1982 Lada Niva

[GoceKU]

My daughter left boxes of nail polish in the house, so I mark things I've done and adjustment points I might forget with a dab of paint in various bright colors

That is proper marking paint, i have half a tube from when i worked at vanhool buses.

 

[GoceKU]

Today i got back in the big garage and took apart the little niva even more. Part by part i managed to take out the gearbox, carry it on my work bench and take off the ripped rubber joint, i also found my old old one and the new (square)one. I also checked the U joint and it was bad also the flange was cracked. I had spares and i installed them with the new Lobro joint. I use blue loctite and torque the bolts to specs, this part i really don't want flying apart next to my leg. I'll have to re engineer the entire mounting system and to have the gearbox and transfer case on a same mount because of twisting also i'll use peugeot engine mounts to get rid some of the vibrations.

 

[GoceKU]

Today i got back in the garage, i set up the gearbox and transfer case on my work bench but the transfer case mounts are shot so i removed them also diched the frame. I looked thru my spare parts and found me 2 x 70mm engine mounts and one 65mm from peugeot. The smaller one will be to limit the rocking back and forward. I also need a way to test it outside of the car so i took apart an old clutch disc to use the splines and weld them to a piece of round steel. Also made me couple of sleeves for the months on my lathe. Then i started to jig up the transfer case and gearbox but i need to find a way to check the alignment on the u joint and my spinning tool works good.

 

[GoceKU]

I'm working on many cars at the same time but i try to finish one before starting on an other but this is still for the same car. End of last week i sent my spare engine block to get bore out from 79 to 82,8mm. I want to make more power and by increasing the engine size i'm on the right trak. i'm going from 1568cc to 1725cc which is 45cc more than the new nivas have. I've call every machine shop i could find, Answers and prices wore wildly different from novice that had no idea what i'm talking, to serius machinist who took their time to explain the work involved, risks and what can i expect. The machinist i've chosen had done this before but with smaller pistons and he seen well educated in cylinder roundness, suffice finish piston to cylinder wall tolerance piston ring material. I just took delivery back the cylinders look great, he put on a nice taper at the top, also i sent the crankshaft to be reground it also looks good, i would like it to have a bit better finish it look to be straight from the stone but i'll measure it and give it a polish on my lathe if i have enough material. The price for boring the cylinders and honing was 30$, regranging the crankshaft also 30$. This was pretty cheap, i heard prices as high as 100e for each. This being a russian engine the cylinders are very thick. The new pistons are 3,8mm bigger and it still has more than 4 mm cylinder wall.

 

[mattthemuppet2]

very nice! I'm sure the power bump that comes with increasing capacity will be welcome too. Fantastic prices as well.

 

[GoceKU]

Today i got back to work on the little niva. After lots of trial and error i come up with the system of 3 nails glue to a strong magnet against the bolts to get the u joint centred. With the sleeves pressed over the mounts i bolted them to the transfer case and started laying tubing to mount them. Little by little i managed to get it center and welded. The cage will be permanently mounted to the transfer case. With a mount for the gearbox and i'll make the mounts for the cage on the chassis. I'll clean up the gearbox and transfer case also i'll check them both, i've had clutch issues that i want to investigate.

 

[GoceKU]

Last month has been crazy busy for me. But i finally found the time to put together the little niva because i want to take it to a car show/ new year parade. The new sub frame for the transfer case was challenging but i did take my time and went thru every part and to my surprise the bellhousing on the transmission has big cracks on two spots, so i went thru my spares and found me another one had to wash it like 5 times. Install new oil seal, gasket, clutch fork, fork boot and fill it with new gear oil. After that come time to install it, lifting it in place while the car is on the ground wasn't that difficult. I think it was harder to remove it, with the gearbox mounted starter motor refit, clutch hydraulics fitted and adjusted, the exhaust got fired and i fire the engine. I got straight to making the mounts for the transfer case subframe, and lifted the transfer case of it i use my floor jack. With that done, refited the driveshafts and got to service the engine, i drain the water and fill it with coolant also did an oil change. Took it on a short test drive, it's better but it has a violent vibration at certain rpm. Also it seems its not opening the throttle, it's a mechanical linkage the engine may have moved because of the cracked bell housing, i'll address this before going on the show, also i need to attach christmas lights.

 

[GoceKU]

Happy new year to everyone

 

[GoceKU]

On the 23 of dec i took the little niva to its first out of town car show. This car show was put on by the Beetle club of macedonia and with the new car club established in kumanovo we got invited to take 2 cars. I got the chance also a fellow member with the blue mercedes 123, it was a two part show on the main city of skopje. First we met up at zoo parking lot and parade style drive all across city centre, everything was very well organised all green lights. Second part took place in the shopping mall VERO parking lot where many people showed up to look at the oldtimers on mid winter it was around -3 celsius so on the drive i was the only one with no traction issues. I did put on christmas lights around the body lines on the little niva, also bought couple more decorations some of them flow off during the drive on the highway, yeah i took this thing that i welded together on the E75 highway and it drove just fine very stable. It was fun hanging around like minded people. The stars of the show were the two white beetles made in 1967, i briefly met the organizer and owner of one of the beetle very hospitable, nice guy he gave me an magnet and keychain from there beetle club and with the roads flat sheet of ice i headed home.