Niva Hussar

[specialshoe]

tow truck is Herman - 1990 VW T25 DoppleKabine - ex German army - 1.9 turbo diesel, 6 seater - so quite a handy truck

50 to 55mph non stop towing for a couple of hundred miles yesterday - and cool as a chilled cucumber !

Just found the original toolkit in the Hussar - Yay!

[Tom.]

Toolkit is worth £400 alone.

[Nivana]

You are amassing quite an impressive collection there ! Nothing that tops your Riva though, she's a beauty...I waaaaant one !

I just sold a set of 15" Niva alloys with 205 Bridgestone tyres, you could have had. I have the same 16" steels on my Niva as you now...with Kama 232 185/75's and she runs very well on them. Seriously lacking in any grunt mind you, but without a lift they all seem pretty tame...apart from the voltyre of course !

Be good to see how you go, good luck with her!

[BelfastFella]

Can't believe I missed this one on Ebay! I usually know every single Niva on ebay.... gutted but happy for you though.

[Nivana]

Have you had a chance to get stuck in yet. If so...what's your overall impression.

[specialshoe]

I have done a little bit - but need to get the current 'project' finished (rebuild v8 engine in another toy) - otherwise I'll have too many piles of parts and 'elle dans la maison' will get even stroppier with my car parts spending habit.

But what I have done is;

1. jet wash the underside - really good - bit of flaking paint/underseal and surface rust but no rot or holes - just starting to creep around the arch lips but can be saved - so with prevention and new coatings will all stay solid and good.

2. Remove seats and carpets, jet wash carpets, hoover out and wash the inside - it was a bit like a field in there! Hope to get the seats back in this weekend. Got to replace the drivers side sound deadening - antifreeze soaked where the heater valve has leaked

3. Adjust camchain tension - engine is sweet now

4. Made a list of parts to buy and jobs to do - mainly 'service' work - fluids, plugs, brakes etc, heater valve and pipes then bit of bodywork, rust treat/prime/paint underneath and waxoyl, 4 new tyres and that should do it.

5. Is it a crime to remove the orange stripes and Hussar - original I know but truly horrid !

6. I have decided to sell my VW truck and use this as my transport - I was undecided what to do with it having bought it but it is quite charming and in good nick.

Parts wanted - 4 tyres, towbar, roof rack/cage, and there's a good spares supplier for service parts etc called.... can't remember who they are ......remind me?

Once I get stuck in I'll post an update

[BelfastFella]

I think you should keep your VW truck and sell me the Niva....

Just a thought

[Zelandeth]

Very nice, basically identical to mine when I got it, even down to the mileage.

I say keep the stripes, seeing a Niva these days is rare, seeing one that still wears all the original graphics etc is even rarer. They are very much of their time and I reckon are part of the character of the motor.

Love the Riva by the way, never seen the wood effect done before but I like it!

[specialshoe]

download/file.php?mode=view&id=962

Its Alive !

after quite a lot of fettling, maintenance, fresh oils throughout, a few new bits and bobs, tyres, bodywork etc its passed an MOT, is taxed and I drove 60 miles yesterday. Its done 17,676 from new - its a pretty terrible drive really - has it really got this bad in 17k miles or was it like this a new? The MOT man who used to work at a Lada garage/dealer thought it was quite good for one of these?!?!

I wasn't sure what to expect but it certainly wasn't built for speed or comfort or any combination of the two, and has a face only its mother can love.

So is it a keeper as I had anticipated - don't know - got a longish trip this weekend to Santa Pod so we'll see how we get on!

I did remove the orange stripes in the end - they are just too silly - looks so much better now single colour with new tyres and black/white wheels.

Wrestled a towbar on last night - well most of it so far - phew that was a struggle !

[Geoff Stainer]

Ha! Personally I think they are damned good looking vehicles. Having said that, my eldest son saw the photos of mine on the net and said it looked like a Lada and a Range Rover had had a miscarriage.

[specialshoe]

Don't get me wrong Geoff - I like the way it looks too - but that's because I like all strange, wierd, abnormal and silly cars. I think the body design, proportion etc is spot on

I'll put some miles on it this weekend and see how it goes - there should be two Ladas travelling together on Friday and Sunday - not something you see everyday (not nowdays anyway) - Riva and Niva together