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1982 Lada Niva
- Thread starter GoceKU
- Start date
Today i had a plan to finish the second plate on the lathe, started with drilling it and just about to start threading it got a call and had to drop working on it, but i took a picture, you can see the setup, i run a fine thread bolt with a chunk in my lathe chuck. The centre that is not machine will be drilled out or bore ed out because it needs a 100mm hole in the middle.
Recently i've been getting a bunch of messages where in brooklyn will i be. Apparently there is a same color and year Niva driving in New York as my. I found this article on Jalopnik, and things get clearer what's going on. Here is the article, is very well written with beautiful pictures and that Niva is pristine and rolling original SSSR tires. Link: https://jalopnik.com/the-story-behi...5ho9H0aCwEN5AG1B0Uts0lG10Z2WupvkAshzExP20LBKA
Cool story, always liked these cars for their simplicity and toughness but there only a very few here and command a high price. In my mind similar to the Lada Niva is the VW Beetle (which we have a lot of, just don't see myself driving one) and the Trabant (never seem one in the US) ...in terms of quirkiness, yet tough in their own cute way.
The biggest problem I've found with old cars is finding parts like the rubber seals that go around the windshield or little plastic bezels or parts on the inside that are missing or broken. Mechanical parts are the easiest to find, fix, make etc.
The biggest problem I've found with old cars is finding parts like the rubber seals that go around the windshield or little plastic bezels or parts on the inside that are missing or broken. Mechanical parts are the easiest to find, fix, make etc.
One good thing i've found in the journey of fixing the Little Niva is that restoring or repairing a car that is still in production is very easy and cheap, absolutely everything is available OEM quality, not that means high quality. Parts are ridiculously cheap if you buy them from first hand venders example headlight with a Philips H4 bulb OEM glass and steel is less than 7$ a piece, new front diff around 200$, transmission 500$ because of that and as you said there simplicity to be fixed with a rock and a string in a field they are still popular. All the pieces on the interior evry small plastic piece and outside trim is available new, i opted not to spent too much time and money on the interior because is ment to be a workhorse.
Last few days i've been very busy and the Little Niva's been patiently waiting for me to finish it. Today i've been finally able to get few hours free at night to do some machining, i chucked up the second square, begun by taking facing cuts got that side square, then begin making it round, after chamfering it i flip it and clean off the other side and cut it down to thickness. After this i did a bit of a clean out pushed around some of the lathes chips. Then i flip the chucks jaws, grabbed the first piece and bored the inside to 100 mm the hub diameter, now it only needs 5 more 15mm holes and it will be ready to fit on the little niva i also need to finish the other one for the other side. On a happier note, i did a test on the brakes, with the niva jacked up i put it in gear and i can stall the engine with both footh and handbrake so in theory they both work.
Today i finally managed to finish the wheel spacers for the little niva, they are not meant to add any extra width to the car they need to take the space of the brake drum, because the new brake disc is mounted behind the axle shaft, on the second spacer i used a different tactic, i took as much material as i could with using a cuter so i had less width to cut with the boring bar then i drill holes for the jug nuts and chamfered all the edges. The little drill press started to make all kind of noises also the motor might be on the way out, keeps stalling also i can stop it by hand in the lowest gear.
Today i offered up the spacers to the rear axle and at first they had about 1mm play, the chamfer on the axle was bigger then the one i made on them, also the wheel studs had a bit of stick out so i took them back in my machine shop, made bigger chamfers on all 10 bolt holes. Then mounded them in the lathe and chamfer the hub hole, took them back to the littel niva and they fit like a champ. Next i want to bleed the brakes again, i need to install an additional spring on the handbrake and then i want to mount the wheel adapters for the Sprinter wheels.
Really nice work on the spacers! 
Are they alumninum? did you cut/part them to thickness on the lathe or the bandsaw? I have trouble parting off large diameters but then your lathe is 10x more rigid than mine, no comparison there lol
Oh and how did you do the bolt pattern? Rotary table and the mill?
Are they alumninum? did you cut/part them to thickness on the lathe or the bandsaw? I have trouble parting off large diameters but then your lathe is 10x more rigid than mine, no comparison there lolOh and how did you do the bolt pattern? Rotary table and the mill?