1982 Lada Niva

[GoceKU]

Zastava made the 767cc and the 903cc engines so i can get as many of them as i want, about 16 years ago i build a stroker 1050cc from a 903did oversized valves bigger head bolts and that engine made some good power for its size but mid summer blow the lower radiator hose sized and throw a rod. They have only 3 main bearings and only one intake port. In my eyes they are the worst engine to make power. I'm planning to use a more modern renault K series engine when i rebuild my 600.

 

[RandyWilson]

Have you ever seen the Abarth version of the intake port?




As an aside, the first one of these I ever worked on, I was maybe 16yo, I could not get the head off. I had all nine head bolts out, just like my Mini. It took a bit, but I finally applied some logic. With the symmetrical pattern of bolts, unlike the Mini with a staggered pattern, there should be a 10th bolt about where the carb is sitting.

 

[GoceKU]

Yeah, i've done the intake port enlargement, made a manifold to bolt on by the head bolts, also i've made the bubble in the combustion chamber by the intake valve to get better air flow, i've had lots of fun and learn lots about engines. I was about 15 when i first bought my first zastava 750 (fiat 600 clone).

 

[GoceKU]

The littel niva got an upgrade today. I've got used to the headlight buzzer on peugeot's, and on the littel niva i'm forgeting to turnoff the headlights wich drans the battery. So why change me when i can change the car, last time i was at the junkyard in grab me a buzzer from a peugeot 405, i know those cars inside out, so i know the wires by color, and it took me 5 minutes to install it. Now, it only buzzes when lights are on and engine off. Then i spent some time on the trailer, i finished the lights and modified the tailgate, it was fixed. So i unbolted it and weld on two hinged and two spring catches. It only need a good pressure wash and to be registered.

 

[GoceKU]

To finish this setup i've been needing to make a trailer hitch for the little niva, i needed in fact two trailer hitches, one for for this small one and one for the big one i have, they need to be different heights and strengths, the stronger one i made from solid steel, i used 4 25x25mm pieces welded together, then i drill and there's a hole in the front and bolted then fully welded the ball hitch, then i moved on the the drop lightweight one, i used some 50x50 mm tubing, and some 20x60mm flat plate to make the drop. i still need to drill them for the pin, but there has been some vandalism in my machine shop, first i need to short that out.

 

[GoceKU]

Long overdue up date on the little niva. The engine is getting worse and worse, but is still running no knocking and that did not deter me when a good deal on some new tires for it come up for sale. I call the place and of course they don't have any 15" in stock only 16's so i ordered 205 80R16 size, that is 2" bigger then factory for the little niva and much wider. Now i have to get new rims, the ones that come on the little niva are pretty bent up, they are presentable, because i painted them, i'll try to buy couple more so i can combine a pair.

 

[GoceKU]

Well, this days is getting harder and harder to find honest sellers, i wanted to buy couple more rims so i can install the new tires on the little niva, so i called couple of places that advertised on a local buying and selling site, the guy on the phone said we have a 2014 niva with heavy front end impact but 3 of the wheels are perfect. So i told him to send them, first clue was because they wore wrapped tight in black plastic, also they come with tires, i did rip the plastic to see the bolt pattern they are for a niva and paint wasn't too bad. So i paid for them and when i got them unwrapped home and this is what i found, all 3 rims have visible dents on the front side, also by the date on them one is 2004 other is 2011 and last one is 1994 date of production, total scam. Called him back told him in the kindest way possible, his answer was ,, yeah because of that i send you the tires free of charge" , at this point i know is over, i did keep my cool told him i needed only good rim, i've already bought new tires, sending someone damaged rims with old tires is not right.

 

[GoceKU]

Today i finish drilling the heavy duty trailer hitch, did most of the drilling on the small drill press, and fitted it to the little niva. After i had the small trailer attached it was obvious that is too high never the less i wanted to try it, so i loaded it with all the tires for the nova, in fact the trailer was too small i had to load one in the trunk. I drove them to the tire shop and got them unmounted so i can check and fix the rims. And no suprase only one of the newly purchased rims is made for a tubeless tire. The little niva pulled the trailer like a champ, the gear down gearing is really handy when driving in reverse, no need to ride the clutch, this drive made me want to get the trailer registered sooner.

 

[GoceKU]

Next on the list for this vehicle is to do a engine swap, to make it diesel. As its manufacture Lada doesn't make a diesel engine, its russian (diesels don't like cold). So i spent few days digging thru my spares and finally i found the basics, found myself a peugeot XUD9 1.9 diesel engine, Lada 4 speed RWD gearbox, few flywheels from different peugeot engines, couple of clutches, mounts and loaded it all in the small trailer, i also loaded few dirty lada rims and get them ready to pressure wash them, as you can see the engine is very very dirty. Adapting the french engine to the russian gearbox will be fun.

 

[silverhawk]

Are you going to block off all of the ports on the engine/transmission, or are you going to rebuild them all? Water gets into a lot of places you don't want it to when used with pressure. I suppose a full fluid swap might get it by, but my brain has issues with water in the wrong passages.