New member - NSU Wankel Spider

[Phaedrus]

Hi folks, here's my intro:

I've always been a car/motorcycle nut, and I've always got tons of projects going on at home. One of my neighbors noticed that I have weird cars out from of my house (mostly Peugeots) and mentioned that he had a car they were thinking about selling. It turned out to be a 1965 NSU Wankel Spider, one of 2300 made worldwide! In short, I love a challenge, so I bought it. It came with a super rare hard top and two spare engines.

That was about 2 years ago, and about 2 weeks ago, I finally got it running! When I got it, it had two broken apex seals. I went all through the engine, and with the help of RX7 racer/mechanic Jose Rodriguez, installed NSU Ro80 steel apex seals and RX7 side seals. The engine runs, but still needs some tuning.

I also have a 2nd trochoid at JHB in Canada being cermet coated. When that comes back I will build a 2nd engine with it and either steel or carbon seals.

I hope that some of the folks in this group can help me with any general rotary questsions I may come up with. Thanks for reading!

[blwnrtr93]

Must have pics... Oh and welcome to the new site.

[Phoenix7]

I'm going to step up and say you have the rarest rotary car on this forum.

I'd love to see pics!

Have you looked into ceramic seals?? I've read that the early NSU rotaries suffer from more wear and tear than the Mazda rotaries (rebuilds aren't uncommon at 50K miles) and ceramic seals (apex and side seals) might help with the longevity of the NSU rotary.


N.R.S. Rotor Sports
Edmonton, Alberta
http://members.shaw.ca/nrsrotorsports/index.html

[djmtsu]

Need pics NOW!!!

[Phaedrus]

Alright, here are some photos of the day I brought it home. I haven't taken many more since, but I planned to do that this weekend. It looks way cleaner now.

It was only a couple blocks away on residential streets, and the brakes were dragging really bad, so I steered and my dad pushed me in my Peugeot 505 diesel. That was actually a lot of fun. He gave me one huge shove to get me up the driveway, and after I turned in I realized that the service brake didn't work! I was lucky that the e-brake did though....

Here it is with the hard top on. I plan to not use the overriders. They're cool, but it looks better without them.



This is a custom made toneau (sp?) cover. They drilled the body for the snaps though



Again, I think the boot would look better without the overriders...



The engine is beneath a trap door in the boot. It's got luggage space in the front and back!



Some of the spare parts



Thanks for the interest...I'll try to get some more pics up in a bit!

[HellBent]

wow

[Phaedrus]

Here is two weeks ago.

The engine reinstalled and almost ready to try:



I knew it would smoke like crazy if it started, due to the fact we used a ton of grease putting the motor together, and the muffler had 25 years worth of sitting around oil in it, but I was not prepared for what kind of smoke it put out. It was pointed at the garage, and it filled with smoke so bad you couldn't see 3 feet in front of you!

[djmtsu]

You must be in Canadaland.

Nice find. I would rock it like a hurricane.

[Phaedrus]

Nope, California! There's about 30 of these things in the entire country, and it turned out that there's another one within a couple miles of my work. The owner is now a friend of mine...

[djmtsu]

Damn!

The whole 'boot' reference got me.

[Phaedrus]

Originally Posted by phoenix7

I'm going to step up and say you have the rarest rotary car on this forum.

I'd love to see pics!

Have you looked into ceramic seals?? I've read that the early NSU rotaries suffer from more wear and tear than the Mazda rotaries (rebuilds aren't uncommon at 50K miles) and ceramic seals (apex and side seals) might help with the longevity of the NSU rotary.


N.R.S. Rotor Sports
Edmonton, Alberta
http://members.shaw.ca/nrsrotorsports/index.html

Actually, I have considered ceramic seals. Unfortunately, I think they were going to cost more than $1000 for a set from JHB. Does your shop custom make seals?

Carbon seals will work great, and they'll last 50K miles, which is plenty for me. However, I've been told they can break if or when (in the case of my car) backfires.

Steel seals are stronger and work well with the cermet, but they take forever to break in, and develop less compression, at least in the NSU motor.

[-xlr8planet-]

GOD I WANT ONE OF THOSE!

Hey Peugeots are very common here in my country.

I had a 306

If you ever need a part for your 505, dont hesitate to ask, I bet they are dirty cheap here

[Phoenix7]

Originally Posted by Phaedrus

Actually, I have considered ceramic seals. Unfortunately, I think they were going to cost more than $1000 for a set from JHB. Does your shop custom make seals?

Carbon seals will work great, and they'll last 50K miles, which is plenty for me. However, I've been told they can break if or when (in the case of my car) backfires.

Steel seals are stronger and work well with the cermet, but they take forever to break in, and develop less compression, at least in the NSU motor.

well they ARE expensive but the NRS seals have been tested up to 1000+hp drag cars, 3 rotor speedboats (800hp) and were tested to see how well they held up to detonation and they seem to hold up very well to abuse. The housings come out damage free and actually polished because of these seals.

The only problem I see is the size difference in rotors. He's made the seals for 12A and 13B motors so far and I don't know ANYTHING about the NSU and it's dimensions.

[Phaedrus]

That does sound good actually. This engine makes 50 hp, but I like the fact that they don't damage the housing. I'm going to try my steel Ro80 seals in my cermet housing first, they may just do the trick. But if they don't, I will definately give ceramic a look-see.

[Phoenix7]

It's the wave of the future.