This is the body part
In 2007, a wonderful new product from a domestic company entered the Russian car market - Lada Kalina. Produced in three body versions: sedan, hatchback and station wagon, this car found its buyer and took its rightful place in the overall ranking, noticeably moving ahead even of its famous Western competitors. After all, in terms of quality, our Lada Kalina is practically not inferior to such titans as Renault and Citroen, and the price is much more affordable. Besides, buying a domestic car is patriotic.
Lada Kalina has such advantages as an attractive design, a comfortable interior, a fairly powerful technical component, and a rich set of equipment. But, like any car, the beautiful Kalina needs some modifications, which every driver who has at least a little understanding of repairs and tuning can do on their own. Today we will talk about such elements as moldings on the Lada Kalina door, speakers, limit switches and additional door seals. What are they, what are they for and how to install them?
A little about moldings
Spectacular car body decoration
Moldings are plastic or rubber linings, also called stickers, that give the car an aesthetic appearance. In addition, the moldings also have a protective quality: when installed on doors or bumpers, they protect these areas from impact and abrasions. You remember this with special gratitude when you unsuccessfully emerge from a crowded parking lot. Usually, after such trips, very unpleasant scratches remain on the doors and sides, which have to be painted over at a car service center, paying an N amount for painting.
Recently, Kalina moldings have become popular, as drivers want to give their car a more charismatic look, removing that domestic laconicism of the image, which has never been a winning solution. First you need to get good, high-quality moldings for Kalina, which can be bought in car dealerships, on the market, from dealers or even on the Internet. The main thing is to check the quality: there should be no microscopic cracks or abrasions on the stickers.
It is safer to buy from dealers: you have confidence that they will not sell low-quality goods. However, there is one “but” here - dealers only sell unpainted moldings, and it’s better not to paint it yourself, since if done inappropriately, you can ruin the whole look. To paint parts at a car service center will cost approximately 1,000 rubles. By purchasing painted moldings, you will eliminate running around to car services and unnecessary expenses.
Why are moldings needed?
The word “molding” came into our language from English. Previously, it was used in architecture, denoting decorative stucco structures that serve as decoration for construction projects. But years have passed, the world has changed beyond recognition, and some terms from different fields of activity smoothly migrated into the terminology of the auto industry. Now molding is literally translated as “cast part”. This is a decorative element in the form of an overlay.
Effective decoration and concealment of defects
Modings are used for different purposes.
- To bring the body to perfection, masking defects and unaesthetic irregularities. Sometimes it’s easier to cover some body elements with a nice overlay than to pay a lot of money to restore the original appearance. And it’s both beautiful and cheap.
- Many people are familiar with this situation: the parking lot is quite crowded, it’s not easy to squeeze between cars, placing your swallow in a small niche, you open the doors and then you realize how bad it is that they were not protected by linings. Now they have very unattractive scratches on them, caused by a slight collision with neighboring cars. If there were moldings on the doors, there would be no problems.
- To create various visual effects. Special moldings are used here, powerful, massive, changing the appearance of the car. So, an ordinary Kalina station wagon can look like a stunning sports flagship, dynamic and energetic. Special linings on the door handles give the car respectability; compared to ordinary ones, it looks a little faded.
There are moldings for the side parts of the body, front and rear bumpers, windows and doors. As you can see, the purpose of this part is very wide. Also quite often, door handle covers are installed, because everyone knows how unreliable the standard handles that the Kalina station wagon is equipped with are.
At the moment, the rear door moldings are the most popular among drivers, because it is the rear door that is most vulnerable and most often damaged during parking and loading and unloading luggage.
Rear door moldings are made from high-quality plastic or thermoelanoplast, an elastic, durable material that springs without too much impact and protects the door from annoying scratches and abrasions. In addition, Kalina station wagon becomes much brighter with such overlays than without them, so the installation serves two purposes: protection and aesthetics.
Installation technology
The first step is to remove the old stickers, for which we carefully pick up the edge of the molding and carefully pull it towards ourselves. Then you need to thoroughly rinse and wipe the body and thoroughly degrease it. We also degrease the moldings and glue double-sided tape to the bottom. Warning: Look closely and you will see tiny holes in the moldings. Do not stick them over under any circumstances: this is not a defect, not a defect or a decorative solution, but a thoughtful detail, thanks to which moisture does not stagnate in the sticker niche. By sealing the holes, you will soon end up with a moldy car, which is not at all aesthetically pleasing.
In order not to make a mistake with the dimensions, it is advisable to take measurements and mark with tape before gluing. Then we remove the tape and glue the overlays. I would like to note that adhesive tape is different from adhesive tape: there is one that allows you to re-stick it if you don’t like something, and some products do not give you the right to make a mistake. So take this nuance into account when performing this creative and responsible work.
When covering the front part, you don’t have to worry too much, since the pads have convenient protrusions that allow you to make perfect alignment. But the back part is a little more complicated. Here you need to take into account that if the linings are placed at a close distance from the doors, then closing them will be extremely difficult. Therefore, it is better to try on the moldings with weak tape and check if there are any problems with opening and closing the doors. Four stickers require approximately two rolls of tape.
It is not only decoration, but also shock protection
And one more tip: you should glue the sticker from the top, gradually smoothing it down. If you do otherwise, there will be a gap in which water and dirt will collect. Some auto mechanics, in order to make the molding more reliable and eliminate the possibility of moisture getting under it, fill it with sealant.
The average cost of stickers is 1,500 rubles, although there are options that are twice as expensive. If there is a need for painting, you will have to pay another 1000-1500 rubles. Scotch tape costs 450-480 rubles, sealant - 75-90 rubles. As a result, it comes out from 3,025 to 3,570 rubles.
Installation of moldings on Kalina
Removing the worn part
To install door handle trims or door moldings, we do not need to drill the body or bolt the parts. Everything is much simpler. You only need to arm yourself with 3M tape or special glue, a hair dryer and plastic pads. An adhesive layer is applied to the inside of the linings, then they are attached to the necessary elements, in our case, door handles, and then dried with a hairdryer. That's all. It is not difficult to install door handle covers.
The Kalina station wagon has a lot of advantages, but the sound insulation of the VAZ still leaves much to be desired. You begin to think about this especially in the fifth year after purchasing Kalina, when an unpleasant wind noise begins to slowly appear in the doors. When you want to enjoy harmony and peace, this noise really gets on your nerves. But you don’t have to worry - you just need to devote a little time to your iron friend and fix the problem by installing additional door seals.
Different materials can act as a seal, but, as a rule, a thin-diameter thermal insulating tube is used. It is made of soft, elastic and at the same time strong, durable material, which in its structure is somewhat similar to foam rubber. It perfectly fills invisible cracks and keeps the interior warm. Such insulation is used not only in cars, but even in heating and refrigeration equipment.
Tools and materials for work
Additional seals are installed in the rear and top parts of the doors. We do not place them on the threshold, since the accumulation of water and dirt here will lead to immediate corrosion. We do not seal the doors on the hinge side either, since then they will very soon become unusable. Do you see how many nuances there are? All of them should be taken into account when working, only in this case the result will please you for a very, very long time.
The seals are secured with glue, which is applied to the inner corner of the recess. Before you start gluing, make sure that the glue interacts well with the body coating. When gluing, you need to move from the front edge of the door to the back, carefully and slowly. After gluing is completed, you should close all doors and evaluate your work. It is important that the material does not come out. If this does happen, you just need to cut off the protruding edges.
Don't be upset if you notice that the doors are now harder to close. This is how it should be, but it won't last long. In two or three days the material will shrink and everything will return to normal.
Features of the universal Kalina
So, we are dealing with the Lada Kalina. The car first appeared on the domestic market in 2007, presented in hatchback and station wagon versions. Each version has its own design differences, features, advantages and disadvantages, and tuning capabilities.
The Lada Kalina station wagon is a nice, roomy and quite powerful car; the new generation went on sale in the hot, sunny summer of 2013. As many people know, AvtoVAZ employees are now trying their best to attract consumer attention to the products they produce, so they do not skimp on creative ideas. Thus, the station wagon was launched for sale under the slogan “Full stuffing”. The author of this motto, Igor Burenkov, who, in addition to creative work, holds the post of director of external relations, meant that the car has everything. It is equipped with the latest automotive fashion, has decent technical equipment, is strong, reliable and comfortable.
The car has a modern design. The exterior takes this project several steps further than all previous designs. Finally, the appearance of the car became swift, bold and even spectacular. Previously, AvtoVAZ models were too laconic.
Kalina station wagon is decorated with an original trim
The front bumper is made in an original way: medium-sized headlights smoothly flow into a metal trim that replaces the false grille, and thus connect to each other. Yes, there is no radiator grille here, which is considered a rather bold decision; before Kalina, this technique was used on Mercedes and Ferrari. In contrast to the headlight optics, the fog lights are distinguished by a bright element, which looks bold and respectable. The sides are quite simple, the rear bumper is cut at an angle of 85 degrees. Now, if we continued the powerful theme, as in the front part of the car, and not cut it off, then the station wagon would eclipse the best projects of world brands. As it is, it’s just a pretty car that would be nice to improve.
Tuning Kalina station wagon
Tuning starts with the wheels. The station wagon comes complete with stamping, which is reliable, durable, but heavy and unsightly. If you are not going to drive Kalina through the impassable wilds of the Siberian taiga, then it would be good to install alloy wheels. True, they are not as reliable and practical as stamped ones, but they are much more beautiful, and it’s up to you to choose. Alloy wheels give Kalina a sporty look.
Some extreme drivers who love the impossible sometimes try to lift the Lada and put wheels of a different size on it. But this maneuver is good for an SUV and disgusting for the modest, fragile Kalina. It is not designed to be fitted with fifteen-inch rims instead of standard wheels. In this case, it will lose some of its controllability, the car will skid when cornering, and a whole bunch of problems will arise that you don’t need. Therefore, it is better to settle for small things, but without sacrificing quality.
It’s hard to imagine a good station wagon without moldings and other bells and whistles. The appearance of the car improves noticeably if you install some original spoilers, replace bumpers, and install moldings with a fantastic color. In general, the field for imagination is huge.
The final touch can be the installation of spectacular fog lights, prices for which vary from 1,000 to 2,000 rubles. The hit of the season is the LED turn signal indicators, which are installed on the rear-view mirrors.
