DDK - Die Deutschen Klassiker

thanks Andy, whatever silver it is, it looks fantastic!

Isn't the original column switch assembly another NSU part, it certainly looks similar.
Great project by the way.

Lightweight_911 wrote:

Mike wrote:brilliant Andy, how did you arrive at the paint code, flake size and so on, and was it a lacquer finish in the day?

Sorry Mike - I didn't go into it in that degree of detail !

We chose an early '60's 356 silver but left the rest up to the painter.



- probably not the answer you wanted ...

Thank god for that - for a minute there I thought there were two of you!

The colour is Porsche 6206 Silbermetallic a 1962/3 356 colour.

Great write up Andy, this could be a long one.

Your pictures of the Carrera Panamericana car brought back some good memories - here is some in-car of a wild run into the finish area in Puebla for your amusement.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJoCZ4Mk ... er&list=UL

Barrie

911hillclimber wrote:Good grief, it looks good!

Am i right in thinking you have not done a dry build, so you need to cut all the holes for the smaller parts, ie dial etc and rear lights??
What an interesting project.

The car is being built by Barrie - the only holes needed in the body will be for the front & rear lights - headlights, foglights, etc have already been trial fitted.

All parts needed to complete the build are available from M&W but since I've known Barrie for many years he allowed me to source many of them myself (to make the finished car even more authentic).

A different angle/ car (column switch) looks like a different set up.

Enthused by this little project, i had a browse on You tube and the Beck replica.
There is an interior shot and the indicator unit looks just like the Caranaette bolt-on unit you showed earlier on.
As said elsewhere on this forum, it's been 12 hours now, so where's the next installment!?

Absolute belter!! Can't wait to follow this one........

Great stuff Andy: I've just P.M.'ed you about something else, and nearly asked for an update on this project, only to stumble on this thread.

I can't remember a thread getting so big so quickly. Quite right to: much anticipated!

Brookesy wrote:Isn't the original column switch assembly another NSU part, it certainly looks similar.
Great project by the way.

No, it's not from an NSU Prinz/TT which looks like this:




After slightly modifying a pair of early VW Bus column switches, mounting them 'bacl-to-back', painting black & adding a length of suitable steel tube, mine should look like this:



Once the knobs are switched to the ivory versions I think it'll be pretty close to the original :

Looks like a very good match Andy, your Macgyver Skills are strong.

Seats were next ...

The original cars used very basic sparsely-padded 'seats' (I use that term loosely!) covered in a unique bluish-green (teal/turquoise ?) velour/velvet material (these originals are a bit 'dusty' !) :





These seats aren't fixed to the car - they're located by means of some raised sections on the underside that locate in some channels in the cockpit floor (& some shallower ones on the rear bulkhead) :






Obviously this means that the seats aren't adjustable in any way - the pedals adjust instead.

The two seats aren't mirror images of each other - the passenger's seat is about 3/4 of the width of the driver's ! :

Barrie supplies accurate copies of the original 'cores' (which he usually gets upholstered) but, once again, I wanted to try & replicate the originals as closely as possible ...

I spent months scanning the internet/visiting trimmers/contacting restorers/etc & bought/blagged fabric samples from as far afield as India & USA before finding an obsolete 'end of roll' (2 metres) which looked to be a very close approximation - I was elated (it doesn't take much !).

So, once the material had arrived, I took the seat 'cores' :







to my trimmer along with 5 or 6 colour A4 photos showing a pair of original seats from every angle.

I explained exactly what I wanted - in particular stressing that I didn't want any stitching going across the seat cushion or back & only wanted the thinnest of foam added if absolutely necessary ...

After a couple of weeks, as I hadn't heard anything, I called in to see them (they're only 5 mins from where I live) & was greeted with: "Ah, i'm glad you're here - i've been having a few problems with your seats ..."

Needless to say, the (driver's) seat they'd completed had numerous stitched seams going across the seat cushion & the back !!!

2/3 or the material had been used up & was ruined ...


.

In addition to the adjustable pedals, isn't the steering column adjustable too (telescopic)?

Andy, where are you on the fabric front now? I say this as towards the end of next week I'll be at three different fabric mills in Taiwan and then three more in China. I'll happily ask if you have a small sample I could show. It's a long shot I know, but you never know.

Another pic from the Freisinger resto....



It looks like the centre section could be made in one piece (around a foam core) and velcro'd down. Kind of like the Recaro CS buckets do. The outer section could be glued down.

I'm guessing you've solved this problem already though.