Miscellaneous - "What's that noise?"
Bolts - Tighten, re-tighten, lock nut, Loctite™, silicon and wire all your nuts/bolts. It's just unbelievable the amount that these things come loose whilst beating around the track. I think our entire rear-end LSD conversion was spurred on by a single cross-member nut falling off...
Chassis - Not the strongest feature of the Datto. The metal directly above the engine cross-member, on both sides of the car, is deforming at an alarming rate. Don't think there's a lot we can do about this problem. Time to get another car.........
Dehydration - One of the first things you'll notice when you jump out of the car at the end of a track session, is the amount of sweat you've built up. Extend the session to 4 hours and you'll begin to appreciate the volume of water needed to keep your body hydrated. Our car currently contains a two litre container for each person, however we've found that this is barely enough. If in doubt it's always a good idea to over-compensate on an item like this. You never know when you'll get stuck in the middle of nowhere and have to wait 6-8 hours for the sweeper...
Engine Shock - For off road racing conditions the engine mounts are just not good enough. Our stock fan has a clearance of at least 30mm between it and the fan shroud however it's still in the process of grinding itself away to nothing. I'm thinking a third engine mount (vibration is not really a problem in this type of car) mounted onto the strut tower brace is the go. One of these days when we get around to it...
Glass/Polycarb - Somewhere along the line we decided to replace the original windscreen with a 6mm polycarb version. This was probably due to the glass windscreen being smashed/almost falling out, but it also helped reduce the weight a bit. This is almost the worst place to have additional weight; way above the ground, yeech! The polycarb can be scratched relatively easily, however certain scratch-resistant films can be stuck onto it that will alleviate this problem. In terms of strength, the polycarb wins hands-down. Put someone in the driver's seat and then hit the windscreen as hard as you can with your fist in front of their head. The reaction can be quite amusing... On the down side, the polycarb doesn't clear as well as a glass windscreen would. Mud and dust tend to be cleared through using heaps of water rather than the wiper action (see Wipers - below).
Oil Injection - We also removed the oil injection system. It has been known for this system to break down and with an offroad car it's quite easy to drop some 2 stroke oil in when you refuel (about 120-150 to 1). .... Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time. In the heat of the moment we forgot to drop some oil in with the fuel and as a result the engine ran minus oiling for a while. Might have to reinstall the original system.
Running oil in the fuel also has the disadvantage of accumulating in the bottom of the fuel tank over time, and results in lots of smoke at the next start-up. Worst case, it can foul the plugs (a constant problem) and make starting impossible.
Panels - You'll need quite a few panels for the car during the course of your rallying. At present we've been through 2 boots and both left hand doors. This doesn't include the numerous times the existing panels have been straightened and bogged.
Rear Cross Members - Some rear cross-members have a larger passage for the exhaust. You'll probably find that the rear cross-member off a 180B is identical to the 1600, with the exception of a larger diameter exhaust passage. This is good, for when you try to poke your 3" exhaust through the hole.
Sump Guard - You'll definitely need one of these. Our particular guard is off a Merc, don't ask me why... Because we've replaced the front-most cross-member it was a simple matter to tap a couple of holes and bolt the thing on. There might be quite a bit of weight in this particular item, however I think it's necessary. A carbon fibre (teflon, kevlar combo) guard would probably do, however the free Merc guard was cheaper. :) Hmmm.... just had this off the other night. Found that the engine cross-member is being deformed above the sump guard. They just don't build these Dattos strong enough! Even the sump guard has taken a beating and that's gotta be 6mm moulded steel plate...
Trailer - The car is not licensed for on-road operation. For this reason we have to cart the car around the place on the back of a trailer. I would suggest locating one of these things, as the hire costs can become prohibitive after a while. You can sometimes pick up car/trailer combinations quite cheaply (cheaper than buying them separately). Don't know why this is; something to do with economies of scale???
Wipers - The combination of offroad mud/dust and a polycarb windscreen eventually led us to replace the original washer jets with something a bit more substantial. The end result consisted of two water bottles (some donor Nissan model I think) being bolted to a new bracket behind the driver's seat. Obviously we would have put them into the engine bay, but there just wasn't enough room and keeping any additional weight towards the centre of the car sounded good. These two bottles are plumbed through completely separate systems to each of the wiper blades using off-the-shelf reticulation pipe. All you need is a screw to block the end and punch some holes where the pipe traverses the wiper blade. This system seems to work quite well. (see Glass/Polycarb - above).
