I nearly decided to breakmy car for parts today

[gunman]

My S2 has been off the road since September, our 3rd baby was born late aug and the mot expired, was far too busy for a couple of months to look at it. Then the colder weather set in etc etc.

I have gone over the front, replaced subframe, top mounts, wishbone bushes, discs, pads etc. Then looked at the back today and my god it's a mess . The rear ARB is so badly rusted it looks like it could break, the calipers have at some point been put on without boots on the sliders and they're all siezed, every bush looks perished, every wishbone\arm is covered with rust, most of the flexible brake hoses probably need replaced and a CV boot is split etc etc....

I was very close to cancelling the MOT and breaking it! Bodywork is OK but could do with paint to be mint.

I've had a cup of tea now and a sit down and have clamed down a bit. MOT is Wed evening and I'm off work tues and wed so I'll see what they say.

I'm beginning to think this car wasn't as well looked after as I was led to believe last year when I bought it.

[willg54]

mines kinda the same....now ive really started poking around there's alot of work to be done! it will be worth it though! I have a massive box of parts now to fit, just need the time to do it!

[S2central.net]

@gunman - keep the faith old chap... they do tend to crust up quite badly over time - especially when laid up for a few months. If you have the time and energy to properly derust and paint up with something like POR15 on the chassis components you will make life easier for a good few years. That doesn't help you with things like seized up calipers - but at least you have a wide choice from other Audis - all the B4 Avant and Saloon share the same rear caliper.

CV boot is easy - but it just feels like a big job when you have a bad case of old car blues.

best thing I can suggest is to take it in for MOT as is - then they will give the list of mandatory repairs - so you can focus on those one by one to get you mobile.

[gunman]

I don't expect it to pass the MOT, I do expect a list of what they want done. Only worry is how expensive this list works out. Also, If I have to dismantle the rear suspension I won't end up doing just one bush, I'll probably end up powerflexing the lot while I'm in there. By the look of the bolts tho dismantling it is easier typed than done.

[DJones]

@gunman - keep the faith old chap... they do tend to crust up quite badly over time - especially when laid up for a few months. If you have the time and energy to properly derust and paint up with something like POR15 on the chassis components you will make life easier for a good few years. That doesn't help you with things like seized up calipers - but at least you have a wide choice from other Audis - all the B4 Avant and Saloon share the same rear caliper.

CV boot is easy - but it just feels like a big job when you have a bad case of old car blues.

best thing I can suggest is to take it in for MOT as is - then they will give the list of mandatory repairs - so you can focus on those one by one to get you mobile.

Good advice ^^^^^^

[gunman]

The quattro rear calipers are different to 2wd tho, right?

[S2central.net]

Sorry yes - any old B4 quattro has same calipers - discs are unique to S2 though with 5 x 112 pattern. I recently sold a pair of good B4Q calipers too which could have helped. The other alternative is rear calipers from A6 allroad (not a V8 one) - these fit up exactly the same and are lighter in alloy vs the steel originals from B4.

[bertman]

I don't post often but have to say as others will-do not give up,and don't break the car.Have done the whole suspension on the back as well as the front.On the back there are alot of bushes,I was shocked when the box cam through from vag parts and that wasn't just the bill!
Bought myself a second hand hydraulic press which made life a lot easier.Took a few days but did all bushes,brake lines and everything else,calipers were ok just gave them a quick clean up and regrease on the sliders.
Powerflex will be alot easier to install,than oem bushes.At the end of the day its worth the time and money,my car handles brilliantly compared to what it used to be like.
Good luck with the MOT

[newsh]

Someone has probably cleaned off the Waxoil at some point to make it look nice..

[gunman]

Here's an update. I have the driveshaft of now and will get a new boot for it tomorrow. Both calipers were either missing boots on the sliders or they were in tatters. I have 4 new ones here anyway and I've managed to free them all up. On both sides the top bolt for the caliper carries were rounded off inside, the passengers side I managed to get off anyway but the drivers is siezed solid. Don't know what exactly I'm going to do here as the discs are all rusty, I cleaned the other one up with a cup brush and it's actually OK, I need this one off to do the same.

It took me over 2 hours getting the bolt out on the lower wishbone bush alone. I'm not new to this car fixing business, I've done work on various B4's over the years and restored a 25 year old car, I've never seen suspension joints etc seized up like this car.There is actually some rust on the chassis around the rear subframe too which is mor worrying

I have to decide whether to cancel my MOT as the last day I can without loosing my fee is tomorrow. I can't say for sure It'll be ready, it hasn't even run or driven in months and at present I can't even say if it will start. I'm not off again untill Tuesday by which time it will be too late to cancel it.

[gunman]

Forgot to mention, every flexi hose is very badly rusted at the ends, I've cleaned them up and greased them, will this be an MOT fail?

[newsh]

I wonder if it lived by the seaside?

Any chance you can get an oversize torx bit banged into that cap head bolt? A bit of heat always helps too. Lots of coppper grease on the bolts (or threadlock will keep the rust out of threads if you prefer) and waxoil on everything else!

[gunman]

I wonder if it lived by the seaside?

I'd say by the looks of it, it lived 'IN' the sea!

There's not a lot of room to work round it at all, what I did on the passengers side was to take the bottom one out, then tap the carrier up and down, pivoting on the upper one, after a min or so it loosened it. Tryied this with the drivers side for 20 mins with no luck.

BTW, I got the car from Newcastle, not sure where it came from before that.

[newsh]

I've been so close to breaking my coupe a few times.. Maybe if this latest effort has cured the water ingress I won't get that thought for a while, I've still got the PS fluid leaks to deal with. I'm looking at replacing most of the power steering pipes and the rack and even the recently recon'd pump is leaking (again).

[Rikki Kitto]

NooooDoon't do it, stick it out you'll regret getting rid