[Es2] eS2 suspension/brakes, general project intro (long)

[Kenneth Keith]

Well, reading about others' projects and getting some things ready at
home that will lead to some progress on my own project has triggered
me to post.  It turned out to be a long post. =)

I am gonna be blowing the dust off my eS2 project in the next few
weeks, and will start with the suspension and brakes.  I'm using B4
lower strut housings with KW coilover uppers, with S2 hubs and I think
Porsche big blacks on A8l in front and 200q20v rear calipers w/S8
brackets on S4V8 rear rotors turned down to 280mm in back.

My car has been parked for ages while I mess with other things, but
I'm close to scrapping my now-stripped 200q20v parts car.  I just
decided last night that I am going to cut out the tunnel to keep in
case I want to do a manual tranny conversion on a V8 quattro down the
road, but after that I'll scrap the hull so I can put the B4 90q on my
trailer and start stripping it for my eS2 project.  Since I don't have
a sawzall, I'm considering buying a used Dewalt 18v kit with one, but
the cash flow situation is very precarious right now due to the
economy, so I'm somewhat dragging my feet on that.

I started and moved my CQ out of the way of the trailered 200q20v
parts car, and it was the first time I sat in it in many months,
evoking long lost feelings of wanting to improve and drive it.  While
sitting in the AZ sun, it's getting pretty bad, with the dash cracked
really badly and now the headliner coming down (thiking of how to turn
a negative to a positive and maybe do a suede headliner to fix it).
I'll be using the B4 90q dash to fix that, and actually want to also
take over the later style climate control, but find that prospect
rather daunting.

Getting the B4 90q donor on the trailer has been my next step in the
eS2 project because I need to take the suspension off and scrap it on
its belly like my 200q20v has been reduced to.  My KW coilovers for
the eS2 have the 14mm holes for the lower strut/wheel bearing
housings, but my CQ has 12mm holes, so I plan to use the B4 units with
the KWs.  I don't know if there is anything more to it than that.

I'm tackling the suspension next because my control arm bushings are
shot in at least one corner so I have to address that anyway.  I have
an RS2 front bar and Whiteline rear bar to put on as well, with a rear
subframe from a late CQ with sway bar mounts.

I'm not sure if I have everything I'll need to bolt the brakes up, but
I'll have to do that at the same time since I don't have 5 bolt
standard brakes.  I think I will need some different hoses or adapters
to go from the CQ to the 928GTS calipers that I have for it.  I have
some stock RS2 front brackets and A8L rotors, so unless I machine the
brackets I'll have slightly offset calipers.  I also have to rebuild
the rear 200q20v calipers for the rear big brake conversion, as they
are frozen.

My CQ is up for smog at the end of next month, so I'm somewhat tempted
to just get the control arms done and swap in the KWs, because I don't
want to get bogged down with the other details and have the
registration lapse because I can't get it to the emissions test
station, but I'll dig into it and see how it goes.  I prefer to swap
the S2 hubs onto the B4 carriers offline and then swap those onto the
CQ at the same time as I do the KWs, but the 5x112mm conversion isn't
necessary to pass emissions like the control arm bushings sort of are.

I can see myself "while I'm in there"-ing myself into not making any
real progress, so I'm trying to walk the line of being motivated by
the registration expiring to get some more critical things done and
"doing it right once" by tackling all the planned upgrades at the same
time.

I would want to clean and powder coat the rear subframe before putting
it in, so that probably means seam welding and new bushings to do it
right, but I don't have 220v to run my mig at the moment so I may set
the rear sway bar phase aside for now and come back to it later when
I'm prepared to also install the V8 torsen rear I have for it.

I don't have any specific questions right now, but I will need to know
more about the hydraulic connections for big blacks on a CQ, and any
potential issues with using B4 wheel bearing housings on a CQ.  I
thought the CQ was B4-like, so I don't anticipate having to change the
outer CVs or anything, but I'll have to find out when I get there
unless someone here has BTDT.  If so, please let me know what I'll
need to do or what to expect.

My plan is to do the suspension and possibly brakes for right now,
leaving the 7A in place, and then probably worry about the body (but
not paint yet).  I need to install my S2 rear and RS2 front bumper,
grill and headlights with B4 hood.  The body will come after
suspension, and before drivetrain.  That will help me to reduce some
clutter in the "shop" as well since the parts won't be sitting in
queue taking up space.

Once I get to the motor it will be 3B-based with a Wagner intake and
probably RS Tuning tube header from the GB a while back and running
034 IIC.  I'm not sure what IC setup I'll end up with or what turbo,
but I am curious about the Comptech turbos that have been discussed on
S2forum.  I would prefer to go with the Wagner front mount IC, but my
second choice would be an Ebay-style front mount.

I do have a set of Scat/Audspeed rods that I want to use in something,
so if I wanted to "get stupid" I could put them in so that I would
have the option of running nitrous on top of everything since I have a
10lb bottle setup that would just need some jets and plumbing.  I
don't really have another reason to include the rods in a build,
except for peace of mind.  On the other hand, I would rather use the
rods to build a turbo motor out of something less strong (say a 7A
with pistons), rather than open up a stock 3B that would be fine up to
near 400hp without bothering with the rods.

Basically I want to do the suspension so that I get bitten by "the
bug" again and get excited about putting these parts to use.  Above is
the macro view, but I need to get started in the tiny things like
pressing in new control arm bushings in the real world.

Cheers,

Kenneth
'90 CQ