THAT Lada Samara - It's now FOAD's

[KruJoe]

Right, I really do owe you lot an update on this steaming POS.

 

The weldathon and brake bodgery was all going on a year ago in prep for Chumley. That happened!

In fact it went really well all the way down to southern Cheshire and back. It was surprisingly civilised at 60 or 70 on the motorway, despite the lack of carpets and sound-deadening - way better than the under-geared BX14. I had my parents come along too in the camper van as a support vehicle. I had the A-frame with me just in case!

 

 

We took a Volvo interior down for Cats_int'_welder. He met us at the campsite the morning of the show.

 

 

Reflecto-porn:

 

 

We arrived in convoy to be greeted by Billy and the AS MASSIVE bowing in praise, and slotted in nicely next to Edd and Benno.

 

 

Well worth the effort, it was a great day. I was quite touched when MM5 Mark presented with this ace key ring. Nice quality it is too.

 

 

Back home in its new spot:

 

 

I continued to use it occasionally, but it began to suffer an intermittent miss-fire, which, one dark night, I found to be the spark escaping across here on the coil:

 

 

New leads were found on eBay and fitted, that solved that. It started much better too.

 

My wife has a keen nose for pez, and one day she pointed out the whiff.

 

 

I replaced that cracked return pipe, but couldn't seem to get it sealed. This was a couple days before Shitefest, so I had to take the BX in the end.

I then found the brass penis union had become loose.

 

 

After asking how on here, I carefully yanked it out, and Araldited it back in. WIN!

 

 

While I was away in the foreign over winter, my brother Will's Niva (Olga) gave up on him. He'd previously battled to get her recommissioned and to pass the emissions test because she's been sat in a hedge for five years with water in the bores. She plodded on well enough, but the lump called it quits about crimbo time. So he took the liberty of wheeling out the Samara and temporarily* registering it in his name in my absence. I suggested he kept it, and stuck summert into my shite fund. Which he did. So this problem is his now, and I was free to take on a new project. Which I did. after my return, I swapped the tired-looking BX for the smart R8 216 I now run as a daily, and plashed out* on the MR2.

Anyway, Will has had the Samara pressed into tough daily service:

 

 

He told tales of some extreme snow driving with his chunky new front tyres, I was only glad it was now his cars after the treatment it's had. If he has some pictures, I'll get 'em posted up.

Minor fettling has kept it going. Here is the perished servo vacuum hose he replaced:

 

 

The brakes are still shit though. More of that to come.

The car has become very hard to drive smoothly, like it was massively over-fueling. A look down it's neck as it ran revealed fuel dripping from the carb down into the fannymould.

 

 

The ride over the hills to fetch the MR2 was horrible.

 

 

The other week, as the snows came big style, gave up on him altogether. The main Wharfedale road was closed in three places, but when the snow-blewers had cut through, I went across with the Ferreter S-Turdo and A-frame, and dragged him home.

 

 

Take note kids: Four-wheel drifting whilst A-framing is not big or clever.

 

 

Will sat in it to see if he could make it run by bumping it off, and to keep some lights working. He was somewhat shaken up by the experience. Can't think why...

 

 

Carb in bits, this sums it up:

 

 

The diaphragms are shot to bits. Will tried all his Lada contacts, and after a week of trying, gave up on finding a re-build kit. He said he should look at the carb from his scrap 204 XS to see if there would be any way it could be made to fit. I knew it was a down-draught, but said he'd have a whole load of engineering to do to make it work.

BUT, next day when I was away, he got them both off, side by side, and they look remarkably similar! Different cable linkages and stuff, but the Lada one looks like a copy of the Pug one!

 

 

The main difference was the mounting holes - just millimeters too wide, that's all. A bit of slotting:

 

 

This is gonna work! I made an extra bracket to take up the slack from the smaller throttle pulley:

 

 

A few other little bodges...

 

 

The little swirl-pot transferred from the 205 (no fuel return from the Pug carb)...

 

 

I sloshed some go-juice down its neck and cranked it over - she fired up and ran just lovely! That was damn easy! I thought that carb would be all gummed up after sitting in the weather for three years, but no.

All it needed was the idle knocking down a bit.

 

 

The Lada air filter wouldn't go back on because of extra lumps'n'bumps on this carb, but the plastic lump would go on (back to front) and the filter setup from the 205 was carried over, but fitted to the other side of the engine.

 

 

It does a job, and drives much better. The brakes are still shit, but otherwise its good to go up to Eddy's do this weekend. Yay!

Here's Will trying to improve things with a good bleeding session. Yes, brake fluid in the jar is black!

 

 

Sorry I didn't share more of this as it happened - you know how it is.

G'night!

[pandamonium]

Nice work on getting it going again. Not that long ago I threw out a load of Lada carb service bits, but I've found that any carb works better than the original item! A nice 32/36 weber is your best bet. I love this car and would like to put my name on the list for if it ever needs re-homing.

[Rod/b]

I love this thread, it sums up Autoshite for me.

[Micrashed]

ePic Carb WiN

[Cavcraft]

I love this thread, it sums up Autoshite for me.

 

This.

[explosive-cabbage]

Thanks all!

It went on much easier than I expected! Of course with plenty of help from Joe

Got me thinking about the possibility of converting the Niva to downdraft Webers....

[pandamonium]

Edit - pressed quote not edit on a previous post.

[michael t]

I must have missed most of this last year, I've just read this from start till now and what a truly remarkable restoration, respect to you for even bothering, you sir, are Autoshite, massive Well Done

[aldo135]

As above, just read through this, what a great thread! Well done mate inspirational stuff! Want to buy a welder now...

[hairnet]

spill about yesterday..........

 

wasnt too painful??

[explosive-cabbage]

Fortunately not, the RAC guy got it going in 5 mins, much to mine and Joe's embarrasment

 

It didn't make it home though and gave up 5 miles down the road, the spark was tracking through moisture in a hairline crack in the ignition coil.

And before you ask, towing with an MR2 and a 10 foot towrope is not an ideal setup....

 

New ignition coil and mintex brake pads went on today, drives like a dreamski now

 

Lets see how long that lasts.....

[KruJoe]

 

Remember this sparking issue?

 

 

Well, new leads sorted that previously. Should have done the coil too.

 

Now sparks and smoke could be seen emerging from this crack and jumping to the terminal:

 

 

It was 'fixed' once with WD40, then again with rubber hose strapped on. Third breakdown of the day:

 

 

That didn't work, so we dragged it back from Kirkby-bloody-Lonsdale on the end of some oily yellow string we found in the spare wheel. Did I mention the puncture? A front tyre went flat after running over the barbed wire tow rope earlier in the day. Bloody thing.

 

 

Back home, (after 11pm) over an ale we played with seeing if the 205 coil might be suitable. It wasn't.

 

Next day, new one ordered and front brakes too. They didn't have much more to give:

 

 

 

Good to go again now. But it was a bugger to bleed properly, it doesn't like it unless its on all four wheels flat on the ground.

 

 

Oh, then there's the exhaust - fixed it yet Will?

[mouseflakes]

A front tyre went flat after running over the barbed wire tow rope earlier in the day. Bloody thing.

 

That's unfortunate - I usually find the old barbed wire tow rope such a hassle-free option.

 

Joe - you're so Autoshite dot com.

[michael t]

Possible calendar 2014 shot?

 

[John F]

Hehe, yep - with bonus MR2 shite in the background

 

Glad it was a simple fix in the end, lads.

[blackburied]

Were you on the A629 tonight at about 17:40? Think I went past you going towards Skipton. near the xhill roundabout.

[KruJoe]

That'll be Will...

I'm off to see Hadouken tonight

 

How did it sound? I think he's left the down-pipe on my work-bench.

[blackburied]

That'll be Will...

I'm off to see Hadouken tonight

 

How did it sound? I think he's left the down-pipe on my work-bench.

 

Ahh. Couldn't hear a damn thing over the rattles in my french tin can. I were too busy fiddling with the stereo, and only noticed at the last second. Should have started flashing the lights and waving

 

You two live up in't dales then?

[KruJoe]

Yep, I'm usually in Malhamdale, Will does his tinkering here, otherwise he's at work at a pub in Wharfedale. Give us a shout if you're ever having a ride up this way - call in for a brew and a chin-wag.

[KruJoe]

Once again, it's touch-and-go whether the Samara will make it to Chumley.

It properly looks the part (more shite than ever), but at the moment it's unwise to take it near civilisation in this un-silenced condition. And strangely, it's on the cusp of being MOTless...

 

 

The ignition system is ok now with a new coil, and the Pug carb is behaving (apart from loosing its choke pulley bolt). And the brakes must be working at least a bit - Will hasn't crashed it yet. Which is good going for him.

He has been on with the exhaust for three weeks now, if he can make no more progress this week, he'll be riding shotgun with me to Cheshire.

[KruJoe]

As you'll have seen elsewhere, Will troweled enough pigeon shit onto the downpipe to quieten it, and we made it to Chumley 2013...

 

 

 

 

...and home again without any (serious) issues. But also without any concourse prizes.

 

 

News from Will this evening:

The Samara failed its MOT,

Rear brakes

Handbrake

D/S rear strut top is completely corroded through

 

I've ordered a new brake bias valve from Neil [at LadaParts] (we suspected that was faulty) and I will get handbrake cables and brake fluid from Akers and Battle. It could be a lot worse!

The strut top is quite a big hole but I will just get more practice with the arc welder. I bought some more rods the other day.

 

Sent from my Smart* Phone

[KruJoe]

The pleasure of an evening spent under the wheel arch of a Lada can only be enhanced* by the hammering and grinding of someone on the other side of the vehicle.

 

[Vin]

Oh Dear...

[KruJoe]

Indeed Vin!

MOAR UP LODES...

 

 

At first glance the turrets looked ok, but I'd noticed the rusty water before, and told Will they needed some love last year... but of course he's waited until 'Jack the Test' knocked him back for rust there.

 

 

It was only really obvious when viewed from the front with the seats folded down.

Before we touched it:

 

 

This is gonna be fun*.

 

 

We un-did the strut tops and let the axle swing down. A prod at the back of the solid-looking patch the previous owner had done a couple years back:

 

 

They'd just boshed it on the inside, and not done OWT the the outside. FFS, why bother?

GRRR!

 

 

I knew that scrap Micra door would be useful.

 

 

Will's first experience of gasless joy*.

 

 

 

Troweled on some black cack.

 

 

I left him to it for a bit, he popped out the quarter light (dead easy), and in search of something solid to weld to, he did this:

 

 

Oops.

Firewood for shaping patches:

 

 

Bzzz:

 

 

Farcebook update:

 

 

Jack didn't notice the other side. Let's have quick prod while we're here:

 

 

I left Will to pile on some guarno:

 

 

 

It looks like shit, but he's done both inside and out where he can. Certainly stronger than it was, and better protected now.

I took pity on the wheelarch I so lovingly re-constructed from a Rover wing last year (someone had to). A rub over with the knotted wheel and a daub of underseal is the best it's gonna get.

 

 

There's not much left of that wing now.

 

 

It's health and safety gone mad, I tell thee.

 

 

All the bare metal was slathered in blacking, and we boshed the back end back together.

 

 

Glass, wheels and doors re-fitted, and Will's back on the road in his daily driver.

 

Samaratat lives on.

[Vin]

ASTOUNDING The Samara is dead. Long live the SAMARATAT

[M'coli]

Quality! It didn't look too awkward when you put up the original photos, just a bit of graft - good to see it's sorted.

[phil_lihp]

Nice work, how on earth was the rear end even holding up on that strut top? You never know, it might be in with a chance at the concours next year now!

[garethj]

Before we touched it:

 

Chuffin' hell, that's not good!

 

 

It looks like shit, but he's done both inside and out where he can. Certainly stronger than it was, and better protected now.

You sure that's strong, mate? It looks like the welds haven't penetrated at all. The new metal needs to be perfectly clean, as does the old metal, and the bit where you clamp the MIG welder earth to. I'd be a bit concerned about the strength of that patch. Can you give it a good few taps with the toffee hammer?

[KruJoe]

Yeah, it can withstand a good battering from the lump hammer, it's ok. This last picture ^ is of the near side, which wasn't so bad. The first one you quoted was the off side, which opened up enough to get both arms through.

I guessed there'd be some horrified noises when I showed Will's first welding attempts, but he zipped around both sides of the patches (inside and out), so it's not so bad. There is some penetration under all that crap.

The welder is shit too.

 

 

One power switch: low and lower. No knob to adjust, no feed speed adjust either. I've told him all the tricks I know, and we have gasless wire in it, which helps.

[retrogeezer]

ORSUM!