Lada Niva "A" class truck

[De-Ranged]

I'm trying something new, to save having the build threads clog up with "discusion" hopefully we can keep it here
so for all of you who can't resist the urge to put up Lada jokes go hard
and for the rest who have some thing good to say if its tech I'll copy it into the build thread

Right I need to know any weak pionts with these things
So fare I've found out they crack the steering boxes loose or split them , the suspension mounts crack when they are abused also there is a dodgy rubber donut thing on the CV that don't last so I'll look at removing that
The other issue thats come up is the front diff, don't know if it breaks loose (only held by 3 small bolts ) or if it blows,its not very big just been told its a weak piont

Oh by the way I don't have a name for her yet so who ever comes up with a good name I'll give ya a bit of free engineering

[86-surf]

NIVADA (sount Neevada) for a name i quite like the name:D.

I reacon you should scrap the running gear and give it to me. it can be my next project:D a 4wd gocart with a niva engine and drivetrain etc etc in it:D.

Don't no much about nivas but ive got a cupple of mates who have them and using them for offroading so ill have a talk to them for ya.

[GotFlex]

1- project ladas niva die (never)
2- DeNivered (deRanged)
3- Vodkanator Vodka+terminator!!

Haha i wana win this competion, just a question dont these have centre lock diffs?? wont that make it a class factory modiefied or something???

[mike]

1- project ladas niva die (never)
2- DeNivered (deRanged)
3- Vodkanator Vodka+terminator!!

Haha i wana win this competion, just a question dont these have centre lock diffs?? wont that make it a class factory modiefied or something???

Yeah but surely the people that write these rules realise that the centre diff lock only turns it into normal 4wd mode, might make a difference to turning circles on flat stuff but pretty sure it will work against you when you forget to put it back in. god knows it did with me Forgot to put it in, front wheel spun 100 points d'oh! "excuse me marshal can i have another crack just to prove to you that it could get up there", marshal: "no it wont", me: "watch this .........."

Mike

[De-Ranged]

just a question dont these have centre lock diffs?? wont that make it a class factory modiefied or something???

na no stress the rules about locking diffs only applies to the axles .... theres enough rangerovers in B class and they are the same deal

Truck is stripped now its just a case of waiting on the new motor to arrive, I'm just about doubling the HP from 70hp to 130hp by dropping in an old silvia motor (ca18de) and if the diffs handle it and I feel I need a bit more I've still got a small super charger sitting there

Oh and my bender I'm building is on hold coase I burned the motor out on my lathe so I can't do the frame either
pain in the .... becouse I've got a heap of paid work I need it for to

as for the names
"project lada niva die" that works till I get it going... then I start thrashing it to find out where its weak pionts are... "project niva go" would be better
"DeNiva'd" hmmm na
"Vodkanator" no no bad memories of an ex becouse of that stuff
"Nivada" ??? um I missed that one

Was considering "Team Serious Racing"

Cheers Reece

[SupraLux]

Was considering "Team Serious Racing"

About as close as you could seriously get with that line of thought would be team yahoo serious or mcgillicuddy serious

Go hard, its looking good

Steve

[skid]

before you get too carried away.

have you got a copy of the rule book, and have you read it properly.

you can't cut away too much of the body in A Class and I'm not sure about chopping the roof, coz the rules state that you can cut it to factory soft top height. did they make a soft top lada??

if I was you I would get hold of the man in charge of the competition side of things in NZ, and he just happens to be in the Hawkes Bay. Chace Rodda is the man and if you are in the HB4wd Club you will either know him, or be able to get hold of him through there.

coz A Class is fairly standard, you are limited, so it would pay to ask before you start chopping, otherwise you may go beyond the point of no return.

cheers SKID


and you said there were plenty of range rovers in B Class. NUP.

[De-Ranged]

before you get too carried away.

have you got a copy of the rule book, and have you read it properly.

Yes and yes then I started talking to people becouse it was a bit ambiguous

you can't cut away too much of the body in A Class and I'm not sure about chopping the roof, coz the rules state that you can cut it to factory soft top height. did they make a soft top lada??

Yea I know, these are a monocoqe body so after the roof is gone I don't realy want to do anything else (other than a little bit out to allow 31"s to fit) and yes there is a soft top lada a euro and brazil release only, but the rules I was given was cut no lower than the bottom of the wind screen

if I was you I would get hold of the man in charge of the competition side of things in NZ, and he just happens to be in the Hawkes Bay. Chace Rodda is the man

One step ahead of ya on that, talked to him and several other top compeditors, and Chace is coming out some time to give me give me the thumbs up...

coz A Class is fairly standard, you are limited, so it would pay to ask before you start chopping, otherwise you may go beyond the point of no return.

Thats why I like A class, there is only so much I can do as for cutting to much out measure twice cut once or in this case talk to alot of people and cut once... the roof isn't being cut till I've got the bender finished, and with my lathe down with a burned motor I"ll worry about getting evey thing else done first

and you said there were plenty of range rovers in B Class. NUP

Alright but there has been

Oh and Steve guess who I voted for..... thats right mcgillicuddy serious

Cheers Reece

[skid]

look forward to seeing ya at the nationals sometime soon

looks like you're way ahead of the ball

I always like someone who picks a different wagon

its good to see a break from tradition

go hard and we'll see ya soon (hopefully)

SKID

[De-Ranged]

Cheers Skid

I'm aiming for its first trials run to be the finals (easter) as its over here... that should give me a bit of time to "test" it give me a fair idea of what to expect from it on the day

All going well (business and truck) I'll follow next season

Cheers Reece

[skid]

Cheers Skid

I'm aiming for its first trials run to be the finals (easter) as its over here... that should give me a bit of time to "test" it give me a fair idea of what to expect from it on the day

All going well (business and truck) I'll follow next season

Cheers Reece

good luck with both enterprises and we'll see ya at easter

[giovanni]

Ciao 'De Ranged',
Bravo de projecta "Lada Niva "A" class truck"
You gotta any da picktures of ah de 'Projecta Pantry"?

grazie!

[nivaman]

A known Lada weakness is fith gear (never run under 90 kph with fith gear engaged) its purely an overdrive.
The front diffs being an alloy casing do crack and the bolts holding them on need beefed up or a mounting system used, when Niva's were converted to Peugeot diesels here brackets were used to attach the diff to the front cross member, it may be possible to convert to another front axle.
The diffs should take the Nissan's power, and the transfer case is well capable of taking that sort of power. If you can find a Lada four speed gearbox and diffs, the ratios in the four speed are better suited for off roading unless of course you are going to use the gearbox that comes with the engine and the ratios in the diffs are also suited for off roading (4.3).
Use angle iron on the lower diff links as it makes them less likely to bend when hit, Niva's can be lifted easily by two inches using longer springs all round and two inch longer shocks in the back, fit better seats if you can.
The rubber donut is not a weak point in the drivetrain but if the transfercase is aligned incorrectly it can be, most Niva transfercases are aligned incorrectly which is why people complain that they have vibe problems, if you can devise something that does the job better then by all means.
Niva's in Australia were converted to utes and people have converted their own as well.

[De-Ranged]

Not much to see at the moment.... just a gutted shell, no interior, motor gearbox etc...
I'm waiting for the motor and box to arrive then I'll sort a x-member to hold the front diff, been given the go ahead to do that but I'm not allowed to modifiy the mountings on the diff rules allow me the option to modify the inside of the diff not the outside.... so pretty much only allowed to change diff ratio's, so I'll have to make do . the ones I've got at the moment are 5 speed diffs but I'm gona run them first off, with running the auto that effectivly lowers gearing and I've got spares but I will keep an eye out for 4 speed ones thanks
As for the box well thats not a problem now.... I'll try the silva auto see if it goes alright
I'll have to see about reinforcing the lowers as there is no mention of it in the rules, was looking at something like that they are awfully small as for the suspension lift I'm only allowed to run original springs but I am allowed to stretch them... I've got a set thats already been done, in fact they had been done a bit hard and even before I pulled the motor they were on the upper bump stops.... I might swop them out for a normal set but I'll wait and see how it sits with the new motor and cage
And yes I'm putting new seats the old ones arn't allowed in comp, they are sposed to have head support this is my biggest cost

Been given a set of 31" muds as play tyres a bit worn but will do to let me see where they contact the body so I can cut the body to fit... going to pick them up today

Cheers Reece

[wgtnnewbie]

hmm just a thought for the name how bout project "SPETSNAZ"

[Cloggy_NZ]

I always wanted to build another Niva, put some sort of Chev engine in it and call it "GorbaChev" after the old Russian president.
The transfer case will handle 220 horsepower so won't give you any problems in that respect. However the way the transfercase is mounted can cause problems, I have welded many a Niva floor as they crack around where the transfercase bolts through the floor. Not to hard to make some sort of cradle that holds the transferbox and suspends it from the "chassisrails". Can probably dig up some pics of these and send them to you. You will probably need to shift the transferbox back anyway.
The diffs are OK but the front diff can break the drivers side half shaft if the front wheels become airborne and slam back down to terra firma whilst under power. I have never had this happen to me (running a souped-up 2 litre Fiat) but I have seen guys running standard 1600 Lada engines do this.
Replace the standard steering box with a Toyota Cressida powersteering box. I did this to my Niva and is one of the best modifications you can make to a Niva. The Toyota box is larger, cast iron, and almost bolts in. Can send you heaps of pics of my build.
As an indication of the strength of the Niva running gear. When I had my Niva I did a lot of corresponding with a guy in Canada who had transplanted a Mercedes 2.8 litre straight six twin cam engine and gearbox into his Niva. Still ran with the standard diffs and transfer case. He used to A-frame his SWB Series 1 Land Rover behind this all over Canada and the US. No problems with breaking diffs or gears.

[Dr_PC]

Been given a set of 31" muds as play tyres a bit worn but will do to let me see where they contact the body so I can cut the body to fit... going to pick them up today
Cheers Reece

You can cut the guards but you cant remove any metal, ie Cut the vertical and fold the metal back up and then fix it in place eg rivets. The A Class rules do not allow you to remove any metal from the guards. went through this last season 1st year of competition and will still being checked at scrutineering this year on it as well

[De-Ranged]

Oh joy.... alright then it looks like I'm going to have to call Chase Rodder again (chairman of the competition committy)
I was told "You could cut and remove.... so long as it was only to clearance the tyres"
This dosn't concern me much, what does is other things that I may have been told are wrong like my front diff mount

They really do need to re-write the rule book for "A" Class, this is just one of several issues I've found

Right looks like its down tools on this project till I can find someone who actually knows the rules

Cheers Reece

[nivaman]

Right looks like its down tools on this project till I can find someone who actually knows the rules

Cheers Reece

Seems a pity but the rules can be picky, would have been good to see a Niva built up and kicking some arse .

[De-Ranged]

I'll get there.... I just need to know what I,m allowed to do first ....

Cheers Reece

[skid]

wot are your plans for the weekend of 26/27 Jan. there is the next trial in Piopio.

you should cruise over and talk to the drivers of A Class trucks to see what they did. Look for Dan Barnett (Dr_PC) and he'll show you what he was allowed to do etc etc etc

this would probably be the best way to find out, and then you can actually see for yourself what others have cut


SKID

[mercutio]

you could paint it black and call it rushi'n
or call it cosmo0 this one may take some figuring out
i used to have a lada i was thinking of painting it red and putting the hammer and sickle on it

[De-Ranged]

We have a winner

call it rushi'n

I love it nice n' simple

For those watching the rules confusion thats come to light I'm sorry gotten busy all of a sudden, I'll get on the phone tomorrow and see if I can sort it keep watching

Cheers Reece De-Ranged Engineering
027 541 8794

[nivaman]

No worries do your best.

[mercutio]

We have a winner

call it rushi'n

I love it nice n' simple

did you notice the relevance of the colour

[De-Ranged]

Yep but I intend to paint it F-off Yellow

Right to update some good and bad news.....

I have tracked down the word on the rules
"you may cut, but not remove when clearancing the gaurd"
so we have to fold the bits out of the way and tac them in place

And I am allowed to build a frame to hold the diff

Hopefully the Motor will be here tomorrow... still don't know where the gearbox is at, the guy I bought it off on TM hasn't returned my emails

As for the bad news some low life f-wits broke into my shed this morning and along with the $7grand of stuff they took was my bling steering wheel for the lada, I'd just finished making a steering boss for it
I would really like to hurt someone about now.....

Cheers Reece De-Ranged Engineering
027 541 8794

[Smurf]

As for the bad news some low life f-wits broke into my shed this morning and along with the $7grand of stuff they took was my bling steering wheel for the lada, I'd just finished making a steering boss for it
I would really like to hurt someone about now.....

Shit Reece, I hope you manage to trackk the pri*ks down.

and as for F-off yellow, I'm beginning to think that is the only colour paint you have in you workshop...

[De-Ranged]

Have a possible lead... they had better not have a fancy new blue steering wheel when I catch up with them

as for F-off yellow, I'm beginning to think that is the only colour paint you have in you workshop...

"snap" ya got me oh and guess what colour your steering arms are now

Cheers Reece, De-Ranged Engineering
027 541 8794

[nivaman]

Happened to my dad a few years ago now and he managed to get some of his tools back but insurance had to cough up for the rest, the cops couldnt do much.
Hope you catch them.
Hope to see how you make the diff housing, you could use the back diff housing in the front as this has been done in Russia.

[SirGerald]

Hi we are thinking of doing the same mods to the Ladas in "Team Lada" (4 of them) over the next couple of years so will be interesting to see how you get on!!

Figure Cloggy might be interested to see how his old lada goes at that level??

What are the rules in relation to having the different engine?? Won't that push it out of A class??

One thing that we are looking at doing is changing the diffs as we have gone through a patch of breaking them, and wonder if the standard diffs, axles etc would handle the National Trials. Suspect that this would mean that we are then out of A class, but would save a heap of repair work??

STU