LHD nissan patrol, 1995+ non turbo x3 needed, any advise ?
Discussion
I am involved in a project to drive three mid 90's lhd nissan patrol down to Ghana to donate them to the government and to the charity afrikids, so they can turn them into Ambulances.
The route is fine, funding should be ok ( thinking about 5k per car ), not much of it will be off road, we will be camping along the route. the cars need to be diesel, manual and non turbo to make them the same as the vehicles they already have and work on. They also have to be LHD as RHD are illegal over there and adds to the cost to get them changed over.
I could do with info/help with
1) sources of said vehicle ( here or Europe, here ideally )
2) buying guides ?
3) a rough idea of spares that would be useful to take along with us
4) diesel mechanic course available in west london
5) any tips from anyone of you that have done anything similar
6) any things that should be done pretrip to ensure as few problems as possible.
Regards
Ben
The route is fine, funding should be ok ( thinking about 5k per car ), not much of it will be off road, we will be camping along the route. the cars need to be diesel, manual and non turbo to make them the same as the vehicles they already have and work on. They also have to be LHD as RHD are illegal over there and adds to the cost to get them changed over.
I could do with info/help with
1) sources of said vehicle ( here or Europe, here ideally )
2) buying guides ?
3) a rough idea of spares that would be useful to take along with us
4) diesel mechanic course available in west london
5) any tips from anyone of you that have done anything similar
6) any things that should be done pretrip to ensure as few problems as possible.
Regards
Ben
300bhp/ton said:
lol, afraid I can't help much.
But wouldn't have been better to source the vehicles in question first, before arranging the trip and the final intention with them?
Not really, we came up with the idea of helping Afrikids, one of the things they need are 4x4 Ambulances, we ask around for people with medical knowledge ( southampton hospital ) to do a co-op event, get a bunch of people together, start raising money, buy cars, do trip, medics stay and help locals.But wouldn't have been better to source the vehicles in question first, before arranging the trip and the final intention with them?
No way we could raise near 20k with no basis for the fundraising or a date for the trip, you have to "sell" the idea to them.
No cars no trip, arrangements for travelling in a years time don;t really cost much, just planning and visas which can be sorted closer to the time. Money raised will pay for the cars and petrol, people on the trip pay for all their own expenses ( food, accommodation, visa, jabs etc etc ).
Main thing is making sure we get cars that can get us there which is what I am looking into now.
i did the plymouth-banjul banger rally a few years ago, in a very old knackered volvo 360 (that had cost us £75). We took with us a couple of spare tyres (mounted on spare wheels), water, fuel, oil and a toolkit. Otherwise we didn't take anything. We had to source lhd cars (mine came from holland) - which was tricky - theres a lot of red tape to cross when you buy a car (anywhere) and understanding it in a foreign country is tricky. You need watertight paperwork (or a wadge of notes) to get the cars across various african borders as well - so having a contact in the country where you want to source the car is probably the best way - if you can source them here you'd do well, but I suspect that might be tricky. You might be able to buy some rhd patrols and convert them to lhd, I think someone on our rally did that with a defender. The route we took crossed the sahara, which was loads of fun, and we got stuck lots being in a 2wd car, but there's a road round the edge. Otherwise the roads were fine - lumpy in parts, but with the speed you do most of the time its not an issue. Loads of things broke on various cars, and nearly every time we were able to bodge them back to running again. With 3 identical cars going, you might be able to make an educated guess to some spares (fan belt\radiator\waterpump\spark plugs\timing belt\sump plug\fuel filter\air filter). I'd also take a fuel filter funnel (that you pump the fuel through when you fill the car) as these are cheap and stop a lot of crap in the fuel making it into the car. If a car dies terminally on the way, be prepared to bribe a local to have it taken out of your passport.
of all the cars that took place (approx 100) the overwhelming majority made it - I think 5 broke down on the way. I personally know of a big old chevvy that died in europe (dead water pump - I'm convinced that if it happened in africa we'd have got it fixed) and a chevvy blazer that died in the desert (one injector had failed, which we bodged, then the big end bearings went, which we couldn't bodge. The car was swapped for the bribe to get the passport sorted for the guy who had the car in his passport (they stamp the cars in and then out). Overall, if you wanted to make it, go on the roads and not across the desert, but remember that in africa, with a load of time and a little money, anything can be fixed. Someone used an old merc herse, and snapped the chassis halfway, it still made it to the end.
final thing to add - why nissan patrols? a quick look suggests they're all diesel (might just not have looked hard enough) - while its possible to get the devils fuel in sub-saharan africa, petrol is much much easier. worth baring this in mind for the drive down (if you're using diesels its probably wise to take at least 500 miles on poor roads (ie 1000 miles of regular) of reserve fuel. For crossing the sahara in our volvo we had 40 litres in the tank and 60 liters in the boot. The patrols look like they're quite well equipped - I'd see this as more to go wrong. If the charity wants 4x4s for the work they do, the previous generation patrol, or a defender, or something similar might be a better bet - the locals will have much more knowledge on how to keep them running well. a early cherokee might be a good bet (and save you 10k to start with)
of all the cars that took place (approx 100) the overwhelming majority made it - I think 5 broke down on the way. I personally know of a big old chevvy that died in europe (dead water pump - I'm convinced that if it happened in africa we'd have got it fixed) and a chevvy blazer that died in the desert (one injector had failed, which we bodged, then the big end bearings went, which we couldn't bodge. The car was swapped for the bribe to get the passport sorted for the guy who had the car in his passport (they stamp the cars in and then out). Overall, if you wanted to make it, go on the roads and not across the desert, but remember that in africa, with a load of time and a little money, anything can be fixed. Someone used an old merc herse, and snapped the chassis halfway, it still made it to the end.
final thing to add - why nissan patrols? a quick look suggests they're all diesel (might just not have looked hard enough) - while its possible to get the devils fuel in sub-saharan africa, petrol is much much easier. worth baring this in mind for the drive down (if you're using diesels its probably wise to take at least 500 miles on poor roads (ie 1000 miles of regular) of reserve fuel. For crossing the sahara in our volvo we had 40 litres in the tank and 60 liters in the boot. The patrols look like they're quite well equipped - I'd see this as more to go wrong. If the charity wants 4x4s for the work they do, the previous generation patrol, or a defender, or something similar might be a better bet - the locals will have much more knowledge on how to keep them running well. a early cherokee might be a good bet (and save you 10k to start with)
Edited by 5lab on Tuesday 10th May 15:19
5lab said:
i did the plymouth-banjul banger rally a few years ago, in a very old knackered volvo 360 (that had cost us £75). We took with us a couple of spare tyres (mounted on spare wheels), water, fuel, oil and a toolkit. Otherwise we didn't take anything. We had to source lhd cars (mine came from holland) - which was tricky - theres a lot of red tape to cross when you buy a car (anywhere) and understanding it in a foreign country is tricky. You need watertight paperwork (or a wadge of notes) to get the cars across various african borders as well - so having a contact in the country where you want to source the car is probably the best way - if you can source them here you'd do well, but I suspect that might be tricky. You might be able to buy some rhd patrols and convert them to lhd, I think someone on our rally did that with a defender. The route we took crossed the sahara, which was loads of fun, and we got stuck lots being in a 2wd car, but there's a road round the edge. Otherwise the roads were fine - lumpy in parts, but with the speed you do most of the time its not an issue. Loads of things broke on various cars, and nearly every time we were able to bodge them back to running again. With 3 identical cars going, you might be able to make an educated guess to some spares (fan belt\radiator\waterpump\spark plugs\timing belt\sump plug\fuel filter\air filter). I'd also take a fuel filter funnel (that you pump the fuel through when you fill the car) as these are cheap and stop a lot of crap in the fuel making it into the car. If a car dies terminally on the way, be prepared to bribe a local to have it taken out of your passport.
Cheers, bud, little things like the fuel filter that are going to help.Boarder wise we are good, friend runs Afrikids and their father 9 who is doing the trip ) has done it a few times.
I was thinking of taking one therostat, fanbelt, filters, spark plugs etc etc and hoping it only breaks in one car at a time !
Tampon said:
spark plugs
Which explains why you need the diesel mechanic's course 
TBH I'd contact Nissan Europe and ask where they sold the most Patrols in the 90s. Then cross reference that list with where's least bureaucratic for a foreigner buying a car (and which languages you all speak) and go on from there.
Bill said:
Which explains why you need the diesel mechanic's course
TBH I'd contact Nissan Europe and ask where they sold the most Patrols in the 90s. Then cross reference that list with where's least bureaucratic for a foreigner buying a car (and which languages you all speak) and go on from there.
Doh, I have been servicing the vectra this week and have been boning up on spark plugs, oil filters, brake pads etc just a hangover from that !TBH I'd contact Nissan Europe and ask where they sold the most Patrols in the 90s. Then cross reference that list with where's least bureaucratic for a foreigner buying a car (and which languages you all speak) and go on from there.
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