Project Yossarian: Doing up a new Gypsy

[COUGAR]

Team: Need help with some dressing up planned for my new King.

Here are the things I am planning and the approximate costing for the same. Please give your suggestions and alternatives if any:

1. Bumper repainting - Painting front and rear bumpers and wheel skirts to either body color (ICY BLUE) or mat-silver (to be decided. suggestions please). Approx cost: Rs.3600. Expensive, but the guy who quoted this amount does a FANTASTIC job.

2. Subros AC - Bargained down to 22K for a Subros Kit. Correct price? Expensive?

3. Driver + Pax Seat - Plan to shift the original 2 seats of the Gypsy to the rear (front facing) and fit in 2 Esteem/Indigo type driver seats in the front. Any idea of the costing?

4. Leather type seat covers for all seats.

5. 3-piece Bullbar set (something like on Mitsubishi Pajero SWB Soft Top version). LOW PRIORITY.

6. Basic Lighting: Suggestion on brand/power of bulbs?

7. Fog Lights : 2 nos. Brand? Cost?

Any suggestions from the pros would be most appreciated!

Thanx!

[Boom Shiva]

Not a pro, but long-time Gypsy (old model and King) owner, so here's my 2 bits:

1. Body coloured bumpers on Gypsy? I think you'll lose the rugged charm.

2. Good idea. Dunno about cost.

3. Problem with bucket seats in the back is that passengers will hit the roof at every bump. The side facing seats are actually better for the bumps, though uncomfortable otherwise. Also you'll have to ensure the Esteem/Indigo passenger seat slides in front so you can access the rear.

4. Sure, why not.

5. Should look nice if done well.

6. Philips Rallyeye H4 - either 90/100 or 100/130 watts depending on your needs.

7. Hella FF series lights are good. Dunno about cost.

What about upsizing your wheels?

[Captain Pings]

cougar, I haven't done too many mods on the Gypsy, but here a few problems I faced which I had to rectify over the years.

1) A/C - installed the condenser mid-rightside, well high up to keep clear of all obstructions whilst off-roading too. The Engine will tend to overheat at low RPM's in city traffic thanks to the mech. clutched fan, I've put an electrical fan ahead of the radiator (from my corsa, a very powerful and noisy fan at that) with a switch to use in summers as required.

2) Electricals - get a good electrician to distribute the loads well, with add-ons like fog lamps and ICE, my gypsy was plagued with dim headlights and the CD-changer blanking out each time i stepped on the brakes! Had to put in a few relays and re-distribute the load with some fuses thrown in for safety!

The rear seats - honestly, if its going to be two people riding on a daily basis with people in the back only on occassions, retain the benches! Boom Shiva is bang on with the head banging!

Hope the above helps you

Good luck and do post some pictures of the beauty once decked up!

[team dragstar]

no body coloured bumpers..... please....
and i knew someone had made some fiber leaf springs somewhere in vizag. that bouncy problem goes away... thats what i have heard. well gypsy tuners???? any idea how to tackle these problems???


and yeah .. when i owned a gypsy , it continuously gave me overheating problems in the aftermarket superking a/c.. how do we solve that?

[COUGAR]

@Capt Pings: Is the problem 1 u mentioned becoz of the AC installation? To behonest I havenever heard of this problem u mention.

What is the fan u r mentioning and where exactly does this fit? A pic would help! Also the AC installation: the technician i talked to (quite a respected guy in town) explained that he would mount one unit (the condensor??)in front of the radiator and even pointed out 2 notches which he said were designed for the Subros unit. He pointed out 4 locations in the Gypsy engine bay which he said were designed to take various parts of the Subros unit. According to him installing the Subros unit is trhe easiest since all Maruti's come with space and notches already made for teh various units!! Not sure how true this is. Any inputs here?

Also for the first six months atleast, till i finalize the half cabin mods, I plan to use it as a soft-top with the black inner canvas pulled in over the front cabin. Would the AC be over-strained when run in this config? Not that i intend to use the AC for too long or anything...!

2. wrt Electricals: can the stock wiring take a 100/130 for the main lamp?

3. I dont want too many electricals: basically powerful main lamps, 2 fog lamps, mounted on the front and a socket for a powerful lamp to be used for night-photography: So 3 main devices.

[khanak]

how about using some chequered plate on the sides like in this defender. I think ittl really make it look really rugged.

[nosfreak]

The pics are not too clear but something which i could suggest you can do. Its one of my friends Gypsy





Mods: please resize the image if possible cause i dont have the option to do it at office. Thank You

[COUGAR]

What r the models of AC's available? I am told Sandon and Subros models are available.

Any other options?

[COUGAR]

The car in the pic above has had a superb paint job!! Tell me people: how do we get that "glazed" shine effect?? Looks awesome!!

[team dragstar]

hey cougar.... loved your site... u know anyone who wanna sell a gypsy king... me missing my mg 10.... wanna buy a king... and yeah... how many bhp is the king anyways... and is it a carb/ fuel injected?

[COUGAR]

The 410 was 45BHP, the 413 King was 65, while the MPFI 1.3 is 80BHP!! Whole diff ball game!

It was impossible to find a good carbed-King let alone a MPFI! All the well maintained ones arent for sale!!

[Captain Pings]

Cougar, my apologies for the delay in getting back to you.

1) Fitting the A/C condenser in front of the existing radiator might increase the heating-up problems in crawling Mumbai traffic (considering that ambient temperature too remains fairly high).

It obstructs the free flow into the radiator and the slow speed mechanical clutch fan does nothign to improve the situation.

2) Fit the condenser on the underside of the body, and use a good quality fan with a good throw to cool the condenser. There is adequate air flow on the underside too with eddies formed to do the cooling.

3) Might as well invest in an additional electric cooling fan ahead of the radiator, you can actually find someone good to disable the mechanical clutch fan too (and thereby save some engine power!) if they can put in a thermoswitch with the new electric cooling fan ( like in the Esteem Engine for example).

Unfortunately, am not home in India so can't post any pics to show the set up!

As for the A/C set up, I have kept the hard top and the current a/c set up is nice and satisfactory!

[nosfreak]

Originally Posted by COUGAR

The car in the pic above has had a superb paint job!! Tell me people: how do we get that "glazed" shine effect?? Looks awesome!!

you talking about my post?

[iraghava]

Originally Posted by COUGAR

The car in the pic above has had a superb paint job!! Tell me people: how do we get that "glazed" shine effect?? Looks awesome!!

If your base paint is in a decent state then a good Rubbing & Polishing job at a good body shop should do wonders for the look of the car. They could professionally detail it to give it a nice, clean, shiny look inside & out.

But if your base coat is damaged or in a tatty condition then you have very few options. Mostly you would either have to get the bad areas repainted or the whole car repainted.

Originally Posted by nosfreak

you talking about my post?

Yes I think he was referring to your post.

[khanak]

Originally Posted by COUGAR

The car in the pic above has had a superb paint job!! Tell me people: how do we get that "glazed" shine effect?? Looks awesome!!

Im not too sure what you mean by a glazed shine effect. Do you mean a glossy finish? I think a couple of layers of clear coat should get you tht finish.

You might also consider finishing it off in matt colours or even camouflage. I think that would really make the Gypsy look really macho.