1995 lada riva estate.

[Dez]

Another build thread? Yh Rly.

I’ve had this stashed since November last year.
I saw it come up for sale, it wasn’t that cheap but I sort of new the seller, and I had unfinished business with one of these due to the fire. I went and had a look at it as it was local, and an offer took it. This is the ebay listing I bought it from.




















The other one (a black 1500 estate) id given to the mrs as she expressed interest in wanting it, and it was a week or two away from being on the road, but as I had so much else to deal with post-fire she said to just forget about it. Which we did, I just canned it (well, sold the burnt out shell to a banger racer) and moved on.
But when this one came up for sale locally I had to have it to replace the one she’d lost.
I even kept it a secret from her, for the best part of a year until recently when i accidentally called at the yard with her with me and I’d left it parked out front of the workshop 😖😂

She was actually fairly impressed is gone to the trouble of finding such a similar car and buying it for her again though, so it went down pretty well.

Here it is being delivered.


It’s only done 43k, and was sold as having been dry stored for nearly 20 years. It is is rather amazing condition, never welded and only needing minor attention in that department.



I found out the other week the the 20 years dry stored was an understatement, as it appears it’s never had an MOT!



The guy I got it off had done little with it, but the guy it he got it off had stripped the intent out and done various bizarre weight saving mods to it, like removing the heater and cutting the bonnet inner skin out. Was gunna be a ‘track car’ apparently, even though it was otherwise totally stock. 🙄 ladas always seem to attract weirdos.

[Dez]

So with it back at the yard I had a poke around, reattached anything that was present and correct, and made a list of bits missing and/or damaged. It came with loads of parts though, so lots of bits were ticked off quite quickly.



Butchered bonnet-


‘Interesting’ modifications. Yes they’re coffee can lids screwed over the bumper iron holes?!


Rear valance has been modified but it’s done well and 99% of people won’t notice so I’ll probably just leave it.


Boot struts are missing hence the nice broom handle it came with.


Interior was really good apart from steering wheel plastics were broken, centre console was missing and carpets have been cut behind the seats.


Under here seems totally stock.


It’s fairly clean and straight though, especially for one of these.

I was pretty happy with it overall. As this is my third one of these I knew exactly what mods it would get.

[qwerty]

Looking forward to seeing where this goes!

Tom

[Dez]

Dec 20, 2020 14:40:23 GMT qwerty said:

Looking forward to seeing where this goes!

Tom

It’ll be tame compared to my other stuff, and previous ladas.

Just a drop, wheels, carb, exhaust, steering wheel, and a few other little period interior touches.

For those who don’t know this was lada no.1.
It went through a few evolutions but ended up with loads of mods including turreted with coilovers, escort rear axle and front hubs/discs, 13” split rims, steering rack conversion, Mx5 seats, fiat twin cam. and 5 speed.
Tbh i wish I’d not gone as far with it.


This was number 2. It wasn’t the greatest start as it had loads of weird mods I had to undo, the paint was terrible and it was a bit rusty. It ended up with a Weber, 2” stainless exhaust, dropped and some wheels.


I welded it all up then this happened to it when the workshop burned down-


Hopefully this one will go a little better!

[slammage]

cant wait to see where you go with this one, your first lada was a great bit of kit you built Dez , where has it ended up do you know ?

[Dez]

Dec 20, 2020 18:18:10 GMT slammage said:

cant wait to see where you go with this one, your first lada was a great bit of kit you built Dez , where has it ended up do you know ?

I don’t actually know. I sold it to a guy who was badgering me about it, was sold on again and I think I heard it had had the motor changed again to something Japanese but don’t know what. But other than that never seen or heard of it since.

[Dez]

So I’d got this car that has been off the road for forever and needed recommissioning, so obviously the first thing I did was buy some wheels for it.
That don’t fit 😂

They don’t fit cos they’re 4x4” pcd so some creativity is required to make them for 4x98, as that’s too much of a difference for wobble bolts. I still mocked em up though to see how they look.








I already new exactly how they’d sit as I knew how they compared to the specs of my old ones, so with my numbers confirmed I packed them away whilst I ordered the other bits I would need.

In slightly more useful parts buying I got a steering wheel. It was dirt cheap (like 1/3 of what these usually sell for) , came from California, and is off a fiat 124 spider coupe. I really like these two spoke wheels, a nice period sporty design but understated with it, and the plastic wood effect rim is harder wearing that real wood.
I had the stainless spoke version in the black lada, but it’s a bit at odds with the sea of 80s black plastic, this one is more in keeping with the overall interior.


It needs a repaint on the spokes and the hornpush is a bit faded (but complete and functional) but I plan to doctor that a bit anyways.






In case you hadn’t guessed, ladas being fiat based use the same spline so it literally bolts straight on.

So I took off the smashed original


And fitted the 124 one after a quick spruce up.


It’s the right dish to clear the stalks and the boss area fits the lada column plastics perfectly.


Dead happy with that.

[79cord]

They are a pretty steering wheel, and thick chunky "90's" wood wheels are just wrong.
Does that mean vinyl wood glovebox trim & door caps I'm surprised more aren't done up in upmarket 1960's Fiat 125 style with wood interior detailing, delicate bumpers and small/medium sized hubcaps on alloy wheels.

[fr€$h&m1nt¥]

I love the irony in you saying that ladas attract weirdos alongside your list and photos of your previous ladas.

[shielsy68]

drove 1 for a week in 1990 as a courtesy as mine was in for fixing a metro , from 1000 cc to 1500cc great , they where voted towing cAR OF THE YEAr 5 yeaRS IN A ROW

[grizz]

I have always liked this era of Fiats, and then the resultant Lada and other brands that evolved from them.

The Lada that was up for sale last week for £600 was honest;y tempting.

So much more interesting than an Escort.

[Waxoyling Lyrical]

Dec 20, 2020 15:55:05 GMT Dez said:

Could you not have used the alloys from this? They don't look too badly damaged...

[qwerty]

You can just tell when a steering wheel is an OEM wheel, it just looks right. Way better than an aftermarket one would.

[llwynogmon]

Back in the day these Lada Rivas were very popular Forest Rally cars being relatively inexpensive to purchase and maintain, The shells were robust, built to survive Russian conditions, forestry tracks no problem, Upgraded parts were available then, but I would suspect that these sources have since dried up. I used to to Marshall on the classic North Wales Stages during the late 80's early 90's when these cars along with RWD Skodas provided a very competitive lower budget formula for rallyists.
A rally prepared lada could show a clean pair of heels to many grander car with sporting pedigree.
I'm looking forward to seeing how this project is progressing.

[retrolegends]

Nice pair of Lincoln’s 😀

[Dez]

Dec 21, 2020 8:26:32 GMT 79cord said:

They are a pretty steering wheel, and thick chunky "90's" wood wheels are just wrong.
Does that mean vinyl wood glovebox trim & door caps I'm surprised more aren't done up in upmarket 1960's Fiat 125 style with wood interior detailing, delicate bumpers and small/medium sized hubcaps on alloy wheels.

Not really my style tbh. I really like the chunky alloy girder bumpers. By mate who polished the ones on the red one, less so 😂

[Dez]

Dec 21, 2020 9:15:05 GMT fr€$h&m1nt¥ said:

I love the irony in you saying that ladas attract weirdos alongside your list and photos of your previous ladas.

Takes one to know one I guess.... 🤷‍♂️

[Dez]

Dec 21, 2020 9:59:37 GMT shielsy68 said:

drove 1 for a week in 1990 as a courtesy as mine was in for fixing a metro , from 1000 cc to 1500cc great , they where voted towing cAR OF THE YEAr 5 yeaRS IN A ROW

Sounds a bit optimistic to me, although this one did previously have a towbar.

[Dez]

Dec 21, 2020 10:28:48 GMT grizz said:

I have always liked this era of Fiats, and then the resultant Lada and other brands that evolved from them.

The Lada that was up for sale last week for £600 was honest;y tempting.

So much more interesting than an Escort.

Technically superior too. No Mac struts and cart springs here, twin A arms and 5 linked as standard.

[Dez]

Dec 21, 2020 11:16:00 GMT Waxoyling Lyrical said:

Dec 20, 2020 15:55:05 GMT Dez said:

Could you not have used the alloys from this? They don't look too badly damaged...

They weren’t. I removed the slightly burnt tyres, got them sandblasted and crack checked, and then sold them 6 months before I bought this as I didn’t think I’d need em again 🙄

They were a really rare set, Australian made Cheviot hotwires in 13x7 and genuinely 4x98 pcd.

I also did the same with the full stainless exhaust and adjustable panhard bar which I now need again! As the car burnt from the inside out the bits underneath weren’t damaged.