And finally, my RS2.

[AndyP]

You really should wear gloves when painting POR15 as it does NOT wash off your skin. You're going to have that on your arms for weeks

[K Simmonds]

You really should wear gloves when painting POR15 as it does NOT wash off your skin. You're going to have that on your arms for weeks

Yep, your quite right. Gloves should be worn, it's not the first time I've done it either, . Fortunately working in the building trade gets the stuff off one's hand within a day or two but like you say the stuff on my (and Charlies) arms/hands will be there for weeks.

[K Simmonds]

Forgot to say the bloody stuff is also in my hair from doing the arches.

Popped the back wheels back off again to torque everything up properly, which is imposable with the car on the floor where it needs to be sat to prevent damage to the rubber bushes.

So I took a couple of the pic's I meant to take yesterday.

Note the nasty paint burn on the near side rear quarter, I'm going to blow it back in for now but it will be dealt with properly when the car is painted, it was one of the reasons I could afford such a nice example.

[andy10v]

Forgot to say the bloody stuff is also in my hair from doing the arches.

I have done that with underseal.

Looking smart underneath! I thought the pit would be handy for torquing at ride height?

[K Simmonds]

I thought the pit would be handy for torquing at ride height?

Yeah had under seal in my hair as well

For most stuff it is but the upper wishbone bolts are a sod to get at with the wheels on.

[re2500]

That's tidy Kit, glad you found one, I know you've been keen to pick one up.A shame I didn't get to see her at ADI, hope you're feeling better. Let me know if a Wales/west meet ever comes off, as I'd make the effort try and come along...

[K Simmonds]

Cheers James, yeah it's a great car, I was very lucky Eric offered it to me, I've done quite few mile's in her now and enjoyed every minute apart from the indecent involving a loose ball joint on the way back from Scotland.

I was gutted I had to give ADI a miss, I suffer from cluster headaches just about every autumn, some years it's worse than others and this was a bad year. They really mess me up and leave me feeling like crap for weeks,. It's caused me to miss a lot of work and get behind with everything but I'm over this years bout now though mate, thanks for the good wishes.

Hope all's well with you and your enjoying the S4.

I reckon it makes more sense to have a Welsh meet in the spring, when the weathers better and the days are longer.

I've decided I need to thin out the cars I have before I do any more work on either of my Audi's, it's crazy having five old sports car's to look after unless one is retired or incredibly wealthy, preferably both. So getting shot of my Corrado and Golf G60's is my current priority, I was going to hang onto the Raddo but I'd rather have the funds to invest into the RS2. Not sure what I'm going to do with my 16 valve MK2, will make my mind up once I shift the G60's but I might sell that as well and get a crappy oil burner of some sort as a daily.

[macspring]

I know this won't work for you as it would be a sea change, but just imagine it for a few minutes.

Sell all the cars and just keep the RS2, and have enough funds to drive it every single day of the year.

Don't have it resprayed to perfection, so as it is not too precious, but have the inside mint and all of the mechanicals mint, and it want for nothing.

Spray all of the underneath with copper grease / old engine oil. And enjoy it every day all the time.

Have an old '99 Toyota Starlet, or an old VW Transporter van for the days that the RS2 is of the road for a few days.

Just a thought.

Enjoying your updates.

[K Simmonds]

I know this won't work for you as it would be a sea change, but just imagine it for a few minutes.

Sell all the cars and just keep the RS2, and have enough funds to drive it every single day of the year.

Don't have it resprayed to perfection, so as it is not too precious, but have the inside mint and all of the mechanicals mint, and it want for nothing.

Spray all of the underneath with copper grease / old engine oil. And enjoy it every day all the time.

Have an old '99 Toyota Starlet, or an old VW Transporter van for the days that the RS2 is of the road for a few days.

Just a thought.

Enjoying your updates.

Actually Dave those are the sort of lines I'm thinking along, though I couldn't bring myself to sell my S2 as well, I have far too much time invested in that car now to ever part with it. Also the S2 in it's current guise is simply more fun, don't get me wrong I'm not saying it's a better car, the RS is way more refined, handles much better and is incredibly practical.

The RS2 is in almost daily usage now, it gets a run at least every week though I try to avoid using her for short trips, hell I even used it for getting to work while my S2 was in bits recently to change the clutch and refresh the drive line. As I work about a mile or two from where I live I'd drive five miles in the wrong direction on the way there and back to get her up to temp, I do the same with my S2 every other day.

Rough plan is....

Get shot of the VW's which will liquidate a considerable amount of funds, free up storage space and mean less stuff with wheels to look after, all good things. Give the RS a full front suspension rebuild, powder coat the subframe & struts etc and as you suggest give the underside some sort of further protection from the elements. After the Scotland trip I changed the N/S ball joint and off side ball joint studs, fitted a good second hand N/S damper I fortunately happened to have on the shelf and redid the alignment for a quick cheap fix.

Raj in Inverness (Baltiboy) sorted me out a really good exhaust system from the cats back and Alex (Error404) sold me a pair of cats in excellent condition, thanks chaps. This will all be fitted very soon as the current system is on it's last legs and has a couple of tiny blows now, still impressive for a 20 year old exhaust!

Interior wise it's just a case of getting a headlining recovered and fitting it and it'll be as close to mint as your going to get on a car that's actually in use. Oh yeah I'd like a VDO boost gauge as well to replace the cheapo Revotech item, though that does the job well enough for the time being.

Repair the crack in the rear bumper and paint both of them as the finish on the front one is poor, it's like whoever painted it decided to throw sand in the lacquer if one looks closely. The rest of the body will be polished as well can be and left alone for the time being, it doesn't make any sense to spend a fortune on paint if the cars going to be in regular usage. The first scratch would really boil my piss and sods law dictates it'll get marked the day after being painted.

Maybe get the turbo refreshed possibly with a billet comp wheel..

Then continue to use it.

[c4S6]

I'm continually shocked at how bad cars rust in the UK for having such a mild climate. What causes it? Do they salt the roads there in the winter?

[cardcrash]

Yes, quite heavily!!! Then you're left with salty slush for days...

[mackenzie50]

I'm continually shocked at how bad cars rust in the UK for having such a mild climate. What causes it? Do they salt the roads there in the winter?

As cardcrash says, yes, and in the north of Scotland where I live the salt is thrown down every few days from November til March- there's a constant thick slime of liquid salt everywhere for all these months- and the cars underside glistens even in summer from salt crystals lurking in areas not yet washed off successfully-it's horrific, and this year for the first time, I think I'm going to keep my S2 in the lockup.

[Rocco]

An Irish guy suggested me one day to avoid buying any car from Scotland...

[mackenzie50]

An Irish guy suggested me one day to avoid buying any car from Scotland...

Haha- some truth in that I'm afraid.....sales of Waxoyl must be higher here though!

[Rocco]

Haha- some truth in that I'm afraid.....sales of Waxoyl must be higher here though!

And Rust bullet & converter too