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A scandalous contraption. Lada Samara 1.5 GL


Squire_Dawson

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I thought it was about time I started a thread on this famous star of the forum. After striking a deal with Dan, a real gent, Matt had kindly offered to store the car at his house until I was able to collect it. Shite movements soon got under way after Matt began repeatedly hitting the n/s rear wheel with a lump hammer to free off a sticky brake (it has been fine since), and with a few perfunctory remarks off I went.

The five speed gearbox is but one of the many novel features of this car. There is a comedy econometer - a rudimentary vacuum gauge, Cyrillic writing here and there, many dodgy pieces of plastic trim and, in what I believe was a first on a Soviet car, rack and pinion steering. Driving the Samara is a hoot over the moorland roads of West Yorkshire. The car has good road manners and is often beguiling. The 1500 engine propels it along adequately, literally whirring along up through the gears.

I have already done a few jobs, namely an oil and filter change, air filter, gap the plugs &c &c. The choke warning lamp is inoperative, so this will be receiving attention in due course. The HT leads supplied by the motor factors were the only ones listed for the Samara range, but they were far too short and the pack did not include a king lead, which was no good, so I took them back. A petrol leak manifested itself as an old hose leaking. HBOL identified this as the return to tank pipe.

 

The secret hatch under the rear seat:

 

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The fat pipe wants doing aswell.

 

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What I should've done, to save a lot of exasperation and time, is attach the new hose to old one and draw it through, as there is limited clearance to poke things through here.

 

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The car has been fine so far, all I need to do is adjust the idling speed as it is too high and leads to the cooling fan cutting in regularly in traffic jams, of which there are many in the morning on the bastard M60 ring road. The threat of overheating also causes the fuel to vapourise, as there is a slight jerky effect when getting underway again. So far, so good.

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

I fixed the choke warning lamp today, the fault was simply a blown bulb. It was one of those jobs which should be straightforward, and appears so in print, yet there were many fiddly things which can try one's patience. For instance, I struggled to draw the instrument pack forward enough to get a proper reach to the bulb holder, so ended up fumbling around, then I dropped the bulb holder down the back of the dash. banged my head trying to find it, then dropped a small securing screw - you know how it goes. Still, with the job done and tested it is now working properly again.

 

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The switchgear and other controls are actually pretty robust and easy to use. It is just some of the other items of trim which are cheapo - the lever to tilt the seat forward to get into the back has broken and fallen off, for instance.

 

The only issue so far concerning reliability has been its refusal to start from cold one time; I quickly diagnosed ignition and took the distributor cap off, cleaned it and put it back together and it has been fine since. Perhaps ominously, certainly oddly, it stank of cannabis in the distributor. Could this be some strange Soviet plastic or electrical component I wonder?

 

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  • 1 month later...

In the OMG MPG stakes, this little car returns around 35 mpg, which is great with its lively 1500 engine. This is the same as my 1100 returns overall, but that is a smaller, older engine in a heavier body. I have had the CV joints cleaned and greased, then fitted with new boots. The poor starting continues, the HT leads are knackered. I did order a pair from the motor factors but they were obviously the wrong ones (way too short) and there was no king lead in the pack. Apparently this was the only set listed, too. I thought "sod it, I can live with it", even though it is a pain when the car has been left for a week. Once underway, there are no problems at all.

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  • 1 month later...

Car is now surplus to requirements. I will be a little sorry to see it go; it has been a good servant and done all I asked of it. Easy and fun to drive, economical and reliable (I have covered over 1,000 trouble-free miles). Everything works apart from the sunroof. I have changed the oil and filter (Castrol oil used), air filter, a few small jobs done, CV joints greased and boots replaced. The fact that it takes a while cranking starting from hot needs investigating (see above posts - I think it is either HT leads or fuel evaporation). Wheels also need balancing.

 

It is ready to drive away. Make no mistake, this is a status symbol for somebody with no status whatsoever. But you can rest assured that by driving this car you are fully supporting The Cause and Lenin would be proud of you.

 

£350 takes it.

 

15 minutes from J21 M62.

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Perhaps ominously, certainly oddly, it stank of cannabis in the distributor.

Some plastics do smell of weed for some reason.  Bakelite can smell like ozone or hot Scalextric controllers.  Or it could just be that it's been used as a hiding place in the past, though that seems unlikely.

 

I'm in tears here picturing someone removing their distributor cap and finding that the rotor arm has Kenwood Chef'd their weed into dust.

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