1982 Lada Niva

[GoceKU]

Today after work i spent some time in the big and small garage, started with making the caliper bracket out of aluminium little more solid to test fit it . I made couple more adjustments and will slimline the bracket even more when i get it right i'll transfer it to some thick steel. Then i got back to my machine shop and continue making the suspension bushing ends and the inserts for them, you can also see the installation tool i made before, for now i've made 4 of them and i need to make 10 in total, they do take time to make because i'm making them from a solid piece.

 

[GoceKU]

Today i did a bit more machining. Started with a long piece of 4140, drill it and cut it to size i repeat this 6 times then chamfer the ends and moved on to making the big ends ( outside part of the bushings) as previous i made two at once as is more efficient use of time i have 4 more big end pieces to make and then meat them to couple of tubes to make the suspension links.

 

[GoceKU]

Last two days i've been cutting material for the lathe to have something to chew. First photo are the caliper brackets, i need to drill couple of holes in them and they are ready to be welded, they were very difficult to cut with a 4" grinder. Next are couple of round plates that need to act as spacers for the drum backing plate. A last is couple of pieces to take the space of the drum it self. I've given my angle grinder a good workout cuting all of them.

 

[Firstram]

I've never mentioned it but, I love how most of your parts and new tool acquisitions are staged on the lathe for pictures.

 

[GoceKU]

My table is always a mess, and the lathe is at the right height, also is not reflective so makes the perfect place to take pictures.

 

[GoceKU]

Today i stopped by a parts store and bought new handbrake cables for the little niva, the original ones are close to 40 years old and i need to to modify them for the disc brake conversion so i'll rather start with a fresh set as for the quality, you can see russian workmanship.

 

[GoceKU]

I've been really busy at work, and that has slow down the pace on finishing this project but i've managed today to get something done, started with machining the rest of the bushing material, also drill the inside. Then i moved to the useless drill press and managed to get all the material drilled so i can mount them in the lathe and on the axle.

 

[GoceKU]

Today i had a choice to do a bit more machining or weld on the brackets for the brake calipers. After a coin toss i started on the axle housing. I remove the axles, grounded off the paint, and had to make a puller to remove the axle seals and after a short fight with them i removed them, then i assembled everything back on and welded the brackets, a quick clean up and i gave them a coat of black paint. I did lot of measuring and checking when poisoning the brackets and after welding them.

 

[GoceKU]

Today i'm back machining parts for the little niva's rear axle. First i threded the holes i drilled earlier then i attached a bolt and chucked it in my lathe then i installed a securing nut to be on the safe side, after then it was pass after pass taking material off, i'll get both pieces like this then switch my jaws and do the other side, i also did some work on the other two pieces of thin steel but that will not work out they are very bent, i'll scrap them probably.

 

[GoceKU]

Today i decided to switch things around, and do a bit of assembly rather than machining, so i got hard to work assembling the rear axle. Started with installing new oil seals for the axle shafts, then remove the masking tape from the hole for the centre section prep the surface apply a bit of silicone on both sides of the new gasket and assemble it, i also clean all the bolts and torqued them to spec. Then i installed the half axles, torqued them and the brake calipers. After that i started on the new brake lines, started with the flex lines, and the original one on the axle to the car then i got out all my spare lines and started measuring and matching hand lines, i had to flare the end on one side and that side is done, as for the other i'll get to it later on because i was too tired to be hand bending brake lines any more. I'm still waiting on a left handed threading die to make an adjustable panhard bar for it. Parts assemble rather quickly when everything is prepared and ready.