Because I m not the original owner of the car (GT Starlet) it's hard to pin point what will go BANG next. Can someone out there give me a indication on what things need to be replaced at so many Kms. My Car is sitting at 140,000 kms and a replaced engine that has done 110,000kms. I will be driving from Perth to Melbourne and back for xmas and i really don't want to be spending christmas day with Skippy in the middle of the Nullabor. While i have time up my sleave i want this car ready enough to get me 8,000 kms in under 2weeks at christmas. Does anyone know a good starlet Mechanic in Perth

Get the cooling system checked out thoroughly, all hoses etc... A usual service will take care of everything else. If you haven't had the timing belt changed on the new engine that that would be good to do as you wouldn't want that to snap... If you are driving across the Nullabor cooling of both yourself and your car will be your biggest issue. Might want to get your air-con serviced if you still have it fitted, not much shelter out there from crazy amounts of sun... Also check what type of petrol you'll have access to. Starlets should be run on 95 and you might have trouble getting that (not sure). Pack some octane booster if you think you might not be able to get hold of suitable petrol. I'm not sure if this is legal, but I'd probably pack a fuel can as well just in case you get caught out between petrol stations for some reason. Not the kind of area you want to run out of gas... I'd also recommend not doing stupid speeds that will put more heat stress on your car and dent your fuel economy. The drive will take quite a while, accept that and get where you are going safely.

Above all else, if something bad does happen, don't go wandering off for help, or if you do, stay by the road. Heaps of people die out in the desert only because they abandoned their car. The car tends to be found, but the people aren't. Crossing the nullabor is a serious drive, don't take the trip lightly.

Don't forget to check your spare and pack some jumper cables & a torch.

I'd be taking some tools as well, who knows what will shake loose over that distance. Remember with a 10mm, 12mm, 14mm, 17mm & 19mm sockets/spanners you can basically rebuild a Starlet from the ground up. You only need a 8mm hex bit and you can rebuild the motor too

And a phillips head screw driver to....