Mongolia in a Micra

Ah the name... Well the original plan was to do it in a micra and we got all our logos and blog organised. Then we kept bumping into people who'd actually been to the kind of places we would be going through and they all said "So, you're doing it in a Starlet then" as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, as there are so many of them in Central Asia. So I guess you can grasp the rest. Thanks for the advice on wheels much appreciated. My team mate has spoken to some people and they were suggesting that unless they were Starlet wheels they could foul up the brakes. This sounded odd to

Me and a mate head off to Mongolia in July as part of this years Mongol rally and are currently trying to prep our car. We've bought a 1992 Starlet 108,000 miles on the clock, FSH, the downside is that it smokes a bit. Wondered if anyone had any views about how liable it was to conk out on the 8,000 mile trek. It does get pretty hot on the route we're taking and we do go across a couple of desserts so it has got to be reliable. Secondly we have been advised to get skid pans put under the sump and the exhausts back box - anyone know if pre made panels are available? Having looked into it it l