I'll get round to it at some point - Bratislava and Back: Things not to do in a mk2 Clio

[Rust Collector]

Most of the cars need attention, so it’s time to knuckle down and work through the job list buy another car.

Breakfast of children champions:

PC = 1

First mode of transport:

[Rust Collector]

Second mode of transit acquired:

Inevitable return to base for things I forgot:

[AnnoyingPentium]

Chodspeed, good sir.

[Rust Collector]

This should see me there and back, plus a gallon of pez to start the new purchase

[Rust Collector]

Chichester never fails to provide plenty of traffic

[Rust Collector]

[Rust Collector]

Good to meet you today @Harriytait, pleasure doing business with you!

[Weird Car]

6 minutes ago, Rust Collector said:

Good to meet you today @Harriytait, pleasure doing business with you!

Yeah you too, glad she’s off to a good home with plenty of other eastern block friends! 

[wesacosa]

ah brilliant..I hoped this had stayed on the forum.  Fancied that myself if I knew one end of a welding torch from another 

[Rust Collector]

And after an unusually uneventful drive, I found myself back in sunny Seaford:

Best not stop here too long or there’ll be nothing left of either vehicle. A dog walk was in order for Daisy first though as a reward for being patient and not destroying the inside of the Mitsubishi during co-driver duty.

It’s a bit late/dark to be fucking around unloading cars and swapping things around, so the 4x4 and trailer have been taken to a top secret location* for the moment for the benefit of the neighbours.

I’ll get the front brakes sorted on the Lada in the near future and then get my head around the welding.

All in all a successful day!

[Weird Car]

8 minutes ago, Rust Collector said:

And after an unusually uneventful drive, I found myself back in sunny Seaford:

Best not stop here too long or there’ll be nothing left of either vehicle. A dog walk was in order for Daisy first though as a reward for being patient and not destroying the inside of the Mitsubishi during co-driver duty.

It’s a bit late/dark to be fucking around unloading cars and swapping things around, so the 4x4 and trailer have been taken to a top secret location* for the moment for the benefit of the neighbours.

I’ll get the front brakes sorted on the Lada in the near future and then get my head around the welding.

All in all a successful day!

I’m sure you’re going to have a Lada fun together! Sorry couldn’t help myself 😂

[Rust Collector]

Not much has been done in the last few days as I’ve been back at work after my paternity leave so I’ve been a bit lazy in my free time. The last couple of evenings I’ve strategically walked the dogs past the Lada to have a go starting it for unloading. The battery was a bit tired however from my deft attempts so I brought it home and charged it. This evening I took it back down with me, chucked the battery on and we have life!

Best unload her then, and take some photos in the dark:

I went for a short drive around town to get some more petrol and find out what the seized calliper was like. I don’t think I’ve ever driven anything quite like it, it’s really an experience*. I love it. I wasn’t brave enough to go far/fast enough to upset the brakes. Also shout out to the FIAT engineer who originally thought that putting the stalk that controls your headlights directly behind the smaller stalk for the indicators was a good shout; you don’t feel truly alive until you go to turn right on a dark road and turn your headlights off.

What I really should be doing is welding up the BX that I’m meant to be selling, so I may try and get that done over the next few evenings as I’ve been putting it off long enough now.

[Rust Collector]

More fun in the dark this evening. I’ve decided the best* course of action is to do some road testing to find any niggles on the Lada, mainly because the driveway is full but also because I want to drive it. Best go retrieve it from the dumping ground then:

First trial was a trip across town to pick up some shopping that my partner had tasked me with

I then decided to be brave and went for a drive down the country lanes between Seaford and Alfriston via Litlington. I’m pleased to say I made it without any FTP action, and I’ve found some things to look at.

On turning right at speed* and under braking there’s a grumble from the front which sounds like a bearing. They’re easy to check/adjust/replace so that’s a small job for the near future. Both felt quite warm to the touch when I stopped to check.

When driving up the steep hill between Alfriston and High and Over (for those of you familiar with the area) I found that the clutch was slipping. It went up in second screaming its tits off, but in third the revs would climb but the car would slow down! I need to consult HBOL to see if there’s any adjustment in the clutch (the pedal is very notchy) but otherwise I suspect the best course of action is to get the box off and look at fitting a new clutch kit. For now I’ll just stick to flat roads 😅 proof I made it and didn’t roll back down and get stuck in the valley:

Another small thing to look at is the exhaust. I’m unsure if the hangers on it are correct as it’s slapping around on the undercarriage like something from a special interest video. The witness mark confirms this

Now that I know it’s nothing mission critical I can at least put that noise on the ‘ignore’ list.

The dash light is out, I was going to investigate when it decided to come on this evening which was a bonus

It subsequently fucked off again the next time I started the car, so I guess I will have to take it out. I tried giving it a Fonzy style whack to the top and it didn’t respond sadly.

In more boring news, the battery that I ordered on Monday via a next day delivery service arrived today, so I could finally consider starting my Insight and unclogging the drive. This was £36 shipped which I didn’t think was bad value:

And in the car:

Could I find the plastic battery tray that I took out because the last battery was slightly too fat? Could I fuck. Oh well.

I can’t remember if I posted about the fun* I had trying to use the Insight a while back but finding it had sunk into the lawn during the heavy rain. There’s still some evidence of my struggle left:

12v power restored:

Best charge the ‘big’ battery so that the battery control module can recalibrate

That’s enough enjoyment for one evening I reckon. If I keep getting through the small jobs though, I’m going to have to finally weld the sills on the BX…

[Weird Car]

5 hours ago, Rust Collector said:

sounds like a bearing.

I had both front bearings replaced so it’s not that, it’s the warped front brake disc I was telling you about 

[Rust Collector]

5 hours ago, Harriytait said:

I had both front bearings replaced so it’s not that, it’s the warped front brake disc I was telling you about 

Ah ok, for some reason I thought it was just the one side that got done!

[Unlucky Alf]

What a great thread, some tasty chod and some familiar places, as I used to live over at South Heighton.  Thanks for posting, 👍

[High Jetter]

High'n'over at night? Fun times! 🤣

[Zelandeth]

You'll get used to the lighting stalk quite quickly.  I've found that flailing around looking for it getting back into a car with only two stalks is usually more of a problem!

[Alan_Green]

Can you start the Lada with a starting handle?

[High Jetter]

Yes but it's easier with a key 

[Rust Collector]

On 11/26/2022 at 11:55 PM, High Jetter said:

High'n'over at night? Fun times! 🤣

There was only one steamy car up there that night, must be the cold weather!

20 hours ago, Zelandeth said:

You'll get used to the lighting stalk quite quickly.  I've found that flailing around looking for it getting back into a car with only two stalks is usually more of a problem!

I do quite like the satisfying clicks and clunks that you get from flicking the dash switch then moving the lever. Fortunately I've gotten used to it fairly quickly and I have not inadvertently turned my lights off since!

10 hours ago, Alan_Green said:

Can you start the Lada with a starting handle?

You can, and I have the handle in the boot, but:

9 hours ago, High Jetter said:

Yes but it's easier with a key 

What he said 😅 I will have a go at some point just for the novelty, but I'm a bit wary of snapping my thumbs off.

[Rust Collector]

Extended road testing has continued over the weekend.

First up was a trip to my mate's house via the back roads

All is still well bar the clutch, but for the moment that can be driven around. In anticipation of replacing it I have spent the huge amount of £20.65 on a clutch kit from Germany, which will definitely* be of high quality and be posted FOC as per the listing. You can all point and laugh when it falls apart 100 miles later and I have to buy better kit and do it all again.

Last night we were blessed with torrential rain and so I thought it a good time to do a test run of my commute. I made it there and back safely.

Geed on by this triumphant achievement, I left the moderns at home this morning and drove to work in the Lada.

It wasn't too bad driving it in modern traffic on my commute, despite a short section of NSL single carriageway, as the traffic round here is so heavy at rush hour that you rarely see more than about 40mph. In a moment of madness I put a full tank of super unleaded in the car, so I've committed to giving it some level of regular use this month!

This is probably one of the most enjoyable purchases I've made recently, it really is good fun to drive. It makes me think I should really try and get the ZAZ running and registered in the near future for even more 70's Eastern Bloc fun.

[Alan_Green]

Man, I'd be using the starting handle every time.  That'd confuse the kids at McDonalds.  And more of an attention getter than a lambo.

 

[Zelandeth]

Amused me that the provision for the starting handle was still there on my Niva despite it dating from 1997.  Though you would have had to unscrew the number plate to use it.

 

[Rust Collector]

1 hour ago, Zelandeth said:

Amused me that the provision for the starting handle was still there on my Niva despite it dating from 1997.  Though you would have had to unscrew the number plate to use it.

 

I'd be grateful if my SLK had a hand crank, as it's an auto and the modified starter motor hasn't been ground down enough to engage properly! It's a right faff to take back out again now the engine is in...

[wesacosa]

I always wondered why those Ladas needed such a large angle key turn.  180deg just to get the ignition on

[Rust Collector]

21 hours ago, wesacosa said:

I always wondered why those Ladas needed such a large angle key turn.  180deg just to get the ignition on

I wonder if it allowed for very sloppy production tolerances or cheaper tooling/machining.

[Rust Collector]

Boring jobs on the Insight today.

After putting the winter tyres on a pair of steelies as a desperate attempt to get the Insight out of the swamp/my front lawn I was a bit lazy and left the alloys on the back. I finally got the other matching pair of winter tyres on to the other pair of steelies yesterday, and fitted them on my lunch break today

Rare pic of her with her skirt lifted:

And the finished article now that I've raided the stores cupboard for cable ties:

I quite like how it looks on steel wheels, but I'm unsure if that's just because I've been spending too much time of late ogling shite cars.

I also spotted I had a dipped beam out this morning, which is handy as I need to drive up to Gatwick tonight to pick up mother-in-law. I kept the 'good' bulb from the last pair in the glove box which was lucky so I've quickly sorted that. The H4 bulb that had blown was one of a pair of cheap chinesium yellow ones from Amazon, which are obviously really shit as I only fitted them in the Summer. The yellow ones that were in it when it came from Japan lasted years!

Whilst removing the coolant reservoir to get to the bulb I noticed that it's nearly empty - I'll chuck a bit more coolant in and keep an eye on that.

In exciting* local news I received an email to say that the hosepipe ban has been lifted, so I may get to wash some of the 'hedge find' cars soon which I've been itching to do.

 

[Rust Collector]

Seeing as mother in law is visiting I have been looking for activities outside of the house. I've been doing a bit of parts shopping as well, so it seemed like the perfect time to get on with something I'd been planning to do on the Lada.

The noise from the front end has been causing a lack of confidence whilst driving, so that was the main priority to diagnose and sort.

Best get the front end up in the air and give everything a spin then. The drivers side immediately made the noise of a grinding bearing. I did my due diligence and removed the brake calliper just in case, and the noise remained. I will try and upload a youtube video at some point for your viewing pleasure, but at the moment I'm failing miserably to work out how to do it.

'New' bearing ordered then:

Time to pull the old one apart. There was a bead of silicone or similar round the bearing dust cap which is a new one on me - water proofing?

There was some grease inside so it hadn't run dry. 

Spindle all cleaned up using a pair of my old pants - looks ok

The front bearing out on the bench:

Some Cyrillic markings on the reverse:

I think this is the rear race just before it got beaten into submission with a hammer:

My phone went flat at this point so I couldn't take more pictures. It was about 8pm and the races were stubborn bastards to come out, but I wanted to draw things to a close that evening with the new races installed so I continued the hammering session to remove the old ones.

I had put the new races into the freezer for a bit so that they contracted slightly, and I 'pressed' them into place with one of these jobbies. They went in no bother.

 

That was a good place to leave it for a Sunday night.

Last night I came back to it, not many pictures as I was rushing so I couldn't be accused of not wanting to spend time with my family.

I packed the bearings with grease, being a sucker for a unnecessary tool I got to use this thing for about the second time ever:

I'd say it keeps the grease off your hands, but I was already covered in grease so it was kind of pointless in that regard. It does force grease through the bearing nice and evenly though.

Reassembly the reverse of removal:

It's worth noting that the nut securing the bearing is a left hand thread on this side. Don't be a twat like I am and assume your torque wrench works in reverse just because it has a reverse setting. I have snapped my 1/4 inch drive baby torque wrench as a result of this oversight. Without an appropriate torque wrench I did it the highly scientific way of 20nm by calibrated* feel to seat the bearing, then backed it off an nipped it back up again gently before staking it down.

The only thing left to do was drive it and see if the noise was gone/the wheel was going to fall off. Enjoy some grainy photos of the drive to Sainsbury's that were definitely taken by a passenger.

I'm pleased to say that the Lada got there safely and The Noise™️ is gone. All that's left is the multiple other noises of a 43 year old car built in Russia and maintained* for decades in Hungary.

Celebratory Sainsbury's carpark photo:

Now the hosepipe ban has been lifted I may even wash the Lada soon. I need to get some exhaust hanger straps for it too as that will cure one more noise. Whilst I had the front end up I got a chance to have a brief look at what welding I need to do in the near future. There's a hole in the rear floor pan and one of the front chassis rails, a lot of it looks like it's bits that can be fabricated but once I get a dry weekend I will aim to get under there for a better look so that I can form a proper plan and order any repair panels that may make life easier. My £20 clutch arrived too so I should probably fit that soon as I can't currently get over about 80km/h on the flat without the clutch slipping!

I absolutely love this car though, I've said it before but I think it's one of the most enjoyable motors I've bought in a long time. It's exactly the sort of thing I needed to get some enthusiasm again now that the shitty weather and dark evenings are here!

[Zelandeth]

On 12/6/2022 at 1:46 PM, Rust Collector said:

Seeing as mother in law is visiting I have been looking for activities outside of the house. I've been doing a bit of parts shopping as well, so it seemed like the perfect time to get on with something I'd been planning to do on the Lada.

The noise from the front end has been causing a lack of confidence whilst driving, so that was the main priority to diagnose and sort.

Best get the front end up in the air and give everything a spin then. The drivers side immediately made the noise of a grinding bearing. I did my due diligence and removed the brake calliper just in case, and the noise remained. I will try and upload a youtube video at some point for your viewing pleasure, but at the moment I'm failing miserably to work out how to do it.

'New' bearing ordered then:

Time to pull the old one apart. There was a bead of silicone or similar round the bearing dust cap which is a new one on me - water proofing?

There was some grease inside so it hadn't run dry. 

Spindle all cleaned up using a pair of my old pants - looks ok

The front bearing out on the bench:

Some Cyrillic markings on the reverse:

I think this is the rear race just before it got beaten into submission with a hammer:

My phone went flat at this point so I couldn't take more pictures. It was about 8pm and the races were stubborn bastards to come out, but I wanted to draw things to a close that evening with the new races installed so I continued the hammering session to remove the old ones.

I had put the new races into the freezer for a bit so that they contracted slightly, and I 'pressed' them into place with one of these jobbies. They went in no bother.

 

That was a good place to leave it for a Sunday night.

Last night I came back to it, not many pictures as I was rushing so I couldn't be accused of not wanting to spend time with my family.

I packed the bearings with grease, being a sucker for a unnecessary tool I got to use this thing for about the second time ever:

I'd say it keeps the grease off your hands, but I was already covered in grease so it was kind of pointless in that regard. It does force grease through the bearing nice and evenly though.

Reassembly the reverse of removal:

It's worth noting that the nut securing the bearing is a left hand thread on this side. Don't be a twat like I am and assume your torque wrench works in reverse just because it has a reverse setting. I have snapped my 1/4 inch drive baby torque wrench as a result of this oversight. Without an appropriate torque wrench I did it the highly scientific way of 20nm by calibrated* feel to seat the bearing, then backed it off an nipped it back up again gently before staking it down.

The only thing left to do was drive it and see if the noise was gone/the wheel was going to fall off. Enjoy some grainy photos of the drive to Sainsbury's that were definitely taken by a passenger.

I'm pleased to say that the Lada got there safely and The Noise™️ is gone. All that's left is the multiple other noises of a 43 year old car built in Russia and maintained* for decades in Hungary.

Celebratory Sainsbury's carpark photo:

Now the hosepipe ban has been lifted I may even wash the Lada soon. I need to get some exhaust hanger straps for it too as that will cure one more noise. Whilst I had the front end up I got a chance to have a brief look at what welding I need to do in the near future. There's a hole in the rear floor pan and one of the front chassis rails, a lot of it looks like it's bits that can be fabricated but once I get a dry weekend I will aim to get under there for a better look so that I can form a proper plan and order any repair panels that may make life easier. My £20 clutch arrived too so I should probably fit that soon as I can't currently get over about 80km/h on the flat without the clutch slipping!

I absolutely love this car though, I've said it before but I think it's one of the most enjoyable motors I've bought in a long time. It's exactly the sort of thing I needed to get some enthusiasm again now that the shitty weather and dark evenings are here!

All good progress!

In case you're wondering (and I know the audio isn't great) here's how much difference that another 20 years of progress made to the refinement levels.

https://youtu.be/vv8f-PxNSGE