Eins Werden

Daily accounts of the Eins Werden Project's progress from Sunday, June 26 to Friday, July 15, 2005

Friday, July 15th, now that the Trabant half is protected against rust and fixed, we begin to go back to work with welding the two halves together. The major decision making of how the two parts will come together has been worked out. Now only the work of welding and fabricating to bring the Mercedes and Trabant halves together lie ahead.

Thursday, July 14th, we are able to finish the welding and repair of the Trabant structure. It takes the most of the day as Stephan Braun is busy with other jobs and we are able to put the Trabant half in primer so it will not rust anymore.

Wednesday, July 13th, Stephan Braun is busy between other jobs that the shop has taken in and is only able to weld the steel pieces sporadically during the day. As the body shop is small and they need space to work on other jobs, the owner of the shop asks me to sort through the parts that I need and can be thrown out. So I spend part of the day playing keep and toss.

Tuesday, July 12th, when I arrive in the late morning to the body shop, Stephan Braun had already picked up the Trabant half from the sandblasting firm. The firm had done more than we asked them to do and had sandblasted nearly the entire metal structure. They used glass beads, which are much gentler on the steel and prevents it from warping and distorting the metal. As Stephan Braun begins the process of repairing the areas that were rusted by welding new metal, I clean the inside of the Trabant quarter panels of excess glue and gunk that was used to fasten the part to the structure.

Monday, July 11th, it is a bit of a disappointing day, as we cannot pick the Trabant half. The sandblasting firm closes earlier than we had thought and so we have to wait until the next day to pick up the Trabant half.

Thursday, July 7th in the afternoon, we bring the Trabant half over to the sandblasting firm. They tell us that the car will not be ready until late Monday afternoon. Before I leave for the day, one of the technicians removes the undercoating from underneath the Mercedes by propping it up on its’ side so that it will be ready to weld once the Trabant returns. Stephan Braun said there isn’t much more we can do until the sandblasted Trabant half returns and tells me to come back Monday afternoon. So I have a long weekend to catch up on many other activities that I have been neglecting.

Wednesday, July 6th, I spend the day taking off the side quarter panels of the Trabant. The car had apparently sat outside for some period and developed a leak in the trunk. The sitting water got between the steel structure of the car and the fiberglass like side panels. As the water had nowhere to go, it developed rust. I did not want to take a chance on letting it go and felt I should take the panels off to see how serious the problem was. I was glad that I did as I discovered some major rust in the structure. After talking with the director, we decided the best solution would be to have the Trabant half sandblasted.

Tuesday, July 5th we are still working on how the two car halves will come together. It is a slow process because once you cut something off; it takes a lot of time to weld it back on. So this is a critical stage of looking, measuring, looking again, measuring again, and then cutting. After cutting, the process begins again.

Monday, July 4th although it is a holiday in the United States, it is just another workday in Berlin. Again we are hard at work with seeing how the cars will come together.

Friday, July 1st, the day is spent looking, thinking, and cutting. The difference in the two car halves is not so large. In fact it is just as I had imagined it to be. The Mercedes is about 3 inches larger on each side of the Trabant. The Trabant body fits just behind the Mercedes’ doors. The roof of the Trabant is a little taller than that of the Mercedes. However when both cars are put together, the resulting structure has a rake like a hot rod. We first establish where the middle of the Mercedes and the Trabant halves. We use this as our basis to determine how the cars will come together. We then install a guide in the Trabant with corresponding holes in the Mercedes to act as guides to make sure that the two parts come together in the same place each time. After much cutting and observing, the day passes and we are closer to seeing how the cars will come together.

Thursday, June 30th is the fourth day and marks a very important milestone for the project. It started a bit slow as the Trabant still did not arrive. At this point, the project cannot continue until it arrives. Stephan Braun looks for other possibilities to have the Trabant delivered such as picking up the car himself. The gentleman who is responsible for the delivery of the car assures us that it will be dropped off today. The excitement begins when the Trabant arrives a little after 12 p.m. As the car was too small for the trailer that they used to transport it, they nearly wrecked the car when getting it off. We are able to drive the car off the street and into the body shop. Within an hour the car is dismantled and we are ready to begin cutting the Trabant in half. The cutting is done with a tool called a die grinder. It has a replaceable carbide disc and spins at high rpms. A line of tape is laid down as a guide to keep the cut straight on the roof. The cutting begins by cutting the metal pillars on each side. The cut is then made across the roof, which is made from a fiberglass like material. Once the roof is cut through, work begins to cut the metal floorboard. Again a guideline of tape is laid down and the sparks begin to fly as the metal floorboard is cut through. Within a matter of minutes what once was one East German car is not in two parts. Now work begins to cut the Mercedes in half. We proceed in the same fashion to cut the Mercedes. We first lay down a tapeline on the roof. We are cutting behind the middle pillar of the car so that the overall structure maintains its strength. We use the die grinder again and the sparks begin to fly. In a matter of minutes the roof is cut through. Now it is time to cut the floorboard of the Mercedes. Once this is cut through, there is still some final cutting that is done by hand with a hacksaw for better control. With the final bits of steel cut through, the Mercedes lays in two parts. We organize the workspace and put the front part of the Mercedes in front of the rear part of the Trabant. Now comes the challenge of how these two different car halves will come together and we just have to look and think what is the best way to do it. This evening I have to move my belongings from my temporary lodgings to the place where I will be for the next month.

Wednesday, June 29th is the third day of the project. When I arrived the engine and transmission were removed. The car at this point was nearly completely dismantled and there was little more that we could do more until the Trabant would arrive. When Stephan Braun called the gentleman who would bring the Trabant, he said he would not be able to do so until later that evening. As there was little more for me to do at the body shop and the work would not begin until tomorrow when the Trabant would sure to be there, I left earlier and spent the rest of the afternoon looking at apartments to rent. I was able to find something later that evening. A wonderful 500 sq. ft. studio apartment in a renovated building near the S-bahn station Prenzlauer Allee. I could sublease the apartment until August 1st and could move in Thursday.

Tuesday, June 28th, marks the second day of the project. Today we made preparations to remove the engine and other mechanical components from the Mercedes. We also finished up removing all the interior pieces as well as any external body parts that were not necessary. All the diesel fuel is drained from the tank. The engine is ready to be removed and we continue with degreasing the engine compartment. Tomorrow Stephan Braun will bring his engine lift so we can remove the motor. When we called about the deliver of the Trabant, the gentleman said he would be able to bring it on Wednesday. This evening I spent looking at other apartments to rent.

Monday, June 27th is the first day of the building the Eins Werden sculpture. This morning, I went to the body shop to meet with the director, Stephan Braun. The Mercedes would be arriving that afternoon there and I need to make sure everything was going as planned. I had an appointment with the German Visa office at noon to find out about extending my visa for a prolonged stay in the country. After my meeting, I came back to the body shop and found that they had already begun to disassemble the Mercedes. The rear doors were removed and they were at work to removing all of the interior out of the car. The first day would conclude with the removal of the majority of the interior out of the car as well as a number of external components like the hood and the majority of the grill. We also began to clean and degrease the engine compartment. This evening I spent looking for an apartment, as I had to be out of current lodgings by Thursday evening.

On Sunday, June 26th, I arrived in Hamburg, Germany and took a 2-hour train to Berlin. The flight was long and I was exhausted. I was happy when I arrived at my lodgings in Berlin. The past few weeks I had been in Miami were stressful as I had a lot to take care of in a short period of time before I left to Germany. I was able to get the majority of the things that I needed to get accomplished before going. Upon my arrival, I made calls to the people from whom I purchased the cars. The Mercedes would arrive at the body shop on Monday. The Trabant would take longer and the gentleman told me the soonest would be Tuesday and to call him back then.