Introducing Daisy...

[sqweek01]

Hello,

I thought I'd introduce my 'little' project. Her name is Daisy & she's a 1977 Lada Zhiguli. I bought her off eBay last year and I want to bring her back to her former glory. She's gonna need alot of welding...

I've only just got a welder and I have no experience whatsoever but what the hell!

Here's some pics:

Not looking too bad

Bottom of the front wing (r/h/s)

Sill behind drivers side rear arch

Sill drivers side

Drivers side bottom of rear door

Nice hole near drivers seat

Drivers side wing

Passenger side wing

All this is just what I can see. I had an 'MOT' done on her (not surprisingly she failed!) and there's some other heavy corrosion too. Not much to go on then!

The garage also reckoned the work would cost 3-4 thousand pounds, and then they said 'why would you want to restore a Lada? It's not worth it'. That makes me mad! I did meet a guy there that had a VW Kubelwagon though.

Regards

Clare

 

[the snooper]

well i never thought i would see / find someone that would want to restore a lada still it takes all sorts to make the world go round

good luck

 

[rtbcomp]

Phew!

I actually hired a Lada once, they should have let me have a Morris Marina but that was already taken. After my initial apprehension I came to quite like it, £15.00 for 24 hours wasn't too bad. (They offerred me more cash, but I couldn't accept)

As I type, Radio 4 is doing an item on Lada, part owned by Renault, on the verge of bankruptcy. The city where Lada is built depends 100% on the car factory - looks grim for them.

I've attached a link about posting photos here, it's a bit better than Photobucket, keep the pics coming.

http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=12020

 

[Hitch]

You've beaten me too it Rtb, i have added image tags to the original post this time, to allow direct viewing.

 

[TAITSIE]

You should check on ebay, someone is selling new wings and arch panels.

 

[peterd51]

Hi,

I had a Lada for a year or so some time back, basic, but incredible starting in the cold. One winters morning with three or four other guys in the street stuggling to get their British cars running my Lada fired up within a couple of seconds.

I'm not sure I'd want to restore one though, and that looks pretty bad in places. You may find large sections disappear when you run a grinder over it. New sills and wings should be available, maybe Cooks on Grange Lane could get them. You may end up with a new floorpan too, depends how far the 'rot' extends.

If you want some basic training on using the welder, or advice on how to tackle the job then please send me a PM, I'm in Scunny.

Regards
Peter

 

[white van man 2]

The garage said 'It's not worth it'

i welded up a mk3 escort a few years ago because a garage said the same thig to me. cost me less than £50 in bits, although the steel to weld in was yellow and had "diversion" painted on it

 

[TheJoker]

Dare I ask how much you paid for it?

Reason for asking is that I'm from Finland, and because of the Soviet-era bilateral trade Finland had with CCCP we "had" to import those pieces of **** (sorry, there's no more accurate description). They cost about half of a "normal" car. Imagine buying a brand new Focus for £8,000, well the Ladas were about £3500 new.
They were basically horrible cars. They didn't handle, they didn't go, they drank a lot of fuel, the radio had a whining noise when you turned the fans on, the electrickery was temperamental, and as you already know, they rusted beyond imagination.

Now here's the good part; You're not alone. In Finland there's still these people who cherish and care for their "brand new car" they bought in the 80's. This was a big thing for those who had experienced the after-war hardship. End result is that you can now find a rust-free Lada once in a while and it's been cared for like an infant.

Get a ticket to Finland, find a Lada, take the VIN from yours, register it and Robert's your parents sibling.

I'm not usually one who puts people down, but I think that specimen is too far gone to be resurrected. Sorry.
Feel free to disagree with me and go ahead with it. If you finish it and make it a beaut you'll have my full and utter respect and admiration.

 

[rtbcomp]

Hi,

......... but incredible starting in the cold. ........

That's what impressed me about the one I had.

 

[gizmo]

not that much rust lol

just have to use the welder to rebuild the car round the key lol

will look good when done mate

 

[sqweek01]

It makes me chuckle reading replies

Yesssss, I paid far too much for her, but I couldn't see her going to the scrapyard. Even if I can't resurrect her I can turn her into something else. I understand they're not everyone's cup of tea but if it was a VW Split screen camper van things might be different! Brand spanking new in 1977 she would've cost £1600, and no I didn't pay that much! The engine seems fine, after being stood for 10 years she started first time.

My daily driver is a G reg Riva and there's very little rust, it all depends on how things are stored & looked after. There's people on the Lada UK forum that use them for rallying too, and the Nivas for green-laning.

I've been reading on here about someone who's restoring a split screen camper van & I think he's had to redo his floor, it's certainly something that may be needed.

Peter, many thanks for the offer of tution. I'll be taking you up on that at some point.

Regards

Clare

 

[66-V8]

But why a Lada?

 

[malcolm]

There was a fabulous Lada welding thread just a little while back: http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=12386

I am often challenged with the question "why do you restore old Renaults? - they aren't cool". Well it's because I like them. I have put thousands of hours into my latest project which will end up being worth about £3500.

And it's not just me. Let me see a proper VW restoration that has paid for all the hours and I'll eat my hat and change my name to Janet. (I'd like to use my own definition for proper and would need a hat).

Ladas will be in the same boat. For yours the 3-4 £thousand to get someone else to do it looks a bit optimistic.

Doing it yourself in the state that it's in would be a bit skilled which is probably where everyone else is coming from. It's not impossible though, and we are here to help as much as we can.

 

[Robotstar5]

I'll eat my hat and change my name to Janet.

Is there something you want to tell us Malcolm?

We get just the same in the Land Rover world, it's never worth the time / money spent but we enjoy it!

 

[oz.]

Whats wrong with a Lada? The Niva is as good as any other off-roader- it's only downfall is a low sump.

I would restore a Lada for it's rarity value

 

[TheJoker]

But why a Lada?

See my comments above, but I understand why you ask this question. A Lada is in my definition **** (which the profanity filter will block out), but as with any car restoration I think that, especially in today's throw-away culture, is a Good Thing (tm).

In my book there's probably a thousand cars to be restored before the Lada (one of them being the Niva, another one the Wartburg and even the Moskowitch and very early Skodas). However, I don't mind someone taking care of a Lada... but I do think that this particular specimen is quite far gone.

And anyone talking about "economy" in restoring cars as a hobby has completely missed the point.

 

[sqweek01]

Why a Lada? Well, why not! Just think of it as a Fiat 124

Seriously I get where you guys are coming from & I don't take offense, I have to have a sense of humour I drive a Lada!

Everyone just likes different things in cars. The Lada wasn't really built for this country & it's many years behind in most (or could that be all?) things, but so what! It's a fun car!

Regards

Clare

 

[Paul.]

A chap I used to work with had one of those, the key was jammed in the Ignition, it worked ok but it just couldn't be removed, he left it out on the street every night, it was never stolen I wonder why!
Good luck with the rebuild, anythings possible with a welder and determination, have a look at my frogeye albums to see what can be achieved.

 

[reno]

Wow, now thats some serious rust...

I take my hat off to you for even considering tackling that as a first project. I often look at my renault which is my first project and wonder what the hell I've got myself into!

Unfortunately it's all too common that many people can't understand why you would spend your time and hard earned money on a car that doesn't have a following like the VW, mini or classic Ford scenes or isn't worth much money. I get it freqently about my renault which would never have been a viable project if I wasn't doing it myself. But cars are a matter of taste and not everyone likes the same thing - it would be bloody boring if we all did...

Good luck, reno

 

[sqweek01]

Like I said in my first post, if I can't save her completely I can always do something else with her. Either way she won't be in a scrap yard

I never saw Daisy before I bought her & I wouldn't have known what I was in for if I did. From what I've read about just replacing the wings it's gonna be 'fun'. It's an expensive way of learning to weld, but at least I can learn!

There are loads of other cars I'd love to own, including a VW Kubelwagon, Ford Edsel, '77 Pontiac Tran-Am, '58 Plymouth Fury, Ford Mustang, and numerous old British cars.

TIG Paul, my next door neighbour used to have a Lada & to my surprise it got stolen! Unfortunately my G reg has it's quarter-light windows & the back window put in, and surprisingly someone tried to break the drivers lock! Don't get me wrong I love my Lada but they must've been desperate! I'll have a look at your frogeye albums.

Regards

Clare