[kingvikz]

Hello Friends,

Here are the details and pictures of my jeep. Work began on May 11 and continues :(
I left the jeep on May 7th. Initially wanting the jeep by June 7 (Thought of getting the F.C done). However since it was a budgeted work (or so I believed) i decided to relax the time and have not really pushed the mechanic until now. (2 months is quite some time i suppose)

Operation MM540 included:

Tinkering the rusted parts
Painting the jeep
Investigating the steering play (And what an investigation it went on to be)
A supervision of the brake pads
A new Air Filter (hopefully)
Restitching the Seats/Benches
Replacing the rear right brake oil seal (This opened a Pandora's box)
Replacing the existing fog lights (the headlight cover had come loose and refused to sit back)
Regular headlight bulb change (100/90)
One new wiper milling
Replacing the thermo-col inside the bonnet
Getting a new set of "IND" number plates
Fabricating/Buying a new inside "Handle" for the tail gate.

I did not take pictures of each part individually. Also I do not own a camera as my relationship in front and behind it has never been comfortable. Whatever my poor cell phone could click is what i present to you. Also being lazy and busy at the same time, your encouragement will help me write/update the "Operation" status...

Before i conclude with the first set of pictures, I would like to thank my friends - Tamilselvan (Bald n Beautiful), Khalid Aman (Spectacled) & Saravanan (Standing beside me - Im in the black Ts) for running along with me around town scouting for parts, enduring the sudden rains, ferrying me to the garage after work, during weekends, waiting till sunset, enduring those really big mosquitoes while I made those STD calls to UBS sir and standing by my side (literally too, every time the mechanic dropped a cost/expense-bomb).

Truly said, what I lacked in money, i made up for in my friends. (Iam sorry if pictures of jeeper friends are prohibited. They all i had/have during operation MM540 )

Special mention to all my office colleagues who often enquire about the jeep.

In Part2 of the introduction to operation MM540 we cover:

May 9
I make my first visit to the garage since i left "Jeep" (I dont have a name for him. He is usually called jeep by everyone at work "How is jeep", "did you bring jeep" so i guess we can call him Jeep for now).

Jeep no longer looks like my jeep. Now topless and faded, grim reality sets in. Months of abuse and ill-care (i hardly wash him or inspect him ) has bee revealed with a few screws removed.

With the tarpolin gone, Jeep stands like he is flexing his muscles. Sadly he also looks haggard and weak. A quick walk around jeep reveals the headlights, indicators, side stands, mud flaps, mats, benches, seats have been removed and piled up in a corner of the garage. Mechanic begins explaining that he too agrees with a budgeted work he wont have to remove the tub to paint the jeep and that will save time. We 3 guys (me, Khalid, Selvan) load the mechanic with ideas and wants: "Try X color", "change the brake pads" "100/90 bulbs" "better tool box". "Steering play" "air filter" "dashboard" The Mechanic listen patiently and nods his head for everything. I later realise the childishness of this act. No mechanic can deliver you the sky if all you can pay him is mud. Also our child-like behavior made me realise the excitement and desire one has within, for the jeep and the Money obstacle what stops us from going all out.
We 3 leave the garage excited that jeep will have his first major operation.



May 11
I find a frenzy of activity around jeep. Mech (Mechanic) has got busy with him and sent the tinker on him. The Tinker, an experienced man, is not surprised with the amount of work he has on jeep. He must have seen more horrific things. Iam elated to see the rickety floorboards have already been welded upon and a new shining square plate has replaced the rash-like rust that had covered the floor which in turn had been comfortably covered by the mat.

While selvan goes about inquiring the quality of metal used and if the right technique was implemented, I look around jeep's new temporary home, hoping it will bring him a change of fortune. Watching a tinker at work is not for the weak-hearted. You may have kept your jeep gleaming and shiny at your place but at the garage its another jeep that needs work. The tinker may drill holes, tear off metal, hammer down surfaces, roughen up the paint and watching all this can get you edgy unless you are well-versed with the tinker's job. I leave the garage with a heavy heart, hoping that soon i transform from an amateur jeeper to an experienced jeep owner. At least all that banging will make sense.

[GTO]

Note from Mod : Post moved to its own independent thread.

[svsantosh]

Ah, a exclusive Raju rebuild. Nice. Get used to being patient... No use hurrying up Raju chetta.

Is the short chassis near the gate still in painting stage or completed? It is a CJ3B with a diesel engine...

[kingvikz]

Originally Posted by svsantosh

Ah, a exclusive Raju rebuild. Nice. Get used to being patient... No use hurrying up Raju chetta.

Is the short chassis near the gate still in painting stage or completed? It is a CJ3B with a diesel engine...

Raju Mashey was with me when i bought Jeep. He took a test drive for me, since i didnt know how to drive a jeep and i had just got my DL after passing driving test with an 800.

I began giving him Jeep for servicing ever since. In between, for smaller repairs I used to give Jeep on bellary road, jus before Hebbal flyover. The mechanic brothers - Chetan and Loki were good too and it was close to my place. But over time we had our differences on repairing Jeep and I decided to go to Raju Mashey even for the minor repairs.

He takes his own time and cannot be pushed. But its worthy of the delay. Initially he wouldnt repair any tiny/nagging issues unless it is the very reason for the jeep to stop running.

Over time I have got used to his working style. Therefore all minor repairs are accumulated and presented to him on one fine day.

While I write this, jeep is still at the garage and will be there till the weekend. Raju plans to finish it up by Saturday unless the tinker, painter, junior mechanic or/and rains play spoil sport.

The CJ3B diesel is in the waiting stage. In between the owner did come and drop off few accessories. Paint-Tinkering yet to begin. Its a fine piece and will come out really well when worked on. I wish the owner (If he is on team Bhp) all the best.

[V-16]

Pardon me but i noticed that most (if not all) CJ3b's and a few older ones (MBs. GPWs and CJ2/3As) from the South have this peculiar three spoke steering wheel (from the Matador or the Standard 10 Van) thats not an OE. It may look good but does not look original. I see the same steering wheel in the CB pic posted 1st in the series in this post. Can someone tell me which car it belongs to? (im sure its a car made in the South as its so common there)

[Shubz]

Originally Posted by V-16

Pardon me but i noticed that most (if not all) CJ3b's and a few older ones (MBs. GPWs and CJ2/3As) from the South have this peculiar three spoke steering wheel (from the Matador or the Standard 10 Van) thats not an OE. It may look good but does not look original. I see the same steering wheel in the CB pic posted 1st in the series in this post. Can someone tell me which car it belongs to? (im sure its a car made in the South as its so common there)

Gogi sir, I have come across a couple of jeeps down here which sported such wheels, when asked, they said it has been fabricated. (though they initially tried to say it is "Original")

[V-16]

Well, the fabricator must have been having a field day cloning such wheels. Im sure ive seen it on one of the vehicles i mentioned above, maybe not but its from some vehicle like that. I may not be surprised if its from the 3 wheeled Badal.

[kingvikz]

Originally Posted by V-16

Well, the fabricator must have been having a field day cloning such wheels. Im sure ive seen it on one of the vehicles i mentioned above, maybe not but its from some vehicle like that. I may not be surprised if its from the 3 wheeled Badal.

That Jeep got sold for 2L few days prior to the snap. It stayed on for some minor repairs and disappeared a week later.

For more information on 3 wheeler Badal please refer:

Reliant Robin - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/commer...er-taxi-2.html

May 14

Its a saturday and the agenda is visiting Jeep. There are days when you go unprepared, unsure what to expect and you are rewarded with progress. There are also days when work has been halted due to "various reasons". Then, all you do is sit on your jeep's seat, gingerly kept amongst the pile of parts and engage in small talk with the tinker/ mechanic. Learn few things about your jeep. Watch vehicles come in, get repaired and go. Few hours later you leave, hoping the next visit would be more fruitful.

In between all this, there are the questions from home "when you getting your jeep", "why is it taking so long", "This is why I would have preferred if you bought a car". Unlike other dads, mine does not fret about the jeep. Rather he gets bemused every time i mention that the jeep is in the garage. While working on the Palar & Porunthal Dam, he has been driven around in the CJ3b and admires the jeep. But the MM540 for him seems to be a "Dhaba vandi" (waste vehicle). Must be due to the way I have maintained it, i guess.

Back to the vehicle, a look under the bonnet reveals a very incomplete picture. Battery taken out, inner thermocol have ripped. Coming from a non-engineering background and lacking the initiative (initially) to learn about the jeep, i can't make out what else has been taken out.

Also tinkering on the jeep has begun and the right door has been removed for easy entry-exist to work on the windscreen and interior scrapping.

Question time:

What is the purpose of the metal piece circled in white? Mech says it jus a decorative item, not really used. In fact it tends to get rusted faster because water collects within it during rain or water OTR...

Whats the pipe that goes into the engine called ? He keep popping up and i have to press him down from time to time. Mech says he will take care of it.



Finally:

Senior Jeepers, please forgive me if my write-up or knowledge (or lack of it) is very amateur-ish. Also, my heart sinks every time i read a fellow jeeper's experience and learning process. It feels like theres nothing much left to contribute to the jeep repair section these days !! It also becomes very challenging since almost every thing has been covered and in an almost better way...
.

[svsantosh]

Originally Posted by kingvikz

In between the owner did come and drop off few accessories. Paint-Tinkering yet to begin.....I wish the owner (If he is on team Bhp) all the best.

We all wish Poor Venky, didnt know his jeep is there for over a year now!!

[kingvikz]

May 14

Its a saturday and the agenda is visiting Jeep. There are days when you go unprepared, unsure what to expect and you are rewarded with progress. There are also days when work has been halted due to "various reasons". Then, all you do is sit on your jeep's seat, gingerly kept amongst the pile of parts and engage in small talk with the tinker/ mechanic. Learn few things about your jeep. Watch vehicles come in, get repaired and go. Few hours later you leave, hoping the next visit would be more fruitful.

In between all this, there are the questions from home "when you getting your jeep", "why is it taking so long", "This is why I would have preferred if you bought a car". Unlike other dads, mine does not fret about the jeep. Rather he gets bemused every time i mention that the jeep is in the garage. While working on the Palar & Porunthal Dam, he has been driven around in the CJ3b and admires the jeep. But the MM540 for him seems to be a "Dhaba vandi" (waste vehicle). Must be due to the way I have maintained it, i guess.

Back to the vehicle, a look under the bonnet reveals a very incomplete picture. Battery taken out, inner thermocol have ripped. Coming from a non-engineering background and lacking the initiative (initially) to learn about the jeep, i can't make out what else has been taken out.

Also tinkering on the jeep has begun and the right door has been removed for easy entry-exist to work on the windscreen and interior scrapping.

Question time:

What is the purpose of the metal piece circled in white? Mech says it jus a decorative item, not really used. In fact it tends to get rusted faster because water collects within it during rain or water OTR...

Whats the pipe that goes into the engine called ? He keep popping up and i have to press him down from time to time. Mech says he will take care of it.



Finally:

Senior Jeepers, please forgive me if my write-up or knowledge (or lack of it) is very amateur-ish. Also, my heart sinks every time i read a fellow jeeper's experience and learning process. It feels like theres nothing much left to contribute to the jeep repair section these days !! It also becomes very challenging since almost every thing has been covered and in an almost better way...
.

[chanu]

Question time:

What is the purpose of the metal piece circled in white? Mech says it jus a decorative item, not really used. In fact it tends to get rusted faster because water collects within it during rain or water OTR...

Whats the pipe that goes into the engine called ? He keep popping up and i have to press him down from time to time. Mech says he will take care of it.


The metal square piece is not a decorative item and believe me Jeep in practical did not at any time had anything nonsense. I also admit that I am not an expert but good at guessing and I see that piece is to support the 'B' pillar as it comes with two piece combination the rear ones goes till the tub floor and the top ones begin from where you circled and thus the square piece to support and may also to hide the joint but, don't worry you will find a technical answer to it soon as I guess the expert jeepers have not yet come across this thread.

The other one is the tappet cover for a Peugeot engine where that pipe is given for the smoke, heat to exit (Again not the technical answer my observation) and it does pop out often and I also am going through the same issue on my jeep.

I am also waiting from the experts to gain information about the question asked by fellow Bhpian.

[lugnut]

Originally Posted by kingvikz

Question time:

What is the purpose of the metal piece circled in white? Mech says it jus a decorative item, not really used. In fact it tends to get rusted faster because water collects within it during rain or water OTR...

Whats the pipe that goes into the engine called ? He keep popping up and i have to press him down from time to time. Mech says he will take care of it.

.

Let me take a stab at your questions :
The metal piece is to provide structural strength to the B pillar -especially during lateral flexing of the body. Your mechanic is right - that it is a rust magnet. Recommend leaving it in place

As I understand it, the pipe allows any excess oil to drain out during car runs.

[svsantosh]

That rubber (Oil filler cap?) on the top of the valve-door is used to

1) Fill engine oil during service
2) Connect the breather pipe
3) Check for reverse-combusion - not a good sign if a jeep has R-C. Means engine work is needed (Open the rubber and start the engine, if a puff of smoke comes out of it, means ring(s) are worn out, etc etc)

EDIT - Just saw the data plate is still intact, remove it and refit after paint job. It adds its own value to the autenticity of a jeep!!

[kingvikz]

Thank you fellow jeepers for your invaluable inputs. Hope they continue.

The data plate was removed and is now fixed. In between, the insides of the bonnet area were re-thermocoled.

It was around this time (May 14-18) that I got to meet Suresh Stephen sir. He had come cycling on his mountain bike to check on his jeep. Coincidentally it was few days ago that i finally viewed a picture of him at some OTR pic. Initially hesitant to begin a conversation, I soon warmed up to him and found it really useful when he gave his inputs on jeep.

May 18

I am greeted by the sight of jeep being coated with putty/paste. He introduces himself as Aslam, the painter. I look around the jeep and point to various areas and he gives a regular smile and says he'll do all those parts too.
I have begun getting impatient on the paint job/color and try asking Mech on the color shades he had said he would provide me with. He begins by saying he had not been to the paint shop.
To give a further insight into the paint conversation, Mech and I had the paint/color talk at least on 4 different occasions on 4 different days and each time i returned without a color in mind. My problem was I wanted to look at a color sample or shade to get an idea of the color. My friends had begun giving inputs and the initial color i had in mind was grey.
Today when i recollect those hair-pulling days in May, i can't help but accept the fact that Raju Mashe does not really give in to any pressure and does his work at his pace. Though it can be a really annoying issue, it worked out well in the end. (Atleast for me)

As usual before i leave, I remind him that there is steering issue, brake pad checking and brake oil seal leak he has to attend. Then the new parts - rear lights (ruthlessly plucked off the tub), rear mirrors, new tool box lock, dash locks, diesel cap lock, new fog lights, new Air filter, wiper milling and new seats and benches. I had seen suresh stephen sir's jeep and wanted his kind of seats so desperately. Mech also nodded in unison. He mentions that Suresh sir's seat had a frame built to accommodate the new seats. I take it as a passing comment, unaware that it would be my undoing when the episode of new seats came up.

Remembering everything you plan to do on the job can be taxing for the mind. Despite almost memorizing the impending repairs and new parts to be bought i usually ended up forgetting one or two aspects. Then the desperate phone calls would begin to Raju Mashe (The Mechanic), reconfirming if we had discussed "this" and "that".

To all future newbie jeepers, my suggestion: Keep a small diary of the works you intend to do. Have the weekly check on if they have been done or delayed. Be ready for changes: absence of a junior mechanic, non availability of a part, a brand-new part you purchased may not fit the way you wanted, Sudden rains, traffic jams, Heavy office work, Home situations. They all can postpone jeep work. Accept the fact that your jeep and its repair process will not be entirely as you had envisioned.

Seniors, do correct me in case the above para does not hold good.

[SPIKE ARRESTOR]

Originally Posted by kingvikz

Question time:

What is the purpose of the metal piece circled in white? Mech says it jus a decorative item, not really used. In fact it tends to get rusted faster because water collects within it during rain or water OTR...

Whats the pipe that goes into the engine called ?
.

Originally Posted by chanu

The metal square piece is not a decorative item and believe me Jeep in practical did not at any time had anything nonsense. I also admit that I am not an expert but good at guessing and I see that piece is to support the 'B' pillar

The metal piece is a reinforcement. Your B-pillar is already weak, by removing this piece it will become more weak. DO NOT REMOVE IT. The pipe is - Breather pipe.

Originally Posted by svsantosh

3) Check for reverse-combustion - not a good sign if a jeep has R-C.

What's that? Didn't understand the term.

Originally Posted by lugnut

Your mechanic is right - that it is a rust magnet. Recommend leaving it in place

It is a rust magnet, but can be easily controlled if you apply a layer of sealer along the periphery and then flush it. This will prevent water entry through open pores.

Spike