DKW Auto-Union Project: 2022

Wednesday 28 December 2022

New Audi Tradition Publication - Ein Blicke - Die Fahrzeugsammelung Der Audi AG

Audi Tradition has published a new book - and it's about time! The new book, titled "Einblicke - Die Fahrzeugsammelung der Audi AG" (translated into English - Insights - The Auto Collection of Audi AG). Audi Tradition, Audi's heritage foundation, was formed in the early 2000s to preserve and promote the company's historical legacy. Many important vehicles, which until then had only been preserved thanks to the efforts of private collectors, were purchased and added to the company's collection. The most important vehicles are of course on public display at the Audi Tradition Museum Mobile in Ingolstadt, but there are many more vehicles hidden in Audi Tradition's basement. These vehicles are rarely seen by the public.

Audi Tradition has set its photographers into the basement to photograph and document many of these vehicles to give a taste of what has been hidden away. Here is a small sample from the new book:

DKW's late 1930s sidecar race machines used a racing version of the 600cc Reichklasse water-cooled twin car engine,

The last Horch. This car was custom built for Auto Union managing director Richard Bruhn in the 1950s. The chassis and engine were prewar but the body was of a modern design and construction. This car was later found sitting in the desert in Texas and purchased by Audi Tradition.

The rally winning Audi Quattro

The start of the technical legacy, DKW's pioneering DKW Frontreib F1 (on the left) and its successor, the F2 (right) joined with a 'baby Horch' DKW F5 roadster.

Garage camera view. Note the rare F10 in the top left corner.

Another 'as found' example. Wanderer W25K roadster, recovered in the US.

A modern classic, the Audi TT.

The book is currently available in German but we must expect an English version to arrive soon:
https://www.audi-mediacenter.com/de/fotos/detail/audi-tradition-buch-einblicke-114185

Thursday 15 December 2022

1953 DKW F89P Renovation - Sorbey Autocentre, Denmark

Sorbey Autocentre in Bilverkstad in Denmark has taken on a project to restore to running a 1953 DKW F89P Karmann-bodied four-seater cabriolet. They have been documenting the project on YouTube, which is excellent. It's all in Danish of course, but it's still good to watch. Enjoy!
Episode One:

Episode Two:

Episode Three:

Episode Four:

Episode Five:

Episode Six:

Episode Seven:

Episode Eight

Episode Nine

Episode Ten

Episode Eleven

Episode Twelve

Episode Thirteen

Episode Fourteen

Episode Fifteen

Episode Sixteen

Episode Seventeen

Episode Eighteen

Episode Nineteen

Episode Twenty

Episode Twenty One

Episode Twenty Two

Highlights video:

Sörby Autocenter AB Mekonomen Bilverkstad Ronneby
With the customer in focus, we always give you a comprehensive solution to meet your needs and simplify your workshop visit. As a guarantee of quality, we give you at least a 3-year warranty, and always carry out service according to the car manufacturer's recommendations. Which means that you always have your factory and new car warranty on the car and get an approved stamp in the service book.

We always work with high quality and service so that you as a customer can feel that your car is in safe hands. If you have questions or concerns about your car, you are welcome to swing by and we will be happy to answer them over a cup of coffee.

The service also includes a year's roadside assistance, which means that you get help in the event of, for example, a puncture, a petrol stop or an engine breakdown. Do you want to split the payment? We offer you 4 months of interest-free installments. Welcome!

Besök vår Facebook sida: www.facebook.com/sorbyautocenter/

Önskar Ni komma i kontakt med oss nås vi på: sorby.autocenter@telia.com

Besök gärna våra Youtube vänners kanaler: @livetpaochutanforscenen

Wednesday 14 December 2022

DKW F9 - The Forgotten Superstar

I would like to give a big shout out to the team at the B Sport YouTube channel for putting together two really excellent videos about the history of the DKW F9 and its modern successors. These are really well put together and very interesting. Please enjoy and give them a like.

DKW F9 development:
https://dkwautounionproject.blogspot.com/2017/07/1939-dkw-f9-prototype.html
DKW F89P development:
https://dkwautounionproject.blogspot.com/2017/06/dkw-f89p-new-meisterklasse.html
IFA F9 development:
https://dkwautounionproject.blogspot.com/2020/07/the-development-of-ifa-f9.html

Saturday 10 December 2022

DKW Meisterklasse Project - Wheels

Another day of small steps forward. I set myself the task of getting the wheels back on, then the car be taken off the blocks and moved around a little easier. I think it's been on blocks now for more than 18 months!

The left front wheel hub went on without any problem. Then I started on the right and... problem.

The hub has a keyway that locks the hub to the axle stub but...

The axle does not have a key... have I lost a part? Of course, I started cursing myself and thought I would have to back to the forums to work out what is missing, then remembered there was a mysterious component in my bag of brake parts.

And there it is. When I removed the brake hubs 18 months or so ago I remember this semicircular part falling out. I had no idea where it had come from but carefully packed it away with the brake components.

And it slotted straight into the hole and then the hub went back on, no problem.

Now we have two wheels back on. The rear hubs have proven a little more challenging to get back on. They required use of a hub puller to get off and it looks like they'll need a lot more pushing to get back on. There are three sets of bearings in the rear hubs and they do not exactly line up as you push the hub back in. Special tools and lot of sweating is required I think.

Next update:
https://dkwautounionproject.blogspot.com/2023/01/dkw-meisterklasse-project-update.html
Previous update:
https://dkwautounionproject.blogspot.com/2022/11/dkw-meisterklasse-project-update-little.html

DKW Meisterklasse Project Update - Little Steps

Car restoration can be a very slow process. Rewarding, but slow. Back in September 2022 I recieved the engine back and reinstalled it in the car. It seemed like I would be able to make some rapid progress at last, but not quite! There is always another obstacle.

Firstly, I thought I lost the carburetor. It was one of the first things I'd removed from the car when I got it home. I cleaned it up and put it in storage with my parts collection. However, I when I sent my engine for rebuilding, I could not find it anywhere. This was a problem! I did manage to find a spare carburetor I had obtained from Audi Tradition - back when they still sold DKW NOS parts - which I have been messing around with, but it is missing the mounting flange and the air-filter connector.

Like almost all DKW F89P parts, this is rather a rare part on the spares market. I'm still looking through my parts as I'm sure it has to be there somewhere. I mean, I haven't searched the fridge yet....but if you have a lead, I'd like to hear about it.

The radiator was in good condition and only needed a clean up, flush through and repaint. The pipes are attached and I mounted it back in the car. The original aluminium fittings mounting to the engine had eroded considerably but I managed to acquire modern reproductions, however, these appear to be for an F89L and not all of them fit the sedan. I reverted to the original engine top pipe. The bottom pipe (see below) fits okay but the other (top left) will need to cut to fit correctly.

Some assembly required

This piece is for an early F89L as the radiator is not behind the engine but mounted at an angle, tilted forward to left side of then engine (looking forward).

A simple slice and dice

And done.

Once the radiator was back in the car I was able to connect up the gear shifter, which runs through the top of the radiator housing. I was always uncertain how the gear shifter would work in practice. The gear lever is linked to the gear rod by a piece of rubber. When I acquired my car, the rubber was completely rotten and had fallen apart so I'd never seen how it worked. After connecting the two rods with an appropriately sized piece of rubber I was amazed how easily the gears shifted. It will take a little bit of getting used to however.

Update 6 December 2022

Thankfully, with a bit of searching in Germany an F89P carburetor flange has been found. Thanks Dirk. And it goes on (Jan 2023): https://dkwautounionproject.blogspot.com/2023/01/dkw-meisterklasse-project-update.html

Previous update: https://dkwautounionproject.blogspot.com/2022/09/dkw-meisterklasse-project-update-engine.html

Wednesday 21 September 2022

DKW Meisterklasse Project Update - Engine Returns

I'm expecting my engine back tomorrow so it was time to go over the engine-bay / chassis once more so that I can put the engine straight back in.

The first thing to do was to disarticulate the drive shafts again. I had 'dry mounted' them and had them back in their correct position previously, but these were only loosely mounted. By removing the bolts connecting the wheel hubs to the leaf springs (upper right in the picture), the wheel hub and drive shaft can be swung away from the chassis. I replaced the securing bolts back in position so that I don't lose them. I have tried to keep a track of all the bits and bobs I have removed from the car over time, but unfortunately the little plastic bags break, spilling their contents into the boxes of parts or the marker rubs off and then it becomes something of a mystery box....

The front engine mounts are a lots smaller diametre than the originals - which were rotten to the core. I hope these do. If not, I have larger ones but I feel they're a little too tall. There'll be a bit of fiddling around to do to get it right. Next photo should see the engine in place!

And it goes in! Kim (Kims Kustoms) dropped it by on Thursday 22 September 2022.

As has covered in many of the articles published on the blog about the development of the F9 (both the DKW and IFA version) - engine clearances are tight. Very tight. We had to remove a number of bolts in the leaf spring mounting so we can slip the rear end of the engine through to the mount. It was difficult to get it out so it was no surprise it was difficult putting it back.

But it did go in. Now the next phase of work begins!

After securing the engine to the chassis, I put the drive-shafts back in. Removing them had proven to be relatively easy. Once the top bolts (joining the wheel to the front leaf suspension arm) and the shock absorber was removed, the wheel could be dropped down and the drive shaft simply slipped out of the donut. Not so going back in! There was simply no way to get the drive-shaft back into the hole without also removing the lower suspension arms (the V frame). They were a bastard to remove and put back in. I have new synthetic bushes in the lower suspension and they fit very tightly so lining up the holes for remounting was extremely challenging, but I did manage it in about three hours each side.

Thursday 15 September 2022

DKW Meisterklasse Project Update - September 2022

And then things began to move very quickly.... Once the missing seals and bearings were obtained, the engine rapidly went back together.

The primary drive side.

It has been a long time getting to this point, but the end is now in sight.

Once again, little parts slowed down progress. In putting the Dynastart back together the brushes and points I had in my parts stock proved not to be correct. I take it the issue here is that F89P brushes are a lot like F7 or F8 brushs - like, but not exactly the same.

I have dozens of sets of points from the prewar period, for my F94 3=6 car and the F89P points I'd purchased for the restoration. I suspect that some of these parts have been mixed up over time, with different points being put into boxes labelled for other vehicles. This one in the above photo is supposed to be for a F89P - but no.

But then again, a little cleaning up and customizing the points and....

Previous Restoration Updates:
1. DKW Meisterklasse Import April 2017: https://dkwautounionproject.blogspot.com/2021/05/1953-dkw-f89p-meisterklasse-import.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
10. DKW Meisterklasse Project May 2021 Update: https://dkwautounionproject.blogspot.com/2021/04/dkw-meisterklasse-project-update-april.html
11. DKW Meisterklasse Project December 2021: https://dkwautounionproject.blogspot.com/2021/12/dkw-meisterklasse-project-update.html

Thursday 4 August 2022

DKW Meisterklasse Project Update - August 2022

It has been a very long time since I've provided an update on the progress of my 1953 Meisterklasse restoration. This is largely because there has been very little progress. I've been extremely busy with other matters and my poor car has been left to languish in the garage without love. The last update was December 2021!!

Where we left off: I placed the engine with some mechanic friends to strip, clean and rebuild the engine. Here we hit our first challenge - getting the engine apart. As the engine had taken on water at some point, some components were tightly rusted. I also needed to get a Dynastart puller, which I managed to obtain from Germany from www.motortools.de It did the job in five minutes but took six weeks to arrive.

So the Dynastart was removed and then....things slowed right down. My friends - being good mechanics - were very much in demand and fiddling around with the engine slipped further and further down the list of things on their plate. Myself, I had so much going on in my life that all my plans to continue stripping down and tidying rusty components, such as the front bumper, fell by the wayside.

I did manage to hammer out some of the many bends in the bumper panels so it does look better than it was, but there's still a lot of cleaning up to go. I need to finish cleaning up the aluminium strips that attach to the metal bumper too. Another half done job!

Anyway, the guys got back to the engine this week and split the crankcase. What a mess inside!

No surprises there. At some point the engine became filled with water and sludge, which resulted in the crank and pistons seizing in the crankcase. The cases will now go for vapour blasting. Then the new crankshaft and pistons can go in.

The gearbox looks pretty good now it has been cleaned up outside and, as I've mentioned before, shifts through the gears easily enough. We're going to start with a good flushing to see what comes out and weigh up whether we pull that apart. It's good to see some movement on the project.

Update 8 August 2022

I thought it would a few more weeks before we saw more progress, but I was wrong. The guys had the cases quickly cleaned up and then began the reassembly.Then we hit a roadblock - missing seals! I was sure we had all the appropriate seals but apparently not. It should not be long before we have the seals for the end of the crank and then we're away again.