cianha
Part of things
aka VDubbin
Posts: 923
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In true DDR fashion, my Trabi was released to me after an extensive wait. Not quite the 18 years the original owners may have required, but after 5 weeks I was really chomping at the bit to collect her. A friend of mine bought this from a German student last year, as he was returning home, and didn't need it any more. But it was left standing over the winter, so he offered it to me on a long term loan while he finishes his PhD. I took a trailer to Galway on Saturday and collected the old girl. I arrived at the garage and after some shuffling of cars around the back of the yard, the car started with a booster. I was instructed to sit in and keep it revved to top up the battery, as the car had bee idle for a bit. Getting the car on to the borrowed 10'x5' trailer involved partial deconstruction of trailre, as the Trabant is just over 5' wide at the wheel arches. Cue much swearing and sweating and borrowed tools as I unbolted the sides of the trailer, loaded the car, strapped the car down, rebolted the sides, swung up the tailed gate, realised the car was too far back on the trailer, swore some more, un strapped car, rolled it onto the dropped front board, restrapped the car, tested the tailgate again, and heaved a massive sigh of relief. While I was waiting for the car, I ordered a set of pressed metal plates from eireplates.com in the old German font (Though this could the the West German rather than East German font) to replace the nasty acrylic plates that were on it. Removing the plate revealed its own ecology: At this stage I should probably some nice After shots, but I got so excited, I took her for a spin around the village, to get used to the column shift , unservo'd drums, and left hand drive. So many giggles, and only one moment of blind panic as I approached a roundabout and tried to brake, rev match and downshift 3rd-2nd. I took her to a small Cars and Coffee meeting in Limerick city yesterday morning, were she attracted a lot of attention, with a few "My Dad had one of those" comments, and a retired Continental truck driver telling me he used to hate seeing these on the dualcarraige way (two, rather than 3 lane) Autobahnen, where overtaking by articluated lorries is not permitted, so he had to sit behind the little Trabis at 50mph until they exited…
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Last Edit: Aug 8, 2013 9:00:19 GMT by cianha
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yay, great to see another one on here! any plans with it? or just run it as is? doesn't look to bad, although rust is never really seen on the outside of course
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cianha
Part of things
aka VDubbin
Posts: 923
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It doesn't have a test currently, so I need to sort a few bits before Sept 19. It needs a few small things, like a passenger door lock, light covers, working wipers, indicators, tacho, tyres…
Some of these I'll try to DIY first, but parts are reasonable on the German sites so all pretty straight forward.
It also needs a rear bench seat.
I'd like to get decent centre hub caps, and take out the top leaf on the springs. Maybe I'll go crazy and paint the wheels red or something!
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Last Edit: Jul 8, 2013 11:39:41 GMT by cianha
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if you haven't looked at it, check out trabantwelt.de ordered there a couple of times, fast shipping, reasonable prices. these cars where build DIY from factory, so repairing shouldn't be a problem.
hoping to see more of it!
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cianha
Part of things
aka VDubbin
Posts: 923
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I think trabantwelt was my first port of call! Danzer Autoteile are pretty good on prices too, as are LDM Tuning, but they seem to have more "Tuning" bits.
I'll get a few more pics this evening.
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Awesome purchase mate, made even better because its in the same blue as an invalid carriage. I not so secretly want a Trabant, think they are actually styled really nicely.
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Sierra - here we go again! He has an illness, it's not his fault.
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cianha
Part of things
aka VDubbin
Posts: 923
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Oi, that's Gulf Racing Blue, I'll have you know! Well, bits of it are at any rate… Started to poke around a bit last night, I had left the battery conditioner connected to make sure I had enough electricity. I put in a new battery a few weeks ago to get it started, but after all the fiddling with the carb and associated start attempts, it was left idle for a few weeks. It means I can leave the booster at home for a while.. The job I really wanted to tackle was the door latch, the little gear should spin one way only (to close the door) and hold it in place. The door card popped off really easily, no broken plastic clips to worry about here! Everything else just screws out. Clever engineering, or DIY build quality? And there's the culprit. The spring on the right has lost its kink. Thirty seconds with a pliers to renew it. Unfortunately the cable holder broke in the process, so I'll have to order a new one anyways… Now I had a door that closes but doesn't open, rather than a door that opens, but won't close. As I was putting everyhting back, I got a call from a friend of mine to say there was a gaggle of pre-war Bentleys in Adare, so off I went to lower the tone…
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Last Edit: Jul 9, 2013 8:43:04 GMT by cianha
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that interior looks ace! my first repair om my trabant was also in the passenger door, the pull cable had rusted thin, and broke when i pulled it, so my door didn't open. replaced it with a peace of wire from a window mechanism, it really is very clever/diy engineering.
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cianha
Part of things
aka VDubbin
Posts: 923
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Jul 11, 2013 12:54:10 GMT
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There was a lot of slack in mine, so I tightened it a bit, of course, I'll have to redo it all when the new lock arrives! I also ordered new indicator and tail light lenses, and a stalk. A few of the screws holding the current lights are rusted solid, so I've prescribed a course of WD40 until the replacements arrive. Then I bring out the vicegrips… I still have to sort the wipers, so I've just polished the feck out of the windscreen in the meantime. I'm also missing a rear bench, but that's a longer term issue. Considering my options for wheels, it might be more straightforward to get adaptors made up for it rather than banding the only set of wheels I have. Any changes I make to the car I want to be reversible, so I don't want to band the existing wheels unless I can find a replacement set. Someone mentioned Fuchs 14", as they're narrow, and not so popular. I reckon the could look ace!
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Jul 11, 2013 19:59:27 GMT
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yeah ! may i be so bold to say it even looks quite plush !
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Jul 11, 2013 20:08:20 GMT
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Looks a nice clean trabi. Fuchs will look ace on this ldm tuning do all different sorts of adapters for these. I might eventually have a rear bench although would come out of an estate I think there might be a difference how they attach but I can't remember 100%
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it's not the holes that are rotten it's the metal around them
1975 trabant 601s deluxe
1987 trabant 601 Kombi
1996 fiat cinquecento 1.4 16v
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cianha
Part of things
aka VDubbin
Posts: 923
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Cheers chaps, the shelf under the dash has gone a bit grubby from oily hands, but it's washable afaik. Carpets and headliners all seem OK. First box of parts arrived today, I'm very impressed with TrabantWelt's turnaround and prices, I only ordered them on Tuesday. Light covers, switches and lock. And sparks plugs, lots of spark plugs… All wrapped up in the Zwickau Tribune, so I've something to practice my reading comprehension with later on.
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tigran
Club Retro Rides Member
In rust we trust. Amen.
Posts: 6,444
Club RR Member Number: 142
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Jul 13, 2013 13:05:23 GMT
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Nice, I don't exactly have a hankering after one of these - but deffo on the list to own for a bit.
Bet it's a giggle.
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1964 Rover P5 i6 1987 BMW 525e - The Rusty Streak 1992 Micra K10 2001 BMW E46 316i 2002 BMW E46 330Ci 2013 BMW F31 320d 2018 BMW G31 530d
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cianha
Part of things
aka VDubbin
Posts: 923
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Jul 13, 2013 15:28:32 GMT
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It is, a few of us have decided that if everyone learned to drive I none of these we'd have far fewer road accidents. Fitted the lamps and lock this morning, I had to deal with a few rusty screws, which will need to be replaced. Red tape is temporary! Rear lamp, spot the troublesome item.. Three piece screw... At this point I swore quite a bit... Took it to the park afterwards, and saw some ducks, then we went for an icecream. Lows and wheels will be sorted, once I get the indicators and wipers working for the NCT.
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Last Edit: Jul 13, 2013 15:33:06 GMT by cianha
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cianha
Part of things
aka VDubbin
Posts: 923
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RVM refitted with super strong double sided tape, and a pair of fuzzies with Angel written on them. Think I'll name the car Angele...
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cianha
Part of things
aka VDubbin
Posts: 923
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Jul 16, 2013 17:28:47 GMT
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The chap I've fostered the Trabi from has told me he has a set of Cibie foglights in a box, which I'll collect the next time I'm up that way. They were a requirement from when the car was in Sweden. They should add another few watts to the illumination! Wipers and Indicators next. Indicators are funny, as the hazards work, and if I leave them down (left) then the parking light comes on with the key out. We thought they were part of the Swedish road-worthiness requirements they're aftermarket, and I suspected they were probably fused separately. I had assumed they were what was referred to in the manual as Passing Beam, Left and Passing Beam, Right but the fuses for those looked fine. I had also bought a replacement stalk, after reading they were a known weak spot. Checked the fuses and relay again, reseated a few of them, et voila! http://instagram.com/p/b1COToNJk- Still need to get the screensquirter to fire, but 3 out of 4 ain't bad... Oh, and I've a spare indicator stalk if anyone needs one?
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Jul 16, 2013 19:03:22 GMT
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great to see this coming along to fast!
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cianha
Part of things
aka VDubbin
Posts: 923
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Minor setback over the last couple of days, started the car last night and noticed it was a LOT louder than usual. I've lost the two bolts that connect the exhaust to the manifold. Looks like the last one backed itself out with al the recent driving. I'll see what's required to fix it at the weekend. Still drove it to a C&C meeting with a few mates though!
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Last Edit: Jul 18, 2013 8:46:32 GMT by cianha
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cianha
Part of things
aka VDubbin
Posts: 923
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Jul 19, 2013 20:48:50 GMT
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Fiddling about tonight, as it's too loud to drive. My next door neighbour (a heavy machinery mechanic and good friend) brought me this, his brother brought it back from a holiday in Hungary a few years ago: rearviewmirror came off, again, so it's time for something stronger. Unfortunately I don't have anything stronger than thin ABS, so I bolt that to the back of the mirror, and bolted the whole lot to the headlining. Bodgier than a bodgy thing, but it'll do until tomorrow. Then I'll get metal on its a$$! Passenger side mirror was fairly wobbly too. Turns out rust is about as good a thin ABS for structural rigidity... The passenger seat had a hilarious party piece, where it would sometimes pitch back without warning. Well, at least I thought it was hilarious! A pinch of the vicegrips, and a tweak with a screw driver, and I have a ratcheting seat again. I also managed to get the screen wash working, after blowing through the reservoir, and reseating the wores for the pump. I'll be going up to my father in-law's shed tomorrow, with its massive selection of random bolts, screw and assorted farm paraphernalia to see if we can connect up the exhaust again.
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cianha
Part of things
aka VDubbin
Posts: 923
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