Roger's Borgward Isabella Combi PROJECT

If you recall that first feature, it was around an Isabella TS sedan, the restoration of which was completed in 2001. Finishing that resto opened up Roger's time and enthusiasm to take on a new project, but this one would prove to be tougher than the first, as it was a much rarer 1959 Isabella 'Combi' wagon.

"In May, 2003, the opportunity came along to buy a wagon version of the Isabella," Roger explained. "Isabella wagons are rare, so I jumped at the chance."

Borgwards were always quite individual machines, with their own engine, transmission and distinct body styling and trim that was a curious blend of both European and American design elements. In keeping with his individual take on most things, Carl Borgward spelt his wagon version of the Isabella with the non-Germanic 'C', rather than the 'K' found on VW Kombi vans and wagons. Like the sedans, the Isabella Combi was only ever available as a two door - no four door versions were built.

"The owner I brought the car from had purchased it from a deceased estate eight years earlier and had started some restoration work on the car: reconditioning the water pump, radiator, front wheel bearings, cylinder head, re-sleeving the brakes, and rebuilding the carburettor, but hadn't taken the restoration any further due to financial constraints."

As the car hadn't been on the road since the 1980s, nor running for a number of years, Roger was unsure if it would start up, but the earlier mechanical refurbishing gave him some confidence the car could at least be driven.

"After checking out the wiring points/plugs and putting some fresh petrol in the tank, it started without any problems and ran well," Roger said, adding that checking the brakes were next. "Given the brakes had been re-sleeved, I thought this would be ok - wrong! The rear brakes locked on, which I quickly established was due to old brake hoses on the rear that weren't allowing fluid to return to the master cylinder."

With the Combi up and running, Roger then started what he called the "fun" of stripping the car back to bare metal and pulling the interior and mechanical components out for refurbishing. The extensive rust uncovered in the floorpan and sills meant that this was now a major project, and one Roger didn't really feel confident tackling without some additional skills under his belt.

"I pushed the car to one side for a year or so while I contemplated my next move.

"I wanted to tackle most of the job myself, but to do that I knew I needed to learn some new skills. I had resprayed cars before, but never welded or tackled any rust repairs to this extent, nor any real upholstery work," Roger explained. "I decided to get some professional training, so I enrolled in a couple of TAFE courses in panel beating and car upholstery."

With those skills acquired, Roger felt more confident taking on the extensive rust repairs the Combi needed.

"I had a donor sedan which had been hit hard in the rear, but the floor was good. Once all the new sections had been welded in, I started striping the old paint off the shell in preparation for painting.

"I had originally thought the car was reasonably straight until I had all the old paint sand blasted off, which revealed a different story! Getting the panels right took some time."

As purchased, the Combi was painted in a metallic dark grey, a Borgward factory colour and one that didn't look too bad overall, but not one that Roger wanted to replicate for the respray, so a light lemon yellow, with a white roof was selected, giving the Combi a very 1950s period look.

"As I was using acrylic, spraying was determined by the weather, so painting of the car seemed to go on for years."

Painting on this scale proved to be a learning experience in other ways, too. "I made the mistake of underestimating the amount of paint I would need which lead to a colour matching problem between the shell and the bolt-on panels," Roger said. "I ended up with 3 different shades of the same colour!

"To overcome this I had to buy more paint and repaint the entire shell and all the panels AGAIN from the same batch of paint. I didn't repaint the underbody or the engine bay again as the colour was close enough."

While that was a test, spraying the white roof proved to be a much bigger one. "The roof was a nightmare. I ended up respraying it seven times and stripping it back to bare metal twice.

"For some reason, the paint had some kind of reaction to a top coat and the only way I could solve it was to strip it all off again and restart from bare metal. I have decided that station wagon roofs are the hardest to paint and get right in terms of high and low areas!"

With the painting done - finally! - Roger could move on to the mechanicals, an area he was more familiar and confident with, thanks to his previous Isabella TS Sedan restoration. First job was the suspension, which required replacement of just about everything, including upper and lower ball joints, tie rod ends, suspension rubbers, bottom wishbone bushes, idler box, and new shocker absorbers all round.

With the suspension completed and front and rear ends bolted back on the monocoque body, the brakes were next. The long fallow period meant the hoses were shot, so they were replaced, and new seals and lines fitted, with the back end needing new wheel bearings, too.

"Once the car was back on four wheels, I refitted the engine and gearbox, after detailing and replacing oil seals and gaskets. I removed the head to re-seal the push rod tubes, which do leak if not fitted correctly, as the head is aluminium with steel push rod tubes pressed into it."

The fuel pump was refurbished with a kit from Older Car Repairs in Blackburn, while the wiring, being plastic and not cloth wrapped, was in good enough condition to re-use with only a few minor repairs.

By late 2011, Roger was very much in the 'home straight' of the project. Remember, that Roger had purchased the car in 2003, parked it for a year and lost more time while learning new skills to help with the resto.

To give himself extra impetus to get the Combi finished, Roger committed to taking it to the 2012 Classic Showcase at Flemington in Victoria. This annual autumn event devoted to British and European cars sometimes features a Borgward or two, and Roger was determined that the Combi would be one of those 'two'!

"Final assembly of the panels, fitting of glass (including a new windscreen) and re-trimming of the car seemed to take forever," Roger laughed, adding that it seemed to take ten times longer to put the car back together than it did to pull it apart. "I always seem to underestimate how long a job will take!

"I had a professional car upholsterer replace the headlining, but did the rest of the trimming myself, with some advice from the upholsterer." This included both front and rear bench seats, along with the rear load area carpeting.

With everything assembled, re-trimmed, refurbished or otherwise back to as-new spec, it was time to take the Combi for its first drive, but that didn't quite go to plan.

"On the first start up, it made a real rattling sound, like tappets, but didn't sound like it was coming from there," Roger said. "Also, water poured out of the water pump as fast as I could put it into the radiator."

Remember, the engine started OK when purchased back in '03, but hadn't run in the nine years that followed. Consultation with fellow Borgward owners revealed that the engine rattle would more likely be the fibre timing gear, so Roger had that replaced, while a new water pump kit was fitted by Older Car Repairs, and the rocker gear was re-machined, too.

Finishing touches ahead of the Classic Showcase event on April 29 included exterior trim details like badging and hubcaps, which had been professionally rechromed. Roger was also lucky to source NOS chrome trim for the roof and rear guards, items that are extremely difficult to get hold of today, as are things like rear window rubbers and some of the internal Bakelite trim.

Individual touches that set Roger's Combi apart include a kph speedo (all Australian-delivered Isabellas had mph speedometers), plus additional chrome trim on the sills - not a factory item for the Combi, but one lifted from an Isabella sedan that Roger feels adds to the car's appearance.

With the Isabella Combi finally finished, roadworthied and registered, Roger made the Classic Showcase event, but took greater pride from the fact that he completed the project doing most of the work himself.

"Overall, I'm pleased with the outcome," Roger said. "I wouldn't say I'm an expert, but I feel more confident about my abilities now."  

With that newfound confidence, Roger added that he has a few other projects lined up, all Borgwards naturally, including a Coupe, which is the most popular amongst enthusiasts, but also the rarest of the Borgward range.


Calling all Borgwards!

Marius Venz, author of the Marque Classic Series volume on Borgwards, is currently working on an Australian register for Borgward-manufactured vehicles, including Goliath, Hansa and Lloyd cars, and would like to hear from anyone who owns a vehicle. Email: [email protected]  

There is also a Worldwide online register - at http://www.borgwardregistry.com. You can also email [email protected] for further details.