Restoration of "Niva" with their own hands

2024 Author: Erin Ralphs | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-19 11:41

Many Niva car owners faced the problem of corrosion on the metal of this vehicle. Often people buy a new body instead of repairing and repainting body parts, which saves a lot of money. People who have been engaged in professional car painting for a long time have long known that it is better to hand over a rusting body into scrap metal without delay. Repainting individual parts is usually very expensive.

Body replacement

In Russia, several companies at once are engaged in the sale of metal bodies for domestic cars, complete or in separate parts. After reviewing the range of these products, you can see that such stores offer a wide range of colors, which allows the car owner to quickly choose the right option.

As a rule, bodies designed for Niva vehicles equipped with three doors were painted at the factory in several standard colors. They are all listed below:

1. Snow White (factory code 202).
2. Nessie(factory code 368).
3. Jasper (factory code 140).
4. B altika (factory code 420).
5. Glacial (factory code 221).

VAZ-2121 car with five doors was painted at the factory in three colors:

1. Nice (paint factory number 328).
2. Snow Queen (paint factory number is 690).
3. Quartz (paint factory number - 630).
4. White cloud (paint factory number is 240).

Scratch Removal

Slight rust and swollen paint that appears on a car is not a reason for a complete body replacement. In this case, the Niva restoration operation can be easily carried out on your own, while saving a decent amount of your own funds.

For example, scratches are removed by polishing the paintwork. To carry out this operation, various grinding compounds and special materials are usually used. With their help, you can easily and quickly remove the top layer of the paint coating, thereby leveling the shabby places on the body. Complete elimination of scratches is possible only if the outer layer of the paintwork is not badly damaged. It is also not recommended to remove too much paint during the restoration of Niva-2121 with your own hands.

Geometry restoration

In case of severe damage to the body as a result of a collision of a vehicle, the craftsmen have to restore the former geometry of the car. The deformation of the metaloccurs as a result of sudden changes in temperature or obsolescence of the design.

Active operation, as well as the use of the car in harsh environmental conditions will inevitably lead to rapid wear of the body of personal vehicles. Poor pavement quality often leads to excessive tearing of bolted and welded joints, reducing vehicle life.

If it is necessary to restore the old Niva, eliminate severe damage to its body, it will be necessary to diagnose and restore the geometry of the car with high-tech equipment in a car service. It is impossible to perform such an operation correctly in the garage on your own.

Types of body repair

If, after the diagnosis, it turned out that only some parts of the body were deformed, the restoration of the Niva is carried out by tapping or squeezing out the damaged parts of the car. This work is carried out in several ways:

1. No painting. At the same time, the repair is based on such a property of steel as the desire to straighten up to its original position after deformation. At the same time, car service workers use special tools and technologies for squeezing out a dent. If necessary, the restored part is polished. Usually this method is used if the car's paintwork is not damaged.
2. The second method is to straighten the part by tapping it with a wooden or rubber mallet. Strong blows to the part can ruin the repaired material,therefore, to carry out such an operation, considerable experience is required.
3. In some cases, repairers will cut out the damaged body part. This is done in cases where the sheet steel is completely damaged and cannot be restored. Instead of the removed part of the body, a new one is made and welded. Then the repair site must be painted.
4. If the above methods of restoring the Niva after an accident do not bring success, the locksmiths change the entire body elements.

Care of the body

To prolong the life of the car body and avoid costly repairs, a responsible vehicle owner takes a number of preventive measures. Do-it-yourself Niva restoration measures include:

• remove rust with sandpaper;
• treatment of rust spots with a rust converter;
• painting machined body parts;
• protective varnishing of freshly painted car parts;
• anti-gravel treatment of car thresholds with special tools;
• reinforcement of the body frame.

Why should the body be strengthened

The procedure for restoring the Niva-Chevrolet, like other car models, is not an easy task for a beginner in this business. Such work takes a lot of time and effort, but the result will extend the life of the car for several years, keeping the personal vehicle in good condition.

First of all, to restore the body of the Niva, as well as itsupgrades on an old car reinforce spars. For this, steel sheets up to 5 mm thick are welded onto them. Simultaneously with these works, the suspension elements are reinforced. It is especially important to strengthen the front spars in the following cases:

1. It is planned to install stiffer shock absorbers on the car.
2. Using large diameter wheels.
3. Power metal bumpers and winches are installed on the Niva.

How to strengthen spars

First of all, spars are being reinforced to restore Niva-2121. To carry out such an operation? should be prepared, namely:

1. Provide free access to the spar. To do this, the car should be driven onto a flyover or lifted on a lift, and then removed from the vehicle wheels.
2. Then you need to remove the caliper. To do this, you must first unscrew the special lock from the top of the support.
3. Next, use a hammer to knock out the mount.
4. After that, you need to loosen the fasteners of the shock absorbers from the upper and lower sides.
5. The cylinder, which is part of the brake system, is hung on the hoses.
6. The upper arm must be completely removed from the vehicle.
7. You also need to remove the cup and baffle.
8. At the final stage, it remains to dismantle the gearbox and steering pendulum.

Free access to the spar is provided!

During the restoration of the Niva, it would be useful to check the condition of the placesintended for installation of shock absorbers. If there are no signs of corrosion on them, they should be pulled out. If this is difficult, you can drill the welds with a drill for metal with a drill number 10. It is possible to see all the welds only if the metal is well cleaned of rust and contamination.

Next, the spar is carefully cleaned to check it for various defects. After that, sheet metal is mounted on a clean part, by welding, bolting and clamps, to reinforce the structure.

Production of the spar amplifier

In order to properly carry out the process of restoring the Niva 21213, an amplifier for the spar should be made. To do this, you first need to cut out a pattern from thick cardboard. Next, it is necessary to mark the points on the paper where the bolts and clamps will be screwed in. After that, you need to cut a three-millimeter sheet of steel according to the layout with a grinder.

Next, you need to drill holes for attaching a new part to the car body. During fastening, make sure that the piece of metal fits snugly against the spar, only after that it can be bolted and welded around the entire perimeter of the part.

After the complete assembly of the car, it is necessary to cover with anticorrosive all the cleaned metal parts of your VAZ-2121 car. As a rule, such a coating dries within a day. After this operation, the machine is ready for further operation.

Strengthening other areas of the car

The metal body of the Niva car has a few more places that need to be strengthened over time, as they can no longer withstand the increased loads during the operation of this vehicle. They are all listed below:

1. Subframe for handout. After the expiration of time, owners of Niva VAZ-2121 cars are faced with the problem of loosening the box and transfer case, which leads to increased vibration during engine operation. You can get rid of this problem by installing a subframe under the transfer case of a passenger vehicle. As a result of this procedure, the working unit of the car receives additional reliable support and protection from damage during movement.
2. Strengthening or replacing the front suspension beam. Some craftsmen install a reinforced front suspension beam with upgraded lower arm bushings instead of the old spare part. This design is able to securely fix the axles, preventing their distortion.
3. Replacing factory ball joints more durable.
4. Removing the suspension springs and installing stiffer parts instead. Often springs from the Volga are put on the Niva, after cutting off the spare part by 1.5 turns.
5. Strengthening the attachment of traction with the body.
6. Dismantling the factory thresholds and cooking new, stronger ones. It also does not hurt to install thick moldings on reinforced thresholds. The thresholds must be firmly welded to the side members of the vehicle.

Should I change the body to a new one?

The body on the VAZ-2121 is the most expensive part of this domestic car. You should carefully look after it, and carry out cosmetic repairs. You should also cover the thresholds with anti-gravel protection, clean rust on metal in a timely manner, and wash the car as often as possible, especially in the winter season, because it is then that reagents that corrode car body parts and rubber seals are actively used on the roads.

If the body has become unusable, severely rusted, large holes have formed on it that cannot be repaired, it is easiest to replace it with a new one. However, remember that a cardinal replacement of the body can turn into problems when meeting with the traffic police. You should arrive at the registration point in advance and register the changes made to your car.

If the body on the VAZ-2121 has undergone minor corrosion, the best option for the owner would be a local cosmetic repair of metal parts, as well as strengthening some of the car's components.