THAT Lada Samara - It's now FOAD's

[KruJoe]

That shed is a bloody embarrassment.

 

Until yesterday when me and (mostly) Will had a bit of a tidy-up.

 

 

 

(Those pics are 'after' by the way!)

[vulgalour]

Running and visible Samaratat, this thread is the gift that keeps on giving...  like that contagious relative you told to stay at home.

[ruffgeezer]

There's a shed in your shed?

[320touring]

There's a shed in your shed?

watch it- my pug 306 wasn't THAT bad;)(jokimg btw!)

[explosive-cabbage]

The exhausty was so loud and rawkus that somthing had to be done for an MOT.

 

Previously it had been welded up with a gasless MIG held together with bits of coat hangers and zip ties, so it was a bit of a mess.

 

 

 

 

Removing it had sheared off 3 of the studs, but they were so rusty and knackered that they were going to break at some point anyway.

 

I welded on 3 more studs and re-welded round the flange. She was ready to go!

 

 

Only after I had made a new exhaust gasket out of thick cardboard... Sounds daft now but at the time brother KruJoe said he had had great success in the past with this method.

 

 

 

Luckily I found a brand new manifold gasket in a box to replace the one on the car that was leaking.

 

 

 

The whole lot went together with new nuts and washers and plenty of exhaust putty, and the car sounded awful afterwards. I had stolen its noisy heart and soal in one foul swoop. The sacrifices we make for MOTs!

 

[explosive-cabbage]

A couple small jobs were next on the list, getting the hazard lights to work (new fuse),  replacing a numberplate light, and installing a new horn. Using the old horn had consisted of rooting around in the hub of the steering wheel and pulling out a wire, and shorting the bare end of it against the metal of the steering wheel. This eBay jobby was a massive improvement, and along with cleaning up the contact rings in the steering column made the horn much more spritely.

 

 

Other than those small jobs the electrics had survived the damp shed very well and everything was in order. Sorry to dissapoint!

 

Another staple of Autoshite bodgery was implemented - the trusty dishwasher tablet.

 

 

But this time with a powerball... Will it work?

 

 

Bashed to bits with an old walking stick, and fished it's guts out.

 

 

 

I havn't flushed it out yet, its still brewing up and cleaning itself out!

 

[anonymous user]

I was not brave enough to drive this at Shitefest, it looked a bit scarey to me, I now regret that, pleased to see that it still lives.

 

I have serious shed envy by the way, I could live in there.

[Felly Magic]

Glorious state peoples car lives again comrade!

[skattrd]

I thought that powerballs were bad things to add when flushing out coolant systems, plain detergent being better.

 

Top work Will, it'll be good to see this back on the road again.

[Bucketeer]

For fellow Samara pervs this collection of still images on Youtube I just found charting the history of the car might be of interest.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFlwTa-Fai4

 

I'd never seen some of the early images of prototypes and suchlike before which surprised me as pretty much my entire internet history (and pretty much my entire brain) consists of Ladas of one flavour or another.

[DodgyBastard]

Does getting an mot mean it'll be up for sale soon?

[KruJoe]

Aye, watch this space. It's not won a ticket yet, but it isn't far off now.

 

 

Will, earlier, with most of his fleet.

[explosive-cabbage]

I think Joe may have inadvertently just dropped the first propper picture of Babushka.... This means I may have to start another thread for that one! To be fair I have kept it quiet from Autoshite for nearly 18 moths now.

[KruJoe]

How many moths?

 

[KruJoe]

SRSLY though, we've both been hinting at it for flipping ages, and nobody has picked up the bait!

 

 

Babushka was even on last month's calendar page FFS

[explosive-cabbage]

As is the back of my head and nobody noticed that!

[vulgalour]

Those of us that have picked up on Babushka have kept schtum because we thought it was some sort of Yorkshire State Secret.  I don't want a XUD diesel turning up one night heralding having my kneecaps done in by a rolling pin for revealing that sort of information.

[phil_lihp]

Im so glad the Samara is being reborn. It still remains one of the most entertaining cars I've ever driven, absolutely hilarious fun. Do you still have the sheep skull for the grill?

 

I must admit I'm awfully tempted by the idea of giving it a home.

[Bucketeer]

Babushka! Yes! I thought my Niva senses had been tingling for a while.

I hadn't seen the clues and anyway I lack the sufficient brain power to put two and two together to make phwoarr.

 

As soon as I saw that sheep skull whilst strolling about I knew exactly where it should go. I don't know why a dead sheep instantly made me think of the Samara.

[explosive-cabbage]

I think the sheep skull got left in Wales unfortunately. It soon rattled itself loose, I don't think it even lasted the full afternoon. However, some of the patina on the car is genuine Welsh muck, preserved in time for your enjoyment.

[LC Torana]

The best thread, ever in the entire history of internet forums, is alive once more.

[KruJoe]

I shut Samaratat's windows yesterday, we've got swallows flapping about in the shed now, we don't want them building one of their mud and spit nests on the sun visors.

[Jim Bell]

How many moths?

 

 

 

 

 

29.

[John F]

KruJoe, on 13 May 2016 - 09:33 AM, said:

How many moths?

 

 

31.

[explosive-cabbage]

A few minor jobs were left to do before the MOT.

 

A couple part-worns from our local tyres guys in Keighley.

 

 

Whilst welding the floorpan a couple months ago I burnt a hole in the carpet under the passenger seat. A big one. Oops. Time to sort it out! I will let the pictures do the talking!

 

Firtstly, I had to remove the seat and pull up the carpet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Good as new!

 

The rear washer wasn't behaving either, but I could feel a small click when I applied 12 volts to it, suggesting that it was just seized. I pulled it off and stripped it down.

 

 

 

Cleaned it out, stuck 12 volts through it with the cogs removed and it soon span itself back to life. rubbed down the contacts, stuck it back together and it was as good as new!

 

 

This is what I love so much about Ladas, you can just pull components off, strip them down and clean them, then put them back together and they works!

 

Success*!!!

 

 

(A bit of bodgery and a washer jet borrowed from a Niva and she gave me a propper squirt!)

[KruJoe]

He had a lucky escape with that fire... one evening I wandered up to the shed to see how he was getting on. He was laid on his back zipping up the sill, oblivious the the mushroom cloud quickly growing from the front windows... I peered in and saw flames licking half way up the inside of the door!

Fortunately we had a gallon tub of water up there (no tap nearby) left over from a coolant change, and that was just enough to put it out.

 

What a muppet. How he isn't dead yet, I don't know. He could easily have burnt the whole bloody shed down!

[explosive-cabbage]

Here are a few more pictures for your viewing pleasure.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[KruJoe]

My latest contribution to the project:

 

 

Mo_Sterling eat your heart out!

[LC Torana]

WP_20160506_11_20_20_Pro.jpg

 

Not only is this the greatest thread ever in the entire history of the internet, but this is one of the most perfect photos ever taken.

[anonymous user]

I love the seamless invisible mend to the carpet,I shall be trying that on the Bentley