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I have seen the same issue as your trabant a few times. If the trabant isn't leaking brake fluid, it is probably the seals in the master cylinder. Pretty common amongst pretty much any high mileage or old vehicle. If it is leaking then you just have a leak lol
Yo just so you know, the usual cause for a sinking brake pedal in any vehicle is bad seals in the master cylinder. Idk if there’s any other weirdness the trabant may have but that’s usually the issue But yea the bad seals cause it to leak internally so there’s no visible leak, it’s just the pressure is escaping past the piston Thinking about it also if it doesn’t have a dual circuit brake system you should probably just upgrade it to that for safety
Lol I didn't know you were a Jeffco native until I got my bus art in. Pretty cool man, you're in a different part of Jeffco than I but not by far. Keep up the good work man!
@@antibrevity At this point it doesn't even need to be just an inside jokes. Drive for some odd 30 mins and you probably will see the new one with ridiculously humongous and kinda out-of-place front kidney grille. I'd like to know the thought of whoever look at that in the design QC and goes "Yep, that's not gonna be made fun of, I'm sure".
You'll sacrifice a small bit of top speed but carrying a few pounds of tools in the Trabant everywhere it goes is probably not a bad idea. And some fluids. And emergency food. And a bicycle.
naaa.. not old enough and not enough miles in that car to know better ;) but he got his lessons slowly And dont forget to bring also some spare things with you to swap out.. break shoes, break cylinders, wipers, lightbulbs, fuelhose, wheelbarring
I love the reality of this. No misconceptions, no fantasizing about how efficient it is to have an aging fleet- this was about as realistic as it gets for those of us with rusty dusty vehicles; roadside breakdowns- tons of work that each vehicle needs in the near future, and a to-do list that would frighten most DIYers.... But aside from your Polestar- no car payment. Keep doing what you're doing Robert! I love to see that even Jalopnik has given you two stories so far- I can't wait to see how far you're going with your channel!
Yup theres a misconception of the accessibility of having a running older vehicle. You have to be ready to fix anything... front subframe, this random piece cracked you cant find online anywhere and the autoshop employees look at you weird when you bring it in. Its real and its fun if you have the right attitude
@@austist Might I offer this? Its NOT fun but it is real; any older ICE car is circa 30K parts waiting to fail. I had 05 decades of non fun fixing ICE cars: outside, in a cold New England winter, the impossible VW engine in the VW station wagon and on and on. I was VERY HAPPY to switch to an EV the very moment they became useful, having followed the EV field since the First Coming of the Leaf. But, hey, if you LIKE spending money on this rusting junk, I say' what ever sinks your boat'. For me, I'll take the $ not spent and buy "X' instead, and enjoy life.
I was legitimately reaching for the right arrow key on my keyboard when Robert yelled at me not to skip the ad. It made me laugh enough I actually watched the ad, and actually made me pause like a dog slowly creeping over to steal your food.
@@bobadam7021 "All I know is that every time I get taken captive, it's the Wraith. Just once, I would like to be taken prisoner by the sexy alien." -Rodney 😆
@15:00, brake fade like that is generally NONE of the things you listed as causes, it tends to be a bad o-ring in the master cylinder that is leaking past. Probably should rebuild the master cylinder as a first step. My opinion anyway. I've only experienced this type of problem, where no leak is apparent, once, and that solved the problem. Good luck!
and if its bypassing the oring(s), the booster may be .. problematic. its worth at least unbolting it from the booster to see if you have any fluid going into it. if its wet, its days are numbered. if its dry, gtg.
Really good point, and makes sense. Also if the brakes are being goofy, I would definitely opt for the rebuild, hahah. Bad brakes is NOT something you ever want. Ever. Plus I would watch the shit out of that video.
@WirelessNut it depends on the car. If it's a sit box you use for groceries getting and you you live near to the grocery store, low miles. If you live far from work, and it's a daily to and from work it will probably get a lot of miles quickly. If it's a sports car, some people love to drive them, others let them sit in the garage for eternity.
@@jwalster9412 I don't think you understand the situation, Robert works from home and on average he's putting over 100 miles a day on that car (186km a day because I'm Canadian and I couldn't be bothered to work in miles)
The falling Trabant break pedal without external fluid leak or loss is the main Break Cylinder pistons leaking internaly from one to the other compartements. There should be replacements from now old stock or just change the seals. Luckely you can access this Module fairly easy (like everything on the trabant) Brings allways a smile to me seeing the East German Plastebomber still running strong with you. These days you can put nyloc nuts in for the ignition lead problem falling off.. simple few cent fix to never worrie about again.
I might go with threadlock… then again I'm known for the same ideas that would likely end up with me owning a Trabant, Lada, Wartburg, and Fiat Toddler Poland, so… yeah.
Hi Robert! Just a hint, the reliant engines rev far far higher than you pushed it - they really need to be revved to get any sort of power from them. The 850cc engine is in fact borderline terrifying and I wouldn't be surprised if you could shave almost 5 seconds off that time by really thrashing it!
Robert thank you for bringing memories. I recall having the same issue with our Trabant while en route home from the seaside in 1976. My dad had reached under the wheel arch to open the breaker can. Then he scratched the contacts with tiny knife, as other tools were buried in the trunk. My mom and I were contemplating the nature for 10 minutes and then back on track. Pretty little car.
2:30 thats very normal for EVs, i have a Model3 Longrange and my fastest time measure with a propper device was 4.05, thats almost 0.4 faster then advertised. And even the Toyota BQRZT4YX did 0.3 faster in CarWOW's test. I have heard that for EVs unles stated otherwise (See Plaid) they are advertised with 0-60 times you can do under any state of charge in optimal conditions
I'm not a follower of comedy and generally don't like comedians, but I do love to laugh and I've found that the funniest people just can't help being funny. They don't tell jokes-- they are just funny. Well this guy is FUNNY. One of the most naturally funny on RU-vid I've found, as well as a genuine and dear person. His cackles of delight when his cars fail to perform are priceless. A true personality. I salute!👏
The trabbie's brake problem is most likely the master-cylinder (the one thing you didn't mention!). they're dead-easy to pull apart and put new seals in, so don't just cheat and buy a whole new one, because that's no fun!
If you put 35.5k miles on a car in less than a year and work from home, you must have a huge home. (My zeroth guess re Trabant's brakes assuming it has vacuum boost: vacuum leak.)
I bought a project 1980 Corvette mid last year and had to redo all of the calipers, lines, and hoses for it. I hope your Trabant was designed with maintenance in mind because this car DEFINITELY was not.😵 It's road legal now though so that's a bonus.👍
Nice to see some real performance cars battling it out XD Honestly surprised of the 0-60 time of the Lada, it wouldn't be slow for a European 80's car. Started watching your channel for all the quirky cars, but we both ended up getting Polestar 2's last year, so it's nice to see that get some screen time too :) (mine is not a Performance pack though)
Lada can't actually do 11s 0-60 unless u r going downhill Average time for stock 2107 are about 14~25s (hehehe mine is around 25) Fastest time ive saw this thing carburetted without turbocharger/supercharger was 8s, but it was tuned like hell and revved to 7k easily
A video of you dealing with the notorous triton 3-valve spark plug job would be entertaining to your audience, if nothing else. However, I understand all the reasons you may not be inclined to take that on.... even once the Escape is off your lift. Also your interview writeup in Jalopnik was great, I think it did great service to Aging Wheels
Two things: 1. when your brake pedal sinks to the floor, but there's no fluid leaking out, that means your master cylinder is leaking internally. 2. Check out South Main Auto's video where Eric O. changes plugs in one of those Fords. Have a specialty broken plug extractor handy, as well as a vacuum with a tiny hose to get in your combustion chamber(s) and probably an endoscope ready for the inevitable plug breakage. I think your take on it would be hilarious... for us. For you it will be shear torture.
I have my dads old Citroën Mehari, need a new frame and a ton of other stuff. It slightly tuned wit a bigger carburator so it's close to ~32 Bhp, and last time it drove it managed to hit ~110km(68Mhp) but according to the official numbers it goes from 0-100km/t (0-62 Mph) in 2 minutes and 42 seconds, which happens to be the topspeed aswell :) love that car
There's an old Citroen 2CV ad you may have seen. The 2CV has the same number of wheels as a Rolls-Royce. Going flat-out it will pass a Ferrari that's driving 65MPH.
I think since you are replacing the ICE in the Escape with an electric motor system, you should replace the electric motor system in the Weego with an ICE. Something like an engine from a Hayabusa or something. 🙂
Glad you double checked the pint thing. Also there are wet and dry versions of each that are different volumes for each. This is why the rest of the world uses the metric system. It's precisely why it was made, hahah (also designed with science in mind)
I had the brake pedal on my 1986 Fiat Prêmio sink/fade into the floor a couple years ago or so. Brakes worked fine as well, but when holding the brake, it would gradually sink and the brakes would weaken until they'd not hold the car in place anymore. It was a bit of a scary experience when I had that happen at a red light on a steep hill (which is also when I found out about the issue). In my case as it turns out, I had a leak on both brake cylinders in the drums of the rear wheels as well as a leak in the master cylinder, which was causing a loss of pressure and brake fluid. A few hours of maintenance at the repair shop and everything was back in order! Hopefully the Trabant's issue will be just as simple. Could be a fun video, though! I surely would enjoy watching it.
I was surprised that a British car from that era has oil capacity specified in pints, but then I remembered that the engine design is several decades older and probably from a time when we still used Imperial units.
TRABANT most likely the rubbers inside the master cylinder. slow drop to the floor under braking pressure very often points to that being the issue. pop it out, throw in new rubbers, betcha it's happy after that
The Trabant! I had the same thing happen on my 750 Laverda. Accelerating down a ramp onto the freeway quite vigorously and right as I shifted to 4th it went completely dead! Loose terminal screw, the main power wire fell out of the key switch. At least is was an easy fix! Thanks for the update, it was fun!
I love the dichotomy of your vehicles, and I'm kind of in the same boat but with far fewer cars. I have a 1984 Mercedes 300SD that after adjusting the valves, replacing the fuel filters, and tuning the alda valve I get the stock 14.5 seconds to 60 but is so relaxing to drive. Then I have my 1999 Mercedes SL500 that goes 0 to 60 in 6.4 seconds, so less than half the time of my 300SD. My 1987 420SEL I haven't tested because it's still a project and the tires are old enough to consent.
Hi, I am a recent arrival to this channel and I love it. Came here to see the Lada, I learned to drive on that same model but with 5 gears. My grandad had the previous version, my dad had a Jigula, the first ladas, that look like the Fiat, then later he bought two more. My grandma had a trabant, the older more rounded version with blue stripes on the side... So you see why I came here. I am staying though for the great entertainment, laughs and birds. Thanks for the great content, keep it up PS I've already watched like 75% of your videos in just a couple of weeks
I had a CRX do the brake-pedal-slowly-sinks thing. It was the master cylinder. Actually, it happened to two different CRXes that I owned. Apparently, the fluid slowly bypasses the seals on the piston in the MC. Doesn't really affect braking, except if you need to hit the brakes right when getting moving from a stop. Happily, replacing the MC was pretty straightforward, and these were California cars so the fasteners were not very rusty.
love your videos! Really looking forward to more on electrifying a car. Its given me an idea to get an old broken down 1950s truck and put some hidden moderness under it
On this, the other side of the pond, there is a growing shed industry for just such a thing in a "You want a Tesla in a thingy we'll make brackets for that" kind of way. I'm sure as more people break Chinese EVs the parts will add to the richness of that community.
I am always amazed with a) your puns and scene splits for them b) the almost transparent way you explain everything you do, almost like you need to justify to us what you did since the last video
I just paid $2400 to have my Ford Ranger's transmission to be rebuilt. It took a while, but was worth the wait to avoid the $4500 rate other shops were charging for a total swap.
Looking forward to more info on the Escape. While yours will be a rocket ship I'm thinking more practical terms like a rear mounted Tesla SDU and only about 225hp because to use around town we just don't need much. But the build part applies to them all. Great work, thanks.
Love this! To be fair my own fleet is only 3 cars in various states of operation too. 2 Explorers and an F150. Right now the older Explorer is in pieces in my garage for a deep clean, minor repairs, and a body lift. The other one is out in the parking lot accumulating towing stickers because the battery is dead and it runs like a pig when it works. Looks pretty though. F-150 needs suspension work, ABS work, tires, and a clean, but it ain't getting it any time soon because it's the only thing getting me back and forth to work.
Kinda brings me back to the time Car & Driver (?) did a 0 - 60 test on the Yugo and they said it was still accelerating at the time of press release. BTW - the turkeys were not dancing.
I had a 79 Chevy Malibu V6 that was so slow, a Yugo pulled past me going slightly uphill at full throttle. I was full throttle; don't know if he was. Didn't sound like he was even trying, and still walked away from me. Yeah.
As a European I am always flabbergasted a little bit when a 30 year old car's 0-60 in 12 seconds is taken as "bad" (not really you Robert, but some other car yt channels really overdo it). My daily driver Seat from 2007 does it in around 13 seconds (or did it, well, 15 years ago) and it is not the slowest one out there Cool video though, love the new content, and hoping that you keep that Lada. Always wanted a 2107 but even in Hungary they became extremely pricey
Changing the plugs on your truck, is an event. Having helped to do such with a slightly newer F150, we found it easier to unbolt the entire front clip from the truck to get maximum access. It helped a lot, even though the rear plugs on either side were still difficult. For the effort, we were also rewarded with somehow cracking the bottom hose connector for the radiator, found a leaky water pump, leaking front main seal, leaking rear main seal, two loose torque converter bolts, a very loose starter, heavily abraded connections from the battery to the starter, one split exhaust manifold on the driver side, four broken bolts on the passenger side manifold, a loose transmission cross member, very worn u-joints, nearly rusted through hard brake lines to the rear, and the reason why the driver's side front looked 'sag-y'. It had been hit and repaired just enough to pass a fifty foot look test at night under bad lighting. After all that, it made a fantastic brush buster truck. I think it's still where it died at in the woods two miles past a cousin's house.
Really happy to hear that the Renault 11 (aka Encore) I’m hoping to buy next week is about 50% slower to 60 than the Lada, but still almost twice as fast as the Trabant. That’s what 60ish horsepower and a 3-speed auto will do for you I guess
you can probably help with the roughness of the springs by using an oil designed for wire ropes on it (oils which are designed to creep very far) to get the leafs sliding freely.
You're exactly right - I wanted to see how "fast" a Lada could do 0-60. Believe it or don't, I was not disappointed. 😁 Also, I think I like the Trabant, faults and all. Finally, I am looking forward to more videos on the other electric cars and the bus, but I totally understand the focus on the Escape (look, I put 2 ford products in 1 sentence!). I'm going to assume we will see a 0-60 run when the Escape is ready?
I love your kitchen, because mines identical... same tiles on the backsplash, same cupboards exactly-not sure if you have yellowish brown vinyl flooring though
Hey Robert, when you did your video on the trabant engine rebuild, I remember thinking that the ports on it were tiny. Like, no wonder they managed to get so little power out of that thing. Anyway, I know a lot of trabant guys get up in arms about the idea of someone trying to "improve" those cars, but ever have thoughts about modifying it for performance? It's not something you see people do with them over here, there is some use of the trabant for rallying in europe, but here not so much. So if you want to do a novel project, you could send the engine off to a snowmobile engine porting company, and get higher compression pistons. Maybe even someone makes an exhaust manifold for it that has an expansion chamber! Just a thought that the trabant may be even more fun to drive if it was a little less anemic.
As always a great video, I had to laugh when you were doing the oil change on the Robin, (Bollocks, I love that, very British), as I know our pints, quarts and gallons are very different to yourselves in the US. Keep them coming, especially the turkeys dancing lol!!!! By the way I have a Hyundai Kona Electric 64kwh, great car, love it.
That reminds me of an old Popular Mechanix article where they did a review of a lightly restored Model A Ford. The listed 0-60 as "eventually"!😂 13:42. Dude, you need to carry a Leatherman tool or similar on your belt. Given the "unique" nature of your fleet, you're going to "get out and get under" a lot! Genuinely enjoyed the update. By the way, is that how you dance the "Turkey Trot"? Just wondering....
Hey man Before you go through your entire breaking system on the Trabant Check the inside of your master cylinder for damage, it sounds like break fluid is leaking past the seal inside the cylinder, my VW Golf stood for a long time, and moisture got into the Master Cylinder and rusted the inside, I had a very similar feel on my break pedal. Cheers
Hey Robert, I doubt you'll read this but with the spark plugs on that ford, assuming it's a petrol, I have no idea, run it on some two stroke oil for a bit, it would get Into the threads and loosen them up
Fun Fact! Reliant Robins had atrociously hard suspension from the factory. That's just how it is on any "standard" Robin. Apparently it's to stop them rolling over? I'm not sure how true that is, but I'll do some digging.
It isn't necessarily. They have anti roll bars so the stiffer or softer suspension doesn't change much. Plus when the suspension is soft the car sits lower to the ground.
Oh my God that last part was hilarious with the turkeys, good on you buddy, wish I could take a vacation out there to grab some knowledge from you in person. Keep up the content please!
Robert I need to talk to you about the Robin. The sluggish 0-60 and jerky launch can be caused by scratched up cylinders which is likely for your Robin to have. My Rialto had this problem for 1 reason: I did a top speed test with a secret oil leak. These engines have a long stroke and have no rev limiter. Not only did you drive on ONE PINT of oil before, but you also rev the car past it's safe range. Please check the compression.
