Hi folks, new around here - a friend and I are doing the Mongol Rally this year. For those of you who don't know, this is basically driving a cheap and inappropriate car 10000 miles from the UK to Ulan-Ude, close to the Russia-Mongolia border.

Our route will take us over several thousand miles of rough roads, farm tracks and places with no roads whatsoever -hard going on any car, let alone an inappropriate city car! We're also expecting to find some pretty harsh heat and dust.

Our weapon of choice is a 1999 Fiat Seicento 0.9, bought for a whopping £300 a few months back and unceremoniously dumped on an unsuspecting grandparents drive and ignored. It's done about 50k according to the odo but we have zero service history. We've managed a grand total of 60 miles in it and decided it is the perfect tool for the job, but needs a few tweaks here and there beforehand.

So, to those of you better versed in the charms of all things Fiat, what preparation would you do to bolster your chances of making the finish line?

Our current plans go as far as...

- Thorough service (Oil, filters, coolant flush, plugs, brakes, clutch cable replaced etc. etc.)
- Sump and undertray protection in the form of a 3mm plate bolted to anything substantial
- Mesh guard over the radiator as it seems to sit very low
- Slightly higher profile van tyres (As they are 8 ply vs the 3 or 4 ply of standard road tyres)
- Remove the rear seats (the boot is tiny, we have a lot of crap, makes sense!)
- Drive it! It will be pushed into service as a daily driver for 2 months prior to the event to try and iron out any niggles.

Make sure you protect the inner driveshaft boots, if they get torn all of the gearbox oil will leak out from the gearbox. Not something you want to happen at the best of times, let alone out in the middle of nowhere. I nearly did the Mongol rally a few years back, was going to use a Suzuki SJ410.

These engines are very tough little units with plenty of fight in them, make sure the cooling system is all up to scratch though! Maybe even chuck in a new thermostat for safety's sake, they're very cheap.

Make sure fan comes on at appropriate temps too, and maybe a roof rack wouldn't be a bad idea for storage?

Take plenty of spares! Belts etc, maybe get some used ones from a scrappy, you might get them for nothing.

Good luck though, it's a big undertaking.

Hi
What a great challenge, I'd love to have a go at something like that if I had the time/money
The radiator is very low as I found out to my cost on a trial when I hit and innocent looking earth bank
The front spoiler fasteners were pushed into the tubes and I had a punctured radiator. You can do a quick repair by crimping the tubes with pliers - at least you can plod on as when I did it it completely stopped the leaks.
I've looked at raising mine but I can't work out how to do it. Think they are only £37.00 new so maybe think about taking a spare.The front bumper is a pain to remove so have a look at quick removal options if you haven't already done that.
As far as the underguard goes I am still scratching my head as to how to do it, I even thought of cutting up a nylon storage 50 gallon barrel, unrolling it and fastening that to the underside, not too heavy and at least as tough as aluminium I would have thought.
Good luck, hope it goes well for you

Maybe you could lift it the same way we lift freelanders with a spacer on the top off the strut don't know how it would work on the rear though

I'd replace the rad and water pump. Not sure how easy the pump is on the 899?

Radiators are very light and cheap as said, a spare wouldn't take much space. Strapped to the headlining? Also take a spare clutch cable. Most experienced cento owners carry a spare one

Voltage regulator takes little space?

Great adventure sounds cool

Fit 14" wheels? The 13's do disappear down pot holes easily!

If your going down the plastic under guard route you can get stuff that farmers use to line walls and everything for their cattle. It's about 3-4 mm thick and just as strong as aluminium. I've used this stuff on a night event Subaru Impreza going down poorly maintained rocky Welsh farmers lanes and there has ben scrapes and gouges but no cuts through the material.
Not sure how much a sheet is because I knew a farmer in my previous job that had a few sheets spare.
That's about all the input I can give really.
I've seen these things before and they look like good fun but never had the spare cash to go, good luck and hope you make it to the finish.

engine is solid as said, may be worth while just changing the clutch and the clutch cable !

Ming

Drill a few holes and put strips of cheap but strong plastic along the length of the fuel/ brake lines, with cable ties to hold in place. It's cheaper than running the fuel lines through the car. Also weld nuts on to the separate sections of exhaust and tie together with old coat hangers. That way if you hit a deep pot hole that catches the exhaust, it doesn't cause damage all the way along, just yanks out the part you've damaged, which can be collected and re-attached. Also get a spare fuel tank, cut the top half off, fill with expanding foam and place under the existing fuel tank to make a tank guard. Try [ame]http://www.amazon.co.uk/372/dp/1845842081/ref=sr_1_24?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1423268652&sr=1-24&keywords=rallying+cheap[/ame] (other suppliers are available), it's full of good ideas and can be picked up quite cheap.

Also buy a spare of all the annoying sensors. You never know when an Idle Control Valve etc is going to give up and cause no end of hassle. The sort of countries you are going to visit are probably lacking a supply of seicento based electronic goodies, so when one of them gives up, it's probably better to have a spare then rely on the locals.

Hey mate,

how did the rally go in your Seicento?
Looking at doing the same thing this year.:slayer:

frottata said:

Hey mate,

how did the rally go in your Seicento?
Looking at doing the same thing this year.:slayer:

Click to expand...

Pugly only posted the once..!!

somebody on here may know though,

Charlie