Spinal's Mongol Rally Thread

[Spinal]

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.

The getting out wouldn't be just in a roll-scenario. A head-on impact, or other reason the doors become useless, could mean needing to break the windows to get out.

That said, I'm thinking that if I put the film on, and leave the bottom cm or so without film, I can always break that and push the window/film out if needed...

Still looking for those flippin maps. They were so easy to get a few years ago, I'm kicking myself for not having downloaded the lot.

British Library??

Modern Topographic Mapping

Thanks - but the British has the paper-copies. The ones online were digital, and importable into a tool called sovmaps (or similar), and you could scroll between maps and zoom in/out. Kinda unwieldly bringing many, many maps with me...

M.

 

[Dieselman]

The getting out wouldn't be just in a roll-scenario. A head-on impact, or other reason the doors become useless, could mean needing to break the windows to get out.

That said, I'm thinking that if I put the film on, and leave the bottom cm or so without film, I can always break that and push the window/film out if needed...

I thought you were thinking of regular clear vinyl film, not bullet proof stuff...

Surely, if the doors are deformed enough to jam them , the windows would be broken.

 

[Spinal]

Fair point. Film it is

Today I started working on the air intake, and the rear bumper (which had a small dent). I really should have just ignored the dent.

Now I have a rear bumper, with a smaller dent, but two sheared bolts. I think I'll need to drill them out and replace them. Ugh. Should have just ignored the small dent.

I've also isolated the ECU and found the tacho feed... but couldn't wire in my tacho as I didn't have enough wire. Grumble. Ordered some 50m of wire and some vampire clips... I'll need some 8awg wire too for the roof lights, so will order that soon, as well as some relays and a switch...

M.

 

[V12]

8awg for lights?! That's some serious kit!!

 

[Dieselman]

8awg for lights?! That's some serious kit!!

The wind resistance and current load will slow the car down 20mph.

 

[Dave Barlow]

Renault Clio? May share parts with Dacia that are available worldwide. Some Renaultsport Clio parts may fit the 1.2 as well.

 

[Dieselman]

Renault Clio? May share parts with Dacia that are available worldwide. Some Renaultsport Clio parts may fit the 1.2 as well.

On a Nissan Micra?

 

[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.

???? FROM THIS REFERENCE web service - Free download of Soviet topographic maps (also known as Genshtab maps) - Geographic Information Systems Stack Exchange

Òîïîãðàôè÷åñêèå êàðòû

 

[Spinal]

8awg for lights?! That's some serious kit!!

55-65W per bulb (osram nightbreakers), 4 on the roof and two on the bumper...

That's 330-390W. 390W@12V is 32.5amps...

8awg/3mm diameter cable is rated at 33amps...

It's more the alternator that worries me than the cable really! Thinking I may wire them in sets of two, and only ever turn on one set of two lights. The other 4 being for emergency use...

Michele

 

[John Jones Jr]

55-65W per bulb (osram nightbreakers), 4 on the roof and two on the bumper...

Bring spares, plenty of spares. As, from my experience on several different cars & 4x4's, they don't like rough roads. I had to revert back to good quality standard bulbs, no issues with premature bulbs blowing since.

 

[Spinal]

Indeed - the nightbreakers have a much thinner filament...

I am very tempted to fit a set of cheap chinese HIDs on the roof, but if one breaks, spares would be very hard to source.

My current plan is 2x LED units on the roof (27w each... ordered one to test), 2x halogen bulbs on the roof. Then on the bumper, not entirely sure yet...

I need to find a pod to put all the switches in. My childish mind wants to use the 25A rated "top gun, covered red" switches... would do away with the need for a separate relay... but they are 6cm high each, so won't easily fit in the (single) blank hole on the center console.

Maybe something on top of the dashboard... anyone have a 3d printer? or a box with a sloped front?

m.

 

[John Jones Jr]

You might find something here: Motor Vehicle Accessories

 

[Sp!ke]

I'm not sure how much useable light you'll get from LED's frankly.

They provide a very white light which is ok at short distances but useless for driving in the dark.

 

[Spinal]

Spike - that's my experience as well... but on another forum there's someone that recommended them... and at £13 a pop, I bought one to test....

They're advertised as 1800lm (which I doubt), so I'll pop a luxmeter in front it and report back... (both at 1m and 35m distances).

If that fails, aren't the cheap HIDs 35w or so in power? Or I could just dump a second battery into the boot with a split charge system... but that starts getting complex and expensive... (even though; thinking about it, I do have a spare battery from the volvo, which is far too big for the micra, but as a second battery may work quite well)

M.

 

[Spinal]

You might find something here: Motor Vehicle Accessories

Thanks - will have a better look tonight. What I'm looking for is something like this:

Flip-up Switch Panel Box for Sport Racing Car - Silver + Red (DC 12V) - Free Shipping - DealExtreme

Which I can just screw into the car, and hook up all sorts to it... Thinking some musical air-horns may go quite well, as well as some flashy LED strips somewhere... anything to be seen in the dark!

M.

 

[V12]

55-65W per bulb (osram nightbreakers), 4 on the roof and two on the bumper...

That's 330-390W. 390W@12V is 32.5amps...

8awg/3mm diameter cable is rated at 33amps...

It's more the alternator that worries me than the cable really! Thinking I may wire them in sets of two, and only ever turn on one set of two lights. The other 4 being for emergency use...

Michele

What length cable are you accounting for? 33 amps is quite low for 8AWG isn't it?

 

[Sp!ke]

These should do the job.

HELLA RALLYE 4000 LUMINATOR LED SPOTLIGHT LONG DISTANCE METAL LAMPS REF. 37.5 | eBay

 

[John Jones Jr]

Here's a marine 12V switch panel.

6 Gang Black Vertical Boat Switch Panel: Amazon.co.uk: Sports & Outdoors

 

[Howard]

Thanks - will have a better look tonight. What I'm looking for is something like this:

Flip-up Switch Panel Box for Sport Racing Car - Silver + Red (DC 12V) - Free Shipping - DealExtreme

Which I can just screw into the car, and hook up all sorts to it... Thinking some musical air-horns may go quite well, as well as some flashy LED strips somewhere... anything to be seen in the dark!

M.

I might have some brand new musical air horns ( don't ask ) you could have cheap ?

Not sure what tune they play , it will either be Dixie or La Cucaratcha

 

[Spinal]

These should do the job.

HELLA RALLYE 4000 LUMINATOR LED SPOTLIGHT LONG DISTANCE METAL LAMPS REF. 37.5 | eBay

Thanks Much cheaper on amazon though at £495

That said, (ignoring that even at £495 they cost roughly twice what I paid for the car), they weight 2.4kg each!! Oh, and they don't say anywhere how many watts they are. This is the one I was looking at:
1800LM 27W Super Bright High-power 9X 3W Bead LED Square Offroad LED Work Light | eBay

That said, i stumbled across these two, which I'm tempted to try... I have a feeling that the second will attract shill bidding....
Hot 30W CREE U2 LED Spot Light Motor Motorcycle Truck Waterproof Black | eBay
28 inch 360W 21600LM LED work light bar 9-32V Jeep 4wd 4x4 SUV ATV offroad ute | eBay

Here's a marine 12V switch panel.

6 Gang Black Vertical Boat Switch Panel: Amazon.co.uk: Sports & Outdoors

Something like that would work - but I need to figure out what to mount it too! TBH, the panel isn't the biggest worry (I can make the panel out of some aluminum sheet) - it's the box behind that I need. I was hoping to find a ready-made solution on the cheap, but it looks like either I need to make my own (i.e. cost of renting some oxy cylinders + some sheet) or getting it made.

I might have some brand new musical air horns ( don't ask ) you could have cheap ?

Not sure what tune they play , it will either be Dixie or La Cucaratcha

Sorry, but I must ask. Why?

I would be interested. Would be an entertaining surprise for my other half (and copilot)... What do you want for them?

M.