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DodgyBastard

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I am living the dream by proxy..

 I have stayed up the last three nights until 2am reading this thread from the start and I recon this would make an incredible 'Coffee table book'... just like those ones that are around at Christmas... Do yourself a favour, knock some pictures together, bung some writing near them and self publish..  I've lost 6hrs sleep.. I might be wrong...

 

 

Thanks for reading, I honestly didn't think anybody would ever bother reading this thread from the start so well done for getting to the end. 

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My least favourite thing to work on is brakes so having bought all of the necessary components for the Lada recently then looking at the rusty mess which was the Ladas braking system I decided to farm the work out to my tame mechanic.
 

gFksJPS.jpg

 

Here he is looking pleased to have finally finished sorting the brakes.

 

uy9hvyh.jpg

 

 

That means today will be the first time I get to drive it on the road.

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26468609748_630d46d480_c.jpgRJC_0156 by srblythe, on Flickr

 

39629157544_1d39f15f14_c.jpgDSC_0047 by srblythe, on Flickr

 

40340214491_ec2c62a172_c.jpgDSC_0040 by srblythe, on Flickr

 

I've been trying to make this more usable over the last couple of days, I had hoped to take it for a run up to the Morris Leslie auction on Saturday but ended up spending most of Saturday morning pissing about with the carb trying to make it run nicely. I also bled the clutch and adjusted it so it no longer slips.

If anyone has had the pleasure of driving a Lada they will know that the throttle pedal is usually far too high up which makes driving it awkward and uncomfortable.

 

39442800885_1a78d80edc_c.jpgDSC_0048 by srblythe, on Flickr

 

This morning I spent some time adjusting the throttle linkage in order to get the throttle closer to the floor yet still fully functioning when pressing it. It's a whole lot better than it was but not perfect.

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Have you had the carb apart at all?

When that Samara was the same age as this is now, the diaphragms in its carb went to shit, and of course it wouldn't behave. Rather than rebuilding it and cocking the job up, I bodged on a good 205 1.4 carb, which worked well enough, and accidentally made the car faster.

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Have you had the carb apart at all?

When that Samara was the same age as this is now, the diaphragms in its carb went to shit, and of course it wouldn't behave. Rather than rebuilding it and cocking the job up, I bodged on a good 205 1.4 carb, which worked well enough, and accidentally made the car faster.

 

I replaced the original carb with a Weber, it's running better now, I just hadn't set up the mixture correctly when I first fitted it. I also sprayed a bunch of carb cleaner in it which managed to make it run a bit worse for a bit before clearing up and running smoother. It could probably be doing with a rebuild but it's usable as it is so I'll leave it and fit the Fiat engine over the summer.

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38579293250_eb8f0301b3_c.jpgRJC_0193-1 by srblythe, on Flickr

 

Took advantage of a clear night sky to take some pics of the Lada, I had wanted to do an incredibly long exposure but after a few 2 minute exposures the battery died...

 

38579290440_18f1e8dfc8_c.jpgRJC_0193-1a by srblythe, on Flickr

 

25517810437_af6cdb0f7d_c.jpgLada Riva by srblythe, on Flickr

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^^^ No joke, the Tippex tape versions are actually quite weatherproof.

 

post-17915-0-52381200-1519211449_thumb.jpg

 

Eight years ago I puckishly used one to obliterate a greengrocers' comma on a metal sign at a local slipway (because I'm a dick and a grammar Nazi rolled into one - it was something along the lines of "Key for bollard's can be obtained from Harbour Master") and it's still holding up well despite being lashed by saltwater waves for the best part of a decade.

 

So as an emergency pinstripe kit for a few quid, I'd highly recommend* it.

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Very nice so now what's the plan with it,

 

I'm not entirely sure, I'm split between selling it or keeping it for a bit and fitting a turbo diesel engine which I have sitting for it. I'll definitely keep it until Shitefest where one lucky* person could have the pleasure of using it over that weekend if they were to fly up instead of driving.

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