NickJ's Lada Niva TwinCam

[NickJ]

Last time I had to remove bitumen sound deadening I had access to near unlimited amounts of liquid Nitrogen, the whole Datsun was done in minutes, this time not so, two days later and I settled on a working but painful method.

Heatgun the bulk, wire wheel, vacuum, acetone, repeat.

The wire wheel removes a little but also smears it around making clean up with acetone much easier (big thanks to @smokin'joe for the big bag of towel rags)

The Ryobi die grinder has eart a place in my collection of favourite tools, GHFWII, most often seen with a 50mm roloc disc.

After all the pain and huffing a litre of Acetone, ive got the floor stripped back, gave it a good run over with the knot brush of doom and a strip disc and is now pickling under a good coat of Phosphoric acid.

Best part, only about 100x100mm of the floor needs replacing, its actually pretty good (for a Lada)

Hope for a few good days of work coming up, just hit full send on an order from LadaPower in Estonia, this will be the bulk of the bits needed to get it back to wof status.

 

[NickJ]

Oooohweee, a new page!

Hacked out the worst of the rot and through USSR's pleasant use of 1mm steel found useable meat in close proximity, carved out a patch and in it went

Currently searching rapid rust pitting methods to make the new metal blend in a bit more

While groveling around on the floors I found a few familiar holes...

After this event roughly 20 years ago I soon learnt there were no bungs in the floor that emptied out directly, they all go into the chassis rails, to assist water exit and not having a shotgun at hand, I used a hammer and nail to creat suitable 'drains' These since constantly block but always allowed water/mud in, likely assisting the previous mentioned rust. (Always use a shotgun)

Gave the engine bay a once over and deleted all the unused holes, various brackets and mounts that are no longer used with the twincam etc. Now to start the always painful cleanup and preparation for paint......

[NickJ]

One of those slow days when every task seemingly takes forever.

Positively, i'm ready to paint.

Negatively, I cracked the windscreen while removing it.

Brought a cheapo party tent from Bunnings along with some tarps for a makeshift spraybooth, wouldn't want to get any car paint on my floor paint!

[NickJ]

Flicked some paint around, managed to get primer and colour in the engine bay and interior. Colour felt a bit dark going on, but really happy after a few coats.

(Must resist the urge to respray everything)

Finished off the day with first coat on the suspension using the same paint as the Datsun, asking the supplier why it took so long to harden and that I wanted something more fuel/oil resistant they told me a few drops of fancy hardener could be added for exactly that. Ah, cool, best I grab a bottle of that too...

\

Pretty happy with the Bunnings spraybooth, using the CNC extractor to maintain negative pressure is keeping the fumes down and outside the environment, if not for 30+deg outside, this would almost be enjoyable.

[NickJ]

While propping the car up with the nearest length of timber to work on the underside is a traditional practice, this was a first for me.

If not for the last half cup of fuel spilling out it would have been uneventful and productive evening, note to future me, don't tip to the drivers side.

Thats the underbody coating done and with 45kg of bits and pieces due to turn up in the coming weeks, reassembly is sneaking that much closer.

[NickJ]

And now for the fun bit, reassembly

Except its not that fun, many fasteners to find, clean, then decide to just go buy new ones only to realise the bolt heads are not the same size.

At least the weather is encouraging shuffling bolts through the ultrasonic bath

Installed new rubber to the rear arms, too busy to turn a cone at work, 3d printer to the rescue!

Lower arms in to get them off the bench and not scratched, rattle can rebuild of the shocks which are surprisingly good condition for their age, still waiting on spring perches and uper arm pivots to finish off, should have them back from the sandblaster this week.

One last spot to tidy up, took a fair amount of bashing to get to here, only a thin skim of bog to get flat, will see how motivated I am if it gets any more of a tap.

Can also see the lovely new grill I had delivered, really impressive the post managed to smash it in the same spot as the one I took off  

[NickJ]

Another batch of bits from the sandblaster including a few front suspension bits that have been holding up progress

Everything will get a coat of the same metallic grey 2 pack enamel except the wheels, they were originally white but still not fully decided, could use some leftover white from the Datsun or go completely different, too many choices!

Back on assembly and the front upper wishbones are slightly difficult to assembly as there is a sequence to follow, as usual the universal stack of large sockets got me through.

Semi rebuilt the front brakes, i've never serviced them but they've had all the abuse so assumed they would need seals and pistons, strip down was very surprising, both cleaned up like new, only really need new dust boots that I damaged removing. Interestingly, they are a two piece design, pressed them apart, blast and paint on the cast iron and ultrasonic bath for the aluminium body.

If you haven't got a 3d printer in your workshop, do try it, blanking caps are quick which makes masking for blast and paint easy, no tape!

From this

To this

between blanking caps and custom press tools, its paying for itself in time/sanity saved at a rapid rate.

Found full parts catalogue online so printed out a copy to sit alongside the workshop manual, the exploded diagrams beautifully compliment my terrible labelling of ziplock bags.

The big plan of having it running by the end of this month has all but disappeared, a large parcel of important parts is currently tracked as in NZ but stuck between Customs who say they have no interest in it, pre-cleared entry and NZPost who say Customs have it, Being that they both operate out of the same building its quite disappointing, not to mention how 25kg of car parts just vanishes.

[NickJ]

My shipments of parts eventually turned up, back with the supplier in Estonia. They were nice enough to slap another label on and after a few months of waiting I had everything.

Rust patch panels are helpful but still took a big day messing about to get fitting right.

Rust cut allowed a pretty good downhill run on the paint, even better the tent is out of the shed now making it feel much more open.

Next up, axles, diffs etc and wheels!

Ordered a new windscreen too, definitely a suspenseful phone call when the supplier put me on hold for ages, was expecting him to say NLA but the good news is I should be picking that up next week.

[NickJ]

I GOT WHEELS!!!

It did come at the cost of realising I forgot to get some bits sandblasted

Redeemed myself with a quick after work turning jobby, some adapters for the factory diff breather bore to push fit connectors.

Managed to sneak them into both diffs, gearbox and transfer case.

 

 

[NickJ]

The car back to a rolling state is one thing but the rusty wheels and balding tyres were always going to need attention. Back when I had the suspension sandblasted I also sent along the original wheels, in a state of no idea which way to run they ended up in primer when I really should have chased up powder coating options. Because of this, they ended up tucked away and deliberately ignored so I could continue kicking that can down the road. 

Giving up on painting as an option as picking a colour was just too hard, I made the call i'd send them in for powder coating once everything was up and running, easy, no stress for me, future Nick will work out what colour.

Then in my usual too many beers on a Saturday night near a credit card style, a set of tyres ended up in the cart and those rusty rims just weren't gunna cut it.

New tyres seen here under the 2nd new windscreen (i'll leave that story for another day)

Needing new rims I was hoping for something to pop up on market place as its now winter, which used to mean cold weather and less desirable painting conditions, except its 2026 and winter no longer exists. a quick scotchbrite a makeshift spray booth and we have a set of pretty flash rims.

As for colour choice, impulsiveness and only one suitable paint system on the shelf really made that easy, the same enamel i've been using for the underbody parts.

[NickJ]

Fun afternoon in the shed sorting out the Homer Simpson spice rack spec battery tray, was a last minute abortion addition back when the twincam went in that I didn't really want returning and new technology makes it much easier to sort.

3d scanned the left side of the engine bay, engine and carbs on top, firewall to the right, inner guard bottom with the front diff and engine mount on the left. Mounting points to pick up are the two studs in the firewall and one bolt hole on the engine mount which is not at all square to anything. Not to mention its bit of a tight fit in there between the engine mount, intake manifold and top wishbone mount.

Throw the mesh into CAD and draw up something that misses all the important stuff.

Send the pattern over to the CNC router and let a 2mm end mill chomp out a shape.

Quick diversion to the bead roller on the way over to the folder, a quick weld on the MIG, fire on some rattle can and there we go

Picked up the battery and a selection of oils this afternoon, can't be far off starting up eh?

[NickJ]

So, about that pile of windscreens.

The original or windscreen #1, last seen intact about the time it came back from the sandblasters, (who took a considerable amount of care to keep protected from blasting) met its end at my fumbling hands when I decided to remove it to be sure a rust patch wasn't creeping into something larger. This really stressed me out as I assumed finding new one may end up being a high dollar import.

In a stroke of luck, the local auto glazer got me a new one for what could be considered pocket change compare for what I was bracing myself to pay.

Feeling relieved but also cautious, that was installed with new seals and trim.

Unfortunately...... while excitedly trying to seat the trim which did not like seating fully in the new rubber I pushed just a bit too hard cracking it in almost the same spot as #1 but from the other direction. 

#2 seen in the naughty pile over the back got a whole lot worse due my very lack of fucks to give removing it.

Queue a very embarrassing phone call to the glass man to ask for another, but yes, they did have another I could pick up, write that down as stupid tax I guess.

This made me much more cautious and observant the second time around, what I think happened is the new rubber wasn't shaped to the bottom of the frame like the old was that I had removed a number of times, this meant the screen was pushing hard against the top and in a position it didn't want to be in all made worse by me trying to push a seal into a grove it couldn't fit in. Second time round, noticing this and taking care to seat the screen down, everything went together just like in the youtube videos.

Stupid rushed mistakes make for good learning?

I did get to enjoy one moment from this episode, windscreens make a wicked noise when tossed into the concrete pit at the dump.

[NickJ]

Spicy(ish) noodle time!

Its easy right? Just install one fuse at a time and clear each circuit one by one...

Except it aint, I got the engine running but as soon as I looked at the light switch its all over with multiple fuses poping, some times.

When things started to go better the new front indicator/parklight buckets had no light, no worries, I bet they cheaped out and ship with no bulbs, install bulbs and still the same but the fuses now aren't blowing, eh wot?

so open up the new buckets to find not only did they ship with no bulbs, no one bothered to connect the wires either!

Yeah that'll do it.

So easy job just hooking up and going for it right?

3 wires, park light, indicator and ground, except the new buckets needed two ground wires, eh wot?

Original left, new right.

In original form, the aluminium housing only needs the one ground connector. So new plan, polish up original units and combine them with new rubbers and lenses.

Goodness, driving must be getting close now!

 

[NickJ]

Finally, to do list time!

I avoid making lists on big projects as it tends to be more demoralising than helful, instead focusing on chunks at a time to shield my fragile self esteem from reality. This would probably be why i've been saying just one more weekend for the last 6!

Anywho, the time came to scribble up a pre wof list and it wasn't really that big:

• Oil catch can
• Rear shock nuts tighten
• Spanner check all suspension nuts
• Drop arm nut (Can't torque it easily off the car)
• Steering wheel alignment and trim
• Dash secure
• Radio trim
• Refit heater controls
• Fusebox clean and confirm correct fuse values
• Refit exhaust
• Spanner check seatbelts
• Refit firewall rubber bungs
• Floor mats and trims
• Drivetrain grease
• Transfer case alignment check
• Engine mounts spanner check
• Engine bay hose clamps check
• Wiring harness secure check
• Mudflaps and wheel flares fit
• Refit front bumper
• Fit new cambelt
• Tail light nuts check
• Tidy up fuel hose lengths
• Fit number plates
• speedo drive oil leak
• Fit new service parts on carbs
• Fit inner guards
• Check wheel alignment 
• And all the other usual stuff found along the way I haven't listed.

Guess its worth adding I made a new exhaust, 1-3/4 tube from the header back, joined up with V-bands so if it sounds shit, I can re do it. Muffler acquired from a pile of damaged Nissans in a paddock, perfect size and low profile enough to not be the lowest part of the undersides.

 

Floor mats i've done the same as the Datsun, 7mm treated ply wrapped with garage carpet. This time I got the 3d scanner out so the CNC can do the chopping. Was it quicker than beerbox templates? probably not, but I did minimise the amount of time spent out in the cold so thats that.

Check the fit

Spray some contact adhesive everywhere and away we go

Time will tell how well it holds up in a car that often goes swimming, if needed i'll recut them swapping the ply for Ali sheet.

[NickJ]

And it goes on and on and on, seems every weekend in recent memory can be summed up in the one photo

While contemplating life choices, Doggo #2 said it looked stupid as without a front bumper and knowing not to argue with a big rotty, I guess I should refit it?

Pulled out from storage it wasn't in good condition, the steel bracket that holds the rubber trim strip was corroding badly, not helped at all by the bumper being Aluminium. After a good scrub and water blast it was pretty clear that to stop the galvanic corrosion the bracket needed to be zinc plated but I wanted it done now.

Pondering various fixes I came to the thought, why did they not make the bracket from aluminium in the first place? (Yes, the bumper could have been steel, but that would have doubled the weight of the car) That thought then went to why not remake it from Aluminium?

The original bracket profile measured up pretty darn close to 65mm wide with a 1/4" bead down each side, didn't take long to feed a few strips through the bead roller and jobs a goodun' Couple of rivnuts later and there we go. Deceivingly easy.

Fitted, happy

 

As brake imbalance has been almost a given at every wof, I put some new style self adjusting rear cylinders into an order and fitted those along with new pads and rotors way back, I really hope they take away the pain of getting the pass grade. Preliminary testing hasn't been too conclusive other than to reaffirm my lack of sanity to the neighbours, trying desperately to make up speed in our short road before stopping hard in an attempt to bed the new brakes has been comical entertainment i'm told. It makes much more noise than speed doesn't it?  and the painful, Oh, thats a Lada? Thats the car everyone jokes about!

Next up, mental asylum or wof?

Place bets!

 

[NickJ]

Wof fail, boo

On the bright side, thats quite possibly the best ever brake balance result for this car!

But fail on 4 simple things, some engine bay wiring was taking the piss on lack of restraint, exhaust hanger bolt loose, brake hardlines needing grommets where they pass through the body and front wheel alignment.

All 4 were about 30min after work to sort out, wheel alignment was just with stringlines for now, I initially set it up as it came apart but was excessively toe in, that with the mud tyres made quite a noise on the wof station floor! I do need to machine up some shims in preparation for caster and camber, it can't be too far off as so far handles as I remember. On the list to fully assess, stay tuned as they say.

With all that down a return to the testing station yielded that small sticker of dopamine

Warm fuzzy feels, darn cool to have the old thing back on the road!

No rest and straight to work, trailer of greenwaste to the dump and back via the hardware store, good laugh at the rally mudflaps, wasn't sure where to trim them so put them on straight out of the pack, with a bootload of supplies they were dragging a bit too much. Must trim before the first offroad trip...

The cold weather is making starting a bit of a challenge, either need to sort out a choke linkage or wait a few weeks, a good chance here to prove the value of procrastination.

Another current issue is a bit rough running at 50-60kph cruise, likely an air leak on the carbs so set up the CNC to cut out some new gaskets with a drag knike and will investigate when I next get some shed time.

[NickJ]

Back on the road but some gremlins are making themselves known, for some reason i've got the instrumentation fuse blowing at random, this presented itself at 6am while trying to get up the skifield. Can say that having everything go dark in a solid line of traffic across the Canterbury plains and not being able to indicate that i'm pulling over is not the fun I was looking for, needless I called that day quits and headed for home, fuse blowing a few more times on the way.

After the usual checks I thought, hey, why not ask old mate AI as this fits in the sweet spot of a common item with plenty of online resource for it to dig from:

 

Fuse 9 in a classic Niva keeps blowing at random, checks show current is 2-4A on the 8A fuse,
inspection of the harness did not find any damage that would make a short circuit condition

On a classic Lada Niva (VAZ-2121), an intermittent spike that blows an 8A fuse despite showing a normal 2–4A
resting current points to a specific mechanical-to-electrical trigger. On the classic Niva, Fuse 9 directly protects
the windscreen wiper motor, the windscreen washer pump, and the heater/blower fan motor. 

[More Slop]

Incorrect, fuse 9 on a classic lada is instrumentation

You are entirely correct, and I apologize for mixing up the layout—Fuse 9 on the classic Lada Niva (10-fuse main box)
protects the instrumentation cluster, warning lamps, charging circuit, and the reversing lamps.
(The wipers and heater fan are actually on Fuse 1 and Fuse 2).

[Actually useful information about fault options so lets continue]

At least twice the fault has happened at highway speed, steady state with on operator inputs,
once the fault has happened at slow speed with no other operator inputs

Because this is happening during steady-state driving with absolutely zero operator inputs
(no shifting, no braking, no indicating), you can completely rule out the reverse switch,
handbrake, and mechanical driver triggers.
On Fuse 9 of a classic Niva, the only components actively changing state or vibrating under
these conditions are the alternator charging/excitation system, the voltage regulator, and the
fuel/temperature gauges. Here is exactly what is causing your intermittent short:

1. The Alternator Excitation / Field Wire Intermittent Ground

[More Slop]

Isn't the alternator powered by fuse 10?

You are spot on—Fuse 10 powers the voltage regulator and alternator excitation circuit on the classic Lada Niva (VAZ-2121). [1]
My apologies again; the classic Lada 10-fuse block splits these circuits meticulously. While Fuse 10 handles the charging field/regulator, Fuse 9 is strictly dedicated to the instrumentation: the gauges (fuel/temperature), their individual cluster warning lamps, the low brake fluid indicator, and the reversing lamps. [1]
 

Not quite the silver bullet and thoroughly useless as much as useful, but an entertaining conversation to develop ideas.

Next morning on the way to work I had somewhat of a moment, last night when packing up I didn't recall the reverse lights being lit, with the reverse wiring entering the transmission tunnel next to the drivers seat I gave the orange wire a gentle test of its mechanical connection and found nothing, it pulled right out!

That wire traces direct back to fuse 9, my rushed insulation job would have happily shorted out on the gearbox housing when it fell off the sensor.

At least thats what I hope has been happening!