Not as hard as you think.nelsonj wrote:If I ever had the choice, I'm going with a 3.9. My engine revs too high at freeway (plus) speeds and I would really like to drop that high end down. The ideal solution is the 4.3 with a lowered 5th gear ratio - but good luck making that happen.
Peace.
Out.
To get the lower 5th gear you can get a new lada 5 speed gearbox with the lower final drive, just need to swap bellhousings and shifter extender. The same Lada sources also sell various ring and pinion combos, even complete rear diffs. I couldn't decide between the 3.9 and 4.3 options, so I went with a 4.1:1 paired to a torsen limited slip. If you have the newer style axle, the rear diff options aren't as plentiful, but the '78-'79 cars typically have the newer/late style axle with a 4.3:1, while the 2L fuel injected cars typically have the 3.9:1 (and the slushboxes are even lower geared). I've gotten mountains of lada parts over multiple orders of that interchange with the fiat spider parts from Ladapower.com out of the Ukraine as well as Ladamoscow.com. Not everything that looks like it'll fit/work does tho. The Lada 2101-2107 was based off the 1960s fiat 124 sedan and not the coupe/spider then they changed some things to make them either cheaper or more robust...