My Summer Car Guide – Getting The Satsuma Up And Running

My Summer Car is not a game… It’s a fever dream. This is an imagination of what happens if you got transported into the middle of a rural Finnish countryside. Surrounded by a completely wacky world that can humor you as much as it can kill, you’re then tasked with building a car. Though for an experience this silly, the car building part of the game is surprisingly meticulous and detailed. That will the premise of our My Summer Car guide; how to actually put the car together.

Now, MSC is a world within itself. There are many side quests and things that can distract you from anything car-related. As such, we’re going to focus on the main objective of the game; rebuilding your dad’s old Datsun 100A. Otherwise, this simple walkthrough/overview will be a fully-fledged novel by the time we reach the penultimate chapter. So, you’ve dropped into the world of MSC, and you have no idea what to do? Well, our My Summer Car guide will hopefully get you up and running.

• Pre-Build Checklist
• A Few More Things To Do
• Things To Buy
• Building The Satsuma (Engine, Chassis, And The Rest)
• Conclusion
• FAQs

My Summer Car Build Guide

Woah, hold on. Before heading straight for the garage and getting greasy, there are a few things you should probably do first. First of all, it’s worth bearing in mind that MSC has a permadeath mechanic in place, thus doubling this to become a survival game.

It means that you need to take care of your in-game player. They too have basic requirements such as having to eat, drink and get some sleep. For our My Summer Car guide, it won’t be enough to just build the Satsuma and ignore this.

If you do that, then the player could die, and you’ll have to start all over. Besides, you’re going to need to head to town and get some parts to finish that build, anyway. So, be sure to get enough food and drink to keep you stocked up while you’re there.

So, before we get into anything else, you’re going to want a van. In the most recent updates of the game, the van – a Hayosiko Pace – will spawn by Uncle Kesseli. Toivo Kesseli is the player’s uncle, and you can find his house near yours.

You’ll be prompted and hinted about Uncle Kesseli’s van through a note that the player’s parents left on the fridge. Here, the game tells you that you can borrow Uncle Kesseli’s van. However, once you get in the van, a time will count down to tell you how much time you have left before it needs to be returned.

If you somehow can’t get the van, then you could use a boat, moped, or tractor. The main town of the game, Peräjärvi is quite a distance away. These vehicles should spawn near the house.

My Summer Car Map

You’re going to need a vehicle to haul back anything you buy in the town. It would be prudent as well, that before you continue on our My Summer Car guide, you should get a few jerrycans. There’s a black diesel canister in the barn, and there’s a green gas can by the back left corner of the garage.

Bring along both. Now, let’s get in the van and head into town. Hopefully, you’ve gotten used to the game’s controls by now. After this, you can start by driving down the dirt path.

Just after a set of railroad tracks, there should be a three-way intersection at the end of this dirt path that leads to the player’s house. Turn left, and follow this road until you read a four-way intersection.

Now, take a right, and you should end up by a paved road, which is the game’s highway. Turn left and get onto the highway. Keep driving, and then take the fourth left-hand side exit in order to reach the game’s main town and urbanized area, Peräjärvi.

As a pretty large town, each exit on the highway should more or less lead you here. Nonetheless, the main point of interest that we want to look at is Teimo’s shop. It should be the first building on the left as you take that highway exit.

If you need a visual cue, there should be fuel pumps outside. Remember those jerrycans from earlier? Fill up not only the van but also those two extra canisters. While you’re inside Teimo’s shop, buy up some food and drinks to get you started.

What Are You Supposed To Buy From Teimo’s Shop?

If we take a glance of your garage at (the player’s) home, then there should already be a few parts that are ready and waiting to be fitted on the Satsuma. Most of the other bits and pieces, however, need to be acquired in the game. It could be easily bought from Teimo’s shop and a few other locations. However, certain parts could instead be found for free. One example is how you can find the starter wheels for your car by the Abandoned Mansion.

 

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Still, much of our My Summer Car guide will hinge on buying these parts from Teimo’s shop. So, be sure to have enough money on hand. If you don’t, then you could complete a few jobs and tasks to earn markka, or ‘mk’, as the local currency is called. It’s for this reason why we’ve recommended taking the van to town, as it could fit more stuff in there than some other vehicles.

A Shopping List While You’re At Teimo’s

Here’s a short checklist of the things that you’ll be needing to buy while you’re in Teimo’s shop:

• Alternator Belt – You’ll only need one, which should cost 295mk.
• Battery – The Satsuma needs a new one as the old battery is very nearly dead. It’s the most expensive part of the game, costing 495mk.
• Coolant – Two bottles are going to be necessary to properly fill up the Satsuma. At a price of 195mk per bottle, this should cost you another 390mk.
• Motor/Engine Oil – Once again, you’ll want two bottles. At 149mk per bottle, two should cost you 298mk.
• Brake/Clutch Fluid – As each bottle only holds so little, you’ll need to buy four of them here. It’s priced at 35mk for each bottle, which will round off to 140km in total.
• Spark Plug Box – This single box will contain four spark plugs underneath. Since the Satsuma has a four-pot engine, you’ll only need to pay 99mk for one.
• Light Bulb Box – Containing a single bulb each, you want two boxes for the Satsuma’s headlights. At 27.95mk each, the pair is going to cost you 55.90mk.

Anything Else You Need To Get?

Those parts that we highlighted above are absolutely necessary for you to properly build the Satsuma to completion. But as we’ve noted so far in our My Summer Car guide, there’s more you should get.

For starters, you’ll need to spend money on paying for gasoline and diesel that you’ve just pumped up. While you’re at Teimo’s, remember the bodily essentials. Sausages are the most efficient food item when it comes to filling up your hunger bar.

Beer is the best liquid in the game, cigarettes should help your character relieve stress in a pinch. Buy as much as you think is necessary before packing up the van and heading back home.

You might even want to buy a bottle of two-stroke fuel for 99mk. While not required for the Satsuma, you’ll find it handy if you need to use the boat or moped. In total, you’ll find that you could easily spend far over 2,000mk here alone.

Just Before You Start With Building The Satsuma…

There are a couple more tips and tricks for our My Summer Car guide before we get to building the Satsuma. Firstly, you should know that MSC also has a damage system for your car and its many parts.

Some components will get damaged over time and necessitate a replacement. Most of these ‘damageable’ parts that you’ll get at the start of the game are almost always in near-critical condition. You could have these parts delivered and serviced at the Fleetari repair shop.

This is a cheaper way to get them back to running order. However, we’ve found that it’s best to just go ahead and buy these parts completely brand new from Fleetari’s. Though more expensive, it will relieve a huge sore point later on as you now technically have more robust components that won’t have to be replaced so soon.

 

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After this, you should drop by Teimo’s once again – or while you’re still there – to order a few extra nice to have. Only two are recommended; the fuel mixture gauge and ratchet set. You can find them through the parts catalog by Teimo’s.

The fuel mixture gauge will set you back 549mk and is used to monitor the air-fuel ratio for the Satsuma’s carburetors. The ratchet set is another 359mk and will be very handy to have as it can tighten bolts that much quicker. You can manage using the free spanner set you have at home, but this ratchet set will make life that bit easier.

What Do You Need To Do To Build The Satsuma?

At this stage in our My Summer Car guide, we should have everything that we need parts-wise to rebuild your Datsun. This includes the bits and bobs that spawn naturally by the player’s home or garage, as well as the things that we bought or picked up along the way.

As we mentioned much earlier, the car building aspect of MSC is actually very realistic, and almost simulator-like in feel. You need to individually pick up every single component, and align them in place before bolting them on.

There are a whole lot of different parts that require attaching, from the engine, chassis, and so on. For our My Summer Car guide, we’ll take a closer look at all the individual items on the Satsuma that you’ll have to put together.

We’ll even let you know how many nuts or bolts, as well as their sizes that are important for that particular part. So, if we use the term “2x10mm”, this means that if you want to put them together, you need 2 bolts or nuts, with the 10mm spanner or ratchet.

Some components instead require a screwdriver. Other times, the game asks you to interact with putting them together by using the scroll wheel on your mouse. Thus, you can scroll up or down to tighten and loosen them, but be careful to overtighten them. Meanwhile, there are other parts that just plug and play, without needing any fitting at all.

My Summer Car Engine Guide

In order of what you should do first, here are all the items that need for assembling the engine in our My Summer Car guide…

• Crankshaft – Fits directly onto the engine block.
• Main Bearings – 2x9mm; there are three in total. Each main bearing is numbered, and will only fit in its designated slot. For instance, the #1 bearing needs to bolt on near the gearbox.
• Pistons – 2x7mm; there are four in total. It sits together with the engine block and crankshaft.
• Head Gasket – Fits directly onto the engine block.
• Cylinder Head – 10x7mm; it sits on top of the head gasket.
• Spark Plugs – There are four in total for the four cylinders. You’ll need to scroll up once you have the spark plug in place until it’s tight.
• Rocker Shaft – 5x8mm; it must be bolted onto the cylinder head.
• Camshaft – 2x5mm; it must be fixed onto the engine block. It’s also important that you align it properly before latching the timing chain on. You can make alignments with one 10mm bolt. All you need to do is match up the two arrow pointers. There’s a larger arrow by the edge of the camshaft gear (more below), and a smaller one by the crankshaft gear.
• Camshaft Gear – 1x10mm; needs to be fitted onto the camshaft. Continuing our point above, it’s crucial to align this accurately to avoid damaging the engine.
• Timing Chain – It has to go on before the timing cover, connecting the camshaft and crankshaft gears.
• Timing Cover – 6x6mm; attached to the engine block, just over the timing chain.
• Water Pump – 5x7mm; fitted to the timing cover.
• Water Pump Pulley – 4x7mm; bolted onto the water pump.

My Summer Car Alignment

• Crankshaft Pulley – 1x11mm; often mistakenly fitted at the start, you should only fasten this after the timing cover to prevent it from getting in the way.
• Distributor – Screwdriver; it’s placed on the side of the engine block, where you’ll find the spark plugs.
• Alternator – 1x7mm, 1x10mm, and a screwdriver. Before tightening up the alternator, it will be easier to put the alternator belt on first. Just tighten the two bolts as mentioned to secure the alternator, and then adjust the tension of the belt. Once you have the car up and running, you should come back and readjust the alternator. Loosen up both the alternator and alternator belt slightly to prevent them from snapping.
• Alternator Belt – Fixed onto the alternator.
• Engine Plate – Attached directly onto the engine block.
• Starter – 2x7mm; it will need to be connected to the electrics later on.
• Carburetor – 4x8mm; it can be fastened to the cylinder head. Air filters are optional (2x6mm).
• Headers – 5x8mm; fitted to the cylinder heads, it connects the engine to the exhaust pipes.
• Flywheel – 6x7mm; this is the first part that will be fitted on the transmission side of the engine block.
• Clutch Assembly – 6x6mm; this entire piece should also comprise the clutch pressure plate and clutch disc altogether.
• Oil Pan – 8x7mm, and 1x13mm; connected to the bottom of the engine block.
• Inspection Cover – 4x7mm; this allows the player to inspect the gearbox without taking the entire engine out.
• Transmission – 6x7mm, and 1x10mm; bolts right onto the engine block.
• Drive Gear – 7x6mm; fixed onto the gearbox.
• Rocker Cover – 6x7mm; joined onto the cylinder head, it sits on top of the rocker shaft.
• Fuel Pump – 2x7mm; attached to the engine block.
• Oil Filter – Screwed in by hand, it goes near the front of the engine block.

My Summer Car Chassis

Once you’ve completed the engine part of our My Summer Car guide, it’s time to get to the chassis. You should consider jacking the car off the ground using the floor jack. Or, you could (carefully) push the car into the garage, where you can work on it from the pit.

Before we get into completing the rest of the bodywork, it would be helpful to lift the engine out of the Satsuma. Once you’ve already completed assembling the engine, you can attach the main block to a hoist (2x10mm). Once the chassis is done and ready, you can then very slowly lower the finished engine back in.

My Summer Car Steering And Suspension

• Sub Frame – 4x10mm; it’s fastened under the front part of the car.
• Wishbones – 2x10mm each for the two wishbones. As part of the suspension, it is attached to the subframe.
• Spindles – 1x12mm each for the two spindles. They are connected to the wishbones.
• Steering Rack – 4x9mm; it needs to be fitted onto the subframe.
• Steering Column – 2x8mm; it has to go onto the steering rack.
• Steering Rods – 1x12mm each for two rods; it’s joined with the struts. Or, 1x14mm if you need to adjust the steering rods. There are 120 clicks lock to lock, so you’ll need to scroll up and down 60 times in each way.
• Disc Brakes – 1x14mm each for two in the front; they are attached to both the spindles and half-shafts.
• Half-shafts – 3x9mm and 1x14mm each for two half-shafts; conjoined with the gearbox and disc brakes.
• Struts – 4x9mm, 3x10mm, and 1x12mm each for two struts; which are connected to the steering rods and spindles.
• Trail Arms – 2x12mm each for two trail arms; fixed to the back of the car.
• Coil Springs – Two units at the rear of the car after the trail arms.
• Shock Absorbers – 1x12mm and 2x6mm each for two shock absorbers; both for the rear of the car.
• Drum Brakes – 1x14mm each for two drum brakes for the rear wheels.
• Wheels – 4x13mm each for all four wheels.

My Summer Car Satsuma Build

This part of our My Summer Car guide will look at finishing up the rest of the car. This includes the electrics, exterior body panels, and trim, as well as the interior. A few other key mechanicals are in this section as well.

• Hubcaps – Four of them, fitted straight onto the steel wheels.
• Battery – 2x8mm; it’s installed along with most of the wiring.
• Wiring Mess – This is an extensive series of cabling that powers all the car’s electrics. There are 26 wires in total that you have to connect. It’s wise for you to have this in the car first before continuing with any other electrical components. Once they’re all fixed onto the car, then you can connect the wiring mess together.
• Electrics – 2x8mm; with the ignition coil on the other end, this connects the spark plugs to the distributor.
• Fuel Strainer – 1x8mm; placement can be found near the fuel pump.
• Radiator – 4x7mm; placed on the front end of the car, with a cap on top to later fill in the coolant. The basic radiator can fill in 5.4-liters of coolant.
• Radiator Hoses – There are three hoses in total, all of which can be fastened with screws.
• Clutch Master Cylinder – 1x9mm and 2x8mm; fitted within the engine bay. You can later twist open the cap to fill in the brake/clutch fluid that we bought earlier. It can accommodate 0.5-liters of fluid.
• Clutch Lining – 2x7mm; attached to the back wall of the engine bay. It attaches to both the gearbox and clutch master cylinder.
• Brake Master Cylinder – 1x9mm and 2x8mm; also placed in the engine bay, which you can later fill in with brake/clutch fluids.
• Brake Lining – 11x7mm; seven of the nuts and bolts are fitted inside of the engine bay. The other four are for each wheel.

My Summer Car Wiring

• Steering Wheel – 1x10mm; you can get other, optional wheels.
• Fuel Tank – 7x11mm, and one 1x12mm bolt for the fuel line.
• Gear Stick – 3x6mm
• Gear Linkage – 3x5mm; fixed onto the gearbox.
• Dashboard – 2x10mm; you can then link up to other instruments here. This includes the RPM gauge, dash-mounted clock, the entire dashboard cluster, and meters, as well as a radio.
• Headlights – 2x7mm; it’s recommended that you fit the rest of the wiring beforehand.
• Grille – 2x6mm
• Bumpers – 2x8mm each for the front and rear.
• Rear seat – 2x9mm
• Front seats – 4x9mm each for both sides.
• Handbrake – 1x5mm and 4x8mm
• Exhaust pipe – 3x7mm; attaches to the bottom of the car from the engine headers.
• Exhaust muffler – 1x7mm
• Doors – 4x10mm each for either side.
• Fenders – 5x5mm each on the front wings.
• Fuel Tank Pipe – Attached straight onto the fuel tank.
• Bootlid – 4x6mm
• Rear lights – Once again, it’s best you do this after connecting all the wiring.
• Hood – 4x6mm

My Summer Car: How to build your first car

• My Summer Car is a simulation game in which players build their car from various parts and try to survive the Finnish summer while maintaining the car’s integrity.
• To prepare for building your first working car, it is best to stock up on resources such as money, a fan belt, motor oil, and coolant.
• Steam user Necronomicron suggests buying everything on the left side of the store.
• To work on the car frame, the first step is to jack the car up using the floor jack and to head over to the tool box to get the necessary tools.
• There is a specific order in which to attach parts when building the car. For example, the subframe and wishbones are attached with 10mm screws.
• The rear suspension parts include trail arms, coil springs, shock absorbers, drum brakes, and rear wheels.
• The engine building process involves building the block, crankshaft, main bearings, and pistons.
• After building the engine, the next step is to install it by hoisting it and aligning it properly with bolts.
• To build the car interior, attach the dashboard, dashboard meters, gauges, and seats.
• The final step is to add all external features such as doors, headlights, and bumpers, and adjust the wheels before driving.

My Summer Car Guide: In Conclusion…

If you’ve spent all those hours putting everything together, then good news, you’re very nearly at the end of our My Summer Car guide. What you’ll have to do now is fill up the Satsuma with all its fluids. This goes for fuel, brake and clutch fluids, coolant, and engine oil.

Now it comes time to turn the ignition on and let the engine run in for a little while. Be mindful to not let it overheat or over-revving the poor Satsuma once it gets the maiden start.

You can then check and see if everything is properly attached to something else. Hear any odd noises or notice bits falling out? As with any actual car, you can feel these problems happening in real time. If this is the case, then you’ll have to diagnose it step-by-step.

Of all the things we’ve learned in our My Summer Car guide, this is a surprisingly challenging and fulfilling game. Should you follow all these steps correctly, you have our permission to have fun in your new-old Datsun.

If you are into driving games. Then you might want to consider Fortnite also. Here is a list of all the cars available in Fortnite.

FAQs On My Summer Car

If you’re still curious to learn more in our My Summer Car guide, our FAQs here might help…

My Summer Car How To Drive Van

Before you start building a car, the first crucial step in getting up and running in My Summer Car is getting a van. Specifically, a Hayosiko Pace that’ll spawn by Uncle Kesseli’s house, near where the player’s home is. In a note left by the player’s parents, they mentioned that you can borrow Uncle Kesseli’s van. To do so, just knock on Uncle Kesseli’s front door, and speak to him briefly before he hands over the keys to the van. Know that once you get inside the van and drive off, there’s a countdown timer that’ll tell you when you need to return the van back to Uncle Kesseli. Having the van with you is important, as the main town is quite far away. And, if you plan on building your car, you could fit most of the stuff you need in the back of the van.

My Summer Car How To Build Car

To build a car in My Summer Car, you’ll first have to get all the parts necessary. Some of these components are already available in your garage. Meanwhile, others need to be found elsewhere in the world or could be bought at Teimo’s shop. Our detailed My Summer Car guide up above will provide all the necessary steps and procedures that you’ll have to go through to fully build your car from the ground up. In short, you can start by assembling together the engine. This is a fairly detailed section where you’ll need to put the engine together piece by piece. Once that’s done, you can move on to sorting out the chassis, suspension, steering, transmission, wheels, and electrics. Only after that’s complete can you move on to exterior trim pieces, interior, seats, other accessories, and so on.

How To Do Wiring My Summer Car

In My Summer Car, there are a total of 26 wires (as part of the main wiring harness of the car) that you’ll have to connect. It’s a good idea to have the wiring mess generally mounted inside the vehicle before you start installing any other electrical components. Once that’s done, you can slowly start plugging in all 26 of those wires from the wiring mess. Attaching the wires together is as simple as holding and hovering the wiring mess over a connector to a particular component. Then, press the F key (by default) when a checkmark icon appears. You could then repeat this process for every available electrical connector. They don’t need to be attached in any set order, nor would the game allow you to connect the wires incorrectly. After the wires are all connected, you can then connect them to the battery.

My Summer Car How To Order Parts

If you need to order parts for My Summer Car, head over to the garage, and you should be able to find the AMIS Catalog. Otherwise, there are other such magazines or catalogs elsewhere around the map, like at Fleetari’s workshop. These might contain other unique parts that you can’t order from the AMIS Catalog, but the latter should contain most of what you need. To order a part, browse around the catalog and find the part(s) you need. Then, click on a particular part and this will fill in an order form. Once you’re done, click on the ‘TILAA NYT!’ button (aka Order Now!), and an envelope will spawn. Next up, take this envelope to the main town, and place it in the mailbox next to the store. Soon, a clerk informs you that the parts are in, and you can pick them up.

My Summer Car How To Repair Body

My Summer Car is quite realistic in many ways, including how any damage appears on your car. If the bodywork is all dented and scratched up, it’s thankfully rather easy to have it repaired. First, you’ll need to head down to the town of Loppe, and find the local mechanic there. Drop off your car, and a checklist will appear. This would ask you what parts of the bodywork do you want to be repaired. Fill in the checklist as you see fit, but be wary that it can get rather expensive. Once you’ve made the necessary payment, leave your car there. In a week or two, the mechanic will call you once the repair work is done, and your car is ready to be picked up.

Approved Tools

These tools have been tried and tested by our team, they are ideal for fixing your car at home.