NickJ's 1989 Lada 2105

[NickJ]

I'm going to be sleeping on the couch for a while for buying this but hey, Lada lyfe!



As uni is a touch busy progress will be slow, I plan to have her back on the road in 6 months when the Niva wof runs out, then daily it as the Niva is relatively expensive around town.

With help from ajg193 we picked up the car on sunday and drove it home leaking plenty of water on the way.
Once home I got stuck into making a list of issues, water leak being pretty high up there, stripping back the air filter the heater pipes became a likely target;



Somehow plastic fittings have found a way in and broken, easy as to fix that!
With the air filter off, another issue made itself known, the vacuum secondary doesn't look like its opened for a while, easy few ponies to rein in there;



Added to that, one choke linkage is missing and the other is broken meaning the choke butterfly hasn't moved for a while either, manually holding it back she fired into life first pop, bonus! The running gear seems to be in great order, even with the issues it seems to drive ok, after a tune & tickle I have high hopes.

Hardest of all will be the panel work, there are alot of dents all over, mainly the passengers side, this is the part i'm really keen for, will be good to learn a bit of panel bashing!

Worst of the damage;



A whole new guard is 40usd so if I fail miserably, I'll just import a new one!

I'd really love a touch of low and some wider rims but 4x98 is not so common and the amount of low needed is most likely in cert territory, time will tell........

Discussion:

//oldschool.co.nz/index.php?/topic/49397-nickjs-1989-lada-2105/

[NickJ]

Few more checks today, my original Niva engine ran rough the whole time I had it eventually we found the timing chain had jumped a tooth, being I have already found the carb needs a birthday I'm no longer paranoid but I figured i'll check the timing just because, and I get to have a look at the condition of the engine, it all looks amazing in there!


(dot should line up with the post, rotates ccw)

Cam timing is just behind, not sure if I can be bothered shifting to the next slot to see if it improves, static advance was bang on 10degBTDC, so thats all gravy.

Pulled the steering idler out after a small battle with the bolts, bush measures up as 21mm, shaft 19.6mm, that explains the wobble! also the grease inside was dry and took some scrubbing to free up. From the Niva i've found these seem to wear the lower bush and not the top, in the past i've swapped them over to get more life, as i'm ordering a bunch from overseas i'll just replace the lot.

Pulled the instrument cluster to get this gauge out, has what looks like mould inside, was hoping I could pop it open for a cheaky clean, sadly it looks like they're sealed, only bonus was half the warning lamp bulbs were missing, add a few bulbs to the growing shopping list...


Also took the bonnet off, makes for easy work!

[NickJ]

Had Photoshop running so gave a quick chop, looking at the layout of the suspension I think that would be as low as it could go, and most likely on the stops, really need to learn Russian to work out how they do it!





edit-added pic of low

[NickJ]

Had a go at some of the easier dents, with only a claw hammer and lumps of metal for a dolly I've surprised myself with my first efforts, a mate has offered his hammer and dolly set so can't wait to get my hands on that!

 

Before:

After:

 

I managed to use a strip of ply to pop the worse out, my bits of scrap metal don't quite fit in there! The plan will be once I have the dolly set to then shape it further, also has a small hole from the kink at the top, will have to weld that up.

 

And another spot I should have got a before shot of, but was pretty bad. Check the gap between the gaurd and the rear panel, all over the car seams are pretty dodge, the lack of precision is a crack up, but its all part of the charm!

Introducing Lilu, she enjoys helping me out, mostly by lazing in the sun on my spare niva rims



If any panel beaters out there are keen for a beer or two, feel free to pop over, youtube isn't quite interactive enough!

 

[NickJ]

Picked up the hammer and dolly set this week and have been slowly tapping away when I have time.

Pulled the front bumper off to get at a small dent in the valance and noticed the damage is most likely from hitting a fence, there are gouges just the same size as fencing wire........ The front left guard has left me worried until I got the bumper off and realised this side has been punted in and with the help of a scissor jack i've pushed it out and the bulk of the bulge has gone, still a bit more fine tuning to get everything back where it should be but i'm now moderately hopeful I can save the guard, happy times!

 

Actually quite like the front without the bumper, very boxy, stoked to be making progress, few more sessions and I'll have to decide what to do about replacing all the paint....

 

And hoping that I don't end up in the same place as Father Ted...

 

Discussion //oldschool.co.nz/index.php?/topic/49397-nickjs-1989-lada-2105/

[NickJ]

With the weather last weekend being crap i worked on some inside stuff:

The top door trims are pretty beat up, yeah a new set is 40usd but..

While wondering a cheap way to fix them my girlfriend happened to be making a new wallet from pleather, tagging along on her next trip to the fabric store I parted with $15 and started to experiment: 

I cut out the shitty foam and patched it with a similar stiffness piece I had lying about and stretched the pleather over, not bad, i'll cover the rest the same way but with out needing to patch, the dark brown may also add some class to the interior

Making progress on the front panel, I find its best to do it a bit each day with a fresh head, otherwise I start making a mess!

[NickJ]

No much visual progress but moving on
 

After a good yarn with Governorsam I think I need to back off a bit and just get this car running and enjoy it, so from now on i'm just going to tidy up whats needed for a wof and lay off the turd polishing, (just a little)

Cleaned up the carb, manifold and fuel pump, also have rebuild kits fresh from the Ukraine ready to go.


getting closer with my panel beating introduction, will prime and paint with whatever I have, a respray is now off the table, maybe just a rattle can job on the repaired panels.


Popped the front springs out to look at how much low is possible, was quite a mission to say the least, with the sway bar off and lower arm at full droop the difference between free length and just enough to pop out is massive!

and its still legal height!


She's now on the front bumps and looks good, however the geometry is a bit whack so i'll mess around with the jack and see what length springs to go for.

[NickJ]

The engine is now all back together including the original fuel pump

While putting the carb back together I had a few bits left over in the rebuild kit, few I knew and wasn't worried about but one little jet had me stumped, noticing a threaded hole on the side with no screw I dug out another carb and attached to the other side of a small brass screw was the random jet, referring to the workshop manual it turns out its for the idle circuit, further explains the reluctance to start!

With everything back together and a fresh charged battery in the hole I primed the carb (so cool having a primer lever!) and turned the key, first pop and away, I've had her up to temp and everything seems happy only when I decided I needed a drive I ran out of gas, so hopefully this weekend I'll top her up and go for a sneaky drive. Just need to sort some rust and put the interior back together and she'll be ready for a date with the wof man.

I've also cleaned the block and engine bay of most of the muck, I planned to paint the rocker cover but its got a cool rust/paint/patina look so I'm just gunna leave it, with new gaskets all round it shouldn't leak too much oil, also replaced the heater hoses, now waiting for the heater tap to leak all over the interior....

[NickJ]

Finally got the balls today to look at the rust on the front gaurd, dug deep with the grinder and was greeted by lots of dust but not as much rot as I was expecting, what looked like really bad scale was just flaky underseal, ripped that off with the wire wheel and found okish steel underneath, will rust treat the lot and spray some new underseal in there before the patch goes on over the top.

Before:

 

After:

The small hole on the sill had me worried but it still seems to be full thickness, we'll see what happens when the patch goes in!
 

But on the brightside, I've been for a quick drive up the road and back, she's only a few welds away from a date with the wof man

 

Nice oil stain forming on the drive from the niva, almost enough excuse to buy a waterblaster

[NickJ]

Bit of a milestone, managed to get all of the panel bashing work done last week (minus the welding) so with the wind dying off this arvo I took the chance and threw a layer of red on to se if I liked the colour, much nicer!

 

Waiting on a package from the Ukraine with much needed parts for the wof (And some treats ) so once they arrive its game on!

 

Pic of shineyness:

 

 

Also the bonnet is back on as there is nothing left to fiddle with in the engine bay and I swapped the sports steering wheel from the niva over.

 

 

 

[NickJ]

Borrowed a mig today and did this:

 

Still waiting on the box of bits from the Ukraine, pweeease Mr Postman!

[NickJ]

Came back from summer break to find this in the lounge:

Inside is all thats needed before I can head for a wof, seatbelts, ball joints, indicator lenses and a few other cosmetic bits and pieces, wasting no time I began to fit and cross items off the list, first of all, the drive donut:

Amazed at how mangled these things can get and offer no sign of damage!

 

all was going well til this

In my order frenzy I forgot that Ukraine is LHD, so my new fancy wiper arms are upside down, any Ideas on how to fix these? pulling them apart doesn't look possible from the crimping, possibly heat and bend but then will I be able to patch up the powdercoat to look as pretty as they are now?

 

And the reason for the odd shaped package:

for 20usd I couldn't resist some aero, it fits terribly, the finish is horrible, but I have some chop strand in the shed and pretty sure the bogan points can be saved!

 

And on the positive side I went for a wof today, even with 4 inspectors crawling over the car the to do list was very minor, rear brake imbalance, high beam warning lamp bulb blown, sway bar not fitted (opps! my bad forgetting to put that back on!) and what would appear to be a typo in the vin number, looks like somewhere in the system a 7 got confused with a 2 and so I need to call ltsa to sort that out, unless someone has done an epic job of converting a Lada 

 

Discussion for tips on wipers :

//oldschool.co.nz/index.php?/topic/49397-nickjs-1989-lada-2105/?hl=2105

 

 

 

[NickJ]

Getting closer to the wof, except the rear brakes.

After failing I pulled them down and all looked happy, so guessed they still had a small amount of air I bled them and went for a re-check with little improvement. Returning home I had a read of the workshop manual which mentioned automatic adjusters on the shoes, from memory I saw no such thing, so back to pieces again and the auto adjusters were no where to be seen, bugger! Weighing up the options I looked at swapping the backing plates for niva ones with manual adjusters just to get through, while stripping one hub a new problem arose:

 

 

At some stage in the past the 4 bolts that hold the hub to the axle have been replaced with bunning's specials and were all stripped, so down to edl before work to order some new 10.9s and thankfull I looked that deep (paranoid enough I even used a torque wrench!)

After a few calls with gee motors it turns out the wheel cylinders are self adjusting and the end cause is the left rear is seized on one side, but just my luck they are out of stock, BNT may have one so fingers crossed the one they have in stock is auto adjusting and i'll be on back the road this weekend........... maybe!

 

[NickJ]

Left work early to cycle over to BNT to pick up the cylinders, no luck there, they were the wrong ones for manual adjusting brakes  so I rushed home and worked some magic to just make it to VTNZ before 5...

Pretty stoked to have the wof but still plenty of work to go, even though the brakes work i'll order in from Russia the correct cylinders just for piece of mind! 

[NickJ]

Boooooo!

Grand plan to work on the car all weekend shattered by some twat after leaving her on the side of the road overnight. Spent the morning trying to pull the guard out the best I could but realising its well past my current abilities    can't quite see form that angle but its pretty much an open wheeler now, counting my blessings its just the guard and the doors/bonnet etc are still straight(ish)

 

 

I had planned to order two new guards to make the respray worthwhile but wanted to spend the money to get some panelbeating on the rear end first and sort the panels later in the year, thats gunna have to wait even longer now.

Only bonus of the weekend is that I managed to pick up some lowering springs and can't wait to fit them!

 

On the driving side, she doesn't like starting warm so I better trace that, and on a thrash over the port hills last week she was leaning out hard at high revs, would appear the standard fuel pump can't keep up (on inspection it looks to have a slight leak) so i'll throw an electric pump in to confirm.

[NickJ]

The poor 2105 has been parked up for a few months as I just haven't had the time to do anything but with a new job starting in a few weeks i'm going to need a handy run about.

 

Filled 20L from a jerry can, checked the points, gave the carb a prime and crossed my fingers, amazingly the battery was still fresh and she popped into life.

 

Engine runs so a quick pre-wof checklist:

 

Bleed and adjust brakes

Replace shock bushings ( they look a bit worn)

Fix horn button

Weld muffler back on (the reason for it being parked up)

Find some 175-70-13 tyres for the rear to match the front

Find a spare wheel (yeah not wof, but its turned out to be quite a mission to find a spare locally!)

 

And any other little jobs that I find on the way, such as fitting the Niva springs for some low. Finally moving away from student life I may even sort the panel work, but i've got my eyes on another project so time will tell...

 

Actually this might be an excuse for an order from the motherland too!

[NickJ]

Sorted out the issues with my MIG and borrowed some gas to weld up the muffler only to find the nozzle was awol.....

 

Yeah/Nah

 

Also after a closer look the pipe is pretty rotten, also the whole lot has been fizzed up and there is no way to separate the bits to repair off the car, new plan is to rip the whole exhaust out and repair fresh.

 

 

Brought a new nozzle and a handfull of tips ready for the wind to die this weekend so I can get it done

 

[NickJ]

Looking at the cost of a new exhaust and the possibility of more $$ to reach the wof I cobbled the piepwork back together and dropped her in to VTNZ before committing the funds. After the usual picking and poking she popped out the other side needed only rear brake balance and the old lpg stickers and fittings removed! the inspector also noted the rear wheel bearing needed replacement but somehow that didn't make it onto the computer.

 

With luck a large order of brake bits turned up from Russia the next morning and with a new wheel bearing from Gee Motors repairs were made resulting in a new WOF.

 

Having a week off I took the chance to head back to central for a week hunting, she ran no fuss the whole way there gaining a little over 10km/L, the way back however was a more traditional Lada adventure, heading to town to fill up she ran rough, finally dropping to one cylinder at the top of the main road, coasting down to the lake front.

 

 

Without options a quick check up showed the plugs were terribly fouled so I reset the timing and cleaned them up with instant results.......... until Tarras, same deal, this continued a couple of times over the Lindis until I was forced to fill up in Omarama from excessive fuel consumption. 

 

Checking everything over again I set off accepting I just needed to get home, which she did, flawlessly! My best guess now is I overfilled the oil that morning and once it burned off happiness returned.

 

Last weekend I drove to Timaru without issue or using any oil so thats the story i'll go with!

 

Lesson learned, max oil on this engine means max oil!

 

Now with University over and done hopefully I can find some time to get her looking a bit nicer and fit all the new engine gaskets that came with the brake bits from Russia.

 

[NickJ]

Last week Yoeddynz informed me of a 2104 wagon at the wreckers up his way that I really should rescue, the price was right only I was not in any ability able to perform such a mission, I did however call another Lada frother here in Chch to see if he was keen, turns out he was already in the process of organising the logistics and within a few days had it safely back in the big city.

 

With much disappointment the wrecker had already stacked another car on top, while the roof could be pushed out, the A pillar had already suffered, then to add further insult, the wrecker handed the plates in resigning the poor thing to assisting other soviets to live on.

 

Having a good look over the vehicle, it was in a good state before suffering a suspected broken timing chain, little rust, and very low ks. underneath two layers of floor mats was very new looking carpet along with unfaded interior, such a shame! through our digging, many trinkets were found, 3 brand new sets of points, cd's, coins, original manual and map of NZ fused to the door card and the best find, the original owners cheat sheet for the impossible to decipher heater controls!

 

Accepting she was toast, i've helped myself to a few bits and pieces already, will be a fun few weeks ahead!

 

[NickJ]

Just before christmas I fitted the radiator claimed from the wagon, for the first time since my ownership the electric fan switched and I had pressure in the cooling system, this joyous moment however was short lived, components used to a leisurely  low pressure life suddenly had a job to do resulting in the waterpump seal letting go and the poor girl stuck in the driveway over the break, while up north seeing family I raided the waterpump from the original Niva engine (neglecting it has sat idle since the Niva's twin cam conversion 7-8 years ago....)

Set about replacing the bits this morning in what should have been a 5 min job

Someone previous had used a very sticky gasket that resisted everything I tried even shrugging off a linbide scraper! this required removal of the radiator allowing wire wheel access.

Looking at the picture it seems to have some kind of fibre reinforcement?

2 hours of cursing later and on the road again! now to switch attention to the Niva lurking in the shed behind...