Repair Manual

WAHOO! The previous owner found the repair manual! It is very very very cool. It has great diagrams showing how to fix all sorts of things on the Prinz. It is a great tool will help me bring the Prinz back to life.

And to set the record straight. No, I have never really done a restoration before. I have owned a number of weird cars that I have worked on here and there but this will be my first true restoration. I have been banned by the other half that this will also be my ONLY restoration until it is up and running on it's own. *sigh* There was one point in our life together that I had collected 5 random cars in various states of repair. Some people save animals, I want to save cars.

Last week I went up to the Alaska State Fair in Palmer. On the day I was there the Antique Auto Mushers of Alaska were showing off their cars. After talking to some of the members I plan on becoming a member myself. They offer lots of help, advice and knowledge of the world of car restorations. And I think I could use all of the above.

This Ford is owned by one of the Antique Auto Mushers members. It was a very sweet looking car. They did admit that antique cars are an addiction. I can defiantly agree to that! My dream house would come with a warehouse to store all my toys!

The Prinz is my only toy car at the moment, but I also have a 1966 Skamper pop-up, and a fabulous Serro Scotty travel trailer. The Scotty was a pregnancy gift from my amazing other half. It is so great having a other half that gets it. The Scotty was the world's most perfect present for a car geek like me.

The plan for the Scotty is that it is to become my art studio. Living in a small house means that in the winter it is very easy to heat. And being in Alaska that is ALWAYS a good thing. But it also means that there is little space for my other hobbies such as making Ukrainian Eggs, painting, quilting, and a number of other art activities. The Scotty will be the extra room just for me. I know that this is the NSU Prinz blog but updates from the Scotty will be include in here from time to time too.

A Little History

Taken from the Microcar Museum Atlanta GA

1960 NSU Prinz III
In 1955, the NSU engineering department was instructed to build a new small car. 7.5 million marks were borrowed to build a new plant for the project.
The car was ready for the Frankfurt Auto Show in September 1957. Its attractive body carried a 583cc twin-cylinder 4-stroke motor which featured the technically interesting Ultramax cam-drive using eccentrics and rods.Production began in Mar. 1958, and in 1959 came the Prinz II which featured better trim and an all-synchro box. A high performance 30E (export) version gave 30 hp.
The Prinz III arrived in October 1960 with a new stabilizer bar and the 30hp motor, making it one of the fastest small cars of its time-at 120kph. This attractive car was also technically well sorted out and built.
It was succeeded in 1961 by the Corvair-like Prinz IV.
Volkswagen took over NSU, and then merged it with its Audi subsidiary to form Audi NSU Auto Union AG. The Neckarsulm plant is currently building certain Audi and Porsche models.
Manufacturer: NSU Motorenwerke AG, Neckarsulm, Germany
Model: Prinz III
Motor: NSU 4-stroke
Body: Steel unit body
Years Built: 1, II , III Sept.57 -1962
No. Cylinders: 2
Chassis: None
No. Produced: 95,000
Displacement: 583cc
Suspension Front: Coil
No. Surviving: N/A
Horsepower: 30
Suspension Rear: Coil
Length: 3 150 mm
Gearbox: 4 fwd. + rev.
Steering: Rack & pinion
Width: 1 420 mm
Starter: Dynastart
Brakes: Hydraulic.
Weight: 496 kg
Electrics: 12 v
4 Wheels: 4.40 x 12"
Interior: 4 seats
Ignition: Coil
Top Speed: 120 kph

OOOOHHH BOXES OF BITS ARRIVED!!!

I am so excited! The former owner found a couple of boxes of bits for the Prinz including the instrument panel, hubcaps, spare tire and a whole lot more!

It's getting dark so I can't go through the bits tonight. AURGH! Seeing how I have the patience of a flea it's going to be a long night. I so hope tomorrow is sunny!

Missing bits....and a big decision

OK so I finally went through all the boxes that came with the Prinz. The good news is that there are LOTS of extra parts. The bad news is that there are some key parts that are defiantly missing.

Extra bits include a gas tank, oil filters, fabric to recover the back seat (yes, it does have a back seat in case you were wondering), a very cool valve cover that sports the letters NSU, and I think enough bits to make an entire spare engine. Of course the extra engine is currently in a million pieces and the previous owner has not been able to lay his hands on the owners manual. *Sigh*

What I don't have is the ignition, air filter housing, front back and curved side windows (I have a very bad feeling that they are going to be pricey to have custom made with the curve of them), instrument panel, and I am sure there will be more more but I have not had the joy of figuring out what they are yet.

So now comes the decision....do I attempt to make the little beast come to life with the engine that it currently in it? Or do I start to rebuild the extra engine and see how far I get?

Well enough playing with the toy, it's my turn to mow the lawn.

NSU Prinz Sales Brochure

In the mail last night I received my copy of a 1960 NSU Prinz sales brochure purchased from Ebay for $9.00 including shipping. It's in great shape and has lots of cool information about my little car. Ebay rocks! Where else in Anchorage Alaska would I have been able to find such an item??

The brochure boasts that the 1960 Prinz is a wunder car made in Neckarsulm West Germany. In this brochure it tell all about the fact that it has an all aluminum air cooled engine, gets up to 50 miles to the gallon, Hydraulic Brakes, Rigid ram, All Steel Body, Speedy Acceleration, Lasting Lacquer Finish, Large Luggage Space, Superb Roadability, AND uses Regular Gas! How cool is all that?

Tiny garage for tiny car

The Prinz is in the garage! It's a good thing that it's not any bigger than it is either! Due to lack of lighting and just plain yucky weather I couldn't get a good shot of exactly what the toy looks like in the garage....stay tuned! Next thing I need to do is figure out what all these extra parts are!

The garage is almost ready

On Friday the NSU Prinz officially became mine. $15 later spent at the DMV the title has been switched into my name making it officially mine. I have always loved going to the DMV with a car that does not fit the standard. The conversation went something like this...

DMV - What is it?
Me - A NSU Prinz, as it says on the title
DMV - Never heard of it. You know that the mileage is wrong right?
Me - Yes, I know that a car from 1960 has more than 1 mile on it.
DMV - You must provide the DMV with the current mileage
Me - It doesn't have an odometer
DMV - Why not?
Me - I don't know
DMV - Why did you buy a car without an odometer?
Me - It's a work in progress.
DMV - Does it run?
Me - No
DMV - Really?
Me - No I am lying to you.... you get the idea.

The weather has turned on me and the Prinz needs to get in the garage. So I got to spend the entire weekend cleaning the garage. The Prinz is gonna look some sweet once it's actually in it. My goal was to have it in the garage by the end of the weekend, but with a 10 month old I had to change up my goal a tad. The new goal is Wednesday.

During a break from the munchkin I did find a very cool small rolling tool chest at a yard sale up the street for $20 that fits perfectly in the garage. I put Katahdin in the backpack and wheeled it home. I was very happy that we were down hill from the sale.

Now if the rest of the Prinz car bits could make it to the house it would be good. I talked to the former owner on Friday. It was a funny thing I ran into him driving my SX/4! I was very happy to see it on the road. He said that the parts are buried but he will keep digging.

As soon as it's in the garage I will post more pictures. The next step after it's in it's new home is an inventory of all the bits to be taken. That is gonna be a big job.

Ta Ta for now!

Back from TX

Ok so this is not what my Prinz looks like yet. But this is what I hope to get it to look like.

As I was in TX all last week I didn't get a chance to do much with the toy. What I have been doing to research into the land of restoration help sites on the internet. This week I hope to get a list of links that I like posted.

I will post more current pictures of the project in a couple of days.

Cheers!

The Prinz Arrives

Last night the Prinz found it's way into our yard.

This blog is the ongoing saga of the 1960 NSU Prinz III restoration.

The Prinz was traded for a 1982 AMC SX/4 that needed to go to a new home. Even trade my AMC for the Prinz. The Prinz had been in storage for the past 25 years. Prior to it's hibernation the former owner had taken out most of the interior and glass in preparation for the restoration. I am hoping that I can now take it to the next step and bring it back to it's former glory.