Mongol Rally 2008 - 1990 K10 preparation

[nsm17]

Hi guys,

I'm taking part in this year's Mongol Rally, driving from London to Mongolia in a one litre car to raise money for charity. I see from looking through the forums that some of you have done it before or at least know about it so I won't go into more details! Yesterday I picked up the 1990 3-door K10 I recently bought off Ebay - 55,000 miles, MOT'd until next Jan and seemingly in good nick. I managed to drive it from Carlisle to Edinburgh without any difficulty but obviously the 10,000 miles to Mongolia might be a bit more challenging

I don't know a lot about cars and have little mechanical experience so I'm hoping you guys can provide me with some tips about what best to do in preparation for the rally. I've seen a couple of people on here so far who are recommending not overdoing the modifications and keeping the weight down, and I'm inclined to agree with them. Cost is definitely an issue so I'm not going to be buying any hardcore rally gear like expensive shocks, etc. Any ideas about relatively simple/cheap modifications we can do to give us a better chance would be welcome, especially regarding improving the ground clearance, protecting the underside of the car, strengthening the suspension or any extra welding, etc.

Check out www.mongolrally.com/teamwolfson for more info including a couple of photos of the car - more to follow!

Cheers,

Neil

 

[joesouthgate]

Nice (Y)

 

[pjg1979]

I haven't really done anything like this before but I would love to drive to that nurembourg ring in Germany.

Anyway for a 10k long drive I wouldn't leave home with out checking or having the following:

1. Spare filter (Possibly from Scrappers)
2. How many of you will be in the car?
3. Plenty of water, Radiator & Screen Wash.
4. Spare petrol can. (With Petrol Obviously)
5. Haynes manual off ebay (just in case)
6. Air Compressor that runs off DC socket.
7. Working radio.
8. Spare Blade Fuses.
9. Duck Tape.
10. H4 Bulb Kit.

I'll let someone else tell you what minor mods you need.

 

[hazzeryoda]

ohh the memories come flooding back!
She'll see you right mate, as far as i know all micras that started have made it...

Ours was a 1991 GS, only 50K on the clock. SUCH a gem of a car, haven't had one like it since...

we befriended a nice local mechanic guy who i think took pity on us! He serviced it and gave us new brakes, tyres etc but apart from that, we took nothing more than a couple of spare wheels and an ipod...

Seriously, some of the best times was trying to get a random mongolian to take our broken suspension springs off and take them 2hrs drive away to get them welded and bring them back, all with hand signals in the middle of a desolate mountain valley. Incredible.
I take it you want an adventure so apart from the obvious minor stuff dont bother with practically packing a spare engine etc like some...

get a roof rack, basic tool kit/sockets, mole grips and thats about it.

bring PILLOWS, you'll die if you don't - Micra drivers get to laugh at all the others because their seats won't recline fully horizontally! I can't tell you how much you'll thank the Japanese designers for adding that capability...
big bag of pens to dish out to kids, maybe some little bottles of booze as presents.
One 20L jerry can will do for the bits with fewer petrol stations - paranoia will set in at some point!

Good luck. I wish I were doing it again...

H

 

[nsm17]

Cheers for the info so far guys! I'm actually just back from buying a whole bunch of engine bits - a couple of mates from work are going to give it a full service next weekend.

The thing we're not sure about is suspension mods and wheels. I don't want to spend loads on suspension mods as it sounds like it's pretty much guaranteed to break anyway but I'd like to hear if anyone has any thoughts on what could be done. Bear in mind that there are three of us in the car with a fair amount of stuff and that the quality of the roads will be appauling!

I'd also like to know what size of wheels I can fit to improve ground clearance, again bearing in mind that the car will be sitting lower than it usually would.