1960 Wartburg 311 - Skid machine. (The Man From U.N.C.L.E)

[JamDeeCee]

Hi All,

First ever thread on here (long time lurker)

A few months ago, I purchased a 1960 Wartburg 311 which I am told is the actual film (chase/stunt) car from the film 'The Man From U.N.C.L.E' - complete with 2.0l 16v renault engine from an old shape clio williams (I think), twin weber 40s, rear wheel drive (converted), welded diff, 5spd manual box, classic bucket seat, tiny racing fuel tank, fire extinguisher system and a hydro handbrake!

Last week, it arrived on my drive.

Runs really well, interior is awful. Also has a boot floor delete to allow for scaffolding to mount the cameras on. Exterior is pretty bad too.

It was cheap, and seems to be built really well on my initial inspections, I guess film companies have to build decent enough bits of kit to keep their drivers safe.

Not sure if anyone would like to view my progress on this lovely turd, but I think its a really interesting car, with a really interesting back story. I've also never owned a car this old or even a car with carbs! My oldest car prior to this is my SPi Mini.

[Cambs_Stuart]

I also this that's a really interesting car! What great find. What are you plans with it?

[samoht]

So it's a car built with longitudinally engined front wheel drive, converted to rear wheel drive with an engine from a transverse front-drive car? Brilliant!

I wouldn't be surprised if there are a few Volvo 340 bits kicking around; ISTR that Volvo engineered that car for a longitudinal installation of Renault engines, and the later high-po Clio engines / parts are sometimes transferred into the Volvos by drifters-on-the-cheap.

[JamDeeCee]

Cambs_Stuart said:

I also this that's a really interesting car! What great find. What are you plans with it?

Plans are rather embryonic at the mo, but they involve registering it and seeing if it drives OK/NOK at more than grassy field speeds. Also involve not completely ruining my turf with the welded diff!

I have ordered some bits and bobs I need before I'd be comfortable shunting it round the block including some trumpets/filters for the carbs, new bulbs, bits to wire up some indicators, stick on rear view mirror, and I need to spec up some new shock absorbers for the rear too.

Could probably do with a tacho/speedo at some point too.

If it drives OK and I don't hate it... then the planning can begin

[JamDeeCee]

samoht said:

So it's a car built with longitudinally engined front wheel drive, converted to rear wheel drive with an engine from a transverse front-drive car? Brilliant!

I wouldn't be surprised if there are a few Volvo 340 bits kicking around; ISTR that Volvo engineered that car for a longitudinal installation of Renault engines, and the later high-po Clio engines / parts are sometimes transferred into the Volvos by drifters-on-the-cheap.

I know - chassis layout musical chairs

You're probably right, the other film car (the one for the interior shots) had a volvo engine, box and diff! Interesting point about the Renault engines in the other Volvos though, someone with one of those could be a useful contact....

I wonder how much power my RenBurg has....

[Pica-Pica]

I would love to see these shapes of cars (incl. SAAB 96) re-purposed, or even completely re-architectured from new, to EVs.

[The Rotrex Kid]

Amazing. Yes, interested. Let's see it go!

[samoht]

Speedhunters Volvo 340 feature said:

So the standard 1.4 litre engine has been replaced with a 2 litre Renault F4R unit. Due to a strange partnership between Renault and Volvo it's a relatively straight forward swap.

http://www.speedhunters.com/2011/10/car_spotlight_...

Your project is very interesting, especially as the major work of the engine/drivetrain swap has already been done.

[JamDeeCee]

samoht said:

http://www.speedhunters.com/2011/10/car_spotlight_...

Your project is very interesting, especially as the major work of the engine/drivetrain swap has already been done.

Thank you - I was a bit apprehensive taking it on, but so far I have been pleasantly surprised withthe quality of the wiring, fuel lines, chassis etc.

[Mr Tidy]

That's a fascinating car with some real history - looking forward to reading updates.

[JamDeeCee]

So an update on the Wartburg!

I have finally got it up on jack stands and poked around it in a bit more detail (photos attached)

Interestingly, it has a rear-mounted gearbox and GAZ adjustable front suspension! The best bit is that all the wiring and fuel lines seem to be absolutely mint. It also had a load of scaffolding clamped into the rear chassis for mounting the cameras..... (I presume)

Unfortunately, my weber 40 trumpets don't fit. The holes in the carbs seems to be smaller than the diameter of the trumpets. I have attached a picture of the top of the carbs if anyone can point me in the right direction of some short trumpets I can use.

I also need to spec up some rear dampers. There are mounts on the chassis and I have measurements of 435mm extended length and 170mm compressed length, but I can't find any close enough. Any ideas?

Now I need to find some time to wire up the indicators!

Best regards,

James

[JamDeeCee]

[samoht]

I'm guessing it's a Volvo 340/360 transaxle gearbox, and potentially most of the same car's rear end - have a look at this pic I found https://www.volvoforums.org.uk/showthread.php?t=19... and see how much of it matches your car



If so, it's possible that dampers for one of those Volvos might fit (or not if the Wartburg adaptation has changed the length or motion ratio).

[shalmaneser]

Awesome project! Would be so cool to get it road legal and on a track day! How did you hear about it? Don't understand how these vehicles fall into people's hands!!

[Hippea]

That’s a very cool project

[Cambs_Stuart]

Could Gaz supply some rear shocks? Always good to have a matching set.

[mattdavies]

Maybe look at ProTech Shocks.

My dad is a supplier for the Aircooled VW world and he requires people to know the lengths you stated above and then the attachement point at each end in order to roder you a custom shock. his business is Royal Country Auto supply

[JamDeeCee]

mattdavies said:

Maybe look at ProTech Shocks.

My dad is a supplier for the Aircooled VW world and he requires people to know the lengths you stated above and then the attachement point at each end in order to roder you a custom shock. his business is Royal Country Auto supply

Thank you, that is really useful! The mount at the both ends is an "eyelet" type.

[JamDeeCee]

samoht said:

I'm guessing it's a Volvo 340/360 transaxle gearbox, and potentially most of the same car's rear end - have a look at this pic I found https://www.volvoforums.org.uk/showthread.php?t=19... and see how much of it matches your car



If so, it's possible that dampers for one of those Volvos might fit (or not if the Wartburg adaptation has changed the length or motion ratio).

Good detective work samoht!!

Looking at that picture, the rear axle, gearbox, diff, and leaf springs/lower spring plates are all the same.

However it looks like the shocks mount to the plate and up into the wheel arch, whereas on my Wartburg the shock mounts have been welded onto the frame and the axle in different places

[samoht]

Cool, good news to have identified many of the pieces of the puzzle. As mentioned, you may find ideas/help in the 'budget drift' community, as these Volvos are somewhat popular there along with Renault engines.

Shame the damper mounts aren't stock Volvo.

JamDeeCee said:

I also need to spec up some rear dampers. There are mounts on the chassis and I have measurements of 435mm extended length and 170mm compressed length, but I can't find any close enough. Any ideas?

The extended length you quote is more than twice the compressed length, which is an interesting challenge.

Given a standard damper with a telescopic tube and eyelet mounts at each end

  o===--o  

if the length increases to more than twice the minimum, the two parts would separate from each other, since each half cannot be longer than the compressed length, so the two halves end to end can't exceed twice the compressed length.

In your case the compressed length is 170mm, so each half can't be longer than 170mm, so the theoretical longest would be 170 x 2 = 340mm. That's ignoring the fact you'd need some overlap to keep the damper aligned/connected, and some length at the ends for the mounts.

To achieve that, either you have three or four part dampers (which I've never heard of), or you could in principle place the 'outer' mount on the side of the damper tube, reducing the distances between top and bottom mounts and making a higher ratio of expanded to compressed possible.

All that's to say, I'd be interested to see a photo of the dampers it's got on there at present, which achieve such a high ratio of fully compressed to fully extended length.