TrabbieRonnie

Rx8 back, and wow, starting is improved! The new motor (I think they're all the new-style faster rpm jobs now), really gives the engine a rude awakening. Hot and cold starts take the same time too, so I'm properly chuffed. Got Davanti tyres on the rear (mechanic recommended), a size up from standard. Can't feel any difference, but they do look better on the wheels, will go for the same at the front when needed I think. £550 credits of the realm were required in exchange for both jobs, which seems reasonable enough. Adding that to the cost of the car, and the new cat, gives a total of £1300. Not the cheapest I've ever had, but it is very nice. Next job will be tidying up and painting the rest of the bodywork blebs, and then just enjoy for what's left of the no-salt season.

Rosie the Trabbi has outdone herself today, completing the Tour of Speyside rally in fine style. Here's us at the start... We headed off at 10:00am, my youngest in charge of navigating using the provided map and rally style pictograms. He was an absolute natural and kept us right for the 147 miles. I've lived here for years, but still encountered roads I'd never been down before. Great stuff. Check out the metal crammed into the Carrbridge hotel's car park, the halfway/lunch stop... Checked and topped up fuel at this point (11 litres used, very hilly route though). All other systems checked out fine too, the exhaust repair was holding strong. Had a good chat with the owner of a Gilbern Invader, who had been surprised by the Trabbi's turn of speed on the narrow twisties. He found it especially hard to believe upon seeing the wee beastie's powerplant! To give a flavour of the relaxing* ambience you could experience during a highland tour in a Trabant, see this video of us hassling some old Escorts and a Lotus around Lochindorb... All in all, a really enjoyable day, I hadn't done the rally thing before, but it definitely adds some excitement to the drive, having to follow the directions and keeping ahead of your rivals. The craic was good, we got a mug each for our efforts, and everyone there was an actual car person, perfect. Would do again, 11/10. In other news, my RX8 is not home... the starter motor did not come in on time, I am assured it will ready on Monday. Good job I had an actual rally car to play with today! Cheers all.

Thankfully, even with the RX8 away in dry dock, Rosie the Trabbi was around to provide mechanical tinkering time today. Coming home in said vehicle last weekend, the heat exchanger/expansion chamber section of the exhaust split neatly in two, right at the engine manifold joint. This occurred at full chat, flying up the hill at 60mph. Without any noticeable drop in performance, my wee 600cc machine gave a passable impression of a Lancaster Bomber on final approach to the village. Sub optimal, as we are entered into a 145 mile rally around these parts on Saturday, amongst some fine old cars from the local car club. They have us starting fifth, with all the wee Austin's etc, obviously they are labouring under the false impression that a Trabant is a slow vehicle! It is my mission that the hordes of MK2 Escorts and Lotus Elans will be left in our smoky wake, aghast at the speed of the DDR's finest! Hence, repairs were needed... My youngest shiter has today dismantled the exhaust, and stick-welded it back together beautifully. It's a stainless system that has been on for a few years now, and the heat cycles combined with the somewhat intense vibrations must've done for it. My work van provided some stainless rods so it should last a while. We managed to get a more natural fit under the car this time, all the hangers are attached, and none seem to be under duress. A quick rattle around the local hills has proven the effectiveness of the repair, so a quick wash and scrub up tomorrow and she'll be ready. I've never done one of these rallies before, it was the promise of a wee rally plate to stick on the front that clinched it! Next update should be on Friday, with the RX8 hopefully home and happy again. Cheers all.

Old RX8 in FTP shocker...! Suppose it had to happen, and it could have been worse. Been properly out and about in the car today, out to Inverness and back, and then out to the coast at Roseisle. A good hundred and fifty or so miles of enjoyable motoring was had. I decided to stop in at the garage on the way home to check if my new tyres were going to be in tomorrow. On leaving, the car just went 'click' instead of 'vroom'... bugger. Starter or its solenoid seems to be the culprit, everything lights up as normal, just no crank. Gave the offending article a good whack with the persuader, rocked her back and forth, but to no avail. Couldn't have happened in a better place at least, I must have started the car a dozen times today without issue, weird. Two days and £170 for the starter, £160 in tyres too, so the cheap rotary experiment is getting less cheap I guess... not too bad though. Fuel costs... Before all this, all these miles meant that another fill up was on the cards today also, and with the maths done, the mpg figure is... 20.2 (218 miles for 49 litres/10.7-ish gallons). Not exactly sipping the old go-juice there! However, for the first quarter of that tank, the rear brake was stuck on, so I should see a slightly better figure for the next one. I think that figure is about par for the course with these things though... doesn't have to be my daily thankfully!

Second tank of fuel has gone in, teething troubles so far... Coolant... Not really a trouble as such. Coolant level sensors are a notorious fail on these apparently. It comes on at randomn intervals for the first few miles of a journey, and then again when parking up. Of course I topped it up a couple of times, leading to it burping it out the overflow on shutdown. It doesn't help that the 'max' level is very low down on the header tank, it must expand more in this than other cars. Getting used to it. Brakes... Rear left was binding, wheel was hot, covered in dust and started squealing. Just in from cleaning it all up and pumping some fluid through. All better, the car actually feels freer so hopefully the fuel economy will be amazing* now! Zeroed the trip on fill up, so will have an accurate measure next time. I think the handbrake mechanism might have been seizing up a bit/not quite releasing, as it was all quite rusty looking. And that's it for now. I am still getting a feel for the car, using the full performance needs a good empty road, but it is a very enjoyable and great handling car at any speed. New rear tyres on Wednesday I think, which will inspire more confidence also. Found a fwend at Halfords while in getting gearbox and diff oil...

The noise gets addictive... So far so good 🤞😅

It's only gone and passed!!! Advisory for the rear tyres as expected, emissions didn't look great at first, but fell into line great after a wee rev up... result. He was more than happy with the underside, and did have a good old prod, so I have full confidence now. Tyres should be in for the middle of next week, better burn these ones up in the meantime I suppose! Spends so far on this one aren't bad, I think I'll be up to the grand mark with the tyres and mot. Cheers all.

Countdown commenced... Test booked for Friday afternoon 🤞. It's £30 for a days insurance, or £200ish for the year. Probably going to just pay for the day in case it fails, and swap it for the jeep on the multicar policy if it passes. Very excited here at Trabbi Towers, the wee thing is as polished up as a rusty old Mazda can be. It is driving beautifully up the lane, I can't wait to head out on the open road. It's the sportiest car I've had I think, the speed and way it pulls from second into third gear is just... wow! Still pretty loud even with the cat fitted, but deeper and not at all unpleasant. The interior has come up nice, and everything works. Tried the in-dash cd changer this morning, the stereo system is Bose, and almost as good as the A8's. So I'm basically like a kid waiting for Christmas, I hope the old car gods are kind.

Well, had a weekend back on the RX8 after a fortnight away with work (replacing two grain elevators at the picturesque* Strathclyde Distillery in downtown The Gorbals)... We have replaced the fake cat with a real one, which has instantly improved the smell... It was quite eye-watering before, and now isn't. The right hand sill has been gently wire-brushed and re-coated, and the final hole has been cut to allow the rear abs sensor wire through into the boot. Reconnected, and the abs and traction control warning lights have gone out. Next came the oil. The sump plug was the tightest I have ever known, as was the oil filter. It's removal left us both a bit worse for wear... T'was an absolute bastard. Anyway, a few litres of Halfords finest resulted in instant oil pressure on startup, and very smooth running. Methinks it may have been overdue a change, so I'll probably do it again pretty soon. The next step in the plan is to subject the nearside sill to the same treatment, another good wash and interior clean, and then book her in for the test. If she passes, then her reward will be a new set of tyres for the rear, and either a good used set of front wings or yet more lashings of filler in these ones. All in all, I'm at the stage I really love when bringing back an old car, when they start to feel a bit more up together, and a bit more 'mine'. Every time I take it up the lane for a spin, it feels smoother, with brilliant brakes too. Fingers crossed she gets back on the road this week!

You have saved a great car there, the good times are well deserved! I totally get what you're saying, it's a great feeling bringing a good car back to where it should be. I'm sure it'll hold out for a while (maybe keep a belt in the boot, just in case!), you enjoy it. We're all enjoying the updates too fella, cheers!

Washed up a bit, and a clandestine run to start running the fresh fuel through. Will do so every night this week, and then fit the new cat and change the oil at the weekend I think... It's funny, there's about seven different shades (and textures!) of blue paint on this car, blebs and wee dents everywhere you look, but somehow it still looks the part! Starting to feel more like one of the fleet now, running and driving well. Need to get under the front-to-mid section of the floorpan, to see what else is lurking under the underseal. The best paint on it... Checked the lights (it has very aggressive headlight washers also!) and found a new problem. The reverse lamps are permanently on. Switch problems quite common apparently, will have a look in there when next underneath. Need to get a wriggle on, home this week then away for two with work, followed by two weeks off. I would very much like some highland road blasts during my time off! My neighbour rather unkindly proclaimed this as my mid-life crisis car... he's right I think!

Well, a very productive day today on the Maz... Patches look better all oiled up and with the original cable grommets fitted through. Once I'd refitted the arch liners all of this was covered up anyway, but we'll know it was done right at least! Wire brushed and Denso-taped the fuel filler pipe to stop it getting any worse also... 'Sorted' the wheel arch lip on this side too, they're pretty filler heavy tbh, and will need actually fixing one day! The plan is to see how the car goes this summer, just enjoy it, and see if it warrants the full job after that. After a lot of wire brushing/wheeling, vactanning and oiling, it's really good to see the rear reassembled. Forgot what a big bum it had... Much more still to do. I now have a catalytic converter in my possession (eBay job, but good reviews... type approved if that means anything at all?) ready for fitment. I want to fill the tank with plain fuel to dilute the two-stroke oil down for the emissions test, I don't think the new cat would like the current mix much! The front wings need rubbing down or replacing, at least they are bolt-ons. The front lamps came up nice with the old 2000 grit and polish, will post some more pics when I get her washed up a bit. Cheers all.

T'other side... Big 'oles in RX8's used to worry me, but no more! The wet rag hanging to the side is my fire blanket, covering the fuel intake pipe. Decided on a different tack this time, after seeing how the card templates curved into shape... Left one piece long on purpose, so I could get a nice join between the two bits... Before tacking it on the outside and cutting off the excess in the boot... A wee bit was then cut to replace a bit of floor. Again, not pretty, but nice and solid. I'm sure it'll look ok after a dressing with the flap wheel and some sort of paint covering. The wooden blocks are used to deflect the grinder sparks, I'm paranoid about them setting light to the back seat foam. Here's a pic of the welder I bought a few years back. I can't remember it's specs now, but I remember thinking it was the best power range and duty cycle I'd seen on 240v. It's a SAF mig, French I think, and is operating on its lowest settings for both current and wire speed in order to not blow holes in the Maz (I still manage the odd one!). I bought it from a chap who's son was selling up a failed garage business in Aberdeen, for £450. Seemed expensive, but puts down beautiful smooth welds on thicker stuff, and to be fair, I'm the weakest link on this project I think! Tomorrow then should see some vactan/waxoyl application, and maybe even the back end rebuilt. I've cleaned up the crash bar and back bumper, it'll be good to see it look like a car again! Whilst I was welding, the boys serviced the other Mazda, which is really racking up some miles in my eldest's hands as his gig-mobile. The boot is always full of guitars and amps, and the tape deck blasting out 90's rock! A great old age being had by the 323, which has just sailed through the test again. Somehow, he's done 11,000 on the 'new' engine, which went in almost a year to the day ago. Just love shite cars.

Beautiful car DV, and great work you've done. Looking forward to some 'out and about' pics 👍

Actual progress on the RX8! Hello all, blessed with wall to wall sunshine as we are this week, I decided to get welding today, and have completed one side of the boot floor/wheel arch repairs... Not pretty, but by god it's thin stuff... lowered my expectations a wee bit, as I just want the thing going now! Vactan helps... Even had a go at the wheel arch lip, so after I get it oiled up in the wheel well tomorrow that's a whole corner done at least... Inching closer to terrorising the Highlands!

Great fleet!

Hi all, More island travels have been had, this time with work, but enjoyable nonetheless... Lovely place and people, and the road out towards Mull... stunning! Anyway, on my return we fitted 5mm spacers to the Audi Coupe, mainly to impress my boys tbh. They have made a very subtle difference, but the car looks bob on I think... Before... And after. Like I say, subtle but looks great in the real life... The wee car is driving lovely, currently very glad I didn't sell it! We recently bought a box of 80s/90's albums on cassette, as this, the jeep and the 323 are all blessed with a tape deck. I will have the cash one day for a respray, just going to enjoy it's slightly scruffy Audiness till then. Trabbi also buzzing along nicely, having just passed its MOT without advisory. I've started touching up minor bits of body paint, and have redone the wheels, so she's looking pretty smart. I'm considering removing and cleaning out the exhaust (fairly sure we used to fill 'em with caustic soda when I were a lad?), Certainly the tailpipe end is fairly gunked up after the few years it's been on, so god knows how the centre resonator/silencer is inside. Any and all advice on the best way will be appreciated (stainless exhaust btw). Stock photo... Wee Maz racking up the miles with my eldest, and running at just shy of 50 mpg on the new Demio lump. He now wants spacers too! T'other Mazda hasn't had much time spent on it, but I do have a two week break coming up which will remedy that. My youngest has taken on the wheels in the meantime, and we have settled on some Ford bronzey-browny goodness... Nebulous plans to take this thing Autotesting are developing, there is a local club I've found organising such things... As it stands, the engine is starting better hot, and running beautifully during its regular neighbour-annoying (but very motivating) fire-ups! All in all, much enjoyment has been had with the sun shining on the old fleet, thankfully we enjoy the work as much as the driving about in them! Cheers all.