Tuning Gazelle – what to improve in the first place?

Gazelle in all body variants is a car that copes well with domestic road conditions, reliable and easy to operate. However, much in the design of this car does not meet modern standards of comfort, so water sports enthusiasts often resort to tuning.

1 External tuning of the Gazelle – the pursuit of exclusivity

First of all, Gazelle owners make an alternative body kit. To do this, you need to install a new front bumper. As a rule, this is a plastic bumper, with slots for fog lights. In specialized stores, you can find a bumper that fits the old brackets, and installing it yourself is not difficult. You need to unscrew the fasteners on both sides with a screwdriver, remove the old bumper and install a new one, as in the presented video. The color of the bumper can be combined with the color of the body. Installing plastic lining on the body, as well as decorative plastic thresholds, is also not difficult for the car owner.

To give the appearance of the Gazelle 4×4 brutality and improve the off-road capabilities of the car, you can install protective metal arches or a kenguryatnik. Some Gazelle owners simply install metal arches on the sides of the bumper. Installing a kenguryatnik on a 4×4 Gazelle is a simple procedure, but for this you need to have certain skills. How to fold the kenguryatnik yourself, you can see in the video below.

Very often, owners adjust the front and rear optics of the Gazelle, for which they use LEDs or install additional fog lights.

To install LED lights directly on the headlight, you need to disassemble it and disassemble it completely. To do this, disconnect the contacts, remove the latches, pull out the headlight. Then carefully separate the headlight assembly from the glass. We attach the previously purchased LED strip to the glue either around the entire perimeter or in separate areas. In this case, you can change the color of the headlight reflector, for which foil or ordinary paint is used.

To improve the aerodynamic properties of the Gazelle, it is necessary to install a body kit, as well as plastic deflectors on the side windows, deflectors on the hood of the car, a special fairing that is mounted on the roof of the car. These accessories are made of light material, have special fasteners; it will not be difficult to install them with your own hands. This will not only give the car an exclusive look, but also increase efficiency, and at cruising speeds it will improve the acoustic effect.

To give the car more individuality, Gazelle owners use the following accessories and elements:

• side mirrors with turn signal repeaters and a heating and electric drive system,
• alternative grilles and plastic body kit of the front bumper,
• original discs and upgraded foreign discs,
• towbars, roof racks, ladders and other additional elements of the body structure.

You can install all the presented tuning accessories with your own hands if you have a standard set of tools and the necessary parts. You can buy them in tuning salons or specialized stores. When tuning the exterior of the Gazelle 4×4, the main thing is not to overdo it, otherwise the car will not only lose its individuality, but also turn into a spaceship. The choice is yours, and the scope for adjusting the appearance of the Gazelle is huge!

2 Tuning the cabin and cab on the Gazelle

As a rule, when tuning the Gazelle interior, the first thing to do is change the old-style steering wheel and gear lever. For different versions of the Gazelle, you can find new elegant style steering wheels with wooden inserts. This option is especially relevant for the Gazelle Business version, since the steering wheel is fully compatible with standard mounts. On the video you can see how to remove and install the steering wheel. To improve the interior of the Gazelle, details such as:

• additional interior heater and electrical accessories (window regulators, mirror adjustment, etc.),
• new seats and new side door moldings,
• a console under the ceiling for storing various things and a table in the front panel,
• new torpedo and LED illumination of the instrument panel,
• improved acoustic system and on-board computer.

To install power windows with your own hands, you must have a set of tools (wrenches, screwdrivers, etc.). The mechanical part of the changes is simple, but it is better to use the help of a specialist to connect the wiring. To replace the mechanism itself, using a conventional screwdriver, you need to unscrew the fasteners of the window handle and everything that holds the door trim. Next, you need to carefully remove the casing; this will give you access to the standard lifting mechanism. After that, two bolts are unscrewed that secure the carriage to the door glass. Next, we fix the glass in the upper position and with a 10 key we unscrew the lower and upper nuts that attach the lifting mechanism to the door. Next.

3 Technical modernization of the Gazelle

Adjustment of the technical part begins with the strengthening of the rear leaf spring suspension. To do this, you need to install additional metal sheets. This will increase the load capacity and increase the rigidity. In front of the suspension, it is recommended to replace the stock shock absorbers with gas shock absorbers with a longer resource. By installing spacers on the springs, you can achieve a slight increase in clearance. Spacers are rounded polyurethane washers that are inserted into the holes between the springs. Some owners of Gazelle 4×4 resort to installing air suspension, but this is an expensive procedure that cannot be done by hand, and this option is not always justified.

Engine tuning is done in several ways. The simplest and most common presented in the video is chip tuning. This allows you to improve the power, traction and economy of the engine without mechanical changes. In the case of older versions of Gazelles, it is relevant to replace the standard ZMZ 403 carburetor engine with a more modern analogue with direct injection or forcing an existing unit. To do this, you can increase the diameter of the pistons, grind the cylinder head, replace the exhaust system with a more modern one. All these changes are best done in the service, as they require sophisticated technical equipment.