2022: All change. 1954 Wolseley 6/80

Wow that's a lot of terrible driving in a short period!

A day off, and time to attend to some minor things on the Lada. The first of which was to manually adjust the timing chain tensioner, a job that needs to be done every 10,000km. I've not done this in my ownership, and so whilst my mileage is very low thus far i thought i'd better give it a go. 
You back off the adjuster 2 turns, put the crank handle in (Yes, 1990 with a crank handle) rotate the engine twice, and do the adjuster back up FT. I didn't take any photo's as it should be an easy job and not much to see. Adjuster is a little awkward to get to but nothing dramatic, and that backed off OK, then I couldn't get the crank handle to go in. So i stuck the phone down the front of the engine recording with the torch on to see what the craic was? Hmmm, there's no hole for a crank handle in the crank pulley. There's also no way to get a spanner/socket on it. Perplexed, i checked the engine number, 21011xxx. Ah! That's an engine swap from a  56kW/126Nm (76bhp/93 lb/ft) 1.6L, to a  52kW/ 93Nm (70hp/69 lb/ft) 1.3L. That's not how engine swaps are meant to work!!! 
On the plus side I'm assuming this means i have an automatic adjuster, but being an earlier engine ('74-'88 as opposed to the original 1990 engine) i'm not even sure it will have unleaded heads?
So with that wonderful news, i threw my toys out of the pram and went to collect more oil for the saab (Contactlessly of course).
A few other non-car jobs attended to and Toys back in pram I swapped over one of the brake hoses from the master cylinder to the reservoir as the previous one was cracking significantly. Irritatingly the hose I ordered should have been enough for both replacements but wasn't, so i have another on order which should be here in 3 weeks or so (You can just about see the nasty split hose in the centre here, although it's dark at 6pm now)



You'll also see at the top of the picture the accelerator cable bracket and adjustment screws. Unbeknownst to me this was loose and had swung in, i'd always known the car to have very short accelerator travel but never looked into it. I had a quick tinker and now full travel is returned. Result! I took it for a test drive to celebrate, and managed a stonking 103 gps km/hr on the local toll road, whilst the speedo varied wildly from 90-115. 

Next jobs on the list are to sort out the washer pump (I should have two, but don't)



And replace the hoses to my light washers (not that i've checked these work). Then called it a night and went to get some take out, seen as we're now allowed, from the local pub as they do a wonderful burger and they're trying desparately to stay afloat in these times!

This morning brought more success and in 2 hours i had 2 of these

fitted like this


It's a small change, but seen as i had previously been pushing the quarterlight open and reaching in to lock and unlock (no locks on the quarterlights) it's a nice practical change, if not particularly any more secure. The forums and guides online show a different arrangement for removing the window winder to my car, and i was very pleased my 2 quid set of aliexpress trim tools had this in it


to remove the retaining spring thus


Onto the boot lock (which i did have a key for) and as soon as i saw this i knew i should walk away.



I didn't, and instead spent two hours removing the lock, failing to replace the lock cylinder, and then rebuilding it with the old lock. with nothing but grazed knuckles to show for it. I will live with having 3 keys (Doors, ignition, and boot) for now.

I then made a dash to pick up another contactless click and collect in the form of loctite rear view mirror adhesive. Which after generous application of the wite brush and some white spirit was used to attach these.



Minor changes, but a plus in security and functionality (and hopefully a bit quieter at speed). We'll see how long they last i guess.

After that i retired to the shed, and my driveshaft from the renault. I don't know if i previously mentioned it, but this was stuck in the hub, and no amount of hammers, heat, or a 12 tonne press were going to shift it. I've ordered a new cv joint and both boots (This is the LH shaft and the inner boot serves as the gearbox oil seal), which should be here next week, and hopefully get the renault back on the road!I just had the lovely job of splitting the old joint, and cleaning up all the grease (My old hub will be returned from whence the new one came to keep Simon's scrap shell rollable around his yard). Not having a vise yet we improvised





And then it was 5 o'clock and definitely time for a beer.

The quality of after market chrome parts for Lada's aren't great. When I picked up a load of stuff for mine from Lada Power, I spoke to him about the chrome bumpers they sell and he told me not to bother, as the moment they get wet they start to rust.

Loving the Niva though! Definitely need to get one.

Parts showed up for the lada last week after the clutch slave left it immobile in october, when our covid wof's ran out. Getting things posted to NZ at the moment is taking months (my Xmas cards to the UK, sent in November, also showed up last week). Anyway no complaints really with how cheap stuff is for this.


I also got the electric fuel pump installed properly. It was previously wired to the same switched live as the indicators, using household wiring and scotch blocks. This resulted in many blown fuses and periods of immobility shortly after. Its now installed with actual connections, and a relay of all things! 



Ooh swanky! 
As an added bonus the instrument back lights started working, so I can now tell how fast (slow) I'm going at night, and how little fuel I have left. On the flip side, I can't listen to music at night because the headlight switch now turns the radio off? We'll call that one a draw. 



A few more little things to smarten her up needed (non rusty lock barrels, new Tubing for the headlight washers) and then the most irritating. How do people get quarterlight locks to stick? I bought the 2 part mirror adhesive which was great for about 2 months, and then tried epoxy which was great for about 2 days. Now I'm stumped! 

Minor changes over the last year... And now this to be collected this week. Details to follow

So with all of that having happenend to you it is a waste of time me telling you that Nivas did come with 1300cc engines.
Lada would send cars to NZ with the wrong engine, or two different ratio differentials front and rear, cars with engines missing parts (these may have been removed in transit) and one that had the wrong steering parts.
Good luck with the Wolseley.

Well thats an unexpected turn of events!  Never been brave enough to buy unseen, missed enough klangers when buying in person!  Be an interesting project whatever the condition it arrives in. 

So I collected today after a few issues with transport. "Runs and drives" required winching onto the trailer, maneuvering heaps to get it off the trailer, dragging it with the van which thankfully freed off the brakes enough to allow me to push it the last bit. 

Initial looks are good. It's spent a long time in a barn, rust-wise seems pretty good. Some surface rust and flakey paint; I haven't had a great look underneath. Everything rubber is perished of course but overall pleased.

Lovely things, in search of a much better engine. Looking forward to this.