We got the Trabant out!

September 4, 2009

I got a phone call out of the blue from a bloke who had bought a Trabant and had been driving it around and enjoying it all when suddenly the clutch went. Did I have a spare clutch he asked and after a bit of climbing about in the garage I did manage to locate a rather dirty old looking clutch and clutch plate. So I phoned him back and he told me he was going down to a classic car show in Worthing the next day (was hoping to go in his Trabant) and it just so happened that we are just four miles away from the show. The next day then we met up, chatted for quite some time about the joys of strange cars and in particular Trabants. I gave him the old clutch and plate to try out and at the end of the day we went our seperate ways again with the promise that we should meet up soon again hopefully with him in his working Trabant.

Later that day all the talk about Trabants got me itching a bit and so we decided to get the Trabant out of the garage for the first time in a couple of years, see if it started up and really just give it all a check over. So I climbed into the garage in order to open the doors and was faced with a very dusty and dirty Trabant that looked all a bit unloved.

I pumped all four tyres back up again and with a bit of help pushed out onto the drive way, put a battery in and turned the key and the starter motor came into life. The engine did not. I did not suspect the petrol as while it was old it should still be fine for burning in the engine. Instead I immediately looked at the carb as this had been a problem last time I played with the Trabant. The idea would be to empty the float of petrol and try again. The first time I had to do this (after I may say we had replaced all fuel hose, taken to pieces the flow meter wheel etc..) it took ages as I removed the air filter and hoses in order to get better access to the lid on the carb float chamber. But now, with small spanner and small fingers, I am able to remove the lid, soak up the petrol from the chamber using toilet roll, and putting back together all within quite a good time. The big question really is why do I have to keep doing this? I’m sure I will live with it until I get it all on the road and it starts to happen routinly.

This I did, then I turned the key and it fired! It was been so long since I have driven the car that I nearly forgot about choke, but once I had that set it sat on the drive way ticking over as if it was in daily use. Minimal smoke from the exhaust too.

The children had never really been allowed in the Trabant before, last time we did this they were just babies and the interior of the car is completly stripped and a bit dirty. This time though, they spent the rest of the afternoon playing in the Trabant and having a great time. I gave the car a quick dusting and then near the end of the day we pushed it back into the garage, covered it this time fully with sheets and blankets, and closed the door. I hope it won’t be another two years until we do the same again.