Monday, November 19, 2012

More parts sourced

Vidal and Son built several hundred thousand Hanseats between 1935 and 1958. In 1955 over 100,000 were registered on the road in Germany, but now there are only about 80 known survivors. Although not a complex machine, many parts are now extremely hard to source. There are virtually no Heinkel engine guides and information about them is almost impossible to find. Parts are also very hard to find. It took a fellow restorer I know five years to locate some replacement parts for his Heinkel engine. Consequently, when I started this project I expected it would be a very long, slow venture, primarily tracking down random unobtanium parts. To my very great surprise, this has not been the case. After a very slow start, I have been bombarded with offers of parts and assistance.

The term ‘barn find’ has dubious connotations these days. It is used incredibly often throughout eBay in often futile attempts to drum up interest in a mediocre piece of machinery. I mean, who can seriously talk of a ‘barn find’ 1985 Holden Commodore? Very occasionally though, a 'barn find' claim proves to be exactly what it says it is - a real genuine rarity dragged out of a dusty, shuttered garage.

Tempo Christian pulls another Hanseat into the light.

This year has been the year of Tempo barn finds. By my reckoning at least five have been unearthed, mainly from Eastern Germany. These finds also included a large number of spare parts. This probably should not surprise us. By the late 1950s the Tempo Hanseat was largely obsolete in the West, but as transport was still very limited in the East, many of these old machines drifted across the border where they continued to serve, well past their use by date. Stocks of spare parts were built up by their owners in order to keep the machines on the road.

A recently discovered Hanseat from East Germany. It came with a load of spares in its tray. The seller indicated that there were plenty more like this in the East.

With this sudden abundance of spares on hand, Tempo-Dienst club member, Tempo-Rolf has been an invaluable help for my project. Not only has been a great source for parts, but he has provided good advice and assistance. He can be contacted through the Tempo-Dienst website.  http://www.tempo-dienst.de/

I've been pleased to secure most of the critical parts required for my project. The most important part of the Tempo - the kettenkasten or "chain case." The chain case was specially designed by Vidal and Son for their Tempo three wheelers. It contained the chain drive to the front wheel, was partially shock absorbing, and was also weight bearing. Manufacturing a replica of this component would have been a challenge to say the least.



Cab Arrives

The cab finally arrived and has been placed in storage while other parts trickle in. Pleasingly the cab is in great condition with no signs of real rust. The back plate has been damaged however when someone has cut it off the chassis, but that's not a big problem to fix. The doors are temporary hung and fit snuggly.

Saturday, September 1, 2012

Sourcing Parts

There are a couple of Tempo enthusiast groups on the net, which I've posted in the links list. The http://www.tempo-dienst.de/ forum is where most of the action takes place so I posted a message on the forum and was pleased to receive a prompt response from German and Dutch enthusiasts. I was given a lead on a cab, which, to be frank, is an essential part if this project was ever to get off the ground. I contacted the seller, who sent me these pictures.

The cab had been stripped and primered for another restoration project, but the owner found a better cab and so was selling this one 'as is.'



Doors, bonnet and part of the floorplate are included in the deal. They at least look straight.

The door interior is simply plywood. There is almost no way I could import these wooden panels so I asked the seller to remove the winder mechanisms, which I have purchased.

Discussions, negotiations and arrangements for purchase and shipping have taken many months, but we're now ready to go. The cab and parts are packaged ready to go. I expect it will take a couple of months before before they finally arrived.

In the meantime I received a lead on other parts and fittings. I have been corresponding with a seller for an assortment of other parts, including all of the control fittings.

Sunday, August 19, 2012

Starting with the parts


It was almost twelve months between my first contact with the seller and my decision to obtain the parts. It was then another three months before they actually arrived. Until they arrived and I had a chance to review the parts I wouldn't know whether I had a viable project or a box of scrap metal.

When the parts finally arrived I did a quick inventory and review. I had:
  1. a 1951 Heinkel 400cc two-stroke engine;
  2. a dynastart;
  3. 2 x condensors;
  4. 2 x spark plugs;
  5. a complete gearbox;
  6. a complete clutch basket with all discs;
  7. a radiator;
  8. a petrol tank;
  9. a steering wheel;
  10. an articulated worm steering gear;
  11. a complete exhaust;
  12. a chain drive and parts of the triple chain;
  13. a front mudguard, and;
  14. an assortment of miscellaneous parts.

I was immediately struck by the excellent condition of the parts. The gearbox was still filled with oil and the lever was fully articulated.

The engine is surprisingly good condition. It still moves freely. Spark plugs, condensors and high tension cables will need to be replaced. The dynastart still needs to be investigated.

I had always wondered how the Tempo was steered. It works off an articulated worm steering mechanism that either pushes or pulls the front wheel in the appropriate direction. The steering mechanism works. Traces of paint on the steering column reveal that the original vehicle was painted dark green.

The Hans Windhoff A-G built radiator is in good condition and does not leak. It is missing the hoses and radiator cap.

The petrol tank looks a little worse for wear as it looks badly rusted. Nevertheless, this is mainly surface rust and is easily brushed off. I have since filled the tank with Rust-off rust remover treatment for motorcycle petrol tanks. I haven't checked the results yet.

Pleasingly, the tank is water-tight. It is missing the petrol cap and tap.

This is the chain drive sprocket. I don't yet know if this is the upper or lower sprocket. It looked solid, if somewhat grubby.

Ten minutes later with a can of degreaser and a wire brush and it's almost back to new.

It may not be much, but it's a good start.

Thursday, August 16, 2012

Starting with the dream


Welcome to my new blog. Let me introduce myself - my name in Paul and I live in Perth, Western Australia. I have long had an interest in arcane and odd vehicles. Maybe it's a family thing? My great uncle, Percy Markham, was an avid vintage car collector. He later donated his collection to the West Australian Museum, but in the 1990s the West Australian Government sold it off in dubious (criminal?) circumstances. To this day obtaining information about what was sold is nearly impossible. http://www.heinkelscooter.blogspot.com.au/2011/06/percy-markham-collection.html
When I was 18 I bought my grandfather's 1963 EH Holden and drove it for a decade as it slowly deteriorated. In those days I simply did not have the money or technical skill to maintain it as I should. Sadly I was forced to sell when it became unsafe to drive; a decision I've always regretted.

When I turned 40 I bought myself a Balinese restored Vespa. It had its problems of course, but after a little bit of work it's been a surprisingly reliable little machine. More importantly, that little Vespa introduced me into the world of vintage scooters and motorcycles. The Vespa was soon joined by a 1954 Heinkel Tourist basketcase and a 1964 IWL scooter. Have blogged about these restoration projects here - http://www.heinkelscooter.blogspot.com.au/2008/04/beginning-at-beginning.html The Troll is on the road but the Heinkel is still a box of bits four years on.

Before I could start on the Heinkel I was diverted to buy a 1958 Ariel Leader motorcycle. http://www.heinkelscooter.blogspot.com.au/2010/01/there-was-movement-at-station.html

Last year I took the serious plunge of importing a 1958 DKW car from South Africa, which has brought me no end of pleasure. http://www.heinkelscooter.blogspot.com.au/2011/10/importing-south-african-dkw.html

One would think that with all these projects and vehicles to maintain that it would be foolish to start on another mad venture. At least that's what my wife thinks! And she's right of course. I've barely made any progress on the Heinkel scooter and I do - eventually - want to get that finished. But then sometimes something just falls into your lap.

A year or so ago I was trolling through the 'restoration and salvage' pages of Australian eBay. It was not something I would normally look at but there had recently been a Goggomobil Dart project advertised there in error before being quickly withdrawn (or sold). It made me wonder if there might be other gems lurking there.

Anyway, I was searching for DKW parts and I got a hit. Actually, the wording of the advert was a little vague, 'Tempo Hanseat engine, two stroke, DKW, JLO.' This is a fairly common technique on eBay of including a range of related words to broaden the search results. Tempo Hanseat, I thought? That must be a mistake. The German Vidal and Son company of Hamburg had built Tempo speed tricycles from the 1920s through to 1956, but they were never imported into Australia.

To me the engine looked like a two cylinder DKW two-stroke from the 1930s. That was interesting, so I contacted the seller and he provided me some brief details about the parts he had - an engine, a radiator and an assortment of miscellaneous parts. He was fairly sure it came from a Tempo but he didn't know the details. At the end of the day though I let it pass. I had too many other things going on and really what was I going to with a Tempo engine?

Fast forward 18 months and I'm trolling through my emails and come across the Tempo engine correspondence. By this time the DKW had arrived and I was on the lookout for DKW parts - in very short supply in Australia - and I wondered if the Tempo seller, who had a family auto wrecker business, might also have DKW parts. So I emailed the seller. Unfortunately he did not have any DKW parts, but he did advise that he still had the Tempo engine if I wanted it. What's more, after some searching he'd managed to locate the engine, starter motor, clutch, gearbox, radiator, drive-train, steering, and petrol tank. It wasn't much to work with but if I was interested I could have it all for $100.

He also had an interesting tale to tell about its unlikely providence. The Tempo was bought out to Australia by a French emigre in the mid-1950s (the Tempo was built around 1953). He settled in Blackheath in the Blue Mountains, east of Sydney and used the Tempo as a farm and delivery vehicle for a number of years. The steep and hilly landscape of the Blue Mountains wasn't exactly the best environment for the Tempo, which easily became unbalanced when unloaded. The seller remembers seeing the Tempo tipped over on its nose on the roadside as a kid.

After a number of years and a couple of accidents the owner decided to sell the Tempo but there were no takers for such an eccentric vehicle so he ended up selling it to a wrecker in Katoomba in the 1960s. The wrecker stripped the vehicle of those mechanical parts that could potentially be reused - the engine, radiator, drive, petrol tank - and stored them for later. The cab was sawn from its tube chassis and tray, which was converted into a trailer and sold. The cab was scrapped.

So I obtained a bunch of parts from a Tempo. Not much to work with really, but its crazy opportunities like this that interest me. I enjoy the search, tracking down parts. It's going to be a long slow project that may or may not even get off the ground. But I'm want to try. So I have created this separate blog to track my progress. I'll still be using the Heinkel blog to publish my ongoing researches, museum visits and rallies. http://www.heinkelscooter.blogspot.com.au/