1975 trabant 601L deluxe

[theblackbox]

the car came as an ebay bargain brought unseen from nearly 200 miles from me brought to me by a hungarian who nearly took it home himself. its a 1975 deluxe model (what this means I don't know) in a nicely patina'd state some bits a bit too ripe shes all original even down to the 6v electrical system and the orginal ddr tyres . it appears based on one of the rear stickers that the car was from a town called bischofswerda down near dresden plans are a complete stripdown and rebuild with a few alterations lowering, wider wheels and a definate colour change to beige




taken just after arrival

the next day I had to have a poke around before work



the powerhouse all 600cc of it twin cylinder

[theblackbox]

day 1

i don't have any pictures for this day. spent most of the day removing the trim from the outside pannels after much greif this is all aluminium and so is begging to be polished. i removed the interior as well only finding very few holes mainly in the boot

[raymondmarble]

Brilliant project you have there. Watching with interest. All the best with it!

[ozboy]

Nice project!!

My parents used to own one of these (a "universal" - estate) for about 10 years - way back in the 70's/80's! Stinky, ugly 'cardboard box' - but huge fun to drive.

The "de luxe" versions came in a twin-tone colouring with chrome-plated bumpers, the full size rack below the "dashboard" was also reserved for the "s" and "de luxe" versions!

Good luck with it!

[austinpowers]

Good to hear the body isn't to bad a shape, if you need any help just give us a shout.

[Deleted]

blackminster breakers near Evesham have two of these in the yard... if that helps? they nice blokes to deal with too

[theblackbox]

thanks for the information and words of encouragement I think I need it judging by what I keep finding

Day 2

spent most of today removing the engine and ancilaries



airbox and fuel tank removed (tank was just sat in place has a nice hole in it to be welded up)



first view of the cylinder barrels with the engine cover removed



bit of carb porn fuel comes from the left and attaches via a union



nice empty engine bay only needed two spanners engine lifted out very easily nice and light



the engine in its grubby glory



clutch and flywheel view



a view of the bay with lights and engine removed gearbox yet to come

with that done I decided to start poking at the very ripe bits to see whats what. what ive found a bit bilwildering is the rust is the opposite way round because of being a LHD car



a nice crusty bit by the passenger side light irritantingly its on part of a stepped pannel but should be ok to replace



not a very good pic but pass side indicator area needs completly rebuilding



inside of p/s indicator apperture



a very large hole on the bulhead there is remants of the fuel tank brackets I can only guess this was caused by the fuel tank leak



on the opposite side as well but not as bad luckily

there are loads more crusty bits that i wont bore you with I'm concentrating at the front at the moment and hoping to gradually progress backwards

[theblackbox]

Day 3

started to remove the gearbox and then ran out of time struggling to remove the hub nuts as they are very tight have put pen oil on them and shocked them so will have another go again soon. also drained the very very smelly gbox oil (worse than other gbox oil ive had the displeasure of coming into contact with)

day 4

todays effort was to remove the front wings and start removal of the spagetti junction wiring a task made very hard by the fact of wiring being coloured the same colour to one component

the wings are held in by screws along the top and then rivets around the arch these i simply grinded the heads of and punched through shockingly the screws undid with a little persuasion



ps wing removed most of the inside is like new thanks to the goey wax that had been applied although this hasnt stopped it all as expected the arch edge has gone so will be replaced as has most of the front bottom corner



the drivers side note the rather large difference in what exists and what has rotted away on the passenger side this is how it should look



the naked front end



a better view of the p/s front nice and crusty

i also managed to sneak the searts inside the house to be stored till i get to them. i wont bore you with the dash removal as i didnt get many pictures of this and 3 bolts to remove beats any modern stuff that brings us up to date.

[Porsche]

Is it just me, but I'm sure I heard that the trabant's body was made of paper?

[Porsche]

'just checked Wiki.... The Trabant was a steel monocoque design with roof, bootlid/trunklid, bonnet/hood, bumpers/fenders and doors in Duroplast, a form of plastic containing resin strengthened by cotton.

[danburger28]

Looks amazing!That steering wheel is brilliant!And centre exit exhaust!
Good to see your getting stuck into it!

[austinpowers]

Better than I thought it would be looking at the photos at the top of the page.
Good progress keep it up mate, Will it be ready for RR2012

[theblackbox]

thans for the comments. if I get stuck in then I really do hope it will make it to 2012 motivation is taking it up the hill. dan the "exhaust" is acrtually the tow bar! seems someone cut it off in the past but ill reinstate it quite what ill tow though. the exhaust I have plans for in the form of a stinger style ie going from small to large in a cone ill keep it semi hidden though simiar to this

but hung underneath

lukily the pannels needing attention are quite simple to replicate and easy to get to. what the brilliant thing about duroplast that I had never realised is that it is very durable I challenge you to find a single dent on it I would love to see it getting used on more modern cars especilly with the current price of steel.

[theblackbox]

Day 5

ill update this properly when i find my camera.

managed to finally get the so called wiring loom out what a mess the trailer socket had just been scotchlocked in and block connectors everywhere most of it needs to be remade with new wiring. found a massive whole underneath the d/s rear lights fortunately the part is easy to replace.managed to finally persuade the hub nuts to come loose so removal of the gearbox is well underway

in other news thanks to rotties's info there may be another arriving to be a donor for this and ultimately end up fullfilling long term plans of building a trabant rally car ;D just waiting for price and more info on it. hoping to start making pannels during the evenings this week ready for when i start welding

[austinpowers]

I to would love to build a rally Trabi, but the one I have is to good to for that. And there is noway the wife will let me have 4 cars at home. .

[theblackbox]

day 6

managed to finally get the box and shafts out



nice empty bay



detail of the shaft connection its all held togeather with circlips

i then started to poke around various parts making holes bigger not many photos as i was too busy dodging the rain



p/s wing all cleaned up the whiteareas are the bits needing attention



d/s rear light area cleaned up only primed to cover from the elements looks like alot needs to be replaced as its quite badly pitted



p/s not too bad but still badly pitted



took the bonnet off and then welded in this brace so that it will hold the front in place for when i start replacing bits ill do the same with the roof once the glass is out

managed to remove the doors and tailgate was ver suprised how light the tailgate is theres no reinforcement so its only about a kg or so. doors are heavy buggers though



very crusty bonnet support might have to replace about a third of it should be ok to do though

and most importantly managed to clear the garage enough to get it inside meaning i can work on it whenever its relatively tight space wise but i should be able to do all the bodywork in here



next step is to remove the glass and the rear quarter pannels

[austinpowers]

Looks like the welder is going to get a hammering ;D