Zel's Fleet Blog - BX, Jag XJ-S, Sinclair C5, Mercedes 208D & 230TE, AC Model 70.

[bobins]

I think the main 7" headlamps in use 'back in the day' were the Lucas 700 series. 700, P700, and PL 700 according to taste

[Zelandeth]

Sealed beam were their own thing, there was also a non-halogen separate lamp P45t I believe which was the direct predecessor to the H4.

A properly up 7" H4 setup with decent lamps in should perform plenty well enough for our needs. TPA's headlights are comfortably better than those on the Partner that's for sure - which in turn are orders of magnitude better than the ones on the Caddy were.

I had a closer look into this today. Opinions online seemed to be 50/50 split over whether the "standard" 7" units will fit without modification. Helpfully I have both some spare headlight baskets that came with the car, and still have a cheap pair of 7" headlights that I bought for something goodness only knows when. I think I actually bought them in error, but they've proven handy on a couple of occasions now. They first saw service on TPA for a few months when she was first returned to the road prior to being replaced with something more period appropriate looking.

After a bit of digging in the garage I was able to confirm that they do indeed seem to fit just fine here.





Everything lines up properly, slots into the locating notch in both the housing and the adjuster, and the whole unit is clocked correctly.

It looks like this may not be the case for all variants as there's another basket here in which the locating tabs are in a different location so the light would be clocked wrong if I fitted it to that, not sure if that's something which changed from a particular production date, but it seems likely.

Looks like it should be a pretty simple solution here at least though. Just a set of generic 7" units (with the sidelight included) and a set of Osram Night breakers and we should be all set.

[bobins]

Everything lines up properly, slots into the locating notch in both the housing and the adjuster, and the whole unit is clocked correctly.

It looks like this may not be the case for all variants as there's another basket here in which the locating tabs are in a different location so the light would be clocked wrong if I fitted it to that, not sure if that's something which changed from a particular production date, but it seems likely.

<Ahem> How do I put this..... ? It wasn't unusual for 'Eastern' countries to see a simple design that worked and build their own versions of it exactly the same*. Imitation being the best form etc, etc. Wonder if those headlamps were a case of this ?

Wonder what we copied from them ?

*- I once saw a picture of an old manual switchboard located in a bunker in the ar5e end of nowhere in Russia and it bore a striking resemblance to the GPO ones we had

[Zelandeth]

This is one of those occasions where it probably just made sense. It looks like the change to the position of the locating tabs on the lamp housings coincided with the change to H4 lamps, which apparently happened in 1984. This surprised me a bit, given that my first Metro didn't have H4s, nor did my folks last Fiat Panda, and that was on a 1993 L plate. So finding that a Trabant left the factory with proper halogen headlights as of 1984 seems a bit of a surprise.

It goes to show though that while nothing really visibly changed, that if it was something that they deemed to be useful that they did make plenty of incremental changes under the skin throughout the lifetime of the P601 model range.

H4 lamps obviously were deemed to be a worthwhile upgrade, not unreasonably when you look at where a lot of these cars would have been used.

I've got a pair ordered now, which look from the listing to be identical Autopal ones to what went on TPA so should do the job perfectly. Made in the Czech Republic too, so vaguely right neck of the woods even. I'm pretty sure that is the same PAL who made basically everything electrical for Skoda back in the day, especially as the lamp holder used for the side light is *identical* to the ones used for all the dash lighting on the Estelle.

[Armidillo]

Agree on the looks being an "acquired taste" think I'm a bit "function over form" on that front, but if the Halogen conversion type are decent then fair enough.

Sealed beam is the old type I think? Whole thing is changed glass and all when the filament gives up?

I thought some of the Land Rover defender ones (also 7"??) Were type approved or whatever and actually road legal

I think the word(s) you are looking for is "Tungsten filament". Globe was round, like a small domestic light globe, but usually with the high and low filaments in the one globe. As Zel says, sealed beams were another thing - generally a downgrade - but also had a tungsten filament.

In the 1970's I had a (2nd hand) BMW R60/5 motorbike, which had a well-designed headlight, but the old tungsten filament was a bit dim. When you've got just the one headlight with one globe, it's pretty important that it works as well as possible. QI replacements were available by then, so fitted one and set off on the 500 mile run from Sydney to Tenterfield to have Christmas with my parents, girlfriend (now wife) on the back. Stopped for tea at Tamworth, so it was dark when we set off again for the first serious trial of the upgraded headlight in light traffic. Absolute night and day - if oncoming traffic neglected to dip, one flash of the magic QI high beam had them instantly behaving themselves. As my GF, looking over my shoulder said, it was like having a guardian truck behind us!

[Hell Razor5543]

If you feel the Tribant lights need improvement you might want to consider fitting one of these light bulbs. I think it is safe to say it would light up the road ahead.

[CitroJim]

I think the word(s) you are looking for is "Tungsten filament". Globe was round, like a small domestic light globe, but usually with the high and low filaments in the one globe. As Zel says, sealed beams were another thing - generally a downgrade - but also had a tungsten filament.

My first Renault 4 had those.. Of the 6 volt variety.. Gosh, they were almost as dim as XM headlights

One night, both dip filaments blew within a few miles of each other... I was about an hour from my destination and had to do the rest on main-beam. So dim were the lights, no oncoming traffic noticed!

My first Mini had tungsten bulbs of the old 'pre-focus' variety and later BMC cars of mine had 'sealed beams' - a revelation in those days...

And then QH (or QI) came along and up went the order or magnitude and the same arguments we have these days about HID... 'These new-fangled QH bulbs are too bright - we'll all just end up blinding each other...' Isn't it amazing how history repeats itself at short intervals...

Zel, I'm glad you've gone for replacements that look in keeping with the car. Those ones offered via eBay earlier in this discussion look awful. I've seen them for real and they look no better... Hideous is a good description and spoil the car they're fitted to, especially an early Mini.

[mickthemaverick]

If you feel the Tribant lights need improvement you might want to consider fitting one of the light bulbs. I think it is safe to say it would light up the road ahead.

Would I be right in thinking this lamp is the sort of thing used in Lighthouses?

[MattBLancs]

20,000 Watts / 746 = 26.8 BHP

Trabant (peak) output = 29? BHP
(Edit, sorry miss remembered, a "blazing 26bhp" , so you'd need to recover sone energy from the action of rolling along too, regenerative braking!)

Ideal for travelling downhill at night

[Zelandeth]

20,000 Watts / 746 = 26.8 BHP

Trabant (peak) output = 29? BHP
(Edit, sorry miss remembered, a "blazing 26bhp" , so you'd need to recover sone energy from the action of rolling along too, regenerative braking!)

Ideal for travelling downhill at night

Expect for the freewheel mechanism, so you'd have to be in 3rd gear or lower!

[Zelandeth]

Had very little time available today but still managed to get something ticked off.

If you look at the front of the Trabant it's obviously taken a minor knock to the front at some point. Nothing major, I'm talking a parking mishap rather than a crash. The visible evidence of that is a crack in the bonnet and a ding in the front panel (aka radiator grill which isn't actually a grill).





I'm guessing the badge pinged off into oblivion at the same time.

Underneath the bonnet there was some further damage in that the catch assembly which is normally bonded to the underneath of the bonnet moulding had come adrift.

That had sort of been "fixed" with a bolt at the leading edge - and a bundle of tiny zip ties through one the badge mounting holes.

I've reverted this to a more similar arrangement to what the factory would have used, "gluing" the latch assembly back to the underside of the bonnet using PU adhesive.



Reckon this should be more than strong enough for the job, I made sure the surfaces were clean beforehand and roughed up so it should have a plenty strong bond. Better than the 1/32" of the edge of the washer on that one bolt that was basically holding it together before that's for sure. That bolt (and a larger washer so it actually does something) has been put back in for now, keeping things squeezed together while the adhesive sets. After that I'll remove it and fill in the holes that shouldn't be there. I do have a replacement badge on the way. I have picked up some paint which may or may not be a vaguely close match, I've not checked yet.

While I had the adhesive out I took the opportunity to fill in the 3/4" gap in the top of the windscreen seal. I know I've got a replacement on the way but I don't know when I'll have the opportunity to actually fit that, and a gap that big definitely wouldn't be doing us any favours.



It was dark by the time it had set up so I could remove the tape, so no photo of that. At least there's not a visible gap to the outside world behind the rear view mirror now.

So nothing ground breaking, but one more thing ticked off hopefully.

[Zelandeth]

This morning I got an email informing me that my parcel from Trabantwelt had arrived at my local Parcel Force depot and would be released for delivery once the customs charge had been paid, which I could do through their online portal. Details on that charge would be sent to me...in a posted letter. All I needed to pay the charge was a reference number...which was not in the email. Why send me an email telling me you're sending a letter?!? Either include the reference number I need in the email, or just send the letter.

I figured I'd nothing to lose so set off to the depot with my ID and reference numbers to see if it could be dealt with in person rather than waiting for the letter, which I doubt I'll be seeing this side of January.

Thankfully the gent there (who also agreed it's a daft way of doing things in this day and age) was able to look everything up so we were able to get it paid up and the parcel could be released. Even better, they were happy to just hand it over to me rather than having to wait for delivery.



So a happy resolution at least. Even if paying £70 in customs charges on top of a £250 order that I'd already paid £35 shipping on did sting a little. That at least I was braced for.

Oooh, goodies.



The vast bulk of what's in here is door and window seals. I'll maybe get a chance to go after the door seals at the weekend, but the window ones will need to wait a while. There were some smaller bits and pieces though which I could put into play in a matter of a few minutes.

First up being dealing with this aftermarket switch on the dash.



This was for a fog light which looks to have long since vanished, so it's basically just acting as a safe termination block for the wiring at present. It was previously prevented from disappearing into the dash with a very liberal application of electrical tape.

It's now been replaced with something which actually fits in the dash properly.



That is a switch for a later model hence the symbol being in the wrong place and the switch being black rather than yellow or green, but I think you'll agree it's an improvement. Hoping down the line I'll be able to get hold of one that's actually the exact correct type for the car.

I'm unlikely to ever really have a use for a stereo in this car as it's just too noisy. So I had ordered up the factory blanking plate which fills the gap it otherwise leaves in the dash. I think this really is more in keeping with the somewhat minimalist ethos of the car too.



Feels like we're starting to get somewhere now tidying up the interior, if we compare to the day the car was collected.





A brand correct keyring is always a must, where I can find one anyway. When you have too many cars like I do it's also actually helpful in identifying them at a glance from the far side of the table or when fishing them out of a pocket.



Also on the subject of branding, the missing badge on the bonnet has now been reinstated.



Which tidies things up from the front far more than you'd expect. Though I still need to remove and fill the hole left by that one bolt. Now the adhesive holding the bonnet latch assembly to the panel has fully cured it's redundant.



The car was out and about quite a bit today (prior to getting any of the new bits fitted).



Have to say that for such a small and light car she seems far less phased by the wind than I expected, It's been quite breezy here today.



You definitely know it's a breezy day, but I was expecting such a small car to get blown around on the road far more than this one seems to.

Yesterday afternoon another pair of parts I'd recently ordered turned up.





A little modification will needed to fit these as the original lights have the sidelight lamp holder attached to the bracket which holds the main lamp in rather than being separate like on these, so I'll need to snip that wire and add a terminal. Not exactly difficult.

Once these are fitted there will be no further need for ugly stick on beam deflectors or shenanigans with the lights being aimed stupidly low to avoid dazzling oncoming traffic. We'll see what the voltages actually delivered at the headlights looks like, if it's a bit feeble I'll look at installing some local relays to take the load off the switches etc. Though the wiring all seems reasonably substantial looking so hopefully it will be fine.

[MattBLancs]

Good progress on all fronts,

But tell me again: you went to the Parcel Force depot armed with (ID and) sound logic...

...and they listened and were helpful!?! Sounds like some sort of parallel, inverse universe you'd jumped to for a moment there!

[Zelandeth]

Good progress on all fronts,

But tell me again: you went to the Parcel Force depot armed with (ID and) sound logic...

...and they listened and were helpful!?! Sounds like some sort of parallel, inverse universe you'd jumped to for a moment there!

The exception that proves the rule I guess!

My theory is that I was probably the one customer they'd seen today who hadn't yelled at them so they were nice to me!

[CitroJim]

But tell me again: you went to the Parcel Force depot armed with (ID and) sound logic...

...and they listened and were helpful!?! Sounds like some sort of parallel, inverse universe you'd jumped to for a moment there!

It must be Christmas!!!

Great work Zel, those little things really add up to a huge difference...