This is to document my progress in building a modernized replica of an Auto Union Type C. It will be as close as possible externally and unrelated internally to increase safety, comfort, and drivability. Zwickau was the place they were originally made.
Curious how this holds up. Transmission gears are rated by how much torque they can handle, not horsepower. Did you confirm with independent sources that the STi transmission will hold up to the much higher torque? Of course, it's the torque through the transaxle, meaning that if you use skinny tires, it'll hold up fine. OTOH, using sticky slicks and it'll probably grenade at the first clutch drop. I highly suggest talking to people who don't have their hand in your wallet regarding transaxle selection. There's a reason why transaxles rated for V8s and such are well over $10K.
Very nice overview of the 2D. The 2D was my first major machine purchase and I've never regretted it for a second. Curious if you've gone through the zeroing procedure for the rotary axis, so that when the spindle is on "zero", it actually is perfectly centered, both in the offset direction and the side-to-side, adjusted by the dual gibs. Mine was in production and the previous owner had it within about .0002", which is good enough for me not to mess with it. Looking forward to more videos with your 2D.
Glad to hear you enjoyed and also get to have fun with one of these beauties! I haven't messed with zeroing the spindle, it has 2 gibs you have to adjust to alter it and it's close as is. I haven't measured runout yet but that may be a future project if I need to get into altering some really precise bolt patterns on preexisting flanges or something similar. This one even has it written in sharpie on the head offset dial housing(probably decades ago) that you have to zero the spindle with the indicator on the 30 taper itself, not a toolholder.
You sir, are a God send. I occasionally do work at the Porsche dealership and there is an all but abandoned 986 Boxster that I have been really contemplating about buying but that 5 speed would grenade the moment I swap anything more powerful than the 2.7 in there. I even looked up a few years ago if this could be done but nobody could give me a straight answer. You may have solved all my questions. Subbed!
Fantastic to hear that it has useful info for you! A large portion of why I make any videos is to try and help spread information and knowledge, both sending it out and getting it back via comments here.
I will hopefully be taking apart a Type 3 beam soon and will try to get some footage of removing them on it, they are basically the same process to remove as the Type 1 shown here.
Didn't know that when I ordered this, it was the only one I had seen offered. Agree the price is way high especially considering the quality(or lack thereof tbh)
Thank you for the video. Very helpful for me as I just purchased a 1963 K&T 2D Rotory Mill. Will take alot of work to make it as nice as yours, but I'm up for the challenge.
It's a huge amount of work to disassemble it and get all the old paint off to do it right, but the end result is well worth it in my opinion. Glad you liked the vid and hopefully you get lots of years of service out of your awesome machine!
After years of looking and passing on several of these Kearney Trecker 2d rotary head milling machines, I found the "one". I called to buy it and they had sold it an hour earlier.... Back to looking!!!
That is an absolute bummer! I had my eyes on this one for awhile and luckily I managed to snag it and get it home before anyone else realized how rare and unique it is!
They are a rare find unfortunately but they pop up on ebay occasionally. I also think they are one of the most amazing mills ever produced by anyone, K&T spared no expense developing or building them to be sure!!
He has a tremendous amount of awesome machinery and his website is where I was able to find so much documentation on this one. There is a huge library there that has everything from manuals to sales brochures. I'm located in the northwestern USA.
That's a beautiful mill. I stumbled into a Cincinnati MH2 Universal Horizontal mill with a Vertical attachment. 3800 lbs of case iron glory. I also restored it and used Rustoleum hammered Verde Green spray paint. It has feeds on all three axis & I added a 3-axis DRO. Really love the rotary head on yours. I have a big rotary table, so can cut that stuff that way. Mine has no quill. It adds rigidity, but I need to trig out the feeds for power threading. Unbelievable accuracy because there's no play particularly without a quill. Man, I love these old machines. Would love to know more about your lathe. I also stumbled into a DeValliere H140 tool room lathe. Both machines were barely used & covered in tons of paint that protected all of the ways. I did VFDs instead of the 3-phase converter. Really love the VFDs. Soft start & controllable stop, along with infinite variability on speed really open up a wider range of cutting and takes a ton of wear off the motor. Please keep up these videos. I really enjoy your content.
Thanks for the kind words and it sounds like you have some awesome machines there! I am currently editing the lathe video and it will hopefully be up this week. The reason I went with the rotary converter is because I can use it for both machines without needing separate VFDs for each one.
The 2D is such a cool machine. But, I beg to differ with you on a few points. The Bridgeport and it's clones are far more versatile than the 2D. As you correctly state, the 2D was built for the die maker in mind, not the general machinist or the hobbyist. It is incredibly rigid, and makes it very precise, but it is a very complex machine and is not easy to repair. Parts are no longer being made and are practically non existent. It uses a collet/tool holder that are difficult to find. I would take a room full of Bridgeports over just one of these. I will also add, that using a water based coolant in this machine is a mistake. They are made for oil. Using water based coolant, and you are asking for rust issues. When I got my 2HL, a previous owner had used water based coolant. Took me a while to free up the saddle power feed handle. And the entire inside of the knee was covered in surface rust. Love that big Monarch, BYW. :)
I do understand your complaints but let me offer counterpoints; Everything is built incredibly overkill so repairs are not common, I've broken a couple bolts on one component from misuse and was easily repaired. They are complex but large so it's not like disassembling a rolex, just keep track of your parts. Mine has the standard NMTB 30 taper spindle so tooling is readily available, I should have mentioned that most do have a K&T specific toolholder. Water soluble oil is actually rust preventive, especially if you only use distilled water (which I do). If it is in the reservoir it's no issue and if it is some that has spilled on bare metal the water simply evaporates leaving the oil portion of the coolant as a rust barrier. I will never use oil because of the absolute nightmare it is to clean out of the sump once it sits and turns to mud. It's had water in it over a year now with zero rust issues even in the sump. Thanks for watching and the input!
@@zwickauracingworks Not complaints, just a difference of opinion. A good friend of mine worked for K&T for 30 years. He and I have had quite a few discussions about this machine in particular. The parts are scarce, since they didn't make very many of these machines, at least compared to the others. Some. of our conversations revolved around how complex and intricate the rotary head is (pun intended). There are something like 100+ ball bearings in there and they are free floating. The torque specs are exacting. As far as the cutting oil, you do what you want, if it works for you. But I have it on great authority that these machines were intended to be used with oil and not water of any kind, distilled or not. Distilled water can still create rust. It's a cool machine. But I stand by my opinion that this is NOT the idea hobbyist machine. The Bridgeport is first on that list, followed by a K&T 2HL or 2H horizontal mill with a universal milling head as a very close second.
Parts are definitely scarce but are also not prone to breakage. These were made for production use and to be durable in that role, for a home or job shop mine will likely never get enough use to even need to zero the rotary head(it has gibs on both sides that you have to run in and out to maintain spindle center while tightening the ways, probably a nigthmare to adjust). A bridgeport is definitely more broadly capable, I just feel for the cost/benefit ratio lies with the 2D. Just a difference of opinion as you said and I always enjoy reading well thought out responses like yours. I do wish there were a way to source some of the extra attachments for this though, the 90* head and cherrying attachment would be phenomenal to have as well as the pto drive system that ran off the table gearbox to run stuff like rotary tables or dividing heads.
I mean almost every manual machine you get these days has no parts availability. On a machine tool like this you probably won't ever have to fuss with much other than maybe a bronze nut, and maybe some clutch adjustments. All the bearings are Timken, so you can get replacements Any other part you could need you can knock out with a lathe.
@@procyonia3654 Inaccurate on several accounts. Every part is made TODAY for a Bridgeport Series 1 machine. Every single part. Also, a very good friend of mine worked for K&T for 30 years as a machine rebuilder. There are pieces of that machine, that if there is an issue with it, you're screwed. He has a room full of parts for various K&T machines. What just a few pieces are worth, I can buy a whole Bridgeport for.
Thanks, it was the most accurate way I could think of that didn't involve somebody else with a CNC machine. Thanks for joining, I'll finally be posting some new videos soon!
I do not know for certain, but I would guess very similar to the stock unit. These STI 6 speeds are renowned for being basically indestructible and thats in a full weight Subaru. This car should be well under 2000lb when complete so the trans is basically the strongest link in the powertrain currently(less vehicle weight = less stress on the trans).
Thanks for your review and comments, we've taken them on board. Double checked that all lockout holes are reemed to 13mm. We will include the shift rod seal and nice hardware bolts with future kits.
That would resolve almost all of the issues I had to be sure. I ended up buying flange headed bolts from McMaster that make it look almost stock. The shift rod seal did come out very easily tho with no damage so not much of a problem to be sure. Thanks for reaching out with an update tho, much appreciated!
You probably know that stock Bug brakes aren't all that great or are you going with something else? I must comment i am impressed with your skill set, you seem to be able to do it all, the Auto Union Type C will be awesome!
They are fairly abysmal even for a lightweight car haha!! My plan is to run a large disc brake setup and build a cover that is shaped like a dish that covers the back side of the rotor/caliper to make it look like the very large diameter original finned drums the Type C had. Thanks very much for the compliment and the interest!!!
Great video. Will be paying close attention to this project. What year/model vehicle does this transaxle come from? Instead of reaming out the hole, it would be possible to turn down the part in a lathe to fit the new back cover.
I don't remember the exact year but it is from a Legacy Spec B, very similar to the STI unit except open diff and slightly different gear ratios. As manxman said, the pin is hardened so turning it would be extremely difficult without a very rigid machine and carbide tooling. A reamer is much cheaper and the aluminum is very soft and will not be nearly as much work to alter. Thanks for the questions!
Bro I have watched all of 26 seconds of this video and am already subscribed with all notifications. I know immediately several facets of your character, from the line "I am building an Auto union type C replica." Clearly you have substantial skill, or Interest and willingness to learn. You understand that all of these machines regardless of how exotic were built by man, and as you have the same human capacity they do are able to solve any problem through research and resourcefulness. And you have an appreciation of the historic significance of this vehicle. You haven't even pitched the "like, share, subscribe" line and I have done all three. Please keep the project updates coming!
Thank you so much for the extremely kind words, I will definitely try my best to live up to the praise!! The subscribe pitch is always at the end, if someone makes it that far in the video I feel it's more appropriate to ask than just saying "trust me, you'll want to subscribe because this is awesome" before you've actually decided if it was your cup of tea.
I had never really thought about it the drivetrain was any different but I guess being that they are AWD instead of 4wd they don’t have regular differential setups. I guess I had just figured they had a front rear different up at the axels. I hadn’t ever imagined that the differentials were basically integrated into the transmission package. Guess it makes sense for rally driving where you’d want as much clearance as possible and saves the headache of trying to shoehorn a differential under the motor and between the bulkhead for the independent suspension setup. I’ve been seeing the guys taking the square body Chevy trucks and running them 4wd with a LS engine and they obviously hook up amazing on some of those shitty streets. I was thinking about how you’d go about getting the front gears and all that and the ground clearance on the lower cars but if they were able to be located into or near the transmission setup that would make a much better install. I’ve been debating on trying out a AWD/4wd 99’-04’ mustang with twin 70mm snails and a newer L8T engine swapped. That’s the new bigger gas engine from the Chevy 2500s it’s an Iron block LT based engine that’s also a 6.6L and like all the engines in that family all the Corvette/Camaro stuff is interchangeable so you are getting a nice little jump up from the 6.2L aluminum based blocks
a lot of awd longitudinal engine cars integrate the front diff into the engine oil pan with one axle traveling through the pan for better ground clearance and the differential nestled up under one bank of the engine(one side of a V8 in Mercedes and under the leaned over inline 6 for BMW are good examples. Trucks with IFS also have a similar setup, the front diff is usually just a more compact axle housing though that bolts into the front of the frame(look up the GMC Syclone for a great example!)
I honestly don't know enough in depth stuff about Subaru stuff to know. I'd look for an old forum post somewhere, if it's been in a Subaru someone's tried it!
Excellent eye or great guess, this is a Legacy Spec B box. Only difference I'm aware of for this year is it having an open front differential which is supposed to be stronger than the LSD in the STIs(I am not a Subaru expert tho, so there could definitely be more)
$1100usd is a lot considering you could buy a tig welder for less and simply use parts you already had like I did. Nevertheless good work and a good video 👍
I did that on my first conversion of the WRX trans. I was hoping this would turn out nicer, shorter, and more reliable. I feel like the differential eliminator is much better being made as a single piece vs welding up a factory diff, especially given the power output the V12 should make. It's just a shame it was so shoddily manufactured.
@@zwickauracingworks I guess we'll find out, my setup should have more power but I'll know soon enough. Mine just uses two pieces welded together from the center diff.
every once in awhile I will go back and watch "The Legend of Mr Sark Part 2" which is mostly Respawn with APL and it's still hilarious today. I have timestamped some of the my favorite clips there so I can go back to those specifically lol
Personally what i thinks happened with that hole is they used an old reamer bit to drill it since they eventually wear down and become smaller diameter especially when working with aluminium since aluminium oxide is used as an abrasive so it kills them quicker
That's definitely possible, I didn't get much info back from them to know for sure. I will have an addendum video coming soon to show the finishing work to the tailhousing though.
