Jump to content

Stylez' - '59 Borgward kombi's


stylez

Recommended Posts

Well, despite it raining 24/7 here, they've made it home.

dff119c4174372eb11d863a37229136e.jpg

5a8c39acc894e283cfa3503f9161b9ac.jpg

b63bbf31252334e63df6b890a856eac9.jpg

ccf63dbd707b12f6926ba938b5100bf1.jpg

e4daa9e5a10c4499cce25cb608dfddf4.jpg

2ad19bbb1f9c6ac7e7d784882f5f04bb.jpg

24b585ba56ba7bf79764cc2c5ed04982.jpg

Supplied by E.H Melhop ltd is what the sticker announces. They began as an engineering firm in Invercargill, and were the first company to import Datsun cars into nz.

They both appear to turn over by hand pretty smoothly. Hopefully the rain will slow some tomorrow so I can get out and get a better idea of things.

One appears to last have been on the road in 1977 and the other sometime in the 80s.

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

So...

Pulled up some of the old vinyl off the floor, unfortunately it was shagged, brittle as hell and heaps of holes and shit.

Underneath, was damp and rusty....

d7674cdd8e8ef285bf0ee8c551b153d4.jpg

Wire brushed a bit of it..

93c024d1a672fc88a84b5a1954499ed7.jpg

Found a few bits that will need attention, but amazingly from what I can tell so far the sills look pretty good.

dd6f9dc236f74f5ce085dad3ee0717a0.jpg

5bf86744c980c41cfaca05ce4419066c.jpg

c0a8ef6faaf84632e812f5fabd120eae.jpg

I'm wanting some help at this point. I want to do this car right, and not ruin it as it's pretty damn rare.

I've got plenty of good panels to make a good car, no worries there.

My obvious thought after finding this rust would be to just bite the bullet, strip it all down, body off and perhaps have the shell media blasted or something, then I can find any problems and correct them, and have a good solid base ?

I'll admit, that frightens the shit out of me a bit because I don't have any experience with this kind of thing. But I'm keen.

However, seeing as there's bugger all of these on the road, what do I do about window seals ? Is there some type of universal mounting rubber you can buy by the meter and join together ? I don't want to cut out the old seals (which are dry and cracked on the outside) and be stuck for the next 20 years looking for window seals!

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

So turns out red car was the one that turned over. The floor is rotten but not beyond repair as the sills are solid.

After some head scratching I replaced some bits and bobs (dizzy, leads, plugs, points, condensor etc)

And bugger me she fired up! Only had it running for a few seconds as it was off gas I poured into carb. I've got some fuel line so I'll hopefully video some running tomorrow.

This thing has been sitting for 42 years!!!

I also took some CLR to the body and then waxed it, got rid of heaps of surface rust, it's rocking some bad ass patina now.

Some before shots :

2deaa283bf7ee69a561c40ac5fc974d0.jpg

84de1d40a4ba853cfa82858ac0421694.jpg

After a CLR and wax :

d95f0b24b442455832f2bbd5a828460a.jpg

37c626998927de692db0bb00b86095bc.jpg

b47e5d9e1b92d9fad3f17acd1c60219a.jpg

Pretty happy with how that turned out. Keen to just roll it as is.

Discussion thread here : //oldschool.co.nz/index.php?/topic/45928-stylez-59-borgward-hansa-kombis-discussion/

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well it runs, if ya can call it that.

It's excessively loud, possibly just because the exhausts have been cut off halfway down for some reason.

And it doesn't seem to be happy, possibly stuck exhaust valves ? Or perhaps my firing order is wrong ? Maybe even just need to set the timing properly. Guess ill do that today. Any other ideas ?

Video here : https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=eell6yEeAXI

Guess I'll set valve clearances and check for stuck ones once she's cooled down, and maybe just TDC and time my dizzy to be sure.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

So something pretty cool happened yesterday.

I emailed NZ Post a while back to see if any old records of it, but they said nothing came up, he said it may have been a private contractors car.

I later got an email from his college who said he had found something.

The RD Contractor that bought the Hansa new was Archie.

He did about 8,000 miles and then sold it to Ray Cosgrove in 1960 when Ray took over the RD1 Winton contract. Ray says he did about 40,000 miles in it.

Ray held the contract through until 31 December 2013, although his wife Debbie did the last 8 years or so.

Ray has lots of stories to tell and says you are welcome to ring him on xxxxxxxxx

Have your pen and paper ready.

How cool is that!

I'll ring him over the weekend and see what he has to say, hopefully he has a photo or two lurking around!!

So so stoked!

  • Like 6
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

So, she runs.

After a week and a half of spraying the stuck valves with penetrating oil, I fired her up and it doesn't cough and splutter anymore. Great news!

I snapped a video of it idling, my cellphone makes it sound horrific.

Anyway, appears the fuel lines might be blocked, I've just been running it from a can up until now. Guess ill whip out the hard line and soak it out, as the rubber line is seethrough and looks ok. It's probably at a joint anyway.

Made some new valve cover gaskets too, as in the video it's pissing oil all over the exhaust out the right one :)

After that I need to have a look at the radiator and such, and once it's running off the tank I might dare to sit in it and put it in 1st gear. :o

Oh, and somebody has chopped the exhausts off right after the mufflers which are under the drivers door, hence it sounding like a tractor. I've got a full pair on the other wagon I can swap over. But for now the neighbours can enjoy this noise. ;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...