Unsuitable Rally Car - Nissan Micra - Mongolia

Unsuitable Rally Car - Nissan Micra - Mongolia

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91Cooper

Original Poster:

30 posts

108 months

Wednesday 12th July 2017
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Hello all,

This is a short post about a 1996 Nissan Micra and its preparations to get it ready to drive to mongolia in a few days time. The car had dramatically failed its MOT on mainly rust and emmissions but we have been able to bring it back from the dead so that it can have one last road trip.



The car is my wifes car and believe it or not it is her idea to do the mongol Rally as she has owned the car for the last 5+ years and doesn't want to see it just scrapped.

We are also doing this to raise as much money as possible for two Cystic Fibrosis Charities so it would be great if some of you would like to support us. The cost of the car, fuel etc is all covered so all money donated will go direct to the charities.

So as I have said the car failled badly, mainly due to rust. For the past few years the car fails on rust, gets patched and is good to go for another year. This year though the garage said it was terminal and totally uneconomical to repair. If you see the picture below, it does not look too bad.

This hole which you can see is actually a hole in a previous repair panel so what was underneath is considerably worse. Based on this hole I wasnt sure why it failed. I will pop up some more photos shorthly.

Ruffy94

229 posts

135 months

Wednesday 12th July 2017
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Ironic, I was just reading about this rally yesterday. The organisation I work for owns the land/venue that the launch party is taking place on/at. Looks like an incredible journey, hopefully its not as dangerous as their website makes out laugh

caelite

4,273 posts

111 months

Wednesday 12th July 2017
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I've been wanting to do this for years but have never had the funds, Micra seems like the perfect car for it. Might be worth explaining your intentions to the MOT station, a lot of technicians will blank some issues if they know the car is only going to be used for a specific purpose.

GEFAFWISP

86 posts

90 months

Wednesday 12th July 2017
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Definitely watching the thread, looking forward to hearing/seeing all about the trip! The mongol Rally is definitely on my bucket list at some point and I think a Micra is a cracking choice.

I'd be more than happy to make a donation for the charity as well, maybe stick a link up (if that's not against PH rules?)

Best of luck biggrin!

Bdevo3

478 posts

88 months

Thursday 13th July 2017
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Great choice for the task at hand. Stick two new outer c v joints on it as a precaution after years working Howard scrappers they seem to be only weak point. Watching with interest

xjay1337

15,966 posts

117 months

Thursday 13th July 2017
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Weld some big plates underneath it.

Fit a lifting kit and chunky wheels and tyres.

Take lots of pictures!

scotlandtim

319 posts

127 months

Thursday 13th July 2017
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xjay1337 said:
Weld some big plates underneath it.

Fit a lifting kit and chunky wheels and tyres.

Take lots of pictures!
Micra on Stilts - didn't nissan already do that and call it a Jimny!

91Cooper

Original Poster:

30 posts

108 months

Thursday 13th July 2017
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Thank you all for the interest and it really would be great if some of you were willing to donate towards the CF trust.

The link below is to our fundrazr page.

https://fundrazr.com/campaigns/117GU8



So, back to the repairs, under the repair panel was the original sill panel which had seen better days. It seems that the problem was that there was nowhere for the water to go after the repair and the sill just rusted from the inside out.


After cutting it all away it was obvious there was more to be done. The box section which runs along that area has also rusted and had to be cut out a new section made.




So after removing all the rust there was a considerable amount of metal removed which was then replaced. which seems like a hell of alot of work for a car that might not make it to mongolia and let alone make it back. We did need an MOT though and wanted the car to atleast have a good chance of making it so the work continued.







Again if any of you are willing to doate to the Cystic Fibrosis Trust it really would be great. We have set a target of £1000 but it really would be great if we could exceed this target. Also just to confirm that 100% of the money raised will be donated to our charities, the costs for the car, parts, fuel etc are all being covered by ourselves and some very generous autofactors.

https://fundrazr.com/campaigns/117GU8

91Cooper

Original Poster:

30 posts

108 months

Friday 14th July 2017
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Ok, So now that the repair job was done, it was on to the fun parts.

Roof rack and sumpguard.

As the car is a 3 door it is not easy to get a set of roof bars to fit so a decision was made to make one. The micra does not come with any clips or captive nuts for the fitment of a roof rack so the only option was to drill the roof.(This was filled with sealer after so should be ok!)







Ok, so like the repairs the amount of work gone into this rack will put the other teams to shame. Other rally teams will have pallets on the roof or just shopping rule. Ours as locations for water, fuel, tyres etc.

Once the rack was made, we then modified it again to fit a 20" light bar. The rack itself is very light as it is made from steel for office/school furniture which is very light but also very strong.

Also, did you spot the jerry can in the second photo? It is empty and washed out so dont worry but it doesn't look the best!

williamp

19,217 posts

272 months

Friday 14th July 2017
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Good effort and good luck. They did rally them back in the day, you know!!



91Cooper

Original Poster:

30 posts

108 months

Friday 14th July 2017
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Yes, I imagine when set up correctly they really can be fun to drive. With our roof rack, camping gear etc. I dont think ours would be that good on the stages.

So, after the roof rack, the sump gaurd is next. When we looked under the car it was obvious that the fuel tank was exposed and may suffer on the rocky roads in Central Asia. To protect these we decided to use alloy plates.

The tankgaurd involved welding brackets to the body at the rear and bolting brackets through the floor at the front, Fitted bolts and plates into the allow section at the front of the rear seats.





This should hopefully protect the tank. It is a close fit by the rear beam but with the suspension at full travel there is a couple of mm of clearance.

Superchickenn

687 posts

169 months

Tuesday 18th July 2017
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I love the fact that you are reviving a car thats apparently past its good days...

Please keep us updated on the progress

Sweeneh

6 posts

144 months

Tuesday 18th July 2017
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launch today! good luck with the journey, hoping to take part myself next year in a slight older micra driving

ayman82

1,465 posts

180 months

Friday 21st July 2017
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scotlandtim said:
Micra on Stilts - didn't nissan already do that and call it a Jimny!
Ah yes, the well known Nissan Jimny, not Suzuki at all...

91Cooper

Original Poster:

30 posts

108 months

Friday 21st July 2017
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Firstly thanks to Pistonheads for the Car of the week!

We have been on the road now since Sunday and have just arrived in Turkey.

The car has been great, coping with 1000+Kms a day without issue. Yesterday it got a little bit of a treat and got to drive the transfagarasan highway. It was a little rough in places but a great road with great views.

91Cooper

Original Poster:

30 posts

108 months

Friday 21st July 2017
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lukeyman

1,009 posts

134 months

Friday 21st July 2017
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Awesome!

sgtBerbatov

2,597 posts

80 months

Friday 21st July 2017
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Fantastic! I saw a chap in a Harlequin-esque Toyota Yaris from Ireland driving along the M40 on Friday destined for the mongol rally.

Definately something I want to do as well, finding the time though is the problem!

Will you be driving it back or just dumping the Micra there to rot?

Inspectre

435 posts

218 months

Friday 21st July 2017
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Excellent idea and sponsored. Good luck on the trip

nismo48

3,610 posts

206 months

Friday 21st July 2017
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Amazing and remarkable things happen in Micras.. 😋
Good luck with the trip and safe travels.. 👍👍