Trabant: Braking news

 

The Trabant seems to be happy to be on his feet again. Brakes are almost done, with new steel brakepipes( required in Germany), wheel cylinders, hub seals and shoes. Next  we'll need fit the emergency flashers. Also required for roadworthyness certificate in Germany.  

All new rear brakes and hub seal in place . This rear brake was a bit o a puzzle as someone hat put blobs of weld on the adjusters. when we fitted the brakes with new adjusters the shoes moved outward and touched the rear of the wheelnuts. Refitting and checking diagrams didn't seem to fix the issue. Finally it all seemed fixed to the backplate by fitting a drum and pulling the handbrake. This expanded the shoes and the automatic adjusters fixed the shoes. We'll keep an eye on this. But I feel inclined to fit location springs like up front. 

Hub refitted with new seal. 

Taking the left side hubs off took great effort and a large hydraulic universal puller, while the right side hubs came of easily. Strangely this little car has 160 mm wheel stud pattern. This is only used in some Ford and Renault cars, so we had to get an extra large puller. We also finally have the factory puller now. And it' is a brilliantly compact design. 

New brake cylinders ready to fit. The assemblies were bone dry, so we took them apart to put blue brake grease on all the seals and bores. 

Photographing the old brake cylinders and uncertified Cunifer brake lines before they come off.   

Working on the front brakes. It's good to have help from the owners of the Trabant. You know they'll do a good job as they will be driving the car when it's finished and registered in Germany. 

Cradle back on the level. 

The underfloor area looks really clean now. The brown stuff is underbody wax. 

After re-fitting the exhaust, the car can be rolled back on it's wheels.