"My tool is too big to fit into these crevices, so, instead, I have to use my fingers...and it's gonna be a lot of work!" "Heavy breathing is a requirement." I'm sure she (the Trabant) appreciated it, because she's glowing...
A bold move! 😅 The factory paint is an alkyd resin based (if memory serves me well) single stage paint (what I also used to paint the stairs in my house) 🤣. All I dared to do was a wax by hand with old fashioned hard car wax. The colour on yours is called "Papyrusweiss", Papyrus White. The metal strips you can get very shiny with a polish as well. I'm restoring my Trabant since it has rust in some nasty places. Also upgrading the brakes to Golf 1 and Polo 86c disc brakes. No more hassle with leaky brake cylinders.
The black headlight rims was a very common way to “pimp” your ride in the GDR. I have a “modernized” wartburg and they painted it blue very rough and then painted all the chrome parts black.
hand sanding tip: always apply pressure and move in one direction with the abrasive, going back and forth or in a circular pattern will always leave swirls and scratches
Also alternate perpendicular directions when changing grits. That way you know when you have worked enough which each grit. You simple sand until the previous direction marks are gone.
Yikes 400 grit! Way too coarse for wet sanding, 1000 or even 1500 is a good starting point. That’s funny you went cheap with a terry cloth, then you are later using synthetic clay and and a festool polisher… great mix of very old/cheap and advanced/expensive
I can almost hear the Trabi: "Oh jaaa, das ist gut, keep on zhe Arbeit auf mein Motorhaube" Oh it also says: "Baaaaazmeeeeg de jó", 'cause it was bought in Hungary, and has learnt Hungarian.
About the replaced driver door and rear panel… I know a story why that might be: Friends of me that grew up in the GDR (east Germany) also had a Trabant when they were young. One day they drove it out of their garage. Unfortunately, there was a big nail or screw sticking out of the wall. The Trabant got stuck on said nail and when they kept going, it ripped a big groove into the whole body panel and door. No kidding, these things are really fragile.
Robert: "I'm concerned that washing my Trabant will take all the paint off, because it's so thin" Also Robert: "I'm going to sand the paint with 400 grit paper!" I do like a Trabant video on this channel though. any chances of some more Trabant driving videos? Even mundane journeys would be fun to watch
@@deepakmenon7733 Yup. I think its a great idea to show appreciation to anyone who does their job well - especially if it benefits and improves my life in some way - regardless of how much they get paid for it. (And if they depend on tips, a good tip should be part of that appreciation.)
It's too late now but I learned from vice grip garage that it's best to do your test applications on the roof preferably near the back or the middle so that any mess ups you have are less likely to be seen though your car is only 4 ft tall so it probably didn't make a difference.
The headlight bezels bother me somewhat, but I understand why you had to change them. We used to have a Trabant in the same colour, we sold it about 16-17 years ago. It makes me so sad that my father didn't keep it, I would love to drive that car now.
Duroplast can easily take that kind of punishment. It's not like metal that would dent from this. Not to mention, it already came out of shape from the factory.
I have an idea for the trabant, remove (as in pull off by releasing a tab or such) the driver side wiper arm and reposition it down further to a desired spot since its an older splined system that has no required nut, this will vastly improve the visibility while still letting it wipe enough in your line of sight. Also* you can do this to the passenger side too
And then it would stop it's stroke near vertical leaving you blind to the left. Plus the right hand blade would have just a tiny overlap with the stroke of the left, way down by the dash. Maybe the wiper motor needs a longer arm?
If you have a pre-1997 Jeep Wrangler or CJ, the wipers sit at a 45 degree angle on the windshield. You don't even see them while you're driving. They're not thick enough to really block vision anyway.
So the deal with the windshield wipers and why they’re so easy to remove is that a really common thing in the 80s was to steal anything cosmetic like that from parked cars so people would remove their wipers, then when it rained they would all stop in traffic and run outside to reattach them
I purchased one of those “IX” kits a little over a year ago. Nice package, easy to use, impressive results. Only thing I didn’t much care for was being on their mailing list and then getting incessant emails encouraging me to purchase MORE of their product… which for me is a total non-starter, seeing as, A) ceramic sealant lasts quite awhile, and doesn’t require frequent re-application (so no need to keep buying it); and B), of the 6 vehicles I own, only two of them (both motorcycles) have paint jobs worthy of such a product. 🤷🏼♂️ Sorry, AvalonKing… thanks anyway.
Sorry for that! We've adjusted our mailing a bit at the beginning of the year. We are honestly just trying to stay in touch with our customers as we continue to grow. At least you know we are there for you if you need it!
@@AvalonKing a bit late but may I recommend a dynamic mailing list so that people can choose what emails they like (marketing, review, follow-up, tips and tricks, notices etc.) And maybe even let them say how often they'd prefer to be mailed, this should improve post purchase satisfaction
Growing up in East Germany, I never once saw one with the headlight bezels painted black. So, it looks strange and unoriginal but I appreciate you showing the Trabant some love! Love the videos!
Seeing the pictures of the Trabant’s towing on Twitter, I expected to find out the detailing somehow made the 6-volt electrical system inoperative. That Voodoo Ranger is a good IPA!
the headlight thingies do bother me a bit. Makes the car look like it was ever worth something. That just doesnt feel right. Going by the video title i imagined much worse for the paint. Thought you'd keep finding spots of thin paint all over the car by going through all of them. so that is a pleasant surprise. Always glad to see a video of yours in my notifications!
Lovely video! Fun yet educating. Thanks a lot, Robert. I was reserching where to get some 6 volts relays for my 1962 Porsche, and found out that Trabant used 6 volts electrical system right up until 1983! Isn't that a fun fact? Most other cars switched to 12 volt 20 years before. So I bought some new old stock east german ones. A nice addition to my west german built 356.
That would mean dropping in a VW engine and upgrading the instrumentation cluster. You’d get a decent car out of it. Would it be worth it to upgrade a Trabant?
Having mis-coloured and unmatching panels is the proper way to have a Trabant. Ours in Poland also had headlight bezels that were a different colour from the rest of the car, because one time the brakes gave out so my dad had to use the parking brake when pulling into our below-ground garage. He didn't quite get the timing right and crashed the car into the back wall, damaging the headlights.
Great content! I did once the same as you, but i started with 4000 grit+soapy water in spray bottle. Fine cut buff and polish and the result was like a mirror. And it was done on a 67 Opel Kadett with original paint. Got the tip from an old painter.
Ah the (not so) good old Trabant. My Grandpa had 2 of these and had to wait around 12 YEARS for the second one to be delivered. That was an event for the whole family, back in around 1987. Wir hatten ja nüscht. 😄
I would say I feel guilty for laughing when you talk about your tool being too big and having to use your finger, but after the bus stuff bareback t-shirt, I feel like I'm in good company with my 12-year-old boy sense of humor!
I've never been so enthralled by a sponsorship plug. Not clash of clans or some garbage like that but a product thats actually pertinent to the video. Awesome job as always AW!
I got some rubbing compound my old man got from his work before he retired that they used on the aircraft. It's called "Perfect--It 3000" Rubbing Compound 06062 by 3M, and it is AMAZING. You coulda skipped all these steps with this stuff. It's expensive but worth it.
@@Kevin75668 Sadly I kinda bastardized the pads I got due to the fact I didn't realize they were motorized sanding pads at the time, and simply the fact I didn't have anything to fit them. But I can DEFINITELY see them being phenomenal for the job in the hands of somebody more competent hahaha They kinda break the traditional rules of touching up paint. When he said he used 400 or 600 grit (I can't remember) sand paper on his paint, I legit cringed, like: "Jesus Christ, why??" I've been spoiled by having cheap access to 3M's magnificent professional paint restoration system (pinky swear, not sponsored, it just works different.)
Holy cats my dude! I know you said you “don’t know what you’re doing”, but starting at 400 grit had me cringing like crazy. A wet sand on a single stage could’ve started at 1500 or 2000. Well anyway, hopefully other folks learned not to do that lol.
On oxidized aircraft paint I typically start with 3000 grit wet/dry sandpaper wet and then go to Meguiar’s Ultimate polishing compound with a random orbital buffer. When sanding, the noise the sandpaper makes while sanding decreases as it smooths the paint.
On very oxidized single stage. I recommend Meguiar's #7. The Mirror Glaze. What you do is, before you do any aggressive methods, you essentially condition the paint. You grab a cloth, squeeze out a generous amount, and just cover the entire car, and you leave it for a day or two. Depending on how dry it is, do it again. For the most part, that's all you need to do. The glaze fills stuff in, and the oils in it have a capillary action that revitalize the single stage.
I’m an Australian Hungarian who is very proud to see the flag on the number plate and also pleased to report that I rode in a Trabant on a visit back in 1988.
Reminds me of when I tried to wax a car that was rattle can paint job. I stripped so much paint and it looked worse. I learned that soap and water is all I can do for poor paint jobs and just deal with it.
East european 40 yo captain here: Funny thing, trabants were actually never shiny even as new cars, the first "normal car shiny" trabants came along around early 2000s, when this vehicle switched from "dirt cheap communist shit" you probably got for free, to "cult classic" with significant value and people started renovating and tuning them. I guess it needs tons of filler under to make the paint shine, cause the duroplast is porous by nature. BTW Great video as usual, love you mister AW.
My granny had a yellow trabant, on of my fond memories as a little child to play with the magnets that were stuck on the seats. But what magnets you might ask? Well, it had a clever DIY built immobilizer utilizing a tic-tac box, a magnetic switch and said magnets.
The Trabant looks so nice! Glad it's getting some TLC. Do you plan to get the original paint matched at any point for where it's burned through / mismatching door / details? Not sure if there are some rules here about what you do and don't do with a classic car, so I apologize for any ignorance on my part.
You aren't a detailer until you've accidentally buffed through the paint on something then had to cover it, hopefully without the owner ever knowing. And, if you're the owner; all the better.
The spots that wore through on the hood were very triggering for me. The quick cuts of before and after were very satisfying. The black headlight trim change is so nice. That is all. Loved it.
Wow, hungarian license plated Trabant! My uncle had one for years, after one day he landed with that in the top, broke that part, so he used flex making a cabrio Trabant for 2 years, after next summer removed all cover(still have a snow shovel what made from it) , only chassis left, he had "flying" car what easily go over 100, later he reused it for 3 wheels motorbike for working on farms, after sold it when he sold his farm plots. I really liked it, it had a great engine sound.
Little side note: the shade of green on a Trabant is "Tschitscheringrün" or tschitscherin green. It is described as any kind of "more or less green" and not really defined
Ordered up some ceramic coating bits with your link solely due to the wonderful absurdity of treating your Trabant to a coat. Brilliant. Well done sir.
11:57 Just to let you know that the ceramic coating will also darken down those bumper sides as well, where they are faded black. Just a PSA about it. 👍😁
I wouldn't say they didn't care, Trabant is just a result of making a car in what used to be three different factories on different ends of town and then trying to squeeze out of them 10 times more cars than they ever produced before the war. It's more of that they just couldn't.
your trabant videos are by far better than every single trabant video done in germany! love it! please start collecting them (trabant 1.1 universal or a Kübel (i highly doubt that there are any over seas)) :D
Marvellous! When I polished my blue Simson Schwalbe the polishing cotton ball became blue as the scooter itself... Cool video with a nice guy and a cool car. Thanks!
That weird moment when a normal Aging Wheels video from two days ago is somehow funnier than any "April 1st joke" video i've seen today. Amazing work my dude.
@Aging Wheels I wouldn't have had the nerve to even wipe it down with a cotton towel... And if I found any lint afterwards, I would have had Serious Concerns about it's Structural Integrity! Please keep up the Great Work!
Robert, you are the last person I would have expected to embrace the "talking head for a sponsor" and do this job- awesome, dude! Spent not just the obligatory minute or so on product promo, spent all 12 minutes using, applying and discussing said products in terms only you, sir, could have done! I really hope they appreciate the care, effort and time spent by one of the more 'creatively lazy" people I have ever seen. I am now back into my chair, again having been saved injury by the pillows sprinkled around just so I can truly enjoy Aging Wheels fully without needing bruise and injury first aid! FR
A big disadvantage is quality of old paint. I've detailed everything from a $200 Honda to a Bugatti EB110, and never saw a finish that had to be horrible straight from the factory. Even after polishing the reflections of the lights remained blurry. Wish you luck, can't even figure out what kind of paint could be used as a clear overcoat. Edit forgot to mention polishing and waxing the windows can make a surprising difference and the water will bead on the glass. The wipers have a easier job. The ceramic coating / wax looks like it shouldn't work BUT it works great and lasts. Not familiar with that brand but stuff I use surprised the hell out of me, Didn't believe it would be better than Nu Finish but it is
I saw a Camaro (Z28 or IROC-Z) at a used car sale. It was repainted (not too bad) and had a run on the A-pillar, so I made a remark, guess what the dealer said? "Look closely! The run was in the factory paint!" He was right, the edges of the run where too smoothed out if it had been in the repaint. And the rear body edges of my ´86 Caprice Estate better stay unpolished to hide their waviness. Glorious 80s manufacturing delights...
@@sthenzel Early 80s era GMs also had a issue when they switched to acrylic from their oil based lacquer. The factory paint would stick to masking tape during repairs. Before that the paint being lacquer used to rust out around all moldings. Ford actually had a better finish usually using acrylic enamel, not suppose to work that way
Long term treatment is to powder coat the car. It will be far more durable than the factory paint. Not to keep it from rusting but to avert paint burn in which happened with too much polishing. In the meantime, consider the brown spots on the hood character if you can stand them!
I would've used 1 grit.
What's 1 grit,the tip of a knife ?
@@karvast5726 you don’t know the power of 1 grit.
It’s a rock
A trabant would be a nice nugget for garbage time, but I doubt they made some right steered ones
Oh my god, this is gonna blow up
Looks like Dank is a Soviet nugget connoisseur too!
honestly I never could tell if the trabant was supposed to be a dull green of an off-white..
Green tea mochi color
I thought the green was algae residue from being in a rainy country for decades.
green.
off-green perhaps?
Its an off-white: Its called Papyrus-white. My first trabant had that color. 😉
"My tool is too big to fit into these crevices, so, instead, I have to use my fingers...and it's gonna be a lot of work!"
"Heavy breathing is a requirement."
I'm sure she (the Trabant) appreciated it, because she's glowing...
Is this a cussy comment, have I gone full circle?
"Impregnated with a heat activated resin"
The ceramic coating must be the happy ending! 😂
Giggity.
She/It even put on makeup.
@@captainevenslower4400 There you go, making assumptions again!
Did you even ask how Trabant identifies????
I really appreciate that you made the IPA joke. I've been thinking that in my head for years watching videos on detailing.
I mean they're both alcohol
A bold move! 😅 The factory paint is an alkyd resin based (if memory serves me well) single stage paint (what I also used to paint the stairs in my house) 🤣. All I dared to do was a wax by hand with old fashioned hard car wax. The colour on yours is called "Papyrusweiss", Papyrus White. The metal strips you can get very shiny with a polish as well. I'm restoring my Trabant since it has rust in some nasty places. Also upgrading the brakes to Golf 1 and Polo 86c disc brakes. No more hassle with leaky brake cylinders.
Good one on the brakes. And please upgrade it to 12V. The difference is really worth it. :)
@@LWTUA120609 mine never has been 6V, it's one from '88. 🙂
Are you posting the restoration on RUclips? I love everything Trabant related.
@@robinwells8879 I hardly have space enough for myself in the shed, let alone a camera. 😉 So no RUclips vids. 🙂
Why are you incapable of spelling the word color
"water repellent test"
throws a bottle of water at it...
me pissing myself laughing hard
I knew that was coming, worn out joke fora worn out car
I was not ready for that one, loved it though.
Sounds like your pants could use a ceramic coating too.
The black headlight rims was a very common way to “pimp” your ride in the GDR. I have a “modernized” wartburg and they painted it blue very rough and then painted all the chrome parts black.
use his fingers and a tooth brush🤣
hand sanding tip: always apply pressure and move in one direction with the abrasive, going back and forth or in a circular pattern will always leave swirls and scratches
thanks!
Back and forth is fine as long as you're careful to not move side to side
Also alternate perpendicular directions when changing grits. That way you know when you have worked enough which each grit. You simple sand until the previous direction marks are gone.
So basically do the same thing I do with a file?
@@jwalster9412 nah you can file back and forth to go twice as fast, the file is by design an omnidirectional tool
The true measurement of laziness is how much work you’re willing to do to avoid work
and look at this bottle it's so shiny🤣
"A fancy, German sander for my... German car."
"both are extremely underpowered, and not very user friendly."
Communist East German Car
best quote
Come for the car videos, stay for the dad jokes
ITS EAST GERMAN, THE GDR IS A SEPARATE COUNTRY, THIS IS YELLING (but only because my GDR passport is actually still valid)😂🤡
You are absolutely hilarious. The "water repellent" demonstration was flipping golden.
yeah it was so epic loved it
Had to watch it on repeat it had me laughing so hard😂
Yikes 400 grit! Way too coarse for wet sanding, 1000 or even 1500 is a good starting point.
That’s funny you went cheap with a terry cloth, then you are later using synthetic clay and and a festool polisher… great mix of very old/cheap and advanced/expensive
I was thinking that as well, usually start with 2000 or 3000 grit for car paint, always do the least coarse options first.
@@Morinaka25 yep definitely always start with 4-6k grit for automotive paint.
I was thinking that too... "What?? 400 grit??"
As he mentioned, "I don't know what I'm doing"...as a long time hobby detailer, this was painful to watch!
Yea I cringed when I saw 400 lol. 1000 at the lowest lol
I can almost hear the Trabi:
"Oh jaaa, das ist gut, keep on zhe Arbeit auf mein Motorhaube"
Oh it also says:
"Baaaaazmeeeeg de jó", 'cause it was bought in Hungary, and has learnt Hungarian.
🎉"She rubs the lotion on the skin or else she gets the hose again" 😳
LOL
About the replaced driver door and rear panel… I know a story why that might be: Friends of me that grew up in the GDR (east Germany) also had a Trabant when they were young. One day they drove it out of their garage. Unfortunately, there was a big nail or screw sticking out of the wall. The Trabant got stuck on said nail and when they kept going, it ripped a big groove into the whole body panel and door. No kidding, these things are really fragile.
the planking from the Trabant is made of cotton (sort number 6) with phenolic resin baked at 184 degrees Celsius. Greetings from East Germany.
Robert: "I'm concerned that washing my Trabant will take all the paint off, because it's so thin"
Also Robert: "I'm going to sand the paint with 400 grit paper!"
I do like a Trabant video on this channel though. any chances of some more Trabant driving videos? Even mundane journeys would be fun to watch
Yeah 400 is kind of brutal but I bet that got those factory runs out of the paint.
I don't watch all the videos on this channel, but I make sure I watch EVERY one featuring the Trabi.
I wanna see him grab groceries, and see how much the 0-60 time changes
Can we all take a moment to appreciate the work this man is doing to entertain us? Man is back to deliver us this amazing video thank you
That's literally his job. He gets paid for it.... It only counts if you take a moment to appreciate everyone you encounter who has a job....
@@deepakmenon7733 and? Are you implying it's wrong to appreciate people who do good things if they're getting paid for it?
@@deepakmenon7733 Yup. I think its a great idea to show appreciation to anyone who does their job well - especially if it benefits and improves my life in some way - regardless of how much they get paid for it. (And if they depend on tips, a good tip should be part of that appreciation.)
@@lifterguy Exactly. You understand me. I highly doubt this guy actually meant it. He probably wanted a heart from aging wheels....
yes mr genius inventor that does not use a comment bot, yes i do
It's too late now but I learned from vice grip garage that it's best to do your test applications on the roof preferably near the back or the middle so that any mess ups you have are less likely to be seen though your car is only 4 ft tall so it probably didn't make a difference.
The paint was never that good from the factory anyway so it really can’t be any worse.
I suppose you could do it in areas like the licence plate, where it's hidden, but not hidden well enough to actually protect the paint much.
Clickbait title: "You'll NEVER GUESS What Happened When I Polished Some Communist Cotton."
I'm gonna assume that after all the painstaking polishing effort, that IPA was getting opened anyway. Booze goes in, work comes out!
The headlight bezels bother me somewhat, but I understand why you had to change them. We used to have a Trabant in the same colour, we sold it about 16-17 years ago. It makes me so sad that my father didn't keep it, I would love to drive that car now.
buy yourself a new one problem solved🤣
"I'm gonna start with 400 grit"
Every detailer and painter: NOOOOOOOooooooooo!
Yeah, the magnitude of the facepalm... I was actually thinking about subbing up until that point...
@@nikovbn839 you should still sub. him not knowing what he's doing is the point.
That's when I realized he did zero research on the matter
@@nikovbn839 your loss lol
That initial water repellency test shocked me at first. Then I started wheezing. Well done! Also, never do that again...
I bounced right off
Duroplast can easily take that kind of punishment. It's not like metal that would dent from this. Not to mention, it already came out of shape from the factory.
Yeah. I was concerned he would damage the car. Imagine if he had broken the windshield…
I have an idea for the trabant, remove (as in pull off by releasing a tab or such) the driver side wiper arm and reposition it down further to a desired spot since its an older splined system that has no required nut, this will vastly improve the visibility while still letting it wipe enough in your line of sight. Also* you can do this to the passenger side too
And then it would stop it's stroke near vertical leaving you blind to the left.
Plus the right hand blade would have just a tiny overlap with the stroke of the left, way down by the dash.
Maybe the wiper motor needs a longer arm?
If you have a pre-1997 Jeep Wrangler or CJ, the wipers sit at a 45 degree angle on the windshield. You don't even see them while you're driving. They're not thick enough to really block vision anyway.
They were available in the color puke-green. LOL
Personally I time it when the wipers are down, then turn it off. That will leave the wipers down
So the deal with the windshield wipers and why they’re so easy to remove is that a really common thing in the 80s was to steal anything cosmetic like that from parked cars so people would remove their wipers, then when it rained they would all stop in traffic and run outside to reattach them
I purchased one of those “IX” kits a little over a year ago. Nice package, easy to use, impressive results. Only thing I didn’t much care for was being on their mailing list and then getting incessant emails encouraging me to purchase MORE of their product… which for me is a total non-starter, seeing as, A) ceramic sealant lasts quite awhile, and doesn’t require frequent re-application (so no need to keep buying it); and B), of the 6 vehicles I own, only two of them (both motorcycles) have paint jobs worthy of such a product. 🤷🏼♂️
Sorry, AvalonKing… thanks anyway.
Sorry for that! We've adjusted our mailing a bit at the beginning of the year. We are honestly just trying to stay in touch with our customers as we continue to grow. At least you know we are there for you if you need it!
and C a good mailing list has an easy opt out option. Ideally with a single link.
butbutbut you could buy more for your family and friends! And then detail their cars to show them how great the coating is! Slacker.
@@AvalonKing a bit late but may I recommend a dynamic mailing list so that people can choose what emails they like (marketing, review, follow-up, tips and tricks, notices etc.) And maybe even let them say how often they'd prefer to be mailed, this should improve post purchase satisfaction
The water repellent test was freaking hilarious. Glad to see you (and we) are still getting so much joy out of your Trabant.
oooo shinny🤣
You had me when you cracked open that beer can 😂
5:25 sounds exactly like my experience trying to polish the paint on model cars. I can only imagine the pain when doing so on a full scale car.
When you said '400 grit' I spat out my tea AND dropped my biscuit.
Why research how to do something when you could just wing it and make mistakes?
@@agingwheels are you sure you're not Australian by any chance?
Growing up in East Germany, I never once saw one with the headlight bezels painted black. So, it looks strange and unoriginal but I appreciate you showing the Trabant some love!
Love the videos!
Seeing the pictures of the Trabant’s towing on Twitter, I expected to find out the detailing somehow made the 6-volt electrical system inoperative. That Voodoo Ranger is a good IPA!
congratulations on the very mature delivery of the line "my tool is too big to fit into any of these crevices, im going to have to use my fingers."
the headlight thingies do bother me a bit. Makes the car look like it was ever worth something. That just doesnt feel right.
Going by the video title i imagined much worse for the paint. Thought you'd keep finding spots of thin paint all over the car by going through all of them. so that is a pleasant surprise. Always glad to see a video of yours in my notifications!
A 12 minute and 22 second advert for
ARMOR SHIELD IX
I loved every second of it, 👍👍👍
i'm not even really a "car person" (i don't even have my license) but i am absolutely addicted to this channel. keep up the great work!!
Man, you took it from East Germany in 1986 to East Germany in 1954! Still communist, but much more attractive.
Ah, my favorite kind of joke; one where people that get it mistake age for education ;).
Lovely video! Fun yet educating. Thanks a lot, Robert.
I was reserching where to get some 6 volts relays for my 1962 Porsche, and found out that Trabant used 6 volts electrical system right up until 1983! Isn't that a fun fact? Most other cars switched to 12 volt 20 years before. So I bought some new old stock east german ones. A nice addition to my west german built 356.
i got my own Trabbi as my first car :D ... and your videos Helped me soooo much learning how to drive it :D
You're absolutely insane and I am 100% supportive of this
Don't die please
@Greeniac it has more in commen with my old Vespas then a modern car, its a blast
@Greeniac It's not very different from a "normal" stick shifter. If you can drive these you can drive a Trabant too with just a small learning curve.
A full restoration on it would be sweet.
Yes, but it is a Trabant..he already spent double it's value on the sand paper and ceramic coat.
it already looks better than factory
That would mean dropping in a VW engine and upgrading the instrumentation cluster. You’d get a decent car out of it. Would it be worth it to upgrade a Trabant?
Having mis-coloured and unmatching panels is the proper way to have a Trabant. Ours in Poland also had headlight bezels that were a different colour from the rest of the car, because one time the brakes gave out so my dad had to use the parking brake when pulling into our below-ground garage. He didn't quite get the timing right and crashed the car into the back wall, damaging the headlights.
Great content! I did once the same as you, but i started with 4000 grit+soapy water in spray bottle. Fine cut buff and polish and the result was like a mirror. And it was done on a 67 Opel Kadett with original paint. Got the tip from an old painter.
I think the Trabant need a wrap.
Contact Shamrock and get that Trabant wrapped. In metallic purple.
Yeah, like Hubnut's Fiat.
Nyet! Car is fine!
I suggest you to re - spray paint the wheels, it makes a huge difference!
But then the wheels would no longer be ageing!
Ah the (not so) good old Trabant.
My Grandpa had 2 of these and had to wait around 12 YEARS for the second one to be delivered.
That was an event for the whole family, back in around 1987.
Wir hatten ja nüscht. 😄
I would say I feel guilty for laughing when you talk about your tool being too big and having to use your finger, but after the bus stuff bareback t-shirt, I feel like I'm in good company with my 12-year-old boy sense of humor!
I've never been so enthralled by a sponsorship plug. Not clash of clans or some garbage like that but a product thats actually pertinent to the video. Awesome job as always AW!
11:18 Look at that trabant it is so happy.
I got some rubbing compound my old man got from his work before he retired that they used on the aircraft. It's called "Perfect--It 3000" Rubbing Compound 06062 by 3M, and it is AMAZING. You coulda skipped all these steps with this stuff. It's expensive but worth it.
@@Kevin75668 Sadly I kinda bastardized the pads I got due to the fact I didn't realize they were motorized sanding pads at the time, and simply the fact I didn't have anything to fit them.
But I can DEFINITELY see them being phenomenal for the job in the hands of somebody more competent hahaha
They kinda break the traditional rules of touching up paint. When he said he used 400 or 600 grit (I can't remember) sand paper on his paint, I legit cringed, like: "Jesus Christ, why??"
I've been spoiled by having cheap access to 3M's magnificent professional paint restoration system (pinky swear, not sponsored, it just works different.)
Holy cats my dude! I know you said you “don’t know what you’re doing”, but starting at 400 grit had me cringing like crazy. A wet sand on a single stage could’ve started at 1500 or 2000.
Well anyway, hopefully other folks learned not to do that lol.
On oxidized aircraft paint I typically start with 3000 grit wet/dry sandpaper wet and then go to Meguiar’s Ultimate polishing compound with a random orbital buffer. When sanding, the noise the sandpaper makes while sanding decreases as it smooths the paint.
That water-repellent joke was hilarious. Forced an audible laugh out of me at office 🤣😆
On very oxidized single stage. I recommend Meguiar's #7. The Mirror Glaze. What you do is, before you do any aggressive methods, you essentially condition the paint. You grab a cloth, squeeze out a generous amount, and just cover the entire car, and you leave it for a day or two. Depending on how dry it is, do it again. For the most part, that's all you need to do. The glaze fills stuff in, and the oils in it have a capillary action that revitalize the single stage.
Honestly detailing the trabant should just be it getting rained on every now and then
That's how my grandmother always "washes" her car. Kinda ticks me off!
I’m an Australian Hungarian who is very proud to see the flag on the number plate and also pleased to report that I rode in a Trabant on a visit back in 1988.
It's a export plate which makes it unique
Australia-Hungary just sounds like someone wasn't paying attention in History and/or Geogaphy class.
Reminds me of when I tried to wax a car that was rattle can paint job. I stripped so much paint and it looked worse. I learned that soap and water is all I can do for poor paint jobs and just deal with it.
East european 40 yo captain here: Funny thing, trabants were actually never shiny even as new cars, the first "normal car shiny" trabants came along around early 2000s, when this vehicle switched from "dirt cheap communist shit" you probably got for free, to "cult classic" with significant value and people started renovating and tuning them. I guess it needs tons of filler under to make the paint shine, cause the duroplast is porous by nature.
BTW Great video as usual, love you mister AW.
"IPA" hehe...
10/10. One of the most entertaining ads ever. And if the process can make a Trabant look good.... my car will be just fine. 👍
The Trabant? what a glorious sight for my weary eyes
My granny had a yellow trabant, on of my fond memories as a little child to play with the magnets that were stuck on the seats. But what magnets you might ask? Well, it had a clever DIY built immobilizer utilizing a tic-tac box, a magnetic switch and said magnets.
The Trabant looks so nice! Glad it's getting some TLC. Do you plan to get the original paint matched at any point for where it's burned through / mismatching door / details? Not sure if there are some rules here about what you do and don't do with a classic car, so I apologize for any ignorance on my part.
AW, so happy to see you posting again!
Your vids always make me laugh and brighten my day thank you!
9:33 the whole video was worth watching just for this moment. Thank you so much Robert.
You aren't a detailer until you've accidentally buffed through the paint on something then had to cover it, hopefully without the owner ever knowing. And, if you're the owner; all the better.
This video reminds me of "polishing a turd". But you sir gave it a valiant effort.
I enjoy your video's and your Turkeys clips.
The spots that wore through on the hood were very triggering for me. The quick cuts of before and after were very satisfying. The black headlight trim change is so nice. That is all. Loved it.
I've never heard of Avalon King, but I'd like to thank them for donating to your channel. I have an 82 subaru hatchback that could use it.
I laughed far too hard at the IPA joke :D
surely, for a German car, it should have been a Pilsner
I'm glad you are still keeping it and not selling it or scrapping it.
1:40 How does a 26 horsepower car collect rockchips? From oncoming traffic?
Neighborhood kids throwing stuff
Bottle kids
Wow, hungarian license plated Trabant! My uncle had one for years, after one day he landed with that in the top, broke that part, so he used flex making a cabrio Trabant for 2 years, after next summer removed all cover(still have a snow shovel what made from it) , only chassis left, he had "flying" car what easily go over 100, later he reused it for 3 wheels motorbike for working on farms, after sold it when he sold his farm plots. I really liked it, it had a great engine sound.
Ah, the Trabant, I love this little car, it's made of the same stuff some toilet seats are made of!
How humiliating for the toilet seats knowing that they are made from the same material as a Trabi.
@@Dave_Sisson I laughed way too much at that comment.. I was thinking of it completely the wrong way around!
Little side note: the shade of green on a Trabant is "Tschitscheringrün" or tschitscherin green. It is described as any kind of "more or less green" and not really defined
Let’s get Larry from ammo to take a crack at it
Ordered up some ceramic coating bits with your link solely due to the wonderful absurdity of treating your Trabant to a coat. Brilliant. Well done sir.
Never has so much effort been lavished on a car so worthless, before today. Oh my goodness.
11:57 Just to let you know that the ceramic coating will also darken down those bumper sides as well, where they are faded black. Just a PSA about it. 👍😁
The more you try to fix the more you’re gonna notice the East Germans didn’t care about build quality on this I think
I wouldn't say they didn't care, Trabant is just a result of making a car in what used to be three different factories on different ends of town and then trying to squeeze out of them 10 times more cars than they ever produced before the war.
It's more of that they just couldn't.
It went through rigorous quality checks. You know how the Germans are. I think the few rejects never made it to the market.
your trabant videos are by far better than every single trabant video done in germany! love it!
please start collecting them (trabant 1.1 universal or a Kübel (i highly doubt that there are any over seas)) :D
In Communist Russia recycled jeans make best car. We use two stroke because jeans have two legs.
B-but this is east German
Community Russian ladas are made from two mile thick stalinium missile silo metal
That’s why the Lada Niva is still the best off road 4x4 since it was introduced in 1977 and its still being made.
Marvellous! When I polished my blue Simson Schwalbe the polishing cotton ball became blue as the scooter itself... Cool video with a nice guy and a cool car. Thanks!
Im so happy you came back to my suggested videos. I have a Trabant 601 drive on my bucket list
I didn't know the Trabant's panels are resin-impregnated cotton. That's fascinating. You learn something new everyday!
That weird moment when a normal Aging Wheels video from two days ago is somehow funnier than any "April 1st joke" video i've seen today.
Amazing work my dude.
The polish, soap, sandpaper, cloths, and electricity are more valuable than the vehicle he's working on :)
Robert: "...even though those rock chips are BROWN"
Me: *has a flashback from a certain Technology Connections video*
This channel is just way too underrated 😂😂😂
Those before&after clap cuts were seamless 10/10 well done and great job on the detail
@Aging Wheels
I wouldn't have had the nerve to even wipe it down with a cotton towel...
And if I found any lint afterwards, I would have had Serious Concerns about it's Structural Integrity!
Please keep up the Great Work!
love the eyeliner! such a fancy little fellow the trabant is
So great to see the Trabant make a return and awesome to see more Aging Wheels content. Great work!
Robert, you are the last person I would have expected to embrace the "talking head for a sponsor" and do this job- awesome, dude! Spent not just the obligatory minute or so on product promo, spent all 12 minutes using, applying and discussing said products in terms only you, sir, could have done! I really hope they appreciate the care, effort and time spent by one of the more 'creatively lazy" people I have ever seen.
I am now back into my chair, again having been saved injury by the pillows sprinkled around just so I can truly enjoy Aging Wheels fully without needing bruise and injury first aid! FR
You might investigate locating a Wartburg, then you would own of every kind of new car you could buy in East Germany.
OK, your video stayed in the recommended area for like, two months... entertaining. What the heck, an upvote.
A big disadvantage is quality of old paint. I've detailed everything from a $200 Honda to a Bugatti EB110, and never saw a finish that had to be horrible straight from the factory. Even after polishing the reflections of the lights remained blurry. Wish you luck, can't even figure out what kind of paint could be used as a clear overcoat.
Edit forgot to mention polishing and waxing the windows can make a surprising difference and the water will bead on the glass. The wipers have a easier job.
The ceramic coating / wax looks like it shouldn't work BUT it works great and lasts. Not familiar with that brand but stuff I use surprised the hell out of me, Didn't believe it would be better than Nu Finish but it is
I saw a Camaro (Z28 or IROC-Z) at a used car sale.
It was repainted (not too bad) and had a run on the A-pillar, so I made a remark, guess what the dealer said?
"Look closely! The run was in the factory paint!" He was right, the edges of the run where too smoothed out if it had been in the repaint.
And the rear body edges of my ´86 Caprice Estate better stay unpolished to hide their waviness.
Glorious 80s manufacturing delights...
@@sthenzel Early 80s era GMs also had a issue when they switched to acrylic from their oil based lacquer. The factory paint would stick to masking tape during repairs. Before that the paint being lacquer used to rust out around all moldings. Ford actually had a better finish usually using acrylic enamel, not suppose to work that way
Your humor is like no other on car channels I love it
So glad to see the Trabby in a video
Long term treatment is to powder coat the car. It will be far more durable than the factory paint. Not to keep it from rusting but to avert paint burn in which happened with too much polishing. In the meantime, consider the brown spots on the hood character if you can stand them!
These results - for that paint - are amazing.
I will give AvalonKing a try, for sure!