Our Goggomobil Dart Restoration - Brisbane, Australia

Our aim is to restore it as close to original as possible.

Last Updated: 3 September 2011

June, 2010

We have a restoration workshop underway on the project and they have had the above body (and a spare we also got with the vehicle) soda blasted ready for some repair work.

The chassis has been totally stripped with a few minor replacement patches welded into the floor pans and front. There has also been a little bit of other sorting. The chassis now looks very straight. The seats have been removed (and sent to a new home as they are definitely not original!) and the old Toyota steering gear also sent on its way. The chassis is ready for sandblasting.

The motor is the 400cc version. This car was built originally in 1959 and is body 1141.

The body is now primed and will remain that way until almost to the end when we will get the final colour applied. The chassis is also finished. Currently the restorer is working on the mechanicals and we have lined up our upholsterer. We have instructed an exhaust shop to copy an existing exhaust/muffler system. They are nearly finished. We have also had someone make another three sets of seat frames. (They didn't come cheap but look great!) We have gone back to Uwe today to see if we can replace a few parts with new ones. We also need to think about how we 'clean up' the motor as it had been pulled to bits, fixed and up back together by the previous owner but not 'shined up'. We don't really want to pull it to bits again so we've got our thinking caps on. Any bright ideas, let us know. Once we sort the engine, it will be installed and we'll be that bit closer to having a rolling, working chassis.

May, 2011

To date, the body has been sodablasted, the chassis sandblasted and both have had minor repairs done to sort them out. The chassis and body have been re-connected together temporarily and some adjustments made to them so that they fit nicely. The chassis has also had an anti-corrosive coating applied. Both have been primed and the chassis is now completely re-painted.

The delay in going further has been in tracking down all body parts (eg. tail lights, rear number plate lights, front perspex covers and rubber, front aluminium strip, all body badges, windscreen rubber, etc.) so as to allow as many holes that have to be drilled as possible to be done prior to undercoat. As a matter of interest this is how we have sourced things so far:

• Goggomobil writing, Front Goggomobil surround and Dart badges - we already had.
• Goggomobil centrepiece (for front badge) - sourced from Uwe in Germany.
• Rear tail lights (red/orange ones... unable to source original all red in a pair) - sourced from Uwe in Germany.
• Side indicator lights and front lights - sourced from Uwe in Germany.
• Rear numberplate lights - sourced from Uwe in Germany.
• Rear Buckle badge - do have an old one that needs work but have sourced a new one from a fellow in Adelaide, South Australia. After market.
• Front light perspex covers and rubber surround - sourced from a fellow in Adelaide, South Australia. After market.
• Front windscreen and surround - sourced from a bunch of parts, bodies and chassis' we got from Tasmania, Australia.
• Front aluminium centre strip - sourced from that same bunch of parts from Tasmania, Australia. That said, we have been able to purchase some of these from Uwe so will use a 'new one'.
• Windscreen rubbers - now sourced
• Side rubber surround and grey insert. Sourced but our supplier can now only make black with black insert and the minimum run sizes mean that significant interest must be shown to make it worthwhile. Interesting to note is that one of the Goggomobil Register members said that it was fairly straightforward to paint (or rather rough up and rub in paint) the side rubbers so for those that want the insert to be grey, there is another option. And this member said that after 20 years of use, the painted rubber he has is still going strong.
• Wiring looms - sourced from Scott's Old Auto Rubber in Victoria. We are aware we will need to make some modifications to account for the indicators.

We have also been able to purchase a second-hand rear seat from Uwe. Confusion surrounds as to whether the rear seats were ever an official option on the Darts. Some people say yes. Some no. If you have a way of authenticating one view or another, please get in touch.

And the good news was that we have sourced two complete and working seat frames that were also in the parts from Tasmania.

HELP WANTED:

When we purchased the car, it was actually running so mechanically, we are pretty well sorted for parts. The vehicle also came with boxes and boxes of spares - some useful - some not so useful. And the Tasmanian purchase has yielded yet more parts. So much so that we are now looking at restoring a second car but we will do one first before we get too carried away.

However, we are still interested in the following and any help or guidance would be appreciated. We would be happy to purchase outright or swap for something you might need:

• Lower steering assembly (we have the upper strut and steering wheel)
• Rear Tail Lights (left and right) - We are still interested in sourcing some original red ones although we have the red/orange ones from Uwe in Germany.

RE-MANUFACTURING: Goggomobil Rubber Strip and Inserts for Around the Car. We can get another lot of these done but the minimum run is really going to be 300 metres and unfortunately, you can only buy it all in black now. (The original insert was grey with the main part black.) Refer to the above mention that a register member has indicated it is fairly straightforward to 'paint' the rubber to the colour of your desire. If you are interested in purchasing a full set in black, let me know. If we get enough people together we can do it.

The above list is dated 3 September 2011 and no doubt our requirements will change by the day. To get in contact, please email: Michelle

When completed, this Dart will go into our eclectic collection of microcars (we have a Messerschmitt KR 200, Bond Bug, BMW Isetta and a Fiat 500).