Lada Niva 1978 1.6 4x4
Sunday, 7th of October 2001
I bought the Niva. I got four unused russian tires and five used steel wheels and one 2.5 litre all-aluminium russian RAF-engine with a gearbox and all accessories with it. The petrol tank was also full and a repair manual in russian followed with the car. I drove the Niva to home from the town of Lappeenranta. Those about 200 kilometers went without problems.
Monday, 8th of October 2001
While driving to work at morning I found the rear brakes are not releasing completely. Rear wheels were quite warm when arrived at work. At the same day I bought a new rear brake cylinders, brake shoes, air and oil filters, distributor cap, breaker points, condensator and distributor rotor. The engine electrics seemed to be in fair condition and I left the new parts in their boxes. I changed oils and oil and air filters.
Tuesday, 9th of October 2001
I replaced the left hand side rear brake cylinder and with a friend we started to bleed the brakes but soon noticed that there was no brakes at all. Sigh. I removed the master cylinder and took it to pieces. One of the pistons were stuck and the cylinder was full of debris. I cleaned the cylinder, rebuilt it and put it back to the car. No bonus, no brakes.
Wednesday, 10th of October 2001
I made the paperwork. Took a mandatory incurance and registered the car to me. Bought a new master brake cylinder. Luckily the spares are cheap. I installed the cylinder and again we started to bleed the brakes. Front circuit worked well but the other circuit which affects all wheels did not. There was absolutely no pressure at all in that circuit. I removed the new cylinder, took it to pieces, rebuilt it, reinstalled it and it behaved exactly like earlier. I took it off the car and put it back to the package.
Thursday, 11th of October 2001
Went to the part dealer and changed the master cylinder to another similar one. Installed it and still the same problem. The new cylinder was made by Ate and the one which came with the car was more or less russian made. Then I realized it was the rod that pushes the piston in to the cylinder. It was too long for this Ate cylinder. I shortened the rod about a half centimeter and that's it. Now the piston was able to move back to the rear position and brake fluid floated into the cylinder. Again we bleed the brakes and they became functional again. I had found the bleeding valve at the right hand side front brake caliper was broken into the caliper, then probably drilled out and there was quite huge (M10 or M12) thread in the aluminium caliper filled with an ordinary bolt. It seemed to work but was quite messy to bleed. The brakes became just acceptable, not good at all.
Sunday, 21st of October 2001
The brakes are almost gone again. I adjusted the rear brake shoes. That helped a lot. Adjusted also the hand brake but no effect. Brakes still suck, though they're usable. The rusted exhaust pipe have been making noise for few days and the sound level is rising and rising. One of the mufflers is rusted through.
Monday, 22nd of October 2001
I bought new exhaust pipe middle and rear sections. The front section wasn't rusted much. It took few hours to install the pipe. I also repaired the extra pair of lights mounted on the bull bar. Relay connections were bad, as well the other bulb connector. Now they're working.
Tuesday, 31st of October 2001
There's something wrong with the right hand rear brake. The brake locks sometimes when reversing. The fuel gauge is working but I ran out of fuel again. I'll try to remember that when the gauge is pointing zero, it means that there's no more fuel not that you should consider visiting fuel station.
Thursday, 1st of November 2001
The rear right hand wheel bearing oil seal has been leaking. I bought a new sets of wheel bearings and seals for both rear wheels.
Saturday, 10th of November 2001
The radio went dead. I didn't pay much attention on this.
Sunday, 11th of November 2001
I found the brake lights were also dead. There was a bad contact in the fuse and the fuse blew (and burnt my finger) when I touched it. I found on of the leads behind this fuse was grounded and I disconnected it and replaced the fuse. The radio and brake lights started to work. Now it was the driving lights which went dead while another fuse blew. I took a quick look at the wires and somehow right hand front light started to glow. It was enough for me to drive the car home. While driving I noticed the engine didn't run very well, I guess it lacked the ignition current. The rear brakes are more or less nonfunctional and they are making noise while driving, I think I must open them too. The front shock absorbers are also really worn out. The car hardly stays on a road after hitting a bigger bump. The relay for the extra pair of driving lights is working occasionally. Hell yeah.
Monday, 12th of November 2001
One grounded wire which burnt the fuse was connected to the windscren wiper motor. There must be a short circuit in the motor but wipers are working though. I left the wire disconnected. The left hand side light circuit is also grounded and left front and rear lights as well as instrument lights are dead. I need to check out what grounds this circuit. This time I didn't found anything else that is broken. Well, umm.. It sounds like a small leak in an exhaust pipe somewhere.
Tuesday, 13th of November 2001
Something burnt the radio and brake lights fuse again.
Wednesday, 14th of November 2001
I found the cigaret lighter was occasionally making a short circuit and I disconnected it. I replaced the fuse and brake lights and radio are working again.
Saturday, 24th of November 2001
I replaced the burn fuse and all lights began to work. There was also some contact problems with the fuses. I changed the yellow headlight bulbs to normal ones. When I started the engine, one fuse blew and instrument lights went off. Right hand side rear flasher is not working.
Monday, 3rd of December 2001
The driver's seat collapsed.
Saturday, 8th of December 2001
Repaired the driver's seat by welding the linkage support bracket.
Monday, 10th of December 2001
Repaired the right hand side indicator. The connector which connects the rear part of the wiring loom under the dashboard was loose. I also adjusted the clutch linkage. I found the radio dead. Removed the remains of a car alarm system.
Friday, 28th of December 2001
I got Niva to an annual inspection. The battery wasn't mounted properly, the load sensing shaft that operates the rear brake balance valve was cut and the hand brake was too weak. It didn't pass and I have to repair these during a month.
Saturday, 5th of January 2002
The battery is now firmly mounted to it's place.
Monday, 28th of January 2002
I got the car back to the inspection station. This time it wasn't about the load sensing shaft, despite that it was still cut, but the whole balance valve seemed stuck. Then, the car was in the hall on the hydraulic lifter but it didn't start anymore. The inspection was canceled and I had to call a friend to tow me. The car started after being towed and I drove it back to home.
Friday, 8th of February 2002
I tried to start the engine. It cranked but didn't start.
Sunday, 10th of February 2002
Changed the spark plugs, spark plug and coil leads, distributor cap, condenser and rotor but it still didn't start. Then I changed the coil and it started right away.
Saturday, 16th of February 2002
Changed a new rear brake pressure valve and repaired the load sensing shaft. When tried to bleed the brakes I noticed the new valve was stuck and it was impossible to bleed. I changed the old valve back to prevent the fluid leaking to the ground.
Thursday, 21st of February 2002
Opened the new regulator valve and found it stuck. Cleaned it, added some grease and rebuilt it.
Saturday, 23rd of February 2002
Tested the brake pressure regulator with compressed air and installed the valve and bleeded the brakes. Now brakes are functioning again.
Tuesday, 26th of February 2002
I got the Niva inspected. The inspector wondered how the engine can run while the distributor cap was shaking wildly. The car passed and I drove over 10km to my workplace until I opened the distributor. There was something really wrong. The engine did start, it run reasonably well and idled with a distributor broken that badly. The upper part of the rotor was really separated from the body, it wasn't just cracked. I had learned to keep some spares in the car so I changed the rotor and cap, cleaned a bit and it worked better, at least the cap didn't shook anymore.
Thursday, 25th of April 2002
I found a photo taken at the end of February. I put it here, just for your pleasure. :)
Monday, 13th of May 2002
Changed three propshaft universal joints. Found the new rear brake pressure regulator was leaking and I removed it. The brakes works now better than ever.
Thursday, 23th of May 2002
Niva is now for sale.
Sunday, 8th of September 2002
Niva is sold.
Visitors since Monday, 22nd of October, 2001.
