"Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo" (akioohtori)
03/13/2019 at 10:55 • Filed to: project golf ball
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"Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo" (akioohtori)
03/13/2019 at 10:55 • Filed to: project golf ball | 1
| 17 |
The standard Instagram offroad/overland/safari build starter kit is pretty simple: questionable lift, big mud tires, matte paint, lots of lights, bull bar, and a roof rack. I think we all secretly love these builds. Unfortunately my quest to turn the Wagovan into just that has gone awry and I need your help!
My Wagovan didn’t come with a roof rack or provisions for one. Plan A was to use a “bare” roof rack kit. Unfortunately, due to the way the door seals work on the Wagovan, this turns out to be a non starter*. The bars I ordered are going back, and this leaves $175 in the budget to do something else.
But what?
Help me decide!
*The Civic has a seal on the car side in addition the the one on the door. The vehicle side seal has a hard piece of body work in the center (think pinch seam) that prevents the clamp on style and the strap style bare racks from working. Also I hate the strap type bare racks. Also also I’m not willing to drill the roof. If you’ve read and understand all of this, I’m open to suggestions about ways to fit a rack!
Here are the options as I see them
RGB LED Underglow - $100
Ok... this isn’t as silly as it sounds! We do plenty of overlanding at night. Sometimes it would be helpful to see under the car and sometimes it would be handy to have a small amount of ambient light.
... also it would look cool...
While I am an EE by trade, I don’t think I’d bother building my own with so many commercial variants available.
Magnetic Mounted Roof LED Lights - $200
I’m planning on mounting lights elsewhere on the car, but I could spring for another light bar with magnetic mounts. This would have the added benefit of being temporary. If I spring for an RGB version, it would blow the budget but... worth it?
I could also go for quad spots, but those would also break the bank.
Full Size Spare - $125
Probably the most useful of the options, though without a roof rack I’d have to find a place for it! This would buy me a spare wheel and full OD tire.
Enhanced RGB Interior Lights - $125
YES EVERYTHING DOES HAVE TO BE RGB WHY DO YOU ASK?
The idea here would be to use some manner of LED lighting to make it so I could really light up the interior of the vehicle. Probably strip lights, but I’d review my options before making a decision. This could provide good light when loading/ unloading at night, but also the Civic is enough of a greenhouse it could provide ambient light too. The RGB is so I can do red or amber lighting at night.
Magnetic Mounted Roof Tools - $150
Throw a shovel and some knock off MaxTrax on the roof using magnetic mounts. Not as cool as they’d be mounted on roof bars, but have the benefit of being (relatively) easily removed.
That roof rack that __________ suggested in the comments - $???
If it’ll work and is less than $175, I’m game.
Put that money towards one of your other shitboxes - $175
Yeah that should honestly have been my default! But... BUILD!
Will hoon for funds
Clearly I’m stuck on the notion of lighting, but I’m not sure what my other options are.
What do you think Oppo? Reply in the comments or use this !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! .
!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!
Aremmes
> Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
03/13/2019 at 11:05 |
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If you need to look under the car when off-roading, get a spotlight . Bonus: it’ll allow you to light up the sky as well. You can’t do that with underglow.
Wacko
> Aremmes
03/13/2019 at 11:10 |
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jeep guy says, wait hold my beer.
AuthiCooper1300
> Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
03/13/2019 at 11:19 |
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Forget about anything else until you find the parts to fit a roof rack properly. (I imagine you have tried looking for parts of “Civic Shuttle”, instead of “Wagovan” already?). Once you have it you can really go to town with jerr
y
cans, spare, sand ladders, kinetic ropes, etc.
When I was much younger I loved Ghia’s “Fiesta Tuareg”. It is has an offroadish look about it without going way over the top. On the other hand the paintjob does date it horribly :
http://www.projectbobcat.com/history/ford-fiesta-concepts-tuareg
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Aremmes
> Wacko
03/13/2019 at 11:24 |
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It's OK, though, they already planned for this. That's why they have those upside down stickers asking passersby to flip them over.
Future Heap Owner
> Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
03/13/2019 at 11:33 |
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As much as I love RGB LEDs, I’m gonna be boring and vote for the full-size spare. You don’t have a ton of ground clearance to lose, right?
Speaking of, did this thing come with skid plates? If not, have you considered putting one on? Or is everything tough/well-hidden underneath already?
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AuthiCooper1300
> Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
03/13/2019 at 11:33 |
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Re: Tuareg:
That Tuareg with US market headlights... I wonder if the roof aux lights did not start life as Vitaloni Tornado (or similar) mirror housings - mounted back to front!
F
e
ar not, I would not rec
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f
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f your car. Still, interesting idea.
ADabOfOppo; Gone Plaid (Instructables Can Be Confusable)
> Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
03/13/2019 at 11:35 |
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I have nothing constructive to add to this discussion; I only wish to comment that I
adore
that Alfa.
I have used that livery
in every iteration of the Forza series I have played since first seeing it featured on
Speedhunters
before it got dropped off a truck.
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Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
> AuthiCooper1300
03/13/2019 at 11:40 |
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I also thought that haha
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Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
> Future Heap Owner
03/13/2019 at 11:41 |
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It came with a ton of skid plates, though they are mostly plastic. I have plans to at least make sure the oil pan is protected. The rest should be fine.
vicali
> Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
03/13/2019 at 11:44 |
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Wow, hitting the chinebay led isle hard.. I wouldn’t but you do your thing.
I’m not seeing many roof rack options short of drilling.. that being said why is that off the table? Are you saving the Wagovan for resale?
Myself I would be eyeing rivnuts and universal racks asap.. then worry about al
l
the cool fun stuff you can hang from it.
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AuthiCooper1300
> Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
03/13/2019 at 12:00 |
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Your car looks lovely as it is, so much modifying
i
t
would be a pity. Unless you manage to find a secondhand rear hatch and a bonnet, that is.
After suitably reinforcing them you could fit your spare w h e e l on one of them... or on both. Having a n o t h e r bonnet (or front wing!) means you could also butcher i t w ithou t guilt and install a snorkel, f o r e x a m ple (functional or otherwise).
Here (
https://www.fiatforum.com/members-motors/336692-snatch-panda.html
) you’ll find pictures of a “Snatch” Fiat Panda
,
a Mk1 4
x
4
Panda redone in the manner of the British Army “Snatch” Land Rover Wolf. Of course the military theme is not quite what you are doing but some of the stuff done to it looks fun.
(
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of
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Opel Senator
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B
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)
.
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AuthiCooper1300
> ADabOfOppo; Gone Plaid (Instructables Can Be Confusable)
03/13/2019 at 12:13 |
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I admit it doesn’t look bad, in a nuclear apocalypse sort of way. But what they did to that Giulia coupé was a crime, even before the final act.
See the sheetmetal all creased right behind the rear wheel? That’s the single weakest point in the Giulia coupé body (and in Fiat 124s, by the way). So much so that when driven hard – e v e n o n g o o d tarmac – unreinforced shells may twist until the rear screen pops out, as an acquaintance of mine found out t o h i s s u r p r i s e during a Tour de Corse Historique.
W
h
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at t
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s
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w
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d
i
f
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d
t
h
at car had not done
t
hei
r
h
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w
o
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k
. I read somew
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e
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c
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a
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v
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r
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g
o
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d shape to start with
,
b
u
t
t
hat is no
e
x
c
u
s
e
,
part
i
c
u
l
arly at the prices
Giulias (both
scalino
and
l
a
t
e
r
)
c
o
m
mand these da
y
s
.
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ADabOfOppo; Gone Plaid (Instructables Can Be Confusable)
> AuthiCooper1300
03/13/2019 at 12:19 |
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It was dropped off a flatbed tow-truck. That crease is from hitting the ground on the corner from 4+ feet off the ground.
They built it into an off-roader after the accident as it was too costly to repair the car to original spec.
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AuthiCooper1300
> ADabOfOppo; Gone Plaid (Instructables Can Be Confusable)
03/13/2019 at 12:35 |
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Thanks, did not know that fact. However, that car could still have yielded lots of panels and parts to some restorations. Or be sold with someone with the will, money and equipment to put it right.
I still don’t get what possessed them to jump the car. It’s a
60s-
designed, 70s-made p
i
l
l
a
r
l
e
s
s
Italian coupé. Did they think it was a Volvo 244?
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ADabOfOppo; Gone Plaid (Instructables Can Be Confusable)
> AuthiCooper1300
03/13/2019 at 13:41 |
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I don’t disagree. It is however their car, and they wanted to make an overland Alfa out of it.
I am jut glad they are driving it rather than letting it sit in a garage and only used to show off at the local Cars&Coffee/Caffeine on the odd weekend morning.
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AuthiCooper1300
> ADabOfOppo; Gone Plaid (Instructables Can Be Confusable)
03/13/2019 at 14:19 |
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One has to be careful with the reasoning “it’s their car”. Some objects are special – for manifold reasons. Obviously a Giulia GTV is no Mona Lisa, but what if a well-heeled collector mistreated/destroyed a work of art “because it is his/hers”?
The fact that they have publicised the whole saga also makes them certainly open to criticism, whether they like it or not.
Had they really turned it into a serious “expedition” car (which certainly would not have involved those ridiculous tyres) I would find it easier to respect them. I think they went mostly for the looks and a (limited) ability to drive fast in the dirt, nothing more.
I understand it survived t
h
e
c
r
a
s
h
then? After that touchdown I though it was a writeoff.
W
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l
l
,
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at’
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i
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g
.
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ADabOfOppo; Gone Plaid (Instructables Can Be Confusable)
> AuthiCooper1300
03/13/2019 at 14:50 |
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I believe it was a write off, which is why they went with their current build on the car.