Ongoing Restoration of a 1973 NSU RO80
Dear Ro80 enthusiasts
Firstly apologies for this post being in English, my German language skills are extremely poor.
Over in a rather stormy UK I am in the process of restoring a 1973 Turquoise green metallic RO80.
I thought I would share some photos and a link to the facebook page for the restoration here. The photo on the left shows the car in May 2014 and the photo on the right shows the car in the state it currently is.
The link to the facebook page for the restoration which shows the work undertaken to date in detail is:
https://www.facebook.com/NSU-Ro80-restoration-by-Retropower-607293042735526/
We are currently about to start rebuilding the car and I would be grateful for any advice on any useful improvements which could be made to the car.
The car has dark grey carpets which are torn and badly damaged. Does anyone know of a company which could supply replacement carpets for an Ro80 similar in colour to the originals?
- Anmelden oder Registrieren um Kommentare zu schreiben
Hello,
Welcome and congratulations - a good part of the project seems to be done already.
I am sure you will find help in this forum - also in English.
There is a participant in this forum who recently finished the restoration of his Ro 80 and presented several details. May be intersting for you. There are many pictures and we might also translate certain comments (if google translator is not doing the job).
There is a German company offering carpet sets. I have no experience with them.
Improvements: there are several options. My Ro 80 perfectly runs without any modificatoin...
Bests
Holger
Thanks, I will have a look at the carpet sets.
Al
And I thought my RO was a little mess. Yours is even more. Anyhow, I was very surpised to see the repair on the left rear wheel arch. That is something I couldn't do. Do you have some more pics about this?
But it seems to me you are a prof. I even see some spotweldings. That is the best way.
If you need help, please let me/us know. Mine is indeed just finished and driving again after I don't know how many years. So everything waht is hapening is a surprise. And by driving it, I learn more and more about finding and shooting troubels.
But why did you choose this car in the UK? It must be a hard job to find spare parts for you. In Holland this ca is rare, in the UK it is even more.
Can you show us some picture of the engine bay? I'm very curious because the RHD.
MfG
Alexander
Hi
I didn't realise that mine was quite such a mess until it had been completely stripped.
I can't take credit for the metal work as it was significantly more involved and complex than my skills could cope with and I had to let the professionals do the metalwork. I will have a look and see if I can find any more photos of the metal work repair to the rear arch.
I chose the car because of its styling, its technological accomplishments and because it is so unusual over here in the UK. There are only 33 Ro80's currently on the road in the UK.
The downside has been the difficulty in obtaining spare parts many of which I have had to order from Germany.
Here is a photo of the engine bay taken prior to me dismantling the car.
Al
Wonderful colour, if its new!
Es muß nicht alles original sein !
Hi Everest 1953
If you will need some help you can get in contact with Phil Blake, he is a Ro80 spezialist in UK. He can also provide you with parts ore some helpful tips.
He will also organize a big Ro80 Meeting during the 50th aniversary from the 5th-6th of August in Suffolk, if you will find time, you can visit this Meeting and get the experience from a lot of Ro80 drivers :-)
Cheers Andreas
Thanks Andreas
Do you have any advice on which shock absorbers are best?
Al
Dear Alister-Everest,
you asked for advice on useful improvements. Whatever you add or improve on your car, the most important thing after such a renovation is, according to my experience, corrosion prevention.
Some advices for internal corrosion prevention can de found in the brochure Tipps & Tricks, which is available in the club shop. The text is, I must admit, in German, but there's a number of pictures, and you know that one picture can say more than a thousand words.
Mein Motto: Original ist schön, man muß es aber nicht übertreiben
Christian von Klösterlein
- Ro 80 Club International -
Internationale Kontakte