Restoration of Nick's Kübel

[Rolf Sigurd Ask]

Nicklas asked me to put in his story here. So enjoy !
Rolf

"I got hold of My Kübelbody ten years ago, and it was said to have
served in III JG5 (Luftwaffe). The original einheitsfarbe -43 was
overpainted in
luftwaffe bluegrey. Over the Luftwaffe paint was a number of other
colours and at last the blue on the pic below with a tactical sign
made for a filproduction in the sixties. A couple of years later I
was lucky to get hold of an original chassi (from Tjeckia) that was
made just three months later than the body.
When I did some research I found out that the chassis where made at
KDF wolkswagenwerk, and the bodys by Ambi Budd Presswerk, and during
this time the factorys where bombed by the allied forces - with big
delays in the production - so in fact - this boy and chassi was in
theory historically compatible.
This encurriged me to start this rebuild of the car. A lot of friends
just shook their heads and thought I was going insane...

On the lower picture is the chassi rebuilt, and i have puzzled the
body on top before restoration."

[Rolf Sigurd Ask]

I got help from a friend (Claes Wingren, a true hero) with the
welding and bodywork. We tried to keep as much original parts that we
could, and I bought the rest from Vladimir Lehar. I have bought parts
from him over the years and find him as a very serius collector with
skills and a big knowledge. He sells very good repro parts (at a fair
price as well) and I found out that many other repropart dealers
actually buy their stuff from him. The body work took about one and a
half year (in sparetime) to get ready. During the years I have been
constantly looking for missing original parts and details, and found
at swapmeets, and from friends around the world who also was
rebuilding Type 82:s. A nice bunch of people that have shared
technical problems and parts! Thanks everyone!

Pic 1: New heatchambers and hole for the jeck.

Pic 2: Claes getting loose on the body.

Pic 3: The bodywork is finished.

[Rolf Sigurd Ask]

To tell the story about every details is not possible but as an
example - here is the batterybox. I started out with an original one
that i mesured and documented in detail, got hold of the correct
lock, the correct type of lettering for the info on top and all the
small wooden details inside, as well as the holders for the heater. I
have
always been extra interested in the winterequipment used in german
Pkw:s Lkw:s and vehicles though I am living in Scandinavia, and the
winters get cold here.
So I had to put some extra work into this detail as well.

Pic 1 and 2: Jiris original box that I copied.

Pic 3: My box during work.

Pic 4: My box finished with the heater mounted.

Pic 5: My finished.

[Rolf Sigurd Ask]

The next step was all the gaswelding. Another good friend and
neighbour (Kenneth Lindsjö) helped me out with this. On the original
Typ 82:s the bodys where quite roughly gaswelded on a number of
places, these weldings was not sanded (wartime production). I wanted
this detail made accuratly in the same way as the original, because
that is one detail you van see clearly when the car is painted.

[Rolf Sigurd Ask]

When researching type 82:s from III JG 5 i found a couple of pictures
from different sources, but turned out to show the same car, so I
decides to paint my car after this,
as I think this is as close as it can get. By mesuring the
numberplateholders on the original Pic showing the rear, I could find
out the exact size of the III JG 5 emblem painted beside and make a
paperdummy for each colour - this emblem is also placed on the front
mudguard!

[Rolf Sigurd Ask]

I have during the years found all the original parts and details for
my car, but I was missing one thing - the original handle for the
Jeck. I have only seen one original
during the years, that a friend in Tjeckia have, and this last piece
bugged me a lot.
Two years ago me and my girlfriend took a vacation in Crete and drove
around with a rented car. We stopped in a small village for lunch,
and after we took a walk. There was a blacksmith that made lorrys for
donkeys and horses and he had a lot of scrap and junk on his
backyard, so I just had to take a look. I totally frooze in the heat,
when my eyes suddenly saw the upper part of a handle that seemed
familiar among all the rusty things - and yes - an original jeck
handle for my Kübel! I thougt I was going to faint! I asked him if it
was for sale - and he just looked at me like I was a nutcase. I got
it for 4 €. The rest of the vacation I woke up every night and just
had to stumple in the dark to hold it, and to ensure myself that it
was not just a dream - the third night my girlfriend just said - Go
to bed Nicklas - the handle is there!


This is probably the best vacation I have ever had...

[Rolf Sigurd Ask]

Last autumn we painted it, and now I am reassembling all the parts -
it is like when I was young and built the car in 1:35 scale - so fun!
Another friend with a long experience helps me out (Bertil Tuvesson).
We have changed all the brake pads and bearings and we are
enjoying ourself all the time! The goal is to drive it this spring,
and I will come back with the result!

I am really looking forward to get started with my next project...

Regards / Nick






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[amelinas]

Very nice work and interesting story. Thanks for sharing with us those wonderful pics! And again, my sincere congratulations!

[einar]

Hello Nick!

Good to see the progress on your VW! Getting along well and so making way for the Typ40. Remember I have a D662/201 - Sonderausruestung fuer Winterbetrieb for you. Exchange for the 20 l gas tank?

einar

[nick]

Holger and Einar!
Thanks for your nice words! Helps me keep my spirit up!
Einar - I hope to see your Typ 40 restoration here soon!
Holger - I am going to follow your Schwimm restoration with greatest interest!
Regards / Nick...

[amelinas]

Nick,

I will keep you posted.

Holger

[Rolf Sigurd Ask]

Nicks restoration continues...

"Tonight i mounted the front Notek light. I have studied a lot of
wartime pictures and i think this is the right way that the notek
foot was mounted, with a rubber ring
between the body (and a small metalclamp in between for grounding?)
and rubber on the upper part of the bolts. If anyone knows better I
am pleased to be
informed! This is a real joy, mounting all details, I suddenly feel
like twelve again!

Regards / N"

[nick]

Ran in to some major problems with the brake wiring. I only had one original hub (to the right on the lower pic) but my dear friend and neighbour Kenneth Lindsjö, helped me out and manufactured four exact replicas for me - so now the restoration can continue!

/Nick...

[nick]

Found a great guy in Poland - Tomasz - and he makes all electricall wiring for Kübel and Schwimm, exactly like the original! Same type of colored wiring - and his work is really fantastic! When you order from him you get a copy of the original plans, for the actuall version
or if it is for an early or late manufactured car!
If anyone would like to get in contact and order from him, just send me a P.M. and I will forward you to him! Check these pics out - You cant get closer to originality than this!



/Nick...

[nick]

In front of the Christmasfire...

...I spent some nice time making schablon/stencils for the division sign of III JG 5. I made them in cardboard, and one for each colour. By mesuring the distance between the screws of the rear numberplate holder on the originalpic (earlier above) I found out the correct size. I have been studying original painting for some years now, and have seen both sprayed and "dotted with a sponge" examples, and I settled for the last method, also seen on the original pic.




Regards / Nick...