Anyway fast forward a month, and another purchase on his part, and the Niva is unfortunately up for sale again. I had said that if he ever wanted to sell it I would have it back, but I wasnt banking on that happening quite as quickly as it did. As such i'm still not in a position to run and store 2 vehicles, so I said i'd put an add on here, and see if anyone out there in Lada land is interested.
Its a 1993 1.6, origionally, now running a Fiat 2ltr Twin Cam. This is correct on the V5, was always declared to the insurance (added £100 with adrian flux) and passes MOT emmisions tests easily. It uses a custom sump and custom engine mounts that incorperate the front diff mounts. It also has a full stainless exhaust system, with twin downpipes, as fiat intended. The rest is 2.25" straight through, and is not subtle!
Rust wise.... well, it had lots, now it has much less! over the last few years ive nibbled away at the problem areas, including plating the front 'chassis' rails behind the front top bump stop mounts, bracing the front crossmember up to the front valance, plating the steering box mount area (5mm plate, its not going anywhere soon, thanks SimonAllen!) a few patches on the inner sills and floor, and removing the rear valance altogether for rear heavy duty recovery points. (see pictures) Before my ownership it had also had replacement outer sills and a front wing, so although it is scabby, dented, and very poorly painted, it is pretty much structually sound. never had any issues with MOTs anyway. The boot lid is very rotten, well ive seen worse, but it does want attention.
Mechanically it is however pretty good. Prior to my ownership it had had new, well, most things! Diffs re-built, transfer box and gearbox re-built (all by Neil, i hope he doesnt mind me adding that it was his personal car, so it was very well looked after!) The steering box is also in perfect condition, and there is a spare, but it could do with new bearings.
Engine wise... its a good one, in my opinion! pulls very well with a single twin downdrought weber (new a few years ago) and has been utterly reliable since both I, and the friend I sold it to have had it. For both of us it was a daily driver. In July of this year i replaced the head gasket (it was blowing bubbles into the header tank) and cambelt (both supplied by Guy Croft) it has a heavy duty race gasket and a set of his ribe re-usable head bolts and a proper Gates cambelt. at the same time it had all new fluids and front wheel bearings, a couple of cv boots filters etc, the week after i put the road tires and drove 1500 miles in France in 8 days, and as usual, it was very reliable, and did 24.5mpg.(Even being completely loaded up with mountainbikes and hiking gear and 3 peoples worth of stuff!)
it is lifted 2" with longer coils up front and spacers out back, shock spacers, and currently has a welded rear diff, dont believe the hype, it is fine to drive on the road, and gets you anywhere offroad. (that said, there is an open diff that can go with it)
Known faults (as of when i sold it, some may have been sorted, ill find out) oil leak from the exhaust side cam box gasket, slight weep from the gearbox output seal, slight play in the centre cv, no boot lid lock (clasp and padlock instead) no rear seats fitted but can be supplied. sometimes if the exhaust gets VERY hot the starter needs a whack, they are very close. this has only been an issue on long motorway driving (3+ hours at 65) or occadionally when out laning when it runs for a long time with no airflow anywhere. a starter re-build was on my to do list but you know what those lists are like!
So in conclusion, it is loud, very very dented, mechanically pretty good and great fun to drive. MOT until the end of december and tax about the same. ill let some pictures do the talking! please PM me for more info or for Petes number so we/you can discuss a price. (offers in the region of £600) There will also be some other spares and twin cam related bits too.
Rob
P.S. His name is Larry.
on holiday in France:
and acting as recovery for my sisters old Riva, as a family we had a bit of a problem!
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