Practically Classics Forum

bnicho wrote:

I admit I test drove a Discovery Tdi once. I loved it's Britishness, but the power steering was playing up at just 105,000km and there were a few other niggles. So I took the "safe" option and bought a 117,000km Jackaroo (Trooper) which caught fire 11 months later.

The steering boxes on disco's are a known weak point. I'm on my third (the second was a replacement that failed after 10 months)
Still when they go and urinate fluid everywhere it keeps the chassis well waterproofed

You can have my Daihatsu sportrak for £850 lowered the price due to low demand! ive got another black one which has spat its dummy so you can have all the spares you want before it goes to scrap next week! im located in south glos / north bristol ebay item : 180774658863

cheers
joe

SirTainleyBarking wrote: The steering boxes on disco's are a known weak point. I'm on my third (the second was a replacement that failed after 10 months)
Still when they go and urinate fluid everywhere it keeps the chassis well waterproofed

The one on my range rover did that on the way back from the MOT station! (as soon as i find a cheap one on ebay i'll replace it, until then the steering is REALLY heavy)

I was always told never keep the steering on full lock above a second or two with land rover power steering boxes, even just backing off a tiny bit takes a lot of the pressure off them. Seems to have worked on the ones I have had

I have just bought a used box for £38, a PAS pump for £25 and a seal kit for £6. Definitely cheaper than new parts! (www.breakersyard.com is great!)

Just to be different.....Check out the videos of Lada Niva's on You Tube. I remember 15 years ago ish that North Yorkshire Police had one. They reckoned it was unstoppable off road. It would be something different as well. If I'm ever brave enough to sell my series landy's I may give one a try.

I'd love a Lada Niva, but with a diesel engine. I read once about a conversion, using a fiat tempra turbo diesel engine and a maestro turbo intercooler. Seeing as Lada's are fiats with russian DNA, using a Fiat engine would seem the more sensible move. Apparantly in France they sell them with PSA diesel engines. If you get one one of them and convert it to RHD, that would be a practical 4x4 classic.

I'm pretty sure you can still buy the Niva new in th uK through some specialist dealer, but it's only in Petrol LHD form. It was in Top Gear magazine earlier this year.

I do like the Niva but here they are largely forgotten.

Another classic 4x4 that's still available new, albeit at around £80,000, is the Mercedes G-Wagen.
Older ones, although German-built, can rot nearly as much as those late '90s-early 2000s South African-built MB saloons but, if you could find a solid one, then there's really not much else to touch them.
Yes, the Niva is still available, just as every Lada model from the beginning is still being built back in Mother Russia. As they're LHD only, there's hardly a disadvantage in ordering a PSA Diesel version from a French dealer. Or maybe from Greece, their dealers would probably be glad of the cash.

bnicho wrote:I'm pretty sure you can still buy the Niva new in th uK through some specialist dealer, but it's only in Petrol LHD form. It was in Top Gear magazine earlier this year.

I do like the Niva but here they are largely forgotten.

You may not be able to watch this being abroad, but Fifth Gear did a rather interesting test with a new Niva in the last series.

http://www.channel5.com/shows/fifth-gea ... ode-12-168