THAT Lada Samara - It's now FOAD's

[cobblers]

Good lad, you are a hero! I had the same SITU when a framing an 'auld vw baywindow in the snow a few years back with a mate and we pulled into some services and nearly took out the entire forecourt.

 

How did the lada fare?

[STUNO]

Has young Will come home yet?
It does look like minimum damage has been done. But the Lada interior may be a bit whiffy.

[Lacquer Peel]

Eek! Is a Samara the most stable towing rig?

Ian Bo11ox should write an A framing guide.

 

I've thought about using an A frame to drag a certain shabby Renault home, but I should do the trailer test first to be on the legal side...

[Rocket88]

Any kitten / nun fatalaties?

[nigel bickle]

Ace. Good lesson, well learnt. Even better that it was still on private land. 

 

Its kinda a right of passage, learning to 'A frame'.  The stories I could tell...

[KruJoe]

Has young Will come home yet?

 

He lives and works in the next valley, but comes 'home' a couple times a week, or when the Samara needs urgent work, whichever is more frequent. 

 

However, he has electronically mailed me, with some more attachments.

 

 

Eek! Is a Samara the most stable towing rig?

 

Not particularly, but he was KEEN to do it, and at a time when I was unavailable to supervise.

 

 

He wrote:

Tiny white scrape on door and damaged wheel trim! That's all! It was only a really slow shunt as I had just halted and was rolling off again.

 

 

O NOES! The one remaining wheel trim was already damage, but now displays even more character. The door will literally buff out - not that anyone is gonna bother.

 

 

A lucky escape - she's a tough old bird.

[STUNO]

luckier than expected !

[hairnet]

 

of welding bits of Rover on to the Lada

ironic? naaaah

[dollywobbler]

Isn't the Samara meant to be dragging the Jimp back from Wales at some point? I guess that's a fair bit lighter than a Escort though...

[SambaS]

Pretty sure I'm using the Polonez

[dollywobbler]

Hero mission. I look forward to the pics!

[explosive-cabbage]

Isn't the Samara meant to be dragging the Jimp back from Wales at some point? I guess that's a fair bit lighter than a Escort though...

That's Edd's call. I'll help him if needed.

[SambaS]

[KruJoe]

He's got there then!

Will's mission for today: dragging the MG HGF back from one side of The Yorkshire Dales to the other. This time he has gone prepared, by loading the Lada's back end with concrete slabs in an effort to keep the second hand Colway M+S remoulds planted.

 

 

Let's see how this goes...

 

[skattrd]

Second hand winter remoulds, could you get any shitter tyres?

We await the ouctome with anticipation. Finger crossed for you Will.

[Lankytim]

I may stick my neck out here and say that a Samara is a bit too small to A frame anything safely with, not any distance anyway.

[SambaS]

 

 

Bossed it! MG is home safe

[Mr_Bo11ox]

At the risk of sounding like some sort of self-appointed 'A frame twat', I'm gonna side with LankyTim, the paving slabs sound kind of logical but A-framing up hill and down dale with a Samara on turkish remoulds or whatever seems a bit 'pushing your luck' to me. For gods sake don't have a terrible accident, both for your sake and because it will inevitably result in a curtailing of my A-frame love affair

[Lankytim]

 

 

 

Bossed it! MG is home safe

 

 

[SambaS]

Spoil sports

[cort16]

If it all goes wrong

 

[Lankytim]

Soz I'm trying not to be a spoil sport here, it will probably all be fine but something that size will be more difficult to control if things get out of shape.

 

Carry on!

[KruJoe]

Erm... didn't go too well.

 

 

He just won't learn.

 

 

[stuboy]

Erm... didn't go too well.

 

P10164412.JPG

 

He just won't learn.

oh foook

[dollywobbler]

I'm calling potatoshop...

 

I think the concern is valid though. The Samara has an max unbraked towing weight recommendation of 450kg. These cars are clearly a lot more than that. It's all well and good to laugh and say "ha, it's a crap car with rubbish tyres!" but at some point it will go wrong, and it's not just Will who's going to get hurt. I share the feeling that this is pushing luck a bit far.

[skattrd]

Hmmmm ... wither Will's got some new hover-wellies or I spy a photochop.

[explosive-cabbage]

I think the concern is valid though. The Samara has an max unbraked towing weight recommendation of 450kg. These cars are clearly a lot more than that. It's all well and good to laugh and say "ha, it's a crap car with rubbish tyres!" but at some point it will go wrong

OMG, I didn't realise the max towing capacity was so low....

We recon the MG weighs around 1000kg

Oops.

 

Never mind! Thank you all for your concern.

 

After last weeks accident I learnt some important lessons.

I filled the boot with approx 50kg of concrete, and let the tyres down to 20-25psi and balanced the pressures.

The MG behaved very well for a ton of car- cornering was awful if you were off the throttle in tight corners.

It was all a big learning curve. I found that the best way to steer the sharp, slow speed corners was to drop the speed to approx 10mph, braking gently with both cars straight on the approach to the corner, then nosing the lead car in and applying full throttle halfway through the corner to bring the back end round. Because the Samara is front wheel drive, power half way through the corner tucked the nose of the MG in and stopped 'the tail wagging the dog'.

Speed never crept above 40mph, I drove VERY defensively and chose a route to avoid all sharp bends, and steep uphills and downhills. In the Yorkshire Dales this meant a massive detour, I went from Northallerton, via Bedale, Leyburn and Hawes to Ribblehead (practically drove half a across the middle of the country) then down to Settle and Hellifeild and round to Malham. A trip that took 2.5hours.

I was (unusually) very sensible today and it paid off. I am now much more confident with the A-Frame but I am aware still it can get you into a lot of trouble quickly. Knowing its limits and feeling confident using it in the future is only a good thing.

 

The Samara did brilliantly today, hats off to the old bird. With no cooling fan (tempramental electrics) I had to drive with the heater blowers on full all the way back to keep it cool!

 

Those cheap Remould M+S tyres on the rear are the third best set of snow tyres I have ever had on a two wheel drive!

 

For any of you who have ever been to our house near Malham and are aware of the hill up to it, the original plan was to use the RAV4 to tow the MG up, but it turned out the tow ball was too high so I gave it a go in the Lada. It did it! Scrubbing tyres all the way and hissing coolant the Lada pulled me home. I think that really was the limit for the Samara-A-Frame combo!

[explosive-cabbage]

Double post fail :/

[nigel bickle]

'If I've nothing positive to say,say nothing at all' has always been my t'internet motto.

 

So -I'm glad you made it back safe, and I do think you've learnt a   strong lesson in the perils of A framing. I certainly recgonise your 'technique' and I suspect you've now  learnt the safe  parameters of towing!  Sphincter twitch &/or brown seats the whole way -I'll wager!

 

Several of us here use A frames regularily, and often exceed the stated parameters- but I do think you've been living on the ragged edge, without sufficient experience.

 

So -a qualified 'well done' -now please buy a large rwd lump to tow with!

[explosive-cabbage]

I have recently partaken in a new and exciting variant of Lada - The grand un-veiling is yet to happen. Watch this space.

 

This means that one of the current fleet has to move on to make space.

 

The Samara is and has been the perfect car for me- it was a love affair born out of neccesity. When Joe was on holiday aprox 2 years ago I was in desperate need of transport, so I let myself into his house, found the V5 and transferred his Samara into my name, and sent him £250 and an explanation a couple days later.

 

As you all know I have had much excitement with this motor.

 

I have welded

I have hooned

I have broken my land-speed record towing a 306 on an A-Frame (75mph)

I have bounced it on its bump stops full of concrete blocks

I have towed an MG ZR half way across North Yorkshire

I have beaten a Calibra in a timetrial up Hardknott Pass

I have suprised and frightened people in it at Shitefest 2013

I have towed it using barbed wire behind an MR2

I have ploughed it through snowdrifts and drifted it round a car-park

I have jacknifed it towing a Escort to the scrappers

I nearly won* a concors competiton with it at Cholmondeley

I have bribed an tester with sausages to get it through an MOT

I have hooned some more - so hard I have blown holes in the exhaust manifold

And I have only broken down twice

 

This was probably the best car I have ever owned - in the sense that it fits my habits and personality perfectly - and is really scratty.

Unfortunately I have come to love my Veggie 205 1.9TD even more - It does everything the Lada does except it does it quietly and cheaper - and just as fun.

 

It deserves an MOT before trying to sell it- it owes me so much and I have treated it so badly - it deserves at least a fresh start before being forced onto someone else.

 

After 6 months of trying to dissolve into the field I towed the poor thing down to the shed using my Dad's RAV4.

 

Despite being reminded by brother Joe always to leave the handbrake off when parked for a long time, I didn't; and alas, it took a significant amount of drifting it round the feild on a legnth of rope behind the RAV before the brakes freed off.

 

 

I knew the rust would be almost terminal, so I have set aside a couple months to get it MOT ready, then at least 6 to flog it on!

 

Firstly I jacked it up and removed the wings, rear bumper and all that plastic trim that was trapping water next to the panels.

 

 

 

The rear corner trim is so damaged it has little or no life left in it.

 

 

Not looking good!

 

 

 

 

Other side wasn't any better!

 

I knew how much of a mucky unplesant job welding and grinding under a dirty car is - so took it down to the other shed and jacked it up ready for a good pressure wash underneath.

 

 

 

And I found some pretty horrific holes...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Back up to the top shed to let it drip-dry whilst I drove out to buy some more welding gas. Might go for an extra large bottle this time

 

 

 

Front bumper and lights off to aid access.

 

 

So after a good hoon to Lancashire and back I decided it wasn't all that bad really. Could have been much worse. There were large holes in the end of both sills and both front inner wings need work. A couple holes here and there, otherwise pretty solid.

 

The underseal in the wheel arches was propper thick, and a sanding flapper wheel provided much smoke and humour whilst rubbing down and perfect, clean metal underneath.

Better quality metal than a 205 even, and a damn sight thicker.

 

The main problems seem to appear where there is no protection other than the panel shop white/grey under coat. In the upper inner wings there was no underseal and no paint, just a thin layer of white factory primer. Suprised it has lasted so well considering it is a weak point for Rivas and is a perfect mud/salt trap.

And Zane Lowe is on the wireless so it couldn't be better.

 

Anyway! Back to work.

 

Sizing up.

 

 

Zipping on....

 

 

HAPPY DAYS!

 

 

 

Another patch on, after a break for a brew.

 

 

And thats one wing done! In under 3 hours! I love welding.

 

 

 

Wish me luck!
 

Slowly Slowly Catchy MOTy

 

More to follow next week.

 

Over and out - Will