NickJ

Wof time! Having some time on my hands I got stuck in and gave her a good once over, making a list of to do; Steering box play - adjust Steering idler play - adjust Stuffed tie rod end - replace Rear brakes - adjust Check valve clearance Transfer case alignment Check for any rust and treat Clean out the dust in the rear lights After a few days crawling underneath and beating the tierod end with no effect I borrowed a tie rod splitter of h4nd which worked within 5 min, talk about correct tool for the job! Steering box and idler adjusted up nice, steering is much more responsive now (for a lada) Transfer case alignment I managed to get better but looking at it the vertical position is correct but for some reason its horizontally out, never seen this before and am thinking the engine has shifted a bit on its mounts, its not causing much trouble so i'm planning on keeping an eye on it in case anything changes. Wof check went ok except for a tyre, uni joint and rear brake balance so pretty chuffed with that, quick lap of town to pick up a new tyre and uni joint and she's back to legality again. With all that done, its time for a photo, unpacked a few flashes and set up in the driveway Also sorted out a mount so I could hook the choke cable up to the carbs, its going to be so much nicer to start in the mornings without having to tie the choke back and then having to stop once the engine is warm!

I've managed to re use them, needle nose pliers.... but I've also replaced the lot they're retarded!, including the ones on the brake reservoir.... My radiator always leaks, had it recoed a few times too, found I just have to reflow that top hose occasionally, leave the cap loose or cut the springy seal doofa out so it can't pressurise, they don't seem to like the pressure too much!

I made my own linkages out of sheet steel so I could retain the standard link in case I want to return to the old setup. That one looks like someone has bodged it up to work off the rusty arm on the right. Also make sure the venturi are secure, just turned up a new one for the old man after it escaped at manfield! Keep away from the trumpet and filter route until you get the thing set up, one pop/misfire and the filters are gone. I set up a basic airbox with pod filter to get mine running, looks poo but it works. If you can find it, read the book 'How to build and power tune Webber and Dellorto carburettors' helped me a bunch to get things running and understand how it all works. Welcome to look at my setup to see what not to do!

awesomes

Ah, guess I can't read.... in the first post, muppet. Pretty sure mine were ~$60 but I can't find the receipts to be sure, hopefully that means they can be found cheaper.

What size? Autobend was way cheaper than that when I brought a few 1-1/2

Count me in if there's an open fire

Have you got a workshop manual for it? I can send the niva engine section to ya, should be the same if it helps? Can you get a mirror down to see the condition of the tension shoe? they too can wear out and get noisy

Ah, you've read performance tuning for Lada also?

The chain tensioner can get to the end of its travel or possibly break the guide from memory, I had big trouble with mine but can't remember what the fix was in the end, possibly stuck tensioner? I vaguely remember pulling it out and cleaning it

A few fun fixes this week Had a hand from Mutiny to solder up the faulty join in the alternator, after getting everything back together it packed up again within 24 hours, with many swear words I pulled the alternator out and ran through the options, in the end I decided to cannibalise the samara alternator and make it work, The rotor was about 2mm oversize, 10min in the lathe sorted that out Since I set up the carbs i've been chasing a leak in there that I just couldn't work out, being that it only spluttered a bit on start up I ignored it and just drove the thing but coming into winter the last few cold days has made starting a touch more difficult, in trying new things I experimented with manifold heat, i.e. pour a jug of boiling hot water on it, this seemed to help but then the eureka moment, just as I closed the bonnet she had a cough and I noticed a big spray of water come from between the manifold and carb, aha! so I quickly stripped the carbs off and it was obvious where the leak is, all it needed was a layer of carbon I'm not totally sure on the fix but this is my temp (soon to be permanent) fix to see if thats the fault. Quick layer of gasket goo between the manifold and paper gasket, I know there are nice o-ring seals around but i'm too cheap for that!

Heaps of fun with alternators this week, had the battery light come on and after a quick poke around found the alternator was the culprit, pulled it out and with a bit more poking found the problem in the solder connection between the rotor coil and contact disk. Easy to see the lack of heat from my soldering iron, not being sure this would solve the trouble I went on the hunt for a replacement, just in case.... With a tip off from GovernorSam I headed out to pick a part and found this lovely Lada Samara, with the Fiat alternator's dimensions scribbled on a bit of paper I stripped it down and everything lined up. Should be easy enough to swap the bits over and have everything a go again. Turns out thats a no, the rotor was just a little bigger, so plan B kicked in, I crossed my fingers and hoped my dodge as repair would hold out until I sort a better fix later this week, and of course assuming that was the actual fault... Azzurro sent me in the direction of older model Mazda and Falcons, sure enough, both would fit, also found an Alfa with similar mounts, all internally regulated, but with a much higher rating, good to have options! Mazda left, Lada right And as usual, just as one thing is fixed, another fault pops up, this time the speedo had a shudder then stopped, thinking it came loose from the transfer case, I stopped immediately fearing the fitting had come loose allowing the inner to slide out, but no, all is good, later at home I pulled the cable out to find this the fitting at the end has broken, anyone know if this can be repaired, new fitting crimped on or so? Discussion here //oldschool.co.nz/index.php?/topic/45307-nickjs-lada-niva-twincam/?hl=lada

PM sent

On Friday morning I went to Pick a Part and pulled out the Samara alternator, checked a few vital dimensions and it appeared to have identical insides, perfect! took it home, stripped out the bits only to find there was a very slight difference in rotor diameter F*%K! tried to then make something that worked around all the bits which was even worse, mainly because the Samara mount is on the other side of the engine to the Niva, it seemed nothing was on my side, so I've dumped the old one back in with an incredibly dodgy solder fix. Having a look around the falcons, they all have the same mounts, just the pulley is different, couldn't find an old enough model that will probably fit, but, shouldn't be too hard to graft the fiat pulley if 100A is ever required... Mazda is the same dimensions, found a few that would work happy as, in hind sight I shoulda grabed one, but keeping everything simple sounded better at the time! Being in Riccarton too, any chance I could pop over some time this week and get a dab of solder Mutiny?

Pretty sure standard is 45A, either would be plenty! don't mind shaving the mounts to improve clearance and yeah, externally regulated but like you say thats only a few wiring changes to sort out. I'll head down to pick a part in the morning for a look, the lada alternator has the tension adjustment off a stud perpendicular to the shaft, to save making a new mount I just kept the fiat alternator, although the cores look very similar in the workshop manual. Will report back.....

Alternator light came on, so pulled her out and had a poke around, for now the problem seems to be the solder connection between the rotor windings and the slip ring, I tried to solder it with my little iron but it just doesn't have the grunt, it could possibly be worse underneath but I'm not sure how much more is repairable under there? Or, Any reccomendations for wreckers with alternators on the shelf I could compare with to find an alternative that fits? Fiat bits are getting hard to find! Suggestions etc....

As long as the crack is small, get it totally clean from oil and epoxy will seal the hole short term. Easy to grind/ burn off later for a real fix

Pulled the gearbox out today, Metalica black album in there... Turns out 5th syncro blew apart at some stage, most possibly the reason why the output shaft lock nut loosened off on me all those days ago (or me messing with it), found the syncro lock ring (whats left of it) in the bottom This meant 1st, 2nd and 5th have been floating on the output shaft, and so not lining up on the countershaft quite right wearing the gears down, not the best! worst bit is the countershaft is different on the spare 4 speed I have and so I can't rebuild the 5 speed with what I have! the search is on now for a spare box or countershaft.... I know I hardly use 5th, but it still seems wrong to down grade to a 4 speed!

See if you can confirm that, get someone to pump the clutch, if there is any air in the slave it will travel further with each pump, (I've always had trouble with them when dry, takes a bit of effort to get it all out, bleeding at the master can help) if that works, lift the back wheels and put the box in gear, try to spin the drive shaft by hand as someone else slowly puts their foot on the clutch, this should release when the clutch does, good way to eliminate any possible gearbox issues. All the obvious is covered I guess, oil, linkage, selector bolted down.....?

Oh and bloody nice job!

Be careful on that, I got caught heading home from the testing station (check point) and the cop gave me a ticket for no wof, he said the ticket would be waived if I got the wof within 28 days, was easy enough as I just had to wait for parts but screw trying to reason with some of them, if you do, have some paper work there to back up your story!

Proof you actually ran out of smoke And its not fair you get twice as much road to use on corners

I'm keen to come along now that the Lada has fresh rego and seems to be actually working for once!

Yep, Paper Tree tower junction, open sunday and I'm now in the horrible position of having a legal and operational toy!

That is in my neighbourhood, will give it a go