Practically Classics Forum

Few little jobs done today on the Trabant in preparation for the MOT on Thursday. One thing which I knew for certain needed sorting was the headlight aim. I borrowed the Partner which I know the headlights are adjusted more or less correctly on and made a couple of reference marks on the garage door...

Okay, let's have another shot at getting this steering rack to track rod bracket apart. Attempt number 1. This failed. The puller would always slip off well before getting any real torque involved. https://i.ibb.co/zxXW2yK/IMG-20240314-114700.jpg I just loosely put the puller on there for the photo,...

Mmmm crusty :thumbs: Indeed, though being honest the car is by and large astonishingly solid. Virtually all of the rust save for that bit by the rear windscreen I've found in this car has been due to water ingress rather than the usual rot you'd expect from a car of this age. -- -- -- Time for an u...

Wanted to further investigate our mystery noise. I'd originally thought it was a brake dragging, but the fact that the noise didn't come and go with the application of the brakes meant that didn't quite make sense. Didn't take long to find it (funny how when it's not raining and windy you have more ...

Loose bolts on the suspension!! :shock: how many miles did you do since you bought it?? I'm with you on the rain, since October I've been working outside and I'm getting a bit bored with it now.. one of my fields is now a lake.. I keep thinking I ought to get a boat... Far too many. Virtually every...

Made a point today before the rain (again) arrived to go over the rear suspension on the Trabant to ensure everything was tight. I just didn't trust it to be given how many things I'd found not to be. Sure enough, first bolt I touched was less than finger tight. Not as if these are holding anything ...

Had a chat this afternoon with my usual MOT tester regarding the rust in the boot floor of the Trabant. He agrees with me that it's well outwith any prescribed area so won't be a problem. That's good news for me as it takes the urgency off fixing it. That's a job I'll definitely be farming out to so...

Still no sign of the gaskets ordered from eBay. Thankfully, a member of the owner's club just half an hour up the road bailed me out with a full engine gasket set they had going spare. Cheers for that if you're reading this! https://i.ibb.co/f8g2kXp/IMG-20240221-121315.jpg With gaskets in hand it wa...

You're very quiet lately mate, have you been buying more cars/computers/calculators or shiny things???? Been trying to find time to do a proper update, which I finally got put together this evening. -- -- -- Okay then...Where on earth were we? Ah yes, I was running around like a headless chicken tr...

Only a really quick one for today. Got this fitted to the Peugeot - definitely not a common sight in this generation of Partner. https://i.ibb.co/WFPJ9mP/IMG-20240128-143053.jpg The cutout I've made for it isn't the tidiest thing I've ever done but you're not going to be looking up at this from this...