Сделано в СССР

[Wiggilez]

nice, and congrats on 3rd place  :thumbsup:

[desbennett004]

Just saw your Lada at the end of this clip. Great Job! https://www.youtube.com/shared?ci=MaZOMnodGHA

 

Sent from my SM-N900W8 using Tapatalk

[gogmorgo]

I made a thing today!

For less than an hour's work and under $15 in materials, I'm questioning why I didn't do it long ago. This is a TON of fun. All cars should start like this.

 

Unfortunately I've canceled the rego on the Niva for the time being. The transmission's input shaft seal started leaking, and I lost fifth gear in New York. It made the trip back in 4th, but there are not-so-great sounds coming from my brand-new transmission, and the clutch did not care much at all for the 4000+ mile oil bath, and by the time I made it home was slipping above 1/2 throttle. So it'll be sitting where it's parked until that gets addressed.

[Wiggilez]

I take it the car was already set ip for that? Also i find it weird that a car built in 96 has a hand crank start thing.

[Minuit]

 i find it weird that a car built in 96 has a hand crank start thing.

 

Welcome to the world of Russian engineering.

[gogmorgo]

Yeah, apparently they weren't equipped with the bumpers with holes and the fancy crank nut for much longer after mine was built. At that point it was more of a gimmick than anything else, although back in the 70's (and even today somewhat) it's a hell of a walk out of most of Russia if your starter packs it in, and for the dollar or two it costs at production scale, it's a handy backup. Most crank handles went AWOL like mine did several owners ago though, but people who have them still use them regularly, as it's a great way to turn the engine over while re-tensioning the timing chain, which needs done every oil change.

[HOrnbrod]

If I were stranded out in the Siberian steppes in the middle of winter with a semi-dead battery, I would definitely like to have this option.   :yes:

[gogmorgo]

Or any other number of things.

A couple months after I bought it, the week after it was legal to be on the road, I hit a wash out at the bottom of a coolee way off the grid, and parked in a swamp. Five mile hike back to my friend's place. We dragged it out the next morning. I was going up one side, she was headed up the other, and as I turned around I stalled it. Hit the key and nothing. I look up and watch her truck disappear over the top. Five mile hike later I was less than impressed.

I won't ever exclude myself from the line of idiots who owned this Niva, but knowing what it had been equipped with from the factory and that The reason I was walking was one of the idiots before me couldn't keep a handle on his handle... I wasn't the happiest guy in the world.

 

I wasn't hugely inspired to make a handle at the time, but was keeping an eye out. It wasn't long ago I stumbled over the diagram and recommendation to make my own which is when it occurred to me to do such a thing.

Needless to say now though mine's staying in the vehicle unless I'm using it.

[gogmorgo]

Video from the Tail of the Dragon.

[gogmorgo]

Been cruising around in this thing again today. Forgot how much it doesn’t feel like it’s built for highway driving. 
Picked up a muffler for it. The glass pack is still hilarious at low speeds, but between the top gear being direct drive, 4.10 gears, and high range also being a 1.20 reduction, 100km/h is 4200 rpm and that gets real old, real quick. Nothing fancy, just a thrush welded. Haven’t decided if I’m going to swap out the glass pack, or leave it where it is as a resonator ahead of the rear axle and hang the muffler transversely behind it in the stock location.

Also the starter has apparently packed it in. You get looks using the hand crank, let me tell you.

Videos are hard. 

[Pete M]

it most definitely wasn't built for freeway driving.  Russia doesn't really have a lot of those things. 

[gogmorgo]

56 minutes ago, Pete M said:

it most definitely wasn't built for freeway driving.  Russia doesn't really have a lot of those things. 

Especially not when they designed it back in the 70’s. Last ten years or so they’ve been building more “refined” versions for paved roads. Single-speed transfer cases, more modern appearance package, luxuries like a power windows and a stereo, a/c even. Mine I’d just be happy if I could shut the heat off for the summer. 

[91Pioneer]

A buddy of mine has a Lada Niva, I haven't seen it yet. He said he was offloading it, got it stuck, and then broke a driveshaft when trying to get it out. I'm not sure how many years ago that was but it's been sitting for years now. I've been bugging him to fix it and sell it to me LOL.

 

Do you have any Niva parts? Do you want to sell your Niva to me? I'm ready for a challenge LOL. I can't even remember the last time I saw a Lada on the road, I'd say it was in the 90's....!

 

My understanding is that as Canadians we can import cars that are 15 years old. Do you know if there is some place I can buy a 15 year old Lada in Canada that's already been imported?

[gogmorgo]

On 11/28/2023 at 7:43 PM, 91Pioneer said:

A buddy of mine has a Lada Niva, I haven't seen it yet. He said he was offloading it, got it stuck, and then broke a driveshaft when trying to get it out. I'm not sure how many years ago that was but it's been sitting for years now. I've been bugging him to fix it and sell it to me LOL.

 

Do you have any Niva parts? Do you want to sell your Niva to me? I'm ready for a challenge LOL. I can't even remember the last time I saw a Lada on the road, I'd say it was in the 90's....!

 

My understanding is that as Canadians we can import cars that are 15 years old. Do you know if there is some place I can buy a 15 year old Lada in Canada that's already been imported?

I see the odd ad for a newer imported Lada. There’s a couple guys in the Lada groups on Facebook that will arrange an import as well for you, they’ll fill a few containers with cars and parts a few times per year, although I don’t know of any specific dealers that specialize or anything.

I was actually kinda wondering about the process again recently, I’ve started getting interested in the Chevrolet Niva, which is a weird joint venture with GM for a second-gen Niva, a more modern body with the original mechanical bits underneath, although I doubt that I’ll have the money to do it any time soon.

 

I’ve got a couple new cv shafts sitting around but no driveshafts. I bought them because the original cvs have boot shield things that are damaged on mine and I thought I’d need them for an inspection. Then I moved back to Manitoba and don’t need to pass an inspection anymore.

But otherwise most of the parts I have are either things I need that I haven’t got around to installing or else old broken stuff that came off that I didn’t throw away because I’m a bit of a hoarder.

 

Someone posted up this weekend in one of the Facebook groups that there’s a Niva in the Buck’s yard in Regina. Don’t know how much of it will be left, there was a fair bit missing already. 
Ital Motors in Edmonton carries a fair bit and has their own little salvage operation as well, I bought quite a bit of stuff from them for my Samara a few years back, including glass. They’re generally willing to ship stuff.

Otherwise most of the stuff I need I’ve ordered from Ladapower.com. His inventory is a little patchy right now but it’s improving as he rebuilds his supply chain. He recently relocated his operation from Ukraine to Estonia because… well, reasons. Just be aware that you may get hit with 35% tarriffs or whatever it is now on any Russian manufactured goods you import. Plus GST and PST.

There’s a handful of other online stores in Europe, Ladapower has some good parts manuals and you can find most things by googling the part number you’re looking for even if Ladapower doesn’t have it in stock. I also had a friend hook me up with a dealer in Sofia, Bulgaria, when she was there a few years back and getting parts from Ukraine was looking problematic, although I never ended up buying anything from him because Ladapower reopened in Estonia just after. 

[91Pioneer]

Thanks for the info.

[91Pioneer]

It turns out my buddy needs a left rear axle shaft and he's not sure what else off-hand, it's been sitting a few years He sent me a few photos, they are such cool rigs. Of course I then went to YouTube to see Nivas and found a guy that is fixing his up currently, username PLUKI 4X4

 

I have lost so much motivation to work on car projects this year I'm hoping any future vehicle is nearly done, like 95%+ done not needed much work at all.

[gogmorgo]

16 hours ago, 91Pioneer said:

It turns out my buddy needs a left rear axle shaft and he's not sure what else off-hand, it's been sitting a few years He sent me a few photos, they are such cool rigs. Of course I then went to YouTube to see Nivas and found a guy that is fixing his up currently, username PLUKI 4X4

 

I have lost so much motivation to work on car projects this year I'm hoping any future vehicle is nearly done, like 95%+ done not needed much work at all.

Apparently the axles and driveshafts are still under the one at Bucks as of last night. Engine and trans were there too. I have half a mind to run down there on the weekend and likely would if I didn’t need to throw some of my stack of parts onto the Comanche. I could do with a good transmission, getting sick of not having 5th gear on the highway. I’ve got an old one I could rebuild but it’s pretty thrashed, was run out of oil a few times. But like you say just don’t know when I’d get to it. Might be nice to grab the transfer case as well, mine has always made noises I’m not sure it should be making. 
If you do go full axle swap instead of pulling a shaft it might be good to grab the front diff out of it too. I don’t remember what the exact ratios are but there were a couple options and they’re pretty close together. Something like 3.95 vs 4.05 iirc. 

 

[91Pioneer]

I went this week and got the left rear axle. The brake drums were seized on there so I unbolted the hub and knocked it out that way. It's a shame that is in the junkyard it's in overall fantastic basically rust free shape.

 

The decal on the hatch shows it was sold by Matrix Lada in Regina and now it's met its demise. It has been a local vehicle it's entire life, I'd bet.

[gogmorgo]

3 hours ago, 91Pioneer said:

I went this week and got the left rear axle. The brake drums were seized on there so I unbolted the hub and knocked it out that way. It's a shame that is in the junkyard it's in overall fantastic basically rust free shape.

 

The decal on the hatch shows it was sold by Matrix Lada in Regina and now it's met its demise. It has been a local vehicle it's entire life, I'd bet.

That’s kinda what happened to most of them unfortunately. Either they got treated as disposable and disposed of, or else they got looked after carefully and theb parked for something like worn brake pads after the parts supply dried up in the late ‘90’s, before the internet really took off. 
 

My Niva’s brake drums are aluminum. But they’ve also always come off nicely when I asked. 
 

Just because it’s been on my mind recently, Ladapower sells J-hook wiper arms. There are still a few wiper blades out there that’ll fit the 7mm bayonet the Niva uses, but they’re getting pretty tough to track down. I think the last set I bought were Rain-X brand. I had some Bosch sets previously but couldn’t make the last Bosch blades I bought work. The Samara uses 10mm bayonets that really don’t exist anymore outside the eastern block. I ended up chopping up some junk wiper arms and welding the J-hooks onto the factory arms so now I can run any blade. I highly recommend figuring something out like that.

[91Pioneer]

I think my 86 Eagle has something like 7mm bayonet

[91Pioneer]

UPDATE: Nearly 6 months later and my buddy sold me his Niva. I am now the proud owner of a broken 97 Niva. It's a beaut Clark. It was parked for over 10 years so needs everything that goes along with that...

 

I need a clutch reservoir cap for it. Will probably need more things soon too. I have the alternator, axle, bumper end caps, and some other bits.

 

I'm having a hard time finding an oil filter, RockAuto isn't very useful for these things.

 

Do you want to sell me one of your homemade hand cranks? I know already I need to crank it over by hand and see if the engine still turns before using the starter motor.

 

[gogmorgo]

On 5/25/2024 at 10:38 PM, 91Pioneer said:

UPDATE: Nearly 6 months later and my buddy sold me his Niva. I am now the proud owner of a broken 97 Niva. It's a beaut Clark. It was parked for over 10 years so needs everything that goes along with that...

 

I need a clutch reservoir cap for it. Will probably need more things soon too. I have the alternator, axle, bumper end caps, and some other bits.

 

I'm having a hard time finding an oil filter, RockAuto isn't very useful for these things.

 

Do you want to sell me one of your homemade hand cranks? I know already I need to crank it over by hand and see if the engine still turns before using the starter motor.

 

Sorry, only just saw this. 
My homemade crank didn’t last very long. I managed to track down an original and that didn’t last too long either. Kinda like the spare tire jack, seems like it’s not intended for regular use. I’m at work right now but can dig up the blueprints for the handle when I get home.

 

As for oil filters, the ‘91+ Jeep 4.0 filter has the same mounting just a little taller with a little more volume. Hasn’t been an issue using it.

I was working at a parts store shortly after buying my Niva, and spent a while with the catalogue matching up the specs for the original Lada oil filter, then I chose the one we had the most inventory, on the grounds that would be the most available. I was a little surprised when I got home and discovered it was the same one I used on my MJ.

 

As for other parts, I’ve mostly been ordering online. Ladapower.com was my go-to but he was located in Ukraine so things have been interesting. He’s since moved the operation to Estonia, but it’s taken a while to rebuild his supply chain from what he once had. But they have excellent parts catalogs (in English!) and even if they haven’t had the parts I needed I’ve had good success just googling the part numbers and finding them on eBay or some other dedicated parts store. 
There are some pretty hefty duties now on parts originating in Russia though. I also had a DHL shipment get routed through the States and somehow they decided it was appropriate to charge me duty in the US as well, so I’ve been sticking to regular mail service for orders since then instead of courriers. 

I’ve also bought parts from Ital Motors in Edmonton. They’re a former dealer that has done their best to keep in the game. Bit of a cool shop if you ever get the opportunity to go in person, they’ve got some race cars hanging out in the front room.

[gogmorgo]

On 5/25/2024 at 10:38 PM, 91Pioneer said:

 

Do you want to sell me one of your homemade hand cranks? I know already I need to crank it over by hand and see if the engine still turns before using the starter motor.

 

I’ve got a new concept on crank handles. Not ready for manufacturing yet because I don’t really have a material source. I’ve been debating using an old school speed wrench to avoid needing to do all the bends but the trick is finding a cheap one to cut up. Just need to find a decent quality steel rod though, the bends aren’t that big a deal. The mild steel rod I used the first time definitely wasn’t up to task. 
But after ripping the cross bit out of my original Lada crank handle (from overuse… I hand started this thing a LOT) I welded a chunk of 1/2” grade 8 bolt onto the end of the Lada handle then instead of drilling and pressing in the cross bit I just cut the shank out of a 1/4” bolt, grade 8 again of course and welded that across the end. Hoping the weld will be stronger than what’s left of the rod after drilling through it. 

The extend-a-shaft weld is a little sloppy because the original material is 12mm instead of 1/2” so it’s not a perfect alignment. 
From the bend to the cross piece is roughly 17”. I extended that about an inch and a half with the bolt because the original crank put the bend super close to the bumper, and that made it tricky to line up.

The lever throw is about 7” but that’s not a critical dimension. I think the first one I made was in the 9” range.

I also remember an old forum post about a guy modifying the spare tire crank from a Nissan truck (Frontier maybe?) for the same purpose. I haven’t tracked one of them down yet. 
 

Edit to add a picture with dimensions. 

 

This is after fettling the cross bit to make it fit. 
Missing the nub at the end doesn’t seem to affect engagement much. You’ll still want to check where it sits to make sure it is fully seated before cranking. 

 

As for the length, I’m not sure 17” is the best. I need that to clear my front license plate, but that’s not a big deal for you in SK... The plate could also get moved further away from the crank hole I guess. 
 

The issue with it sticking out this far is it wants to bend where it’s supported at the crank hole. You are putting a fair bit of force into the thing so it would be nice to make the bend as close to the bumper as possible. That or make it far enough out you can grab it with your other hand to support it. 
 

But it’s sturdy enough with the cross piece just welded to the tip, I was able to toss the engine over quite a few times with no ill effect on the repair. I didn’t actually try starting it, that’s tough to do cold. The TBI loses where the crank and cam are every time you shut the key off and it needs a few full revolutions at a reasonable speed to figure it out. I’ve done it completely by hand but it sucks. Any of the videos I’ve taken I left the key on and stalled it to make it much easier on myself and the viewers… I doubt anyone wants to watch my fat @$$ throw that crank over for a few minutes.

I don’t know how the carb would behave there. But I do know there is a real risk of backfires and reverse rotation smacking you on the wrist. Even with the injection, I’ve had it pop backwards if I stopped turning at the top of a compression stroke. I don’t know if it was from a spark or just the compressed gas decompressing and pushing the piston back down, but either way it hurt. I reduce the risk of that by pushing up as far into a compression stroke as I can and then throwing some heft into it to kick it past and around, and if I doesn’t start I let go and pull my hand back to reposition for the next attempt. 
 

But if all you want to do is turn the crank by hand, you can still use a socket on the hex like a regular crank bolt. 

 

[gogmorgo]

Well the repaired crank handle is also successful at starting the engine. Had to pull it out leaving the hardware store today. I think the starter solenoid is on its way out, but TBD. Wrapping the exhaust manifold around the starter is a choice… doesn’t make starter diagnosis easy when it’s still hot!