Spinal's Mongol Rally Thread

[Spinal]

What dia. holes are needed?

They're oval - the pins I got I really don't like (soft aluminium that bends easily), so have sent them back and ordered some stainless ones.

M.

 

[Bellow]

They're oval .

M.

Drilled pilot hole then course rat's tail file?

 

[Spinal]

That sounds like a good idea, thanks...

Will do it as soon as the steel bonnet pins arrive.

Site is now under construction... and we may have secured our first sponsors, so it's all coming together!

M.

 

[Dieselman]

Drilled pilot hole then course rat's tail file?

A stepped drill would be quicker.

Alternatively, a drill of the correct size.

 

[Spinal]

A leaking crank seal isn't going to drain the oil as it's not under pressure...or shouldn't be if the breathers are clear.

Check the breathers.

Looks like you were spot on - the breather is incredibly gunked up. So much so, I think I'll replace it rather than attempt cleaning it.

Any suggesting as to what material to use? I can't seem to find anything on ebay/ecp - and would rather avoid a trip to a nissan dealer for what looks like a piece of sponge...

M.

 

[Meldrew2]

They're oval - the pins I got I really don't like (soft aluminium that bends easily), so have sent them back and ordered some stainless ones.

A stepped drill would be quicker.
Alternatively, a drill of the correct size.

Do they make oval drills for oval holes?

.

 

[Minz]

Do they make oval drills for oval holes?

.

Yes, they're sold near the drills for drilling half a hole.

 

[Dieselman]

Do they make oval drills for oval holes?

.

No, I hadn't registered the bit about the pins being oval. Seems an odd bit of design.

 

[John Jones Jr]

Any suggesting as to what material to use? I can't seem to find anything on ebay/ecp - and would rather avoid a trip to a nissan dealer for what looks like a piece of sponge...

M.

It should be a fiber type material, just soak in petrol, it should come out like new. Anyway, a new one is very, very cheap from the main dealer. Clean the the breather pipe out too with petrol.

 

[Spinal]

No, I hadn't registered the bit about the pins being oval. Seems an odd bit of design.

Most of those I saw are ovel/rectangular (in terms of the bonnet hole needed.
m.

 

[Spinal]

Keeping up with last weeks traditions, here's this week spend.

£7.95 new bonnet pins - asked to return the nasty aluminium ones
£6.99 rear stick on plates (reflective)
£1.98 assorted relays (20A, 30A)
£7.99 cv boot set with grease
£5.45 magnetic sump plug

as to work carried out, I've ripped out the air hose to the airbox and am now trying to figure out where to make a hole for the snorkel... it's not as easy as on the shogun, there's very little space on the side of the car.

Also, I've started doing some mock-ups for the car's vinyls, and think I've secured our first sponsor... more on that when it's certain.

oh yes, and started putting the website together! Ndanka Ndanka (still under construction, so lots of bits are broken or look weird... trying to remember how to customise the wordpress wp-login page still)

In the end, the team name ended up being Ndanka Ndanka (West African tribal sentence, means "drive slowly"). The car will be dubbed Mungo Kiddogo (Little God) from Indiana Jones, and costumes will be Indiana/Croft. The car will be styled to look a bit like Indis car, but in blue instead of tan/green... and with a map on the bonnet.

M.

 

[Bellow]

the breather is incredibly gunked up.

Getting on top of that might cure the crankseal leaks. It will take being driven under load (lots of throttle) to know though.

 

[Sp!ke]

I was thinking about the demise of previous competitors cars being blamed on bad quality fuel.

The obvious solution to this issue would be to retard the ignition timing when running on low grade fuel. Does the micra have a distributor?

 

[Spinal]

Alas, no.

They had dizzys until 2000, then moved to electronic coilpacks (mine are 2001/2002 - getting rid of the 2002).

For fuel - wouldn't an antiknock/octane booster help?

(on a side note, got my OBD reader and torque out, lot's of pointlessly fun stats coming through... going to be useful when designing a snorkel that doesn't restrict airflow too much!)

Finally got the login page on wordpress to look vaguely themed... I cheated a bit... but it works. The register is ok, not perfect, but ok... ah well... time to goto bed.

 

[Spinal]

Any ideas on what to do with the car glass?

I don't want to go down the route of getting perspex custom molded.

Looking at previous team's websites, windows shattering on potholes/corrugage seems to be an issue.

For the rear windows/tailgate, I'm planning to put vinyl mesh (like this www.grafityp.co.uk/One Way Vision Printable Window Filml.html ) - do you reckon it would add any strength?

For the rears again, I can always put a clear film on the inside. That said, I'm worried about doing this to the drive window, in case we need to get out that way (capsized cars seem to be a common accident type).

Any ideas?

Fake dremel arrived, tomorrow I'll fit the bonnet pins... and maybe start on the air intake.

 

[Spinal]

Thought it may be worth showing why potholes and corrugate are such a big concern.

This is the "motorway" between Mauritania and Mali. That's me driving the W202.

m.

 

[Minz]

This thread is really interesting. Sorry I can't help much with practical advice but thanks for the updates. BTW the website is looking good too.

 

[Spinal]

Thanks

Not much work done today, spent (wasted?) most of the morning trawling the internet for some old data...

In the past, Download historic military maps of the whole world - mapstor.com offered a free-of-charge download of Soviet military (read:spy) topographic maps of most of the world. Those maps are in the public domain.

That site no longer exists, and redirects to a someone entrepreneurial enough to sell the same maps.

Does anyone know of a place to get these? They are many gb is size for the 5 different scales... so I trawled a few torrent sites, but without luck.

Any help appreciated...

M.

 

[Dieselman]

Any ideas on what to do with the car glass?

I don't want to go down the route of getting perspex custom molded.

Looking at previous team's websites, windows shattering on potholes/corrugage seems to be an issue.

For the rear windows/tailgate, I'm planning to put vinyl mesh (like this www.grafityp.co.uk/One Way Vision Printable Window Filml.html ) - do you reckon it would add any strength?

For the rears again, I can always put a clear film on the inside. That said, I'm worried about doing this to the drive window, in case we need to get out that way (capsized cars seem to be a common accident type).

Window film would indeed add strength and resistance to shattering as it dampens the resonant frequency that breaks the glass.
I wouldn't be worried about not being able to escape in the event of a roll-over as the windows would be broken anyway, if not, you weren't trying hard enough.

 

[grober]

Thanks

Not much work done today, spent (wasted?) most of the morning trawling the internet for some old data...

In the past, Download historic military maps of the whole world - mapstor.com offered a free-of-charge download of Soviet military (read:spy) topographic maps of most of the world. Those maps are in the public domain.

That site no longer exists, and redirects to a someone entrepreneurial enough to sell the same maps.

Does anyone know of a place to get these? They are many gb is size for the 5 different scales... so I trawled a few torrent sites, but without luck.

Any help appreciated...

M.

British Library??

Modern Topographic Mapping