[Desmosedici]

Originally Posted by desertfox

I am very much interested to know how the AC performs in this vehicle.
I had installed one in my Gypsy MW413 with fuel injected engine, MPFI.
However I had faced umpteen problems with engine overheating whenever the A/C was turned on.

I have an MPFi with AC. Temp Needle goes a tad over half way mark. Typical setup of Condenser ahead of Radiator with an Electrical Fan.

[desertfox]

I had the same set up but drive just 3 to 4 km with the AC and the temp gauge needle went to the red zone.

I discarded the Gypsy got a non AC MM550 later and now finally settled for a Thar as a compromise in the absence of anything else.

[Desmosedici]

Originally Posted by desertfox

I had the same set up but drive just 3 to 4 km with the AC and the temp gauge needle went to the red zone.

I discarded the Gypsy got a non AC MM550 later and now finally settled for a Thar as a compromise in the absence of anything else.

I have done long drives like Mumbai Pune as well and i never experienced any issues. Maybe you Temp Gauge was incorrect, happened once with me where both Temp and Fuel needles would go totally up. Initially i was shocked but then realised the issue.

[rajeevn]

Originally Posted by Desmosedici

Congrats on being reborn . A Gypsy thread always brings a smile to a fellow Gypsy owner. Love the way the AC vents have been done up so neatly. You have used aluminium plates at the rear, have you also used the same on the front side as well?

Color combo of Red and White is looking fresh. Congrats again.

Thanks, Desmosedici, for your appreciation. I was very particular about the finish, inside and out, and told my friend Aman who built the Gypsy to not rush anything (he doesn't anyway), take an extra week or two or three, but at the end of the day, give me a vehicle that is purr-fect under the hood, and in all other places!

As always, Aman did just that...

Yes, the floor inside the cabin is also layered with the aluminium plates. The reason is two-fold. 1. The Gypsy is no place for rubber or other mats, they would slide around anyway; & 2. Each Sunday, I just remove the rubber plugs on the floor inside the cabin (and at the rear, where the spare wheel is), hose down the floor with water and soap, and the water drains away. Whatever droplets are left, I wipe away with a sloth and the floor is good as new.

Originally Posted by ashphil

Congratulations on building and owning such a beauty!
All the one liners on why you want a Gypsy make a lot of sense to me. My wife of 27 years just dosent understand why I fuss around my 1993 MG410 so much. She says just get a Thar and be done with it. Here's to many more miles on our respective Gypsies!
Regards,
Ashok

Thanks, Ashok. We are two of a kind, made from the same mold. Now that the Gypsy is finally with me, I am going to be hopefully doing a lot of tweaking around over the next many months and years. The beauty of a Gypsy is that it is perhaps the most customizable vehicle in the world, and in this brute, modifications and changes are never really over!!

Best of luck with your Gypsy as well, and let's hope we drive together some day!

Originally Posted by Twinn

Very Nice one. Congrats @rajeevn.

If at all you get hold of another grill, keep it black and red and check out how will that look on your brute.

BTW can you help me with the wire from which you are reading the RPM for the Tacho? Is it a brown wire connecting to the ECM or anything else.

Will check with Aman also on this. I loved your Dash setup, it looks quite cool infact

Thanks, Twinn, I think it is the brown one that does the trick for the Tacho, and I am sure Aman has already responded to you on that. It looks good and works just fine!!

Originally Posted by codelust

Congrats on the reborn Gypsy. Had a feeling that I have seen this one somewhere before; remembered it was on another forum. Red and white is an awesome combo.

Even without seeing the sticker, it is easy to identify the AA finish. His band of boys are good, they took good care of my Gypsy when I got it. Unfortunately, they are way too far off for me to get my 413W looked into regularly.

My Gypsy, though, is more of a touring vehicle than a city drive. But whenever I do take her out to run her a bit, it is like falling in love all over again.

If you want to stretch her legs a bit without driving 100 KMs out of Delhi, take her out on the Faridabad-Gurgaon road early Sunday morning.

Thanks, Codelust. Yes, Aman and his clan do a fantastic job, as is visible in this here beauty as well. I will take your advice on the Faridabad-Gurgaon road tomorrow (Sunday) morning and come back to you on how that goes...

Originally Posted by kavesh55

The Ac fitment loks clean as OE. Dint you experience power drop with the Ac on, considering its only 1.3L engine.

Kavesh, thanks. There is a power drop with the AC, but it is minimal, especially as the Gypsy has FFE, Headers, K&N et al. That having been said, I have removed the AC belt for the winters and so, for all practical purposes, all it is doing now is adding some 20-odd kg to the body weight.

I did a lot of mental churning about the AC before I went for it, but we all know Delhi summers and I knew minus the AC, the Gypsy would have been just sitting in a cover through 6-7 months of the heat. The AC had to be there to keep the vehicle moving, and me and the folks fairly comfortable.

Originally Posted by TwistOfFate!

Congrats on your build Rajeev ji. Looks great in White and Red!
Great set of alloys you got and they complement the look of your machine.
However, is it safe to have the extra fuel tank right behind the driver's cabin? I'm just a novice in all these aspects. Ignore if irrelevant.
Everything looks so good. The tyres, the alloys, the color combinations, the tacho, the map-reading light, the interior etc. The only things I found to not gel with your machine are the cross marked stickers on the front headlights and the front mud-flaps. Please get rid of them. IMHO, they add no aesthetic value to your ride.
Need further information and pics regarding the mechanicals, articulation, suspension, brakes and the overall performance of the KING!
I wish you all happy miles with your restored possession and quite a number of OTRs in the near future.
Regards.

Dear TwistofFate, thanks for your kind words. Keeps Gypsy-crazy people like me in good spirits!

To answer your queries:
1. The fuel tank behind the cabin is generally kept empty. I have not filled it so far, and have no intention of doing so... At least not till we go for a long drive, or for events where extra fuel is needed. All the tank does is that it acts as an extra storage vessel for petrol, and when the main tank gets low on fuel, you just pull a motor switch on the dashboard, and voila, petrol from the external tank is pumped into the main tank. By that logic, it is safe as can be (but I see where you are coming from).
2. The black sticker cross-stitch(es) on the headlights is a typical rally thing from decades back, when it was done with the intention of keeping the headlight glass pieces in place if one managed to break the light due to stones and pebbles that your own tyres threw up.
3. The mud-flaps on the front bumpers are, again, only there to prevent these same stones and pebbles from hitting the headlight. Typically, (3) is the prevention, and (2) is the cure when that prevention fails!!
4. The acceleration is far better than a regular Gypsy, thanks to the Headers, the FFE and the K&N Air Filter. Plus the pistons are also 0.5x bigger and that helps. But let's be clear, a Gypsy never was and never will be a powerhouse, unless we do something dramatic to the engine (like put in twin cams or shove in a few turbo-chargers). And that's good in a way, for this vehicle was never intended to go like its tail was on fire!!
5. The brakes are power-boosted and work just fine.
6. The suspension? Well, you have to be brave, need to have a strong back, and be a bit of a romantic to buy a Gypsy. It was never really built with creature comforts in mind, and it doesn't provide too much of that.

But when you go waddling over a pebble-strewn road, or when you scream down a flyover and the bonnet shows a movement of +ve and -ve 7-10 degrees, the feeling beats what you get in sedans, that of cruising without a whisper or a bump.

That's the Gypsy for you...

Originally Posted by Kandisa

"NEAT" is all that i can say about the build up. Everything looks so proper and nice color combination at the end.
BTW, do you/other gypsy owners have any idea where to source that housing in which the Audio HU and lighter socket is installed? IIRC, this is a standard accessory for the Gypsy. Have been looking for this unit for some time, but no success so far.

Thanks, Kandisa. As far as I can think, the Audio HU should be available rather easily. But since you say it isn't, a good place to look would be after-market AC fitment guys who do Gypsys. Many people put the blower below the dash, and the HU has to be removed for that. Let me also check around on that and I will PM you on the same.

Originally Posted by vroom666

A very good built Rajeev. Looks awesome - except for those front mudflaps. I have somehow never liked that look on Gypsy's. Anyway its a personal opinion and if you find it good leave it as it is.

BTW your Gypsy seems to be having more of the made-for-Rally looks than for offroad usage Do you plan any other offroad related mods?

Thanks, Vroom666. I am going to use it for some soft off-roading and a rally or two, before figuring out the hard-core off-roading option. Then again, I can't see myself wrenching the life out of this beauty to climb a 60 degree gradient. That's just not me (though it intrigues me to watch when people do that, even in 'luxury SUVs'.

Originally Posted by desertfox

I am very much interested to know how the AC performs in this vehicle.
I had installed one in my Gypsy MW413 with fuel injected engine, MPFI.
However I had faced umpteen problems with engine overheating whenever the A/C was turned on.

The AC works just fine and chills the cabin. That having been said, I would add two caveats here:
1. The cabin is a two-seater, so the space needed to be cooled is smaller; &
2. We are in the beginning of winter in Delhi, so it's only fair to say that only April and May and June will really tell just how effective the AC really is!

Thanks, friends.

[rajeevn]

Friends, each Sunday is spent cleaning and washing the cars inside out; this is a ritual that has been ongoing for nearly 3 decades, and I quite enjoy those few hours of peace with the cars, while my faithful Lab Shimmer watches from her post a few meters away!

In fact, on one of the rare Sundays that I didn't come down to wash the cars, my neighbor actually called me up to inquire about my health and well-being!! "Hey! You are not washing the cars today? All well at your end? Hope you are not feeling unwell?"



Anyway, here's the Gypsy after its first full wash. In Picture #2, the better half is inside the cabin, doing her bit, cleaning and brushing up the inside...







The next troika of pictures also shows the Skoda Yeti parked across the street, having already undergone its 'personal treatment' for the week!







A few clicks from the rear. In the last picture, please do not miss the refreshment in the load bay, between the spare wheel and the extra fuel tank in the Gypsy... a bottle full of chilled Orange Tang!





Thanks, friends.

[Amrik Singh]

Beauty and Beast packed together

Moral : You can never win argument with her - only Compromise

[Maverick5490]

Originally Posted by rajeevn

Friends, each Sunday is spent cleaning and washing the cars inside out; this is a ritual that has been ongoing for nearly 3 decades, and I quite enjoy those few hours of peace with the cars, while my faithful Lab Shimmer watches from her post a few meters away!

@ Rajeev, First of all congratulations on a very well restored Gypsy. Love the attention to detail and also the care taken on each Sunday.

Also hats off to your better half in being equally interested in your passion!

[cpbopanna]

Brilliant job Rajeev!
The fit & finish appear immaculate!

I guess the (colour) combination of mister & missus worked in your favour!

Did you per-chance consider reducing the rear overhang?

[rajeevn]

Originally Posted by Maverick5490

@ Rajeev, First of all congratulations on a very well restored Gypsy. Love the attention to detail and also the care taken on each Sunday.

Also hats off to your better half in being equally interested in your passion!

Well, Maverick, Sundays don't feel like Sundays if time is not spent on giving the cars a good scrub. And it's well worth it, for when I open the door to drive any of the cars through the week, the clean exteriors and interiors that greet me more than make up for the effort put in.

Also, and this is pretty much perhaps just in my mind, but I have always got the feeling that when a car is clean, it drives better and seems peppier (and happier too!).

As far as the better half is concerned, she has always shared half of any work that there is (and that is perhaps why she is the better half!!). And if she doesn't sometimes, I do remind her that she too sits in these cars, so she needs to help!



But jokes apart, every time we have gone for holidays anywhere, including to the mountains in the middle of winter, whoever travels with me/us helps in the clean-up job. It's a known thing, a foregone conclusion... All my friends know I will wash the cars in the morning (or crib throughout the day!). I have many fond memories and enough pictures of my friends helping me wash the car, once even while it was snowing!

Originally Posted by cpbopanna

Brilliant job Rajeev!

The fit & finish appear immaculate!

I guess the (colour) combination of mister & missus worked in your favour!

Did you per-chance consider reducing the rear overhang?

Dear CP Bopanna, thanks for your kind words. Yes, the color combination of Mr and Mrs seems to have done the trick alright.

On your query on the overhang, I don't intend to do any OTRs or harsh off-roading, and hence decided to leave the vehicle as stock as can be, so that if we ever want to go in for a larger cabin, the rest of the body is there...

Originally Posted by Amrik Singh

Beauty and Beast packed together

Moral : You can never win argument with her - only Compromise

Amrik-ji, I quite, quite agree!! However, let me give myself the credit here... While it was clearly a compromise, I did manage to get 80% of my way (white). Though, admittedly, the remaining 20% (red) is what really makes the Gypsy look cool.

So yes, it all worked out for the best.



Thanks, friends.

[vivekjayasheel]

Originally Posted by rajeevn

this vehicle was never intended to go like its tail was on fire!!

Have you never watched Pradeep of http://www.automission.in/ drive? Or watched a Raid video?

[rajeevn]

Originally Posted by vivekjayasheel

Have you never watched Pradeep of http://www.automission.in/ drive? Or watched a Raid video?

Dear Vivek,

Sure thing. And great videos!



I think the crux here is the definition of "tail on fire"! I have driven the Gypsy to its limit many a time, but I have gone much, much faster in my stock Skoda Laura and Skoda Yeti numerous times. Incidentally, this Gypsy was test-driven for a week before I took delivery, and that was done by Amanpreet Ahluwalia, who is an ace rally driver and has come 2nd in the Raid a few times. And I could hear him a mile away, thanks to the FFE. My only submission here is that a Gypsy can and does do things no other vehicle can, but has its limits in terms of sheer top speed, and how it can behave if you take turns or curves too fast. I have personally seen enough turning turtle for almost no apparent reason.

So in my humble opinion, this is not a vehicle to push beyond a point.