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North Africa Topics specific to North Africa and the Sahara down to the 17th parallel (excludes Morocco)
Photo by Lois Pryce, schoolkids in Algeria

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Photo of Lois Pryce, UK
and schoolkids in Algeria



Trans Sahara Routes.

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  #1  
Old 4 Mar 2009
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Chris Scott View Post

Well done on tracking down the TCS.CH tip.
I live in Switzerland and the BMW is a Swiss car - the TCS ETI only covers Swiss registered cars. Again the European cover matches the European cover of my insurance - and includes Mediterrenean rim countries!!!

I will get on the phone to BMW in a minute and get an idea of how much a sump guard will cost. If it is expensive I will make sure I have my jacks with me this weekend and will fashion something myself.

In the meantime - you mention protecting the fuel pipes and and exhaust - what have you used in the past??

We leave in the 3 weeks - maybe I should have got this sorted earlier - but the car will only be collected on Saturday after having all the work done on it.

MoroccanAdventure@hardmeier.net - Zurich-Tiznit-Zurich or BUST!!!

Edit: I called BMW over here at the part comes in at 235CHF (or about £135). I then got on the phone to my UK mechanic - who prepares my race car - and he has seen one. The last time was when he worked at the main dealers over 15 years ago. He said they were very good. I reckon I will give it a go - and then make up some pipe and tank protection myself.

Last edited by ngummow; 4 Mar 2009 at 10:45.
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Old 4 Mar 2009
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Location: Edinburgh, Lothian, Scotland
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Hi,
My 'modifications' to my Citroen AX were as follows, and I can recommend them all:
  • Trucker's fan screwed to dash.
  • Extra spare wheel from scrap yard (£10)
  • Cup holders from Halfords. (It's a thirsty place!)
What I didn't need:
  • 20l jerry can. There were petrol stations everywhere.
What I wish I'd done:
  • Home made sump protection
In the end I had two problems, the first was to do with the petrol cap and unconnected to driving in the desert. The second was my alternator gave up and had to be repaired by a local. Apparently dusty conditions are very bad for alternators, so this might be worth considering in terms of servicing tools and spares.

I found the Moroccan mechanics to be either very bad or very good bush mechanics. The chap who fixed my alternator used the guts from another he had knocking about in a drawer at the back of the filthiest garage I've ever seen. I doubted the repair would last the week. It lasted another 40,000 miles!

Great thing about a car is the amount of tools and spares you can take with you. Duct tape and zip-ties are invaluable!

Matt
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Old 4 Mar 2009
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Thanks Matt - I will check the fan performance of the BMW ventiliation system!

The Sump Guard is on order - and I will post pictures on our site of the "modifications". I get to play mechanic - which is always fun
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Old 4 Mar 2009
Chris Scott's Avatar
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Oh well, TCS was a false alarm...

In the meantime - you mention protecting the fuel pipes and and exhaust - what have you used in the past??

Well on the 190 they were recessed up into the floor pan (maybe all cars are like this) so just some thin metal sheet tacked across the channel did the trick - or a half pipe if they are not recessed.

btw, I just re-read the 190 pages after many years and see the bash plate was the most important mod - as Matt agreed.

Ch
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Old 4 Mar 2009
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I was under the car last week - and think they run under the body - inlet and return - alongside the brake pipe - I reckon I can come up with something. Any attempt to make a fuel tank protector may prove a little more complicated - but I am up for the challenge.

Just have to work out whether to borrow my brother-in-laws sand ladders and air jack - we eschewed borrowing their Land Cruiser - because 4400KM to Morocco in that doesn't appeal - the BMW should be OK at 90mph on the motorway!!
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  #6  
Old 4 Mar 2009
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Posts: 523
for a lada saloon

This is what I did to the lada 2104 when riding around Central Asia:
- Zebra skin interior
- disco ball
- radio built in cup board
- push button starter
- red leather gaiter for the shift stick
- red racing knob on the shift stick
- pink interior lighting
- manual switching of the fan
- ditched the rear seat
- painted the sump red so it's easier to see for 'marshal' when it will hit something

All worked very well. We did about 20k km, and didn't have a single failure.

Here it was rocky:
YouTube - Descending mount ararat

and this is only a few of 1000's km Kazakh highway:
YouTube - Kazakhstan Highway
YouTube - Along the Syrdaria

The lights:
Kitch on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Skins:
IMG_0110 on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Dash:
IMG_0578 on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

;-)
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Old 6 Mar 2009
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No fluffy dice on the rear view mirror robbert? I can't believe you made it without them!

Anyway, here is a pic of a bashplate I added to a 2CV for marocco:


Runs underneath the sump and the exhaust. Just bolted them on where I could. 3mm aluminium. Only change made.
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  #8  
Old 23 Mar 2009
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Hi all, I am new here and I have never been to Africa, but euhm an automatic beamer does not sound like the best choice for an overlander..

I have travelled all over Australia in an automatic and was warned on more than one occasion not to take it too far from civilisation, because we wouldn't be able to jumpstart it in case the battery would die on us.

Oh, I just reread your post and you are leavin about now anyway. Have fun on your trip, you should be allright.
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