Our 'new' 1972 Mahindra CJ3B 4WD - Page 2 - Team-BHP

Spyder · 15th October 2009, 13:39

Hi all,

Got the vehicle from Saleem after completing the electricals day before afternoon. Total costs for electricals came to around 9.6k.

Took the vehicle to Amjad to get a quotation for the seats, lining and canvas hood. Picked up two imported seats that he had, which have a height and recliner adjustment feature. his costs are expected to be around 15k, but the damn welder who is going to do the seat fitting wants 3k! (and throws in plenty of bad attitude for free). Will go with Amjad definitely, but not too keen on the welder.

Decided to check out Bahadurpura to get another quote before confirming with Bharat. It is the mayapuri / dabwali equivalent of Hyderabad and filled with jeeps of all shapes, sizes and colors. Some pretty neat ones also plying the local roads there. Got a quotation from a local mechanic. I liked the chap, but the factors that worked in favor of Bharat are - covered and locked workshop area, closer to my place so easier to do daily evening visits (comparatively) and peace of mind guaranteed. I figured that I can afford to get top quality done on my work and since Bharat comes highly recommended, there was no second choice.

So drove the jeep to Bharat and handed over the keys to Venkat anna around 7pm. He said that he will start work on Wednesday and by evening should have a list of parts which would need to be purchased.

After work on Wed, drove down to Bharat and chatted with Venkat, Sudhakar and the other mechanics. They had dismantled most of the parts and had cleaned several parts. Very detailed cleaning procedure (several rounds of kerosene and water wash). You can actually see the shine on several of the cleaned parts in the pics below. Check out the brown front differential in the pics..seems water had got into it and there was no oil to grease its movements. The engine, clutch, differential had been dismantled. Some of the nozzles in the engine were to be sent to an expert for checking and repair. Anna showed me some parts which had worn out terribly, been welded together oddly or were spurious fittings. Gave him the go ahead to replace all of them.

He prepared a list of items required and his mechanic Naseer came along with me to Rex Automotives, Afzalganj to pick up the parts...again highly recommended for original Mahindra parts at a good rate. What I also liked was that Naseer checked each of the parts to make sure they were upto the mark, even the nuts and bolts individually before they were billed. Parts which did not meet his standards were replaced. Very professional attitude though it was closing hour for the shop. Total bill came upto 11k. More parts will probably be required in the next few days when more of the engine and mechanicals get checked.

Have attached some mobile quality pics of work at Bharat Motors and purchasing the items at Rex. More updates after my visit today evening.

Cheers,
Spyder

Spyder · 17th October 2009, 12:01

Wishing all of you a very happy and safe diwali!

Further to my last post, visited Bharat last evening. They are shut for Diwali, so work will re-commence on Monday. Several things had been completed, but 2 more days of work required.

The steering assembly has been replaced - you can see the bent front rods and old steering in the pics. Some lathe work has been done on the rear differential. There were some tractor parts in the fly wheel which had also been fitted (!!!) which were replaced with Mahindra parts. The 4WD gear system had also been fixed..the levers/sticks need to be fixed later. They also got the nozzle and filters serviced for the engine. Very neat work. Some pics attached of the work done.

More on Monday when I return to Bharat to check on further work.

Cheers,
Spyder

Spyder · 17th October 2009, 13:46

Chander the painter at Bharat said that his work will cost about 16k for Duco and 22k for Dupont, but the caveat is that it would take about 28 days and that is not including body/denting work!! Its not like he has got a packed day, but that the process takes time to complete in terms of refining the putty work on the body.

He said for my bodywork, the denter will want to replace the bonnet and the windshield! To my untrained eyes, the body work looks fine, but I am sure when it is opened up, there would be holes and putty areas which need work.

He also warned me that the denter would take a lot of time (around 2 to 6 months) and money (around 10 to 25k).

I think that is highly over estimating the work and neither do I have the luxury of so much time to offer since I would like to start using the vehicle soon.

Frankly, in my lay view, if somebody were to focus on the vehicle at one shot, we should be able to complete denting in 3-4 days and painting in another 3 to 4 days. Do you think this is realistic? Any ideas anyone?

Spyder · 29th October 2009, 18:18

Dear all,

Been a few days since I updated this thread. Surprised not to not find any replies, but in any case, posting more details of my jeep (as a sort of diary). For now, planning not to get the denting and painting work done. Will drive it around for some time and then proceed with that.

The work at Bharat was completed last Friday. The total damage (including spares purchase and lamda free wheeling hubs) came upto 45k. The vehicle seems to be much smoother than before, but there was a slight pull to the left still. Upon inspection, Venkat anna showed me a moving wheel hub. So have decided to replace all the hubs and fit new tyres on it ASAP. Hope that gets it sorted. I will separately check the suspensions. The front windshield glass and beading were also replaced. Attached are some more photos from the jeep repairs at Bharat.

And now it is at Amjad's workshop for fitting the new seats, canvas canopy and some minor denting work. See the pictures below. Some additional fittings like seatbelts, centre seat, mirrors, antenna are also getting done. The suspension will also get check and if required fixed. Expect to be able to pick up the vehicle tomorrow and to get the new rims and tyres (MRF 6x16 NDMS) fitted along with alignment and balancing.

Cheers,
Spyder

sammyboy · 29th October 2009, 18:51

Wow spyder, you are really having fun arent u ?

I am a complete newbie in the Jeep department but am really looking forward to the finished product. All the best bro.

james · 29th October 2009, 20:48

Spyder, this has become your lil' online jeep rebuild diary and i for one LOVE IT!! Will be keeping an eye on this thread cause the knowledge gained from here would definately come in handy when i pickup my jeep someday in the near future.
I really appreciate the way you have detailed everything like the work being done, prices of parts and labour and other little things here and there. Keep up the great work!!!

Cheers!

The Wolf1 · 29th October 2009, 21:06

Hey spyder, all the best, the whole thread is fun and interesting. Im guessing there are several here like me who are keeping a keen eye on the thread...

p.s: keep an eye on your expenses, the engine department cost seems exorbitant to me in comparison to the historical info I have on this! I might be wrong, but no harm in a 2nd opinion you see!!! Also, dint keep all your eggs in the same basket, try getting more than one guy to fix different things... My 2 cents.

fast_elegance · 29th October 2009, 21:19

Nice rebuild Spyder. Thoroughly enjoyed reading the posts and ofcourse the pictures. Waiting for more updates.

svsantosh · 29th October 2009, 23:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spyder

...Surprised not to not find any replies, but in any case,...

Are Spyder. Dont worry, there are many 'secret viewers gang' who dont want to post until the cake is baked. It is considered a ab-shagun. Just keep the enthu up and PS - try to get a small Digicam. Your memories will last more "clearly". No offense. I have been there, I just browse my Jeep pics folder during free time and relive the moment...

Spyder · 30th October 2009, 11:48

@sammyboy, james, wolf, fast elegance, svsantosh - Great to see so many comments flow in. Thanks for the encouragement and the good wishes. I quite enjoyed the process and looking forward to my next re-build (using the learnings from this one) :-)

@wolf - welcome to Tbhp and hope you have a great time here. Lots of interesting forums here and plenty to learn and share. I was a lil shocked at the cost of fixing the mechanicals myself - but thats the risk of getting it done at Bharat - the price is high but the work quality is assured (or so I hope)

@svsantosh - thanks for following my thread and letting me in on the 'secret'. I have to confess I am quite a lurker myself :-) I am not much of a digicam person, but next time will take my dslr to the workshops.

The cosmetic work should get done today.. will put up pics once I get the vehicle back.

Cheers,
Spyder

svsantosh · 30th October 2009, 12:27

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spyder

... but next time will take my dslr to the workshops.

You ought to be shot

You have a DSLR and using a pony camera to capture your passion being built. Friend, please carry it along with you always. Its worth it. I used to carry 4-5 pair of AA duracells for my TINY 5MB Pentax optio for each trip to chennai from blore.

The Wolf · 2nd November 2009, 13:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spyder

@wolf - welcome to Tbhp and hope you have a great time here. Lots of interesting forums here and plenty to learn and share. I was a lil shocked at the cost of fixing the mechanicals myself - but thats the risk of getting it done at Bharat - the price is high but the work quality is assured (or so I hope)

Sorry to have used my alternative Id below (had to create one without which I wasnt able to post anything in the classified section, dont know why!). Both "The Wolf" and "The Wolf1" are me, and, Ive been a tbhpian for close to 5 years now... Sorry about the OT!!!

Coming back to your build, yeah you gotta pull that DSLR out more often

Spyder · 4th November 2009, 13:32

Hello again,

To continue from where I last left off, the canopy and interior work on the jeep was completed last week and I got it on Friday evening. It is looking much smarter now and the look has also changed. The seats are very comfortable and the new seatbelts fitted give it the safety quotient.

A new set of rims and tyres were procured and fixed. The rims are the heavy ones made by Wheels India with MRP of Rs. 1800 (but got it at Rs. 1500 at Rex Automobiles). They unfortunately only had 4 of them and I had to pick up the 5th identical one made by the alternate supplier SSI at Rs. 2000 (MRP of Rs. 2300). The tyres are MRF 6x16 NDMS (was unable to source the 7x16) which has been recommended for both city driving and offroading grip.

The interesting thing is that while doing the wheel balancing and alignment, the SSI rim needed considerably more additional weights for the balance, while the cheaper WI ones got by with just a few grams. The SSI rim has been fitted on the stepney and you can see the weights in the pictures. I am also glad that I got the alignment done since there was some minor adjustments which were required. The vehicle drivability has also improved significantly since the tyre change. The old rims and tyres were in terrible shape, but I still got about Rs. 2500 for the set of 5.

The suspension work has been scheduled for today and the jeep has gone for getting the work started. Expect to get it back today evening or tomorrow morning. Seems 6 more iron pattis need to be fixed to the rear with the jhula (curved ends) with clamp and rivet bolts. Also getting a cover made for the suspensions. It is costing me Rs. 4,500 for the suspension work (Venkatesh of Bharat motors) and should be a much more softer ride. I have told Venkatesh that the jeep will also go off-roading, so to prepare it accordingly. I will in all probability need to change all 4 shock absorbers also, but will find that out in the evening.

We took it for a drive over the weekend and it felt really nice and smooth. Though I feel the engine could be tuned to be a little more torquey. Had to move my scorpio parked in front and the difference in the ride was literally 'aasman - zameen ka farak' :-)

Attached are some more pics of the jeep taken today morning, before it went for the suspension servicing.

Cheers,
Spyder

P.S: Sorry..still no DSLR used..apologies for the mobile quality pics.

svsantosh · 4th November 2009, 13:54

How is the entry to the rear bench sorted out? Does the co-driver seat fold-in-front?
PS - Smart looking now? Yes!! Very nice outcome.

harjeev · 5th November 2009, 12:20

Hi Spyder
That is a wonderful and tastefully done up jeep you have!!!
Congrats

I have some questions buddy, It will be great if you could answer some them!!!
1.How much did you pay for these tyres and where did you buy them from?
2.Are they easily available?
3.What seats are those, I mean which vehicles seats are these? I ask because the original seats in a CJ3B are different and they are not very comfy. Therefore I am thinking of changing the seats in favor of more comfortable seats.
Thanks
Harjeev

edit
Also will it be possible to click the 'from behind the seats' shots. I just wanna understand and see whether you had to cut in the rear fenders to fit these seats!!!

15th October 2009, 13:39	#16 (permalink)
Spyder BHPian Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Hyderabad / Bangalore Posts: 61 View My Garage	Work on in full swing at Bharat Motors Hi all, Got the vehicle from Saleem after completing the electricals day before afternoon. Total costs for electricals came to around 9.6k. Took the vehicle to Amjad to get a quotation for the seats, lining and canvas hood. Picked up two imported seats that he had, which have a height and recliner adjustment feature. his costs are expected to be around 15k, but the damn welder who is going to do the seat fitting wants 3k! (and throws in plenty of bad attitude for free). Will go with Amjad definitely, but not too keen on the welder. Decided to check out Bahadurpura to get another quote before confirming with Bharat. It is the mayapuri / dabwali equivalent of Hyderabad and filled with jeeps of all shapes, sizes and colors. Some pretty neat ones also plying the local roads there. Got a quotation from a local mechanic. I liked the chap, but the factors that worked in favor of Bharat are - covered and locked workshop area, closer to my place so easier to do daily evening visits (comparatively) and peace of mind guaranteed. I figured that I can afford to get top quality done on my work and since Bharat comes highly recommended, there was no second choice. So drove the jeep to Bharat and handed over the keys to Venkat anna around 7pm. He said that he will start work on Wednesday and by evening should have a list of parts which would need to be purchased. After work on Wed, drove down to Bharat and chatted with Venkat, Sudhakar and the other mechanics. They had dismantled most of the parts and had cleaned several parts. Very detailed cleaning procedure (several rounds of kerosene and water wash). You can actually see the shine on several of the cleaned parts in the pics below. Check out the brown front differential in the pics..seems water had got into it and there was no oil to grease its movements. The engine, clutch, differential had been dismantled. Some of the nozzles in the engine were to be sent to an expert for checking and repair. Anna showed me some parts which had worn out terribly, been welded together oddly or were spurious fittings. Gave him the go ahead to replace all of them. He prepared a list of items required and his mechanic Naseer came along with me to Rex Automotives, Afzalganj to pick up the parts...again highly recommended for original Mahindra parts at a good rate. What I also liked was that Naseer checked each of the parts to make sure they were upto the mark, even the nuts and bolts individually before they were billed. Parts which did not meet his standards were replaced. Very professional attitude though it was closing hour for the shop. Total bill came upto 11k. More parts will probably be required in the next few days when more of the engine and mechanicals get checked. Have attached some mobile quality pics of work at Bharat Motors and purchasing the items at Rex. More updates after my visit today evening. Cheers, Spyder Attached Thumbnails __________________ It's a small planet, but it needs big ideas to protect it.

17th October 2009, 12:01	#17 (permalink)
Spyder BHPian Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Hyderabad / Bangalore Posts: 61 View My Garage	More work completed at Bharat Wishing all of you a very happy and safe diwali! Further to my last post, visited Bharat last evening. They are shut for Diwali, so work will re-commence on Monday. Several things had been completed, but 2 more days of work required. The steering assembly has been replaced - you can see the bent front rods and old steering in the pics. Some lathe work has been done on the rear differential. There were some tractor parts in the fly wheel which had also been fitted (!!!) which were replaced with Mahindra parts. The 4WD gear system had also been fixed..the levers/sticks need to be fixed later. They also got the nozzle and filters serviced for the engine. Very neat work. Some pics attached of the work done. More on Monday when I return to Bharat to check on further work. Cheers, Spyder Attached Thumbnails __________________ It's a small planet, but it needs big ideas to protect it.

17th October 2009, 13:46	#18 (permalink)
Spyder BHPian Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Hyderabad / Bangalore Posts: 61 View My Garage	Painting and denting! How do I get this done in a timely and cost efficient manner?? Chander the painter at Bharat said that his work will cost about 16k for Duco and 22k for Dupont, but the caveat is that it would take about 28 days and that is not including body/denting work!! Its not like he has got a packed day, but that the process takes time to complete in terms of refining the putty work on the body. He said for my bodywork, the denter will want to replace the bonnet and the windshield! To my untrained eyes, the body work looks fine, but I am sure when it is opened up, there would be holes and putty areas which need work. He also warned me that the denter would take a lot of time (around 2 to 6 months) and money (around 10 to 25k). I think that is highly over estimating the work and neither do I have the luxury of so much time to offer since I would like to start using the vehicle soon. Frankly, in my lay view, if somebody were to focus on the vehicle at one shot, we should be able to complete denting in 3-4 days and painting in another 3 to 4 days. Do you think this is realistic? Any ideas anyone? __________________ It's a small planet, but it needs big ideas to protect it.

29th October 2009, 18:18	#19 (permalink)
Spyder BHPian Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Hyderabad / Bangalore Posts: 61 View My Garage	Work completed at Bharat - now for some cosmetics Dear all, Been a few days since I updated this thread. Surprised not to not find any replies, but in any case, posting more details of my jeep (as a sort of diary). For now, planning not to get the denting and painting work done. Will drive it around for some time and then proceed with that. The work at Bharat was completed last Friday. The total damage (including spares purchase and lamda free wheeling hubs) came upto 45k. The vehicle seems to be much smoother than before, but there was a slight pull to the left still. Upon inspection, Venkat anna showed me a moving wheel hub. So have decided to replace all the hubs and fit new tyres on it ASAP. Hope that gets it sorted. I will separately check the suspensions. The front windshield glass and beading were also replaced. Attached are some more photos from the jeep repairs at Bharat. And now it is at Amjad's workshop for fitting the new seats, canvas canopy and some minor denting work. See the pictures below. Some additional fittings like seatbelts, centre seat, mirrors, antenna are also getting done. The suspension will also get check and if required fixed. Expect to be able to pick up the vehicle tomorrow and to get the new rims and tyres (MRF 6x16 NDMS) fitted along with alignment and balancing. Cheers, Spyder Attached Thumbnails __________________ It's a small planet, but it needs big ideas to protect it.

29th October 2009, 18:51	#20 (permalink)
sammyboy Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Dehradun -Bangy (Again :) Posts: 1,016 View My Garage	Wow spyder, you are really having fun arent u ? I am a complete newbie in the Jeep department but am really looking forward to the finished product. All the best bro. __________________ Honk your Head off. I will NOT jump the red light

29th October 2009, 20:48	#21 (permalink)
james BHPian Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Mangalore Posts: 68	Spyder, this has become your lil' online jeep rebuild diary and i for one LOVE IT!! Will be keeping an eye on this thread cause the knowledge gained from here would definately come in handy when i pickup my jeep someday in the near future. I really appreciate the way you have detailed everything like the work being done, prices of parts and labour and other little things here and there. Keep up the great work!!! Cheers!

29th October 2009, 21:06	#22 (permalink)
The Wolf1 Newbie Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Bangalore Posts: 2	Hey spyder, all the best, the whole thread is fun and interesting. Im guessing there are several here like me who are keeping a keen eye on the thread... p.s: keep an eye on your expenses, the engine department cost seems exorbitant to me in comparison to the historical info I have on this! I might be wrong, but no harm in a 2nd opinion you see!!! Also, dint keep all your eggs in the same basket, try getting more than one guy to fix different things... My 2 cents.

29th October 2009, 21:19	#23 (permalink)
fast_elegance BHPian Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Mangalore/Bangalore Posts: 145 View My Garage	Nice rebuild Spyder. Thoroughly enjoyed reading the posts and ofcourse the pictures. Waiting for more updates. __________________ 2008 September Hyundai Santro Xing GLS 2004 October Yamaha RX135

30th October 2009, 11:48	#25 (permalink)
Spyder BHPian Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Hyderabad / Bangalore Posts: 61 View My Garage	Wow! @sammyboy, james, wolf, fast elegance, svsantosh - Great to see so many comments flow in. Thanks for the encouragement and the good wishes. I quite enjoyed the process and looking forward to my next re-build (using the learnings from this one) :-) @wolf - welcome to Tbhp and hope you have a great time here. Lots of interesting forums here and plenty to learn and share. I was a lil shocked at the cost of fixing the mechanicals myself - but thats the risk of getting it done at Bharat - the price is high but the work quality is assured (or so I hope) @svsantosh - thanks for following my thread and letting me in on the 'secret'. I have to confess I am quite a lurker myself :-) I am not much of a digicam person, but next time will take my dslr to the workshops. The cosmetic work should get done today.. will put up pics once I get the vehicle back. Cheers, Spyder __________________ It's a small planet, but it needs big ideas to protect it.

4th November 2009, 13:32	#28 (permalink)
Spyder BHPian Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Hyderabad / Bangalore Posts: 61 View My Garage	More work on the jeep - what a difference cosmetics make Hello again, To continue from where I last left off, the canopy and interior work on the jeep was completed last week and I got it on Friday evening. It is looking much smarter now and the look has also changed. The seats are very comfortable and the new seatbelts fitted give it the safety quotient. A new set of rims and tyres were procured and fixed. The rims are the heavy ones made by Wheels India with MRP of Rs. 1800 (but got it at Rs. 1500 at Rex Automobiles). They unfortunately only had 4 of them and I had to pick up the 5th identical one made by the alternate supplier SSI at Rs. 2000 (MRP of Rs. 2300). The tyres are MRF 6x16 NDMS (was unable to source the 7x16) which has been recommended for both city driving and offroading grip. The interesting thing is that while doing the wheel balancing and alignment, the SSI rim needed considerably more additional weights for the balance, while the cheaper WI ones got by with just a few grams. The SSI rim has been fitted on the stepney and you can see the weights in the pictures. I am also glad that I got the alignment done since there was some minor adjustments which were required. The vehicle drivability has also improved significantly since the tyre change. The old rims and tyres were in terrible shape, but I still got about Rs. 2500 for the set of 5. The suspension work has been scheduled for today and the jeep has gone for getting the work started. Expect to get it back today evening or tomorrow morning. Seems 6 more iron pattis need to be fixed to the rear with the jhula (curved ends) with clamp and rivet bolts. Also getting a cover made for the suspensions. It is costing me Rs. 4,500 for the suspension work (Venkatesh of Bharat motors) and should be a much more softer ride. I have told Venkatesh that the jeep will also go off-roading, so to prepare it accordingly. I will in all probability need to change all 4 shock absorbers also, but will find that out in the evening. We took it for a drive over the weekend and it felt really nice and smooth. Though I feel the engine could be tuned to be a little more torquey. Had to move my scorpio parked in front and the difference in the ride was literally 'aasman - zameen ka farak' :-) Attached are some more pics of the jeep taken today morning, before it went for the suspension servicing. Cheers, Spyder P.S: Sorry..still no DSLR used..apologies for the mobile quality pics. Attached Thumbnails __________________ It's a small planet, but it needs big ideas to protect it.

4th November 2009, 13:54	#29 (permalink)
svsantosh BHPian Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: bangalore Posts: 905 View My Garage	How is the entry to the rear bench sorted out? Does the co-driver seat fold-in-front? PS - Smart looking now? Yes!! Very nice outcome. __________________ GOT MY CJ340 SWB JEEP & HOW???

5th November 2009, 12:20	#30 (permalink)
harjeev Senior - BHPian Join Date: May 2006 Location: New Delhi Posts: 1,177 View My Garage	Hi Spyder That is a wonderful and tastefully done up jeep you have!!! Congrats I have some questions buddy, It will be great if you could answer some them!!! 1.How much did you pay for these tyres and where did you buy them from? 2.Are they easily available? 3.What seats are those, I mean which vehicles seats are these? I ask because the original seats in a CJ3B are different and they are not very comfy. Therefore I am thinking of changing the seats in favor of more comfortable seats. Thanks Harjeev edit Also will it be possible to click the 'from behind the seats' shots. I just wanna understand and see whether you had to cut in the rear fenders to fit these seats!!! __________________ 2007 Tata Safari 2.2 VTT 2000 Ex-Army MM550 1985 Ex-Army CJ3B 1963 WILLYS CJ3B Wishlist 2011 Gypsy 1.3 MPFI Last edited by harjeev : 5th November 2009 at 12:24.

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