Chatie's low mileage Bianca White S2 Rallye

[chatie1975]

November 2020 (Continued)

Once the car was positioned in the garage the front suspension strip down started. It all came apart reasonably easy with no seized bolts or broken brake pipes.

thumbnail_IMG_5867 by Martin Chatfield, on Flickr

Lower arms removed, look like the original ones

thumbnail_IMG_5869 by Martin Chatfield, on Flickr

Both suspension legs removed, which really were showing 20 + years of corrosion and road grime

thumbnail_IMG_5870 by Martin Chatfield, on Flickr

thumbnail_IMG_5874 by Martin Chatfield, on Flickr

thumbnail_IMG_5877 by Martin Chatfield, on Flickr

[chatie1975]

November 2020 (Continued)

The suspension struts were striped down removing the top mounts, springs, dampers and old wheel bearings. The front brake calipers were stripped removing the pistons and rubber seals.

With the front suspension and brakes stripped a shopping list was compiled, I enquired what was still available from Peugeot (not alot was the answer or it was pricey), so good quality OE spec pattern parts were sourced.

The pile of new replacement parts was quite impressive and consisted of the following:

2 x lower suspension arms (complete with new bushes and balljoints)
2 x anti roll bar drop links
2 x front wheel bearings
2 x top strut mounting kits
2 x new shock absorber bump stops
2 x shock absorber bellows
2 x front brake caliper rebuild kits (new seals, bushes and pistons)
1 set of Brembo front brake pads
2 x Brembo front brake discs
2 x Front flexible brake hoses
4 x Bilstien B4 shock absorbers

thumbnail_IMG_5921 by Martin Chatfield, on Flickr

Initially I wasn't going to replace the shock absorbers, but in the end it seemed silly refreshing everything else and then refitting aged original dampers. After some research and as the car is such an original example I went for a full set of Bilstien B4 dampers.

[chatie1975]

December 2020

In order to replicate the OE black finish I choose to have the suspension struts, coil springs, front antiroll bar and all associated brackets / clamps blasted and powder coated satin black. I used a local company in Poole who do all of my powder coating for our restoration projects through work. As usual they came up trumps and I really impressed with the results.

thumbnail_IMG_5931 by Martin Chatfield, on Flickr

thumbnail_IMG_5932 by Martin Chatfield, on Flickr

thumbnail_IMG_5934 by Martin Chatfield, on Flickr

thumbnail_IMG_5935 by Martin Chatfield, on Flickr

At the same time I sent the other part for Zinc Plating, again using a local Poole company with excellent results.

thumbnail_IMG_5966 by Martin Chatfield, on Flickr

thumbnail_IMG_5967 by Martin Chatfield, on Flickr

thumbnail_IMG_5968 by Martin Chatfield, on Flickr

I also had the drive flanges Zinc Plated but for some reason didn't take a picture of them.

[chatie1975]

December 2020 (continued)

I then built up the refinished suspension struts with new SKF wheel bearings, Bilstien B4 shock absorbers, new top mounts / bearings, new bump stops and shock absorber rubber bellows.

thumbnail_IMG_5937 by Martin Chatfield, on Flickr

thumbnail_IMG_5939 by Martin Chatfield, on Flickr



thumbnail_IMG_5936 by Martin Chatfield, on Flickr

I rebuilt the freshly zinc plated front brake calipers with new stainless steel pistons, seals and new slider bushings.

thumbnail_IMG_5971 by Martin Chatfield, on Flickr

thumbnail_IMG_5969 by Martin Chatfield, on Flickr

[chatie1975]

December 2020 (continued)

When the engine bay was refinished in 2016 /17 the front struts weren't removed from the car (so the shell was still mobile) leaving an area to the underside of the strut tops that hadn't been cleaned / refinished.
As I now had the struts off it made sense to complete this job at the same time. The front wheel arches / underside of the strut tops got a through clean, any surface corrosion was wire brushed and then the bare metal was treated, zinc primed, stone guarded and finally refinished with a coat of white paint.

With the front suspension struts built back up with all the new parts all that was left to do was reassemble the front suspension. I refitted the suspension legs to the car then fitted the new front lower suspension arms followed by the re-powder coated antiroll bar. The only bush not replaced was the antiroll bar D rubbers which were in excellent condition and now NLA from Peugeot.

The 'eagled eyed' will notice that Euro Car Parts managed to supply 1 x black antiroll bar drop link and 1 x silver (even though they were from the same manufacturer). This has now been rectified with 2 x silver drop links.

thumbnail_IMG_5960 by Martin Chatfield, on Flickr

thumbnail_IMG_5963 by Martin Chatfield, on Flickr

thumbnail_IMG_5961 by Martin Chatfield, on Flickr

Lastly I fitted up the new brake discs (painting the areas that corrode with zinc primer first), the rebuild front brake calipers, new brake pads and rubber flexible brake lines.

thumbnail_IMG_5972 by Martin Chatfield, on Flickr

I am really happy with the results, it really lifts the underside of the car to a much higher standard, and hopefully when the weather improves it will drive like new!

[bluebouy]

Nice work, They do drive so well when it's all tight...... I am envious of the mileage and condition!!!
Seeing this has provoked me to update my blog soon although my garage isn't looking as inviting as yours to work in!

Also nice that despite the mileage and the improving condition (and value) you still use it - Getting rare to see them out and about now, After owning mine for 10yrs I have only seen 1 other S2 on the roads..... Tripping over S1s by comparison!

[chatie1975]

Nice work, They do drive so well when it's all tight...... I am envious of the mileage and condition!!!
Seeing this has provoked me to update my blog soon although my garage isn't looking as inviting as yours to work in!

Also nice that despite the mileage and the improving condition (and value) you still use it - Getting rare to see them out and about now, After owning mine for 10yrs I have only seen 1 other S2 on the roads..... Tripping over S1s by comparison!

Thanks for the comments, I enjoy using it when I get the chance and hopefully these improvements will improve it still further!

The garage was my lockdown project a the start of last year but jeeez is it cold out there at the moment, might have to think about some insulation and new door!