UAZ 452/3741 (“Loaf”) cars in various modifications have been produced in Ulyanovsk since 1965 - the SUV has not lost its relevance to this day and is in great demand among avid fishermen and hunters. The car has remarkable technical characteristics and high reliability, but it has one very significant drawback - a low level of comfort. In this article we will look at how car owners can customize the interior of a UAZ “Bukhanka” car for fishing, hunting, off-road, and how they can transform the interior of a UAZ beyond recognition.
Will the Ulyanovsk Automobile Plant modernize the “Loaf”
The “native” interior of the Ulyanovsk SUV is terribly uncomfortable; it is especially uncomfortable for the driver and front passenger to sit in it. The front seats in the car are small and hard, they do not provide any adjustments. And the entire cabin is also devoid of any amenities, it seems that it was not made for people. Why didn’t the manufacturer take care of the passengers at all?
UAZ 452 and its subsequent modifications 3741 and 2206 began to be produced back in the last century, and in Soviet times, UAZs were used in government services, the army and the national economy, and practically did not fall into private hands. Years have passed, but the crude design of the SUV has not changed. The creators of the model at the Ulyanovsk Automobile Plant decided not to bother with modernizing the car; apparently, it is easier to develop a new brand than to make changes to the design.
They tried to modernize the UAZ more than once; the last time it was planned to make changes to the design was in 2014. But due to the crisis or for some other reasons, the plans were not destined to come true, however, and the UAZ “Bukhanka” has not yet been removed from production.
Do-it-yourself UAZ Bukhanka interior tuning
Car owners of the legendary Ulyanovsk SUVs do not wait for the car to be modernized at the factory, tuning the car’s interior with their own hands;
- install comfortable seats and sofas for relaxation;
- change the instrument panel;
- separate the driver's seat from the general salon with convenient partitions;
- tinted windows;
- the body is sheathed from the inside with aluminum corrugated sheet;
- change the carpeting of the floor;
- construct additional shelves and handrails for convenient boarding and disembarking of passengers;
- set up tables;
- improve the steering wheel;
- cover the interior elements with leather or other material.
You can endlessly modernize the interior, the main thing is that you have enough finance, time and effort for this task. What else can be installed in the cabin for the convenience of passengers and the driver:
- air conditioning (climate control);
- audio system with subwoofer and additional speakers;
- fridge;
- navigation system;
- additional lighting;
- electric or mechanical sunroof;
- armrest, bar.
If passenger cars undergo internal tuning mainly to give the interior a more aesthetic appearance, then on the UAZ Bukhanka, additionally installed elements in the interior increase comfort, in some cases they are simply vital. For example, it is difficult for hunters and fishermen on a long journey to do without a refrigerator, sleeping places or a table for eating.
EVERYTHING IS DONE
At the client's request, the interior was completely finished with noise and vibration insulation. The floor is covered with aluminum, and the sides and ceiling are covered with soft synthetic material. In the back there are two sofas that fold out along the entire length and a table. There is a massive air conditioning unit under the ceiling. On the speaker stands of the multimedia system. In the cabin, Honda CR-V seats are heated and electrically adjustable.
The steering column was replaced with an adjustable one from Sobol. The doors have NIV power windows and central locking. Rear view mirrors from a Hyundai minibus. There is a PAZ hatch welded into the roof right above the engine cover, which is quite convenient for hunting: I saw it, jumped up, and fired. The car is hung on all sides with lighting devices: tank headlights with xenon on the front bumper, a “chandelier” on the roof, and additional light on the sides.
The main stove was replaced with a NAMI heater, since it makes less noise and, most importantly, effectively removes moisture - the windows do not sweat. The additional stove gave way to the German Eberspächer and moved under the sofa, and in its place a compressor and a large washer reservoir were installed (if you remember, the standard one is ridiculously small).
Sheathing UAZ “Loaf” with corrugated aluminum sheet
A UAZ van intended for fishing or hunting needs to be covered with a more practical material than carpet. Carpeting quickly becomes unusable and dirt is very difficult to wash off. There are several options for covering the walls and floors in the cabin; the material used is:
- plywood;
- steel sheets;
- tree.
- aluminum.
Each material has its drawbacks - plywood or wood rots quite quickly, so these materials require careful processing. Iron is also not durable - it quickly begins to rust from moisture, and besides, a UAZ sheathed in iron turns out to be quite heavy. Aluminum is a very good material for cladding:
- lightweight and practical;
- easy to clean from dirt;
- it doesn’t make the cabin hot;
- the sheets look aesthetically pleasing.
Disadvantages of aluminum corrugated sheets:
- metal corrodes at the interface with steel;
- Aluminum profiles are not cheap.
But the cost of the “corrugated tape” pays off over time; such material lasts for a long time. Aluminum sheets are available in various patterns, and the interior can be trimmed to your taste; the material is sold in a wide range. For off-road use, aluminum is ideal for the interior lining of a van:
- the interior does not need to be thoroughly washed, the floor can simply be swept;
- durable sheets do not deform and do not lose their appearance over time.
How effective the UAZ “Bukhanka” interior trim with corrugated aluminum sheet looks can be judged by photos and videos posted on the Internet.
Car owners use aluminum to decorate not only the body itself, but also the door trims. Aluminum profile is much more practical than fabric, and it also looks much nicer.
Flaws:
- constant attention and care is required to maintain the machine in reliable operating condition;
- low not only the cost of parts, but also their quality;
- Without additional tuning, the owner will not be able to travel comfortably (however, each driver has his own comfort criteria).
Installing the front seats
The “original” front passenger and driver seats are simply terrible in their design and quality, and UAZ car owners try to replace them first. In a car used for hunting and fishing, the driver has to sit behind the wheel for a long time, and on such “seats” the back and lower back instantly become numb, and the person sitting on them quickly gets tired.
UAZ drivers do not repair and improve their original seats; they immediately replace the seats with “foreign” ones, or install them from a Russian passenger car. But any seats will not fit on the UAZ Bukhanka; the seats are too wide and high and will not fit in the cabin. The least adjustments to the mountings are required by the “seats” of the car models:
- VAZ 2108-09-099;
- VAZ-11113 “Oka”;
- Opel Corsa;
- Honda Civic;
- Moskvich-2141;
- Nissan Micra;
- Volkswagen Passat B3.
For the “Loaf” you can choose seats from other models; here the price is also of no small importance. It should be noted right away that almost no one installs new seats on UAZs; car owners try to buy “seats” at car dismantling yards or through advertisements from private owners.
The seats of Russian cars are not comfortable enough, for example, on the Moskvich-2141 “seats” your back quickly gets tired. The “nine” chairs are generally not bad, but they themselves are not very strong and break. The advantage of seats from Russian cars is their low price; good seats from foreign cars are more expensive in any case.
How to install Nissan Micra seats on a UAZ Bukhanka? First of all, we cut off some brackets from the bottom - if they are left, the seating position of the front passenger and driver will be too high.
We will leave the front and rear mountings for the Nissan seats; we will attach the seats to the body with bolts and nuts. The installed seats on the UAZ are shown in the photo below.
It is also important to select the seats for the “Loaf” so that when installed they do not interfere with the opening of the engine hood.
Power bumper
These machine protection elements are attached to the front and rear. According to experts, they provide maximum safety when driving off-road. You will need little - metal (sheet steel, channel or pipes, depending on the design) and polymer paint.
And you can do all this yourself without going to a car service.
Soundproofing UAZ loaf
Noise insulation in UAZ cars with a “wagon” type body is frankly weak; at the Ulyanovsk Automobile Plant they do not pay due attention to it. By itself, a UAZ with its original engine does not accelerate quickly, and these cars rarely drive at speeds exceeding 60-70 km/h. But already at 60 km/h there is such noise in the car that it is practically impossible to talk, you have to shout. The car owners themselves have to improve the sound insulation, and the work here turns out to be quite labor-intensive.
First of all, to install sound insulation, we remove everything from the interior, dismantle the floor - dismantle the standard plywood. Often rust is found under the plywood covering, in which case the metal should be treated:
- remove rust with a grinder;
- prime the iron;
- paint the metal.
First we cover the floor with bitumen material, then we coat all the joints on the body with silicone sealant. Of course, first thoroughly clean all surfaces from dirt and dust. We lay a 5-mm sheet of polyethylene on the floor, install new plywood on top, then lay linoleum (you can use regular one for an apartment).
We use bitumen to treat the front panel from below, the central tunnel, and lay linoleum on the wheel arches and tunnel. It is enough to lay vibration insulation on 80% of the entire floor area, but preferably no less.
Then we start processing the roof:
- remove the ceiling trim;
- We wash everything thoroughly, clean it, and if necessary, tint it.
The vibration-proofing layer can also be applied externally, but in this case the roof will need to be painted in the same color as the body. If your car has a sunroof, it must also be covered with soundproofing material. If the walls inside the cabin are sheathed with corrugated aluminum sheets, they are first covered with vibration-insulating and then noise-insulating material (for example, splen), the aluminum profile is installed on top.
We also install noise and vibration insulation sheets on the doors, engine hood, and wheel arches.
After such treatment, not only the sound insulation of the car improves, but also the vibration in the body is reduced, and the interior becomes warmer.
Tuning individual interior elements
Individual elements of the interior are also being modernized in the UAZ. For example, you can modify the hood (lid) of the engine compartment by installing a cover or minibar on top of it. Now you can place some things on top of the engine, and they won’t go anywhere while the car is moving.
Also, auto tuning stores sell special insulating caps for the engine cover. This upholstery will somewhat improve the noise and heat insulation in the cabin, and the bonnet looks very aesthetically pleasing.
The standard steering wheel of the UAZ “Bukhanka” is very bulky and has a thin rim. There are steering wheel tuning options:
- installing a steering wheel from another car model;
- placement of braid on the rim;
- Replacing the standard steering wheel with a sports steering wheel.
For UAZ 452/3741/2206, you can buy a new type of steering wheel in auto stores, which is also installed on the UAZ Hunter, UAZ 31512 or 31514 models, the price of the part is about 2 thousand rubles.
Quite often, SUV car owners install a steering wheel from a Gazelle Business car on their cars, but it should be installed together with the steering column. Another option for upgrading the steering wheel is to install a UAZ Patriot sports steering wheel of the Patriot Sport model. The cost of such a part is in the range of 700-800 rubles, the steering wheel looks very nice and solid.
The Patriot Sport steering wheel is three-spoke, has a beveled rim, its outer diameter is 35.5 cm. The steering wheel is made of a rubberized material similar to leather; the steering wheel rim is comfortable to grip with your hands. But UAZ car owners need to pay attention to the fact that such a steering wheel does not have a certificate, and it will be impossible to pass a technical inspection with it.
Winch
You definitely can't do without it. It’s hardly worth relying on someone’s help far from populated areas and roads. For the UAZ 452, winches with a force of 4 tons or more are suitable (taking into account the load of the vehicle). A good option is a device from Comeupwinch (DV-9 series). Its reliability has been tested many times, and with proper installation, the mechanism will function flawlessly for decades.
It is worth paying attention to the winch cable. It is advisable to replace the existing metal one with Kevlar (for example, Amsteel Blue from the American company Samson or similar). It is lighter, stronger, and safer to use.
It is lighter, stronger, and safer to use.
Tuning the passenger compartment in the cabin
When going fishing or hunting, off-road enthusiasts take many different things with them on their trip. In fact, the interior of a car on the road is a second home, and during rest stops you have to live in it. In the cabin, along with the sleeping places, you can also install lockers, which can conveniently accommodate a lot of useful items.
To save on energy consumption, you can embed a hatch into the roof of the body - with it, the car will be lighter during the day, and fresh air will flow into the cabin through the open hatch. The hatch is also convenient for hunters - you can shoot by leaning out of it without leaving the car.
Instead of standard lighting, car owners have recently increasingly installed LED strips. LEDs consume electricity very economically, while shining quite brightly. You can install LED devices in several chains and turn on the lighting not all at once, but separately.
As an option, you can upholster the inside of the body walls with soft material (for example, leatherette) in a light brown or beige color; such upholstery in the cabin will create home comfort. You should not choose colors that are too dark, it will look gloomy. You can cover the walls with leather, if funds allow.
UAZ "Loaf" do-it-yourself interior tuning: video
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Mineral wool
Mineral wool has recently been used to insulate various structures and structures, including cars.
Such high popularity can be associated with the following key features of the material:
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1. It has a relatively low cost. 2. When using mineral wool, the heat and sound insulation of a car can be increased. 3. Light weight means that the curb weight of the vehicle does not increase significantly. 4. The material can be processed, mineral wool sheets can be cut into various, most suitable parts. 5. Environmental friendliness means that even with long-term use, the material does not release harmful substances into the environment. 6. Easy to use, highly effective.
Quite often, when looking for an insulating material, mineral wool is chosen, which is produced in the form of rolls with a small thickness. Flexibility with a small thickness determines the possibility of using wool to insulate curved surfaces, of which there are quite a lot in cars.
