate holes, so had a look here. The second picture is one of the two screw holes that hold the plate on. These had been sealed as had the one where the number plate wire went through
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The right hand side was not much better
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It was clear that this was not a quick fix and needed a day or so's attention as the water ingress seemed also to come from the seals around the light cluster. I did not have the pukka sealant cord for the light clusters so I put everything back and ordered some.

Unfortunately S2 ownership is not always the stuff of glamour with turbos, injectors and exhausts. This will be the subject of a separate post.

[Greg_S]

It's certainly a common issue, fortunately I haven't needed to reseal the lights but the top trim I have

[John B]

5 April 2012 - Testing

Had the opportunity to test the S2 and since it had done its 1,000 miles i thought why not Just beforehand I fitted a Forge DV008 to test in anger as my old one was gunged up.
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One of the other cars on test....mmm with the S2 in the background
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The best shot of me going round the airfield taken by my beloved (despite having a telephoto lens )
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Want one of those!
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Pre-flight checks in the S1 replica and not its not me driving....it's LHD
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A good day out all in all and the S2 behaved impeccably

[John B]

22 April 2012

Here is the stock exhaust manifold and intercooler all cleaned up and ready for sale. They had been replaced by Wagner items as I was going down the KKK K24/26 flange route.

Manifold first - no bad cracks

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Intercooler - still intact

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The Wagner intercooler was bigger and made the S2 bumper bulge a bit a pushed out one of the plastic grilles a tad.

[John B]

31 March 2012 - Re-sealing the rear light clusters

Slightly out of sequence but decided to sort the boot leak out......well eliminate one of the chief suspects Here's what to do....

The battleground
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Unscrew one of the parcel supports....then the other
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Take the spare wheel cover off and the wheel out.
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This revealed some more clues with residue from one of the leaks
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Using a small screwdriver, prise out the 4 little covers from the lip of the boot and undo the 4 Philips screws
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Undo the cover for the rear washer and the four screws holding the boot lip plastic trim - mine were actually missing . Then lift the trim out. the little plastic link behind the lock had snapped on mine
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[John B]

31 March 2012 - Re-sealing the rear light clusters - 2

Undo the 2 nuts that hold the number plate reflector onto the back of the boot
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Support the reflector and pull back the reflector. Mine was also stuck on with double-sided foam tape. Note the electrical connection for the number plate light and lay the reflector in the boot.
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Undo the 2 Philips screw that have been revealed by the removal of the reflector. This will enable the removal of the plastic boot trim.
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Undo the 4 nuts that attach each light cluster on and I had to use a modelling knife to break the silicon seal that had been used previously.
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[John B]

31 March 2012 - Re-sealing the rear light clusters - 3

This was the mess that I had
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On the right hand cluster, unclip the mechanical locking mechanism from the metal loop
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Detach the electrical connections where needed
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Take out the bulb clusters by twisting the 2 locking tabs a quarter of a turn
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Look at those Scotchlok connectors......they were a relic of the past when my S2 had a tow bar

[John B]

31 March 2012 - Re-sealing the rear light clusters - 4

Take the cluster off
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Some muppet had re-sealed my clusters with white silicone and this was that mess on the cluster and the car
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I used a strategically placed screwdriver to remove the stuff and this is what I got
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I had to also do the same with a Stanley blade scraper on the car carefully and treat the rust areas with de-ruster
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[John B]

31 March 2012 - Re-sealing the rear light clusters - 5

This is actually the stuff that you need. It comes in a box of 5 rolls, of which you only need 2 from memory

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Take the clean light cluster and feed one of the rolls around, starting at the double width area at the bottom of the cluster. This allows the sealant cord to overlap at the bottom and ensure that no moisture gets in Be sure to keep one side of the waxed paper strip on until you are ready to mount the cluster.

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This is what it looks like just before re-fitting
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I also used some sealant cord around the outer cluster bolt threads and the wiring seal for the number plate.
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Re-fitting is the reversal of removal

[Nuvo]

I did this very job last weekend. You mention 4 nuts per cluster when there are 6 (two at the outer edges). I also found it necessary to remove the boot lock first as the alarm micro switch was obstructing the surrounding bodywork.

Another thing to note is that on some coupes the registration plate is held on by two screws which attach to the rear apron in addition to the two nuts and sealant.

[John B]

I did this very job last weekend. You mention 4 nuts per cluster when there are 6 (two at the outer edges). I also found it necessary to remove the boot lock as the alarm micro switch was obstructing the surrounding bodywork.

Another thing to note is that on some coupes the registration plate is held on by two screws which attach to the rear apron in addition to the two nuts.

Sorry.....doing this from memory and the glasses of wine have not helped.......yes there are 6 nuts in total on each cluster.

[S2central.net]

Wow what a thread. The rear brakes are stand out items for me.