Welcome to 2019

Hello all and greetings from Western Australia

As we're entering a new year I thought I'd forecast a few developments for the year ahead.

Firstly, I would like to thank everyone who has contributed to the content on the DKW Auto-Union archive. I have received several very generous donations of Auto-Union archive material, sometimes in hard copy and sometimes scanned, which I have posted to this blog. My aim is to create a freely accessible archive of material which can be used by DKW enthusiasts worldwide.

Special thanks must go to Ralf Kopmann of DKW Maintal in Germany for sharing part of his vast archive of Auto-Union documents. http://www.dkw-autounion.de/

Thanks also to Johan Marais of South Africa for sharing his collection of owner and technical manuals.

And thanks to Peter Thorogood for sharing some of his rare documents with me.

Two-Stroke Magazine Archive

I have come into possession of a huge archive of newsletters from the DKW Owners Club of Great Britain from the 1970s. The production quality of these newsletters isn't fantastic but the information contained within is invaluable. The newsletters are filled with typeset copies of contemporary vehicle reviews from the 1930s through to the 1960s. There are lots of owner's tips and repair tricks which are quite interesting as some differ considerably from the official repair procedures. I've also found it an interesting time capsule of the issues and concerns of DKW owners at the time the company disappeared into oblivion and the owners valiantly tried to carry on without official support.

There are so many newsletters that I'll need to publish them in a separate blog, which can be found here https://dkw-gbclubarchive.blogspot.com/ It'll be cleaner that way. Some specific articles I'll transpose here.

1936 Auto-Union Report

I recently acquired a 1936 Auto-Union corporate publication outlining the founding of the company, the establishment of the new head office and a report on developments at each of the four brands. It's quite a large book in German. https://dkwautounionproject.blogspot.com/2020/09/1936-auto-union-report.html

In my 'real' life I aim to finally get stuck into my 1953 DKW F89P project. The car is now in my garage after being in storage the past year and I'm currently in the process of pulling out the engine (it is seized). I believe I have all the spare parts necessary so I am hopeful of making good progress once I get started. For details of my progress on this project, along with other classic motoring news and updates in Perth, check out my main blog: www.heinkelscooter.blogspot.com

Some recent video updates can be found here:

DKW Meisterklasse Project Update - December 2017

Following the importation and asbestos saga in March 2017 (see story here:  http://heinkelscooter.blogspot.com.au/2017/05/personal-vehicle-import-warning-new.html )  I have made only slow progress with the DKW Meisterklasse. I gave the car a quick once over when the car was port-side and realised that it was in worse condition than I had been led to believe. It was a disappointment but that's the luck of the draw when you're importing a car.

We had to pull the head off the engine at the port. That was a hard enough task. The engine itself is seized and will need to rebuilt. I already expected it to need rebuilding but it being seized just makes it a little worse. I've had diesel sitting in the cylinders since April and the engine is still stuck fast.The water channels were blocked with calcium build up. These have been flushed. The gearbox and radiator seem fine. All the pipes and all the electrics were rotten. I've got replacements for all rubber and tubing from  http://autokultur.eshop.t-online.de

There is rust in the boot which was covered by a layer of mastic. I assume the rust has come from an internal leak as the rust goes from the inside out. There are several patch welds over earlier rust holes. The condition of the boot floor is pretty bad and will probably need to be entirely replaced.

I have spent several weekends working up a sweat with a wire brush, scraper and Goof-off to remove the mastic. It's pretty much down to the bare metal now.

The front sills and floor where it meets the firewall are badly rusted. The floor had previously been cut and welded earlier - and then lathered in mastic (my word they loved their mastic!). The drivers side sill is not too bad but will need to be replaced.

The passenger side floor and sills are worse than the drivers side.

You can see here the passenger sill has lost its structural integrity and begun to collapse. I have a quote for the floor rust work and it's very reasonable. After the Tatra is finished (and the bills paid) I'll get this sorted out. Very pleasingly the BODY is extremely sound. There is no rust in any of the doors, panels or wheel arches.

The chrome bumper trim is extremely poor condition. The metal is very poor quality pot metal, not like the stainless steel trims of the later F93. The difference in build quality and quality of the materials between 1953 and 1959 is striking.

The headlight trim had lots of marks and pocks.

But a couple of hours with WD40 and aluminum foil and they look pretty damned good. Yes, the aluminum foil trick does work.

The upholstery is in very good nick. It was one of the selling points of the car. There was minor surface rust under the rear seat and on the rear floor.

After sanding down and treating with a rust converter.



This is how I envisage the car will look when finished.

1953 DKW F89P Meisterklasse Import - April 2017

Back in late 2016, after Shelly and I returned from a tour around Germany which culminated with a visit to Audi Tradition in Ingolstadt, I came across what looked like a complete and in reasonably good condition F89P Meisterklasse. I had always found the Meisterklasse an interesting car and had desired one for some time. Suitably inspired from the recent visit to Germany, I plunged in and agreed to buy the car. The car was in Portugal, so I began the process of importing the vehicle, something I was familiar with from earlier.

In 2012 I imported a DKW 3=6 sedan from South Africa. Although it was a lengthy process it went smoothly enough and the car arrived safely with a minimum of fuss. Whenever people asked me advice about importing a vehicle under the personal imports scheme, I recommended it as a viable means of obtaining vehicles that are otherwise rare in Australia and explained the many of the nuances and things to consider. http://heinkelscooter.blogspot.com.au/2011/10/importing-south-african-dkw.html

However, unknown to me at the time, in 2017 Border Force (formerly Australian Customs) implemented a zero tolerance policy on ALL asbestos containing materials and began to actively target classic car imports. Little did I know, this purchase was about to descend into farce and nightmare.

Zero Tolerance for ALL Asbestos Material
On 4 March 2017, without prior warning to shipping and Customs agents, Border Force announced a zero tolerance policy for ALL materials containing asbestos. This change of policy was a knee jerk reaction to two embarrasing incidents involving Chinese manufactured products; one being building materials supplied for the new Princess Margaret hospital in Perth, and the other being Geely and Great Wall cars, all of which contained asbestos. The government found a loophole to allow the Geely and Great Wall cars to enter the Australian market - the importer placed a sticker on the firewall and owners manual warning of asbestos in certain parts and advising that only official repairers work on those parts. To divert attention (I believe) and give the impression something was being done, Border Force started targeting personal vehicle imports.

Under Australian law it is illegal to import or export asbestos, but the interpretation of that law had excluded materials containing asbestos within itself. For instance, if there was asbestos within the gasket of an engine inside the engine, that was acceptable. Not any longer. Now, any component that contains any amount of asbestos is banned and could result in the importer being fined and the vehicle seized and destroyed. These new rules resulted in all personal vehicle imports to Australia going through rigorous inspection and testing of all parts that possibly contain asbestos, including testing of brake linings, gaskets, fibrous washers, heat shielding and soundproofing materials, mastic coatings and clutch linings. As all vintage and classic vehicles are likely to have some asbestos material within them, Border Force actively targeted these vehicles.


My Experience in 2017
As mentioned, when I saw this rare 1953 DKW F89 Meisterklasse posted for sale on an international DKW forum, my interest was piqued. The car appeared to be complete, largely unmolested and in reasonably fair condition. It was also very cheap. The seller was in Portugal but was agreeable to help with shipping of the vehicle to Australia.

My car arrived at the Fremantle docks in February 2017, the week after the new rules were introduced, and was consequently subjected to asbestos testing. The rear brakes, the head and manifold gaskets and in a mastic coating on the underbody all tested positive for asbestos so the car was impounded and now the real problems began.

At that time procedures to deal with this problem were not in place and neither the shipping agent nor Border Force could agree how to proceed. After a discussion with the shipping agent, I proposed that myself and my mechanic friends from Classic Gasoline attend the depot and remove the offending material. This offer was rejected by Border Force as we were not ‘authorized’ to enter the dockside area. Border Force insisted I needed to engage a professional asbestos remover, but there were no asbestos removers who had the requisite automobile experience to work on a vintage vehicle. Further discussions were held and we then proposed to attend together with the professional asbestos remover in order to provide them the necessary technical guidance to work on the car. This offer was however refused.

Amusingly I have discovered the ABF are using this photo of my car in their Asbestos Policy briefing pack

We were forced to wait while affected industry bodies unsuccessfully attempted to negotiate some sort of workable process with Border Force. Eventually Border Force agreed to our original proposal to remove the asbestos ourselves, under their supervision. After completing the necessary paperwork, obtaining permits and booking a time to attend the depot, Border Force realized that conducting these repairs in a storage depot without the appropriate facilities might be unsafe and our permit was cancelled.

Discussions now turned to taking the vehicle to an offsite location where the work could be done safely. Border Force first declined, then approved a suggestion to transport the car to the Classic Gasoline workshop. Then they changed their mind again and advised the car could only be moved to a certified asbestos removal centre. After they realized that there was no such thing as a certified asbestos removal centre, they relented and approved the car to be moved to Classic Gasoline. Paperwork recommenced, but once again we were thwarted at the last minute when Quarantine intervened. Quarantine advised that the car could be moved to Classic Gasoline for removal of the asbestos only after it had been spray cleaned, but that it could only be spray cleaned after the asbestos was removed. Catch 22 meets Franz Kafka....

We returned to our original plan to remove the asbestos onsite and re-booked a time to attend, but once again this was cancelled at the last second by someone in the Border Force hierarchy who again demanded the work be done by an asbestos specialist. After another frustrating round of calls, it was finally agreed that the asbestos inspector, Rhys and Wayne from Classic Gasoline and I would attend the car and complete the removal of the asbestos material under Border Force's supervision. This occurred on the morning of Wednesday 26 April 2017.

Despite the less than satisfactory environment we were required to work in, it only took us four hours to remove all the offending material. We were very fortunate that the DKW is a simple car with a very small engine which could be removed without the use of a hoist. Border Force certified the removal of the identified asbestos material and arranged its formal seizure and destruction. A great deal of paperwork was involved.

Mastic coating in the wheel arch to cover a bad rust repair

After scrubbing with degreaser and a wire brush

The offending material is bagged up for disposal

I believe my car was the third personal import vehicle impacted by the new rules in Australia, consequently, my experience may be somewhat atypical. Nevertheless, the first six months of the new process saw some appalling treatment of vehicle importers, such as this experience documented by Mike Sheehan of Ferraris-Online: http://ferraris-online.com/pages/article.php?reqart=FOC_201707_SS2- Border Force and the shipping industry eventually formulated a coherent process.

Details of Border Force's policy and its implications are extensively documented here: http://www.border.gov.au/Busi/cargo-support-trade-and-goods/importing-goods/prohibited-and-restricted/asbestos

Restoration Updates:
1. DKW Meisterklasse Project December 2017 Update - https://heinkelscooter.blogspot.com/2017/12/dkw-meisterklasse-restoration-update.html
2. Welcome to 2019 - https://dkwautounionproject.blogspot.com/2019/01/welcome-to-2019.html
3. DKW Meisterklasse Project February 2020 Update - https://dkwautounionproject.blogspot.com/2019/12/dkw-project-update.html
4. DKW Meisterklasse Project April 2020 Update - https://dkwautounionproject.blogspot.com/2020/04/dkw-meisterklasse-project-update-april.html
5. DKW Meisterklasse Project June 2020 Update - https://dkwautounionproject.blogspot.com/2020/05/dkw-meisterklasse-project-update-may.html
6. DKW Meisterklasse Project September 2020 Update - https://dkwautounionproject.blogspot.com/2020/09/dkw-meisterklasse-project-update.html
7. DKW Meisterklasse Project December 2020 Update - https://dkwautounionproject.blogspot.com/2020/12/dkw-meisterklasse-project-update.html
8. DKW Meisterklasse Project January 2021 Update - https://dkwautounionproject.blogspot.com/2021/01/dkw-meisterklasse-project-update.html
9. DKW Meisterklasse Project February 2021 Update - https://dkwautounionproject.blogspot.com/2021/02/dkw-meisterklasse-project-update.html

Auto-Union Veteranen Club magazine archive

The Auto-Union Veteranen Club was established in Germany in 1972 for enthusiasts of Auto-Union vehicles, covering Audi, DKW, Horch and Wanderer. The club's stated objective is "the maintenance and the faithful restoration of historic vehicles of the brands Audi, DKW, Horch and Wanderer, which merged to form Auto-Union in 1932. Furthermore, we see it as our task to collect any material about these vehicles and the former manufacturers in order to make a total contribution to the documentation of German motorcycle and automotive history."

The club is very active today and closely associated with Audi Tradition.

AUVC has a website and forum here: http://auvc-forum.org/

And a Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/Auto-Union-Veteranen-Club-eV-118223261581236/

Most of the content is in German but international enthusiasts also participate. Thank you to the great 'auto-translate' services which make so much of this material available to non-German speakers.

AUVC produces an extremely high quality magazine style newsletter, Club Nachrichten. This magazine contains many well researched articles, archival documents and photos. In order to make this content available to enthusiasts this blog contains an archive of magazines from the 1980s to early 2000s. I claim no right to any of these materials and all content belongs to the AUVC and the authors. Check out the archive here: https://auvc-archive.blogspot.com/

Wherever you are located, if you are an Auto-Union enthusiast, I recommend joining AUVC formally, or via their Facebook page above.

The DKW Car - History, Restoration and Tuning, Part One

In this 1986 publication, the collected wisdom of the DKW Owners Club of Great Britain was pulled together in one place. The booklet provides brief summaries of the history of DKW with expansion on certain models. There are a number of short articles about maintenance, but the majority of the articles cover tuning and modifications. The booklet wraps up with an informative history of the DKW Owners Club.

The original booklet contained very few photographs and only a few line drawings so I have added some to liven the post.





1937 DKW F7


1951 DKW F89P



DKW F93 and F91


Eward Kluge on a 250cc DKW at the Belgian Grand Prix 1939





1928 DKW 4=8 "Big DKW Sonderklasse"



DKW Sonderklasse


DKW Schnellaster



1957 DKW Monza



Photo of F7 maintenance?








For more information about pre-war DKW maintenance, refer also to the DKW driver manual and service guides herein German and English: https://dkwautounionproject.blogspot.com/2017/07/1937-dkw-f7-owners-manual.html











A German DKW F102 owner manual can be found here: https://dkwautounionproject.blogspot.com/2019/06/1963-dkw-f102-drivers-manual-german.html





DKW Junior







For more information about settings of DKW and Auto-Union carburetors, refer to the Special Publication: https://dkwautounionproject.blogspot.com/2018/04/dkw-special-publication-no-1.html
































This publication is one of a series of club publications by the DKW Owners Club of Great Britain through the 1960s to the 1990s. I have scanned a large archive of newsletters, which contain similar helpful information here: https://dkw-gbclubarchive.blogspot.com/