Trabi/IFA Chat Forum

Yes, that is exactly what happened. Did a number on the clutch, might have to replace that at some point.

But it was 95 degrees F today, no problems with the Trabi. Normal brakes, no brake lights coming on without me pressing on the the pedals.

I have only owned my Mr.Trabs for a week but I've done the following:
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Repaired mirrors (previously not Trabant items, held together by tape)
Repaired faulty fuel-tap (Main did not flow)
Removed, renovated & added leaves to front and rear leaf springs (Was 5 front, 4 rear. Now 7 front, 6 rear.)
Repaired right-door cable and lock (Snapped and seized respectively, works like a charm now!)
Repaired right-door window rail & rubber (Window liked falling through door as rail rusted to bits, bought new and replaced)
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Soon to do:
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Drain and refill transmission oil
repair or replace boot gas-struts
Sort spaghetti wiring and stereo left by previous owner
Convert points to electronic ignition
replace expansion chamber (poisons me in the cockpit currently)

We finally tackled this last evening on ours, using a metal roofing tie strap (~$2 at Lowe’s), drilled new holes for the US plate, and hacksawed off the extra length and then sanded the cut ends. Have to decide whether to paint it, but it works!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2023-07-21 07:30 AM by jma48mitch.

I like your design. Looks good.

Bring your Trabi with the TRABI plate to the Parade of Trabants and park it next to mine and TrabiNYC (frogbros). We have the TRABI plate, too, but from different states....

we are definitely hoping to come!! have to get a hitch added to my car. Anyone know what the smallest U-Hail trailer I could rent to get the Trabi on? Looks like a two day rental of the "5' x 9' Utility Trailer With Ramp" (suitable for golf carts it says) would only set me back $50.

Took the Trabi to the local car show Monday. Rolled past 80,000 km on the odometer while enroute.

If you have to rent a U-Haul trailer get the 16 footer. And don’t let anybody near it when you park. Tie a tarp over it at least. People will mess with your car. Better yet, rent a box trailer if you can, and strap it down inside by the wheels, NOT the bumpers or body.

I must admit, that looks really good.

Hit 1000 km on the engine rebuild a few weeks ago. Put new bookshelf speakers in the car too. Took the ones out of the rear deck.

Fitting a rev counter this weekend.
Oh and towing electrics.

I have had my Universal off the road for a couple days until I had time to chase down an exhaust leak. Easily fixed by re-tightening the bolts for the exhaust header!

Probably went for the last ride of the year today. Put 1400 km on this year and a bunch of car shows. Lot's of fun as usual. Already looking forward to next driving season. Have a short list of things to do over the winter.

I know these pictures are huge, but I couldn't scale them with BBCode...

The inner mounting point for the driver's rear suspension arm broke off several weeks ago, giving my Trabbi the WRONG extreme camber.





I didn't even notice at first. I was driving and stopped for a drink. When I came back, I noticed the camber was off. I drove it back home and parked and ordered the replacement parts from Trabantwelt (new mounts and bushings). When I rebuilt the brakes, I procrastinated replacing the rear brake hoses since the exhaust is in the way and makes it difficult. The old brake hose did its job and then some!

The new parts came in during the week, so I got it all back together today. The fresh parts were a bit rusty, so I cleaned it and used some high-quality primer on the inside to prevent it from rusting again.





With the primer dried, it was out with the old (by cutting it off) and in with the new. I ground the area flat for the replacement part, but didn't get a picture.





Not my best welding work due to the difficult angles (and it being on the driveway). It's not just good, it's good enough!




Freshly installed with new bushings and brake hose.



And now it is back on the road! Easter is an appropriate day for this, and it only took me 5 hours!



By far the hardest part was reassembling the bushings. I wasn't able to put enough weight on the leaf spring to get it to fully retract, so it took a lot of banging, fenangling, and soapy water to get everything together. I'll do the other side once I get a leaf spring compressor...