UAZ 452

[Jvdkooij]

To expand our business we bought an UAZ 452. At this moment we are replacing the interior so it will suit our needs of course.

IMG_0926 by Jaap van der Kooij, on Flickr

I will share some more pictures tonight.

 

[Haf-E]

Very interesting! Would love to see some additional photos.

I think these are straight axles with leaf springs?

What year? Petrol or Diesel?

 

[Jvdkooij]

Very interesting! Would love to see some additional photos.

I think these are straight axles with leaf springs?

What year? Petrol or Diesel?

Haf-E,
Yes they are straight axles, with leaf springs.
year of build is 2000, which is according to the workshop one of the better years.
The engine runs on petrol, reminds me very much of our old VW Beetle

 

[Jvdkooij]

So last week I went to Siberia to finally buy an UAZ 452 Buhanka.
We already searched the web but selecting a car from some pictures does not work.

As my flight was to Novosibirsk and I arrived early in the morning, we had chosen two interesting cars to look at in that city.
Unfortunately, we noticed that the cars looked much better on pictures than in realtiy.
The first had a lot of updates to the technology, such as the installation of power steering but the outside was rusted and had holes. So, we skipped this one.
We were looking for a decent bus and it should look good inside as well as outside as we take guests on our trips.
The second one I actually liked very much from the pictures, but as the car was not sold fast enough according to the owner, he started to use it to transport building materials for his house. So, in the meantime, it did not look like the pictures anymore. Too bad, but there is nothing to do about it.

So, we looked again on the internet, a car that actually didnt made the cut earlier due to the lack of seats came back in the picture. So we called the owner and made an appointment. This car looked good, no rust and no holes. A big roof rack and stairs on the backside, which are very interesting options for us.
The inside looked ok even though we were planning to do the inside again.
We could not find any problems at all, the cardanaxle tot he front was new and the engine ran well.

IMG_0967 by Jaap van der Kooij, on Flickr

After some discussion, we decided to make an offer that was happily accepted.
We made a contract and the car was ours.

In the evening we drove back to Barnaul where our flat is. During the trip, we found one problem.
According to the car, I was driving about 85km/hr but my girlfriend wondered why I was driving so terribly slow. Only 60km/hr according to the Montero.
After thinking about it, the problem is due to the tyres, there are 205/75 / r15 mounted, which are actually for a Lada Niva or similar. After some calculation it turned out that these tires are definitely 6 cm too low.
IMG_0971 by Jaap van der Kooij, on Flickr
Tyres are quite new, so we will use them fort he trip in August, probably in spring we will replacet hem with 31”tyres.
IMG_0968 by Jaap van der Kooij, on Flickr

Next day we didnt do much as I was a bit tired from travelling and running around the whole day chasing cars.
After that we start looking for more seats. Our plan is to put in 6 seats, 2 were included so we needed 4 more. After visiting some junkyards, we decided that was not the way to go , very dirty seats and not 4 the same of course. We visited a workshop specialised in another brand and they had reasonable nice seats but in het end we just bought some second hand original UAZ seats quite cheap.

1472960904048_default by Jaap van der Kooij, on Flickr

We visited a shop specialized in UAZ were we bought new interior, sides and ceiling, and some plastic caps to cover some not nice parts. A new sidemirror for 200 rub and a new keylock to start and we could start with the built.

IMG_0954 by Jaap van der Kooij, on Flickr

But first to our next appointment at the workshop. This guy is specialized in UAZ and very nice. He checked quickly our car and told us it was a good buy but i twill need some work.
Preparing:

IMG_0961 by Jaap van der Kooij, on Flickr

I thought this was a bit too much lift

IMG_0965 by Jaap van der Kooij, on Flickr

Toolbuddy in Russia
IMG_0966 by Jaap van der Kooij, on Flickr

At 17:00 we could pick up the car from the workshop. We had a long talk with the owner of the workshop. Well, my friend talked tot he owner and translated bits and pieces for me, as my Russian is quite badly. Nevertheless we had a lot of fun. We also found out that a lot of locals like dit very much that some crazy dutch guy was driving an UAZ, we got discounts in several places even without asking for it.

First things first, so I made some pictures of the state we bought the car.

Our well equipped dashboard.
The reservoir is from the brake fluid, easy to check.

IMG_0953 by Jaap van der Kooij, on Flickr

The engine, it is placed in between the driver and the passengerseat:

IMG_0938 by Jaap van der Kooij, on Flickr

high/low gear and switching from 2wd to 4wd.

IMG_0939 by Jaap van der Kooij, on Flickr

Entrance of the cab.

IMG_0932 by Jaap van der Kooij, on Flickr

Front of the cab, we got also an extra set of wheels but they are not good.

IMG_0931 by Jaap van der Kooij, on Flickr

The Back

IMG_0929 by Jaap van der Kooij, on Flickr

frontaxl

IMG_0928 by Jaap van der Kooij, on Flickr

Next the registration of the car on our name

IMG_0973 by Jaap van der Kooij, on Flickr

After this we started finally the built.

IMG_0978 by Jaap van der Kooij, on Flickr

IMG_0977 by Jaap van der Kooij, on Flickr

IMG_0976 by Jaap van der Kooij, on Flickr

IMG_0974 by Jaap van der Kooij, on Flickr

Upperwall in between driver and cab has been removed.

IMG_0959 by Jaap van der Kooij, on Flickr

IMG_0958 by Jaap van der Kooij, on Flickr

Fitting the seats, they will be restored.

IMG_1003 by Jaap van der Kooij, on Flickr

IMG_1002 by Jaap van der Kooij, on Flickr

Seats are completely taken apart now, we bought a window for the roof, to get some more airflow in the car (it can be hot in Siberia too ) and to have some more light. We ordered some windows becasue the current ones are leaking.

 

[nick disjunkt]

Looking forward to seeing more. The 452 is such a classic vehicle and perfect for a trip through Russia.

 

[Jvdkooij]

The team in Siberia is working very hard to prepare the car.

We bought/ordered a lot of new parts. New covers for the seats, windows, plastic caps for the fuellines in the cabine, some extra fuses as there are almost none installed, isolation, sunshades, foam for the ceiling, and cover for the wall we will put between cabine and cargo part.

New (sliding) windows

IMG_1019 by Jaap van der Kooij, on Flickr

Cover for the wall

IMG_1020 by Jaap van der Kooij, on Flickr

Isolationmaterial

IMG_1021 by Jaap van der Kooij, on Flickr

Sunshades

IMG_1022 by Jaap van der Kooij, on Flickr

Cover for the fuellines

IMG_1024 by Jaap van der Kooij, on Flickr

New parts for the seats

IMG_1025 by Jaap van der Kooij, on Flickr

Fuses, almost none installed at the moment

IMG_1026 by Jaap van der Kooij, on Flickr

Nicely colored box for spare parts

IMG_1015 by Jaap van der Kooij, on Flickr

The seats are completely taken apart. The frame has been sanded and painted black again. The covers are on their way from St. Petersburg so we have to wait with that.

IMG_1010 by Jaap van der Kooij, on Flickr

The ceiling has been cleaned as far as possible. We put new foam. We will wait till the new windows are mounted and then we can continue with the ceiling.

IMG_1013 by Jaap van der Kooij, on Flickr

During the last days we made a hole in the roof, to fit our new sunroof. We will have some more light and fresh air in the car.

Making the hole

IMG_1016 by Jaap van der Kooij, on Flickr

As a decent saw was not available we drilled a lot of holes for the round corners.

IMG_1018 by Jaap van der Kooij, on Flickr

Inspection

IMG_1011 by Jaap van der Kooij, on Flickr

Our old, original windows were leaking, As we will replace the whole interior with a new one, we had to solve this first. The major part of the leakages were on the moving parts of the windows. After some searching we found very nice sliding windows.

First we removed all windows that should be replaced.

IMG_1028 by Jaap van der Kooij, on Flickr

IMG_1029 by Jaap van der Kooij, on Flickr

For the night we put some cover over the car as it was not sure we got rain or not.

IMG_1031 by Jaap van der Kooij, on Flickr

First new window mounted!

IMG_1032 by Jaap van der Kooij, on Flickr

IMG_1034 by Jaap van der Kooij, on Flickr

image3 by Jaap van der Kooij, on Flickr

The ladies working hard.

IMG_1036 by Jaap van der Kooij, on Flickr

IMG_1037 by Jaap van der Kooij, on Flickr

IMG_1038 by Jaap van der Kooij, on Flickr

Second window finished

image2 by Jaap van der Kooij, on Flickr

image1 by Jaap van der Kooij, on Flickr

 

[geckoadventure]

This is cool keep the updates coming

 

[Jvdkooij]

Well, it is weekend so time to write an update about the progress in Siberia.

We cleaned the wall between the driver and the cabin, when we bought the car there was some self-adhesive carpet. When we removed it, it left a very sticky mess behind. It is removed very nicely.

before
IMG_1047 by Jaap van der Kooij, on Flickr

After
IMG_1046 by Jaap van der Kooij, on Flickr

The engine gives a lot of heat, so to keep it under control we applied an isolation layer.

IMG_1051 by
Jaap van der Kooij, on Flickr

IMG_1052 by Jaap van der Kooij, on Flickr

IMG_1061 by Jaap van der Kooij, on Flickr

All seams are sealed neatly
IMG_1063 by Jaap van der Kooij, on Flickr

Jimm wants to help, or drive somewhere…..

IMG_1065 by Jaap van der Kooij, on Flickr

As there was only one light in the cabin, we mounted the second one too.

IMG_1060 by Jaap van der Kooij, on Flickr

And at the same time we mounted an extra light in the back for the cargo part.

IMG_1059 by Jaap van der Kooij, on Flickr

We started the first big job, putting in the new ceiling.

IMG_1066 by Jaap van der Kooij, on Flickr

IMG_1068 by Jaap van der Kooij, on Flickr

IMG_1070 by Jaap van der Kooij, on Flickr

WhatsApp Image 2017-07-21 at 18.11.48 by Jaap van der Kooij, on Flickr

WhatsApp Image 2017-07-21 at 18.12.22 by Jaap van der Kooij, on Flickr

IMG_1076 by Jaap van der Kooij, on Flickr

WhatsApp Image 2017-07-21 at 15.15.42 by Jaap van der Kooij, on Flickr

Finishing the roofwindow

WhatsApp Image 2017-07-22 at 06.12.25 by Jaap van der Kooij, on Flickr

WhatsApp Image 2017-07-22 at 06.21.30 by Jaap van der Kooij, on Flickr

WhatsApp Image 2017-07-22 at 07.13.48 by Jaap van der Kooij, on Flickr

WhatsApp Image 2017-07-22 at 07.14.50 by Jaap van der Kooij, on Flickr

WhatsApp Image 2017-07-22 at 07.15.46 by Jaap van der Kooij, on Flickr

Finishing the lights neatly

WhatsApp Image 2017-07-22 at 09.28.44 by Jaap van der Kooij, on Flickr

WhatsApp Image 2017-07-22 at 09.29.12 by Jaap van der Kooij, on Flickr

WhatsApp Image 2017-07-22 at 11.24.34 by Jaap van der Kooij, on Flickr

WhatsApp Image 2017-07-22 at 11.25.41 by Jaap van der Kooij, on Flickr

We are happy it is ready, it is a lot of work to get it in neatly, but we did it.

 

[1.9TDIZook]

:beer::beer::beer:

 

[NamibRat]

Looking great already ! When are you going to put her to the test in the terrain?

 

[Jvdkooij]

I think that will be on the 3th of August.

 

[Techno Guy]

Wow, excellent refurbishment job you are doing.

Are you doing the work in the Netherlands, or Russia?

 

[Jvdkooij]

Hi techno Guy,
We organize our trips in Siberia, so that is also where the car is .

 

[Jvdkooij]

The ceiling is mounted for 90% now, while the rest will be done while mounting the sidepanels.
So, we started with this sidepanels. Although the model of this car is over 50 years old, it seems that every car is unique.
We have to customize every panel so it will fit properly.

IMG_1114 by Jaap van der Kooij, on Flickr

But the result is very good

IMG_1119 by Jaap van der Kooij, on Flickr

IMG_1121 by Jaap van der Kooij, on Flickr

Around the corner

IMG_1122 by Jaap van der Kooij, on Flickr

And now the rest of the ceiling is finished properly

IMG_1124 by Jaap van der Kooij, on Flickr

Some tricks are necessary to get the ceiling as we want it.

IMG_1125 by Jaap van der Kooij, on Flickr

IMG_1128 by Jaap van der Kooij, on Flickr

The panels on the doors also look good.

IMG_1147 by Jaap van der Kooij, on Flickr

From the factory, the doors in the front have no panels mounted, luckily in het set we bought, they are available. This looks much better

IMG_1149 by Jaap van der Kooij, on Flickr

Ceiling in the front finished

IMG_1151 by Jaap van der Kooij, on Flickr

All panels are mounted. In the meantime I started looking for other tyres. As I said before, the current tyres are reasonable young but have the wrong size.
We will choose between 31”/10.5/R15 or 215/90/R15, not much difference between them.

This is the difference between the current tyres and what we would like to have.

tyres comparison by Jaap van der Kooij, on Flickr

215/90/R15

safari 500 by Jaap van der Kooij, on Flickr

31”10.5 R15

safari 510 by Jaap van der Kooij, on Flickr

Problaby it will be the 215/90.

 

[Jvdkooij]

Well, the tires are coming over the course of the week so we do not have any pictures yet.

In the meanwhile, we did a lot of other things of course.

First of all, we painted the entry white, because that reddish look was awful

IMG_1162 by Jaap van der Kooij, on Flickr

After that we provided the wall with self-adhesive carpet, which looks a lot better. The plastic parts are just positioned to show how it will be.

IMG_1168 by Jaap van der Kooij, on Flickr

Connected a charging point, nobody can live without it anymore

IMG_1172 by Jaap van der Kooij, on Flickr

The next step is, of course, to put the carpet on the floor
First, based on the old carpet, the new carpet has been cut out

IMG_1171 by Jaap van der Kooij, on Flickr

The carpet in the cabin

IMG_1173 by Jaap van der Kooij, on Flickr

IMG_1174 by Jaap van der Kooij, on Flickr

After the edges have been cut to size, screw on the covers again

IMG_1183 by Jaap van der Kooij, on Flickr

Also neatly finished at the entrance

IMG_1201 by Jaap van der Kooij, on Flickr

After fixing the plastic parts it looks like this and we can rest assured that this part is ready. Now only the chairs are left.

IMG_1203 by Jaap van der Kooij, on Flickr

IMG_1204 by Jaap van der Kooij, on Flickr

IMG_1208 by Jaap van der Kooij, on Flickr