[fk7]

Hi All,

As you must already know from the some Delhi based team-bhp members, I managed to get myself an MM550 at last.

Mayapuri is an experience beyond words, what a place. Never have I seen such a place in my life, all sorts of vehicle and even parts of ships, including anchors and chains. I was in mayapuri for almost a whole day. When I walked in, a shaktiman truck was standing in front of a shop, by the time I left, it was in pieces.

As I did not have a camera with me, I could not take pictures, but I do have some of the 550 I bought taken using my phone.

Now to the buying experience. I went straight to Padam Motors, as this place and the person there (Ganesh) came highly recommended from team-bhp members and it was a very positive experience. The guys at Padam are very pleasant including the little mechanic (Chotu). I picked up the jeep in the following pictures and whatever was missing (3 parts) was immediately fixed into the vehicle. The transport to calicut was also arranged and Ganesh even haggled with the transport guy to get me good deal. The vehicle is getting shipped on a maruti vehicles truck from Gurgaon.

Later Ganesh took me around Mayapuri and showed me various vehicles being made, painted etc. All of them kept mentioning the word Jugaad. I asked Ganesh the meaning of the word and He said 'Jugaad vehicle means, a vehicle made to run or barely run, using however and any means possible'.

Enough talk now, let pictures do some talking. Please excuse the quality as taken using mobile phone.

I do have a question, even though Ganesh said it is not problem, but its still buggin me. If you look at the 3rd picture, the body above the chassis does not look to be straight and aligned. What is this problem? Any suggestions?

finally, i would like to thank the team-bhp members based in Delhi namely harjeev, vinay and randeep. They were a big help and I was in touch with them in Delhi. I got to meet Harjeev in person also.

[harjeev]

Congrats Feroz,
It was really nice to meet you in person. The jeep you've bought looks like a nice piece.

If you are talking about the vehicle drooping down towards the RHS, do not worry about it,as I think that its just the suspension and can always me corrected. If something else please explain.

[jyobeb]

A piece of canvas is used to dampen the grill piece. It is missing on the left side and hence the gap and hence the appearance of non-alignment. I would tend to agree that it is not an issue.

[panky12345]

congrats.. how much did you buy it for? is it going to be a restoration project?

[mukeshgoel]

I can see a a jack in the pictures that has lifted the jeep so u cannot judge the alignment of the lifted jeep on a jack.

[Samurai]

Congrats Feroz, it appears to be a nice Jeep. How are you managing to get the resgistration, I heard registering Army Jeeps is quite a complicated process.

BTW, what is the model year, please share the specs.

[fk7]

Originally Posted by Samurai

Congrats Feroz, it appears to be a nice Jeep. How are you managing to get the resgistration, I heard registering Army Jeeps is quite a complicated process.

BTW, what is the model year, please share the specs.

Thks Samurai,

Its a 2000 year model XD, the dealer said it comes with the XD3P engine. The registeration process is pretty much OK, the RTO office from calicut will send back the papers for confirmation and it takes a while. (thats what RTO people have told me).

Originally Posted by mukeshgoel

I can see a a jack in the pictures that has lifted the jeep so u cannot judge the alignment of the lifted jeep on a jack.

The jack was removed during the time picture was taken, it was kept to replace the wheel.

Originally Posted by panky12345

congrats.. how much did you buy it for? is it going to be a restoration project?

I got the vehicle for 80,000 and yes it is going to restored eventually into a good off-roader. Currently only thinking of sorting out the elecricals and get the vehicle to run.

Originally Posted by harjeev

Congrats Feroz,
It was really nice to meet you in person. The jeep you've bought looks like a nice piece.

If you are talking about the vehicle drooping down towards the RHS, do not worry about it,as I think that its just the suspension and can always me corrected. If something else please explain.

Thx man, so how did the OTR go? sad i couldn't join in. Share some pictures.

FK

@fk7- Congrats. You went all the way to Delhi for an MM550? Mad about jeeps eh?
If you dont mind, could you give us a breakup of the costs involved?

[gd1418]

Om Sri Jugaad Devataya namah:

Originally Posted by fk7

Hi All,

All of them kept mentioning the word Jugaad. I asked Ganesh the meaning of the word and He said 'Jugaad vehicle means, a vehicle made to run or barely run, using however and any means possible'.

I do have a question, even though Ganesh said it is not problem, but its still buggin me. If you look at the 3rd picture, the body above the chassis does not look to be straight and aligned. What is this problem? Any suggestions?

[fk7]

Originally Posted by rippergeo

@fk7- Congrats. You went all the way to Delhi for an MM550? Mad about jeeps eh?
If you dont mind, could you give us a breakup of the costs involved?

Hi rippergeo,

I have been looking for a unmodified 550 for around 8 months, all vehicles I saw in Kerala were either 540's or the 550s were heavily modified. I wanted unmodified so that I could do my thing with it.

The price of the vehicle came to 80,000 and the shipping was an additional 18,000.

FK

[Salikt]

Hi FK,

Congrats on your buy. After a long search, at last you put your hand on and excellent machine!

So whats your plan. Keep in original condition or do some mods like hydra jeeps?

How much the transportation costs from Delhi to Calicut?

Also did you spoke to RTO people about the registration? Is it easy or do they need some 'under table' transfers!!

If everything is ok and smooth, I will stop my search and follow same way as what you did.


tks/sali..

[DirtyDan]

I have seen this "body tilt" on 3 or 4 mm5**s now. None of the answers have satisfied me. How is a Jeep tub (body) fastened to the chassis? Are there rubber bushings that might have rotted out? Are there bolts that need to be adjusted to height?

Anyway, looks like a good purchase. Good luck with it and thanks for getting specific about shop names and people. That helps others.

-DD

[randeep04]

Hey Feroz,

Congrats on your new purchase and hope to go for an OTR together in coming times.

Cheers !!!!!!!

Randeep

[Parm]

congrats on becoming a JEEPER!

Dude you showed some heart and came all the way to delhi to find a jeep, bought it and shipped it back to your place....that the stuff JEEPERs are made of....and you showed it!

dont worry about the tilt of the jeep's tub....its got loose from the chassis after all the punishment it got from the army!

good luck with the restoration....keep us updated with PHOTOS!

cheers:

Originally Posted by fk7

The price of the vehicle came to 80,000 and the shipping was an additional 18,000.

FK

Thanks for the reply. Sounds like a bargain to me! Congrats again.