[Ricky_3007]

Hi Guys,

Sorry for not updating my thread for long time(20days) .

Anyways, the current update is

1) Engine Overhauled completely - Have started also . Though I have video of the same , I dont know how to upload it here.. It started well and as per the technician , it sounds exactly the way it should be.

2) All mechanicals like Brake, Gear Box , Suspension overhauled and done.

3)Body Work is almost complete and small little finishing has to be done which I have marked on the body to get it finished.

4) Painting - I have got all the material of painting other than the final shade.
I got the 3M paint remover (can be sprayed or brushed) ,
all the 3M sand papers , ICI Duco Oil primer ,
Sickens Blend Prep , Asian PPG Chasis Grey shade for chasis ,
PPG Synthetic Putty, Sickens check Putty ,
PPG Deltron Hardner and Thinner for final shade
Deltron Clear Coating on final Solid Sahde
Tac Rag papers ,
3M Body Schutz rubberised Paint for undercoating,
3MBody Sealer etc
And small little other things which I need .

I have got the sample shade sprayed from Asian PPG deltron for Army Green (Olive Green) shade on card board sheet. basically I am going to put solid base coat and then I will put clear coat on the solid Base coat . This helps to prevent small scratches as the clear coat acts as laquer (protection) for paint and also it has low maintainance after applying.

All this was possible because of my old Asian Paints connection (I worked there for 5 years) other wise getting these type of material would have been a big hole on my pocket.

while WIP one civillian 54o from Maharashtra Govt come for some work and the person parked it beside my 550 , I compared the height diff, it was more than I expected. I am happy

Now let pics do the honor..

Tarkesh

[vishwaschettri]

@ Ricky_3007 - your jeep is coming up nice. Waiting to see the pics of fully restored vehicle. Do keep us posted.

cheers
vishwas

[4x4addict]

Wonder if the height difference is largely due to the 7.50x 16 tires that come on the Army 550 vs the 6.00x16 on the standard mm540. As far as I know there were no other major changes to increase GC.

[harjeev]

Great Tarkesh!!!
Nice to see your 550 coming up good.
How much did the entire denting work take. Time wise and cost wise...

Also regarding the video, you can upload it at youtube and then share it here as a link
I think that there is a thread somewhere on T-BHP. If you search you'll find it.
Waiting to see the video soon...

[Kandisa]

The jeep is definitely getting back to proper shape and thats really great compared to the original condition. yeah i also think that the height difference may be due to the army tyres only.
-regards,

[Ricky_3007]

Thanks Vishwas/Harjeev/Kandisa,

Now the next plan of action will be

All minor finishing of Body work getting done till today. Currently the Engine is not mounted on the chasis.

The body is mounted on few body mountings only. Now the jeep will be towed to Paint Shop .The body will be detached from Chasis .
Body and Chasis will be cleaned thorughly once again with water and diesel.

The Paint remover will be applied all over and will be allowed to keep it on body for 1 or 2 days. Then the paint will be scrapped off by scrapper .

It will be again washed by diesel and water to remove the paint remover completely. Now there will be a bare metal body without any paint or coating on it. It is very important to remove paint remover frm body as it can cause peel off of the paint later.

On Chasis the redoxide will be applied and then the final shade of Chasis grey will be applied as final coat.

The red oxide will be applied on the body subsequently the minute body and denting work will be carried out and the same will be filled by 3M Body filler(Nozel Bottel).

First round of Sanding will be done on the body and 3M Polyster Putty will be applied .

In the mean while the 3M Body Schutz - Rubberized Anti rust coating will be Sprayed on the base of the TUB , which will also act as sound deadner (pic attached).

Then sanding will be done on 3M Polyster Putty . Again the 3M HS primer(white) will be applied .

There will be round of wet sanding and 3M Bled Prep application for removal of scratch marks and sanding marks.
After this process some pin holes and run down marks may again appear to fill that the combi filler will be applied.

The surface is ready for final coating but ....during this entire process there may be workers handling oil,grease touch the surface plus there may be moiture and water content on the body that can cause blisters,pin holes and sagging of paint so Dupont degreaser will be applied to remove all oil,moisture,grease content.

Final coats (2 to 3) of Base shade (Asian PPG Deltron Olive Green) will be applied till it gives best hiding and uniform consistancy of shade.

After drying the final coats 1 coat of clear coat (Asian PPG Deltron)with hardner (Asian PPG Deltron) will be applied this will act like anti scratch coating on the body.

Hah!!!!!!!!! Finally this ends the process of painting which will start from Tommorrow. I have got all the material ready with Paint shop.

Then there will be only Polish with 3M paint protection but after fitting of all seats, engine , body parts etc.

I am very happy that this long process will give my Jeep a complete new look. Also I am attaching one more pic when I receive my 550 and the current condition .
This weekend I will be going to Kolhapur again then I will be able to post more pics.

Now the feedbacks and suggestions expected.

Tarkesh

[SirAlec]

Get better quality hoses. and scrap and clean the edges of mounts where those coolent hoses will fit.

[Ricky_3007]

Hi All,

As stated above Jeep is gone to paint booth last week end it was towed from the existing workshop. and Today the painter updated that he has applied the paint remover all over the body and chasis. From tommorrow he will scrap off all the paint by scrapper .

In the mean while below are the pics for rear seat alteration for the jeep. I am planning to put Toyota Innova bucket seats in the front and rear seat in the rear side of the jeep. My brother has got these. I am basically giving the overall idea for seat alrterations which i am going to make. Pls see the leg room and storage space after putting the seat . I think the leg room and storage space at the back is sufficient considering I am fixing spare wheel on Tail Gate and not in the space available.

I want to make the roof above the rear seat as like Gypsy or Invader , basically a bit inclined after B piller. This will be done by adding the Roll bar design in such a way that the roof will be inclined by 2-3 inches than B piller horizontal bar and then it will be same like Gypsy/Invader till end. Will there be any issue in this?

Suggestions and feedbacks are welcome.

Tarkesh

[harjeev]

Tarkesh
If you are installing the rear seat parallel to the front seats, and mounting the tyre on the tailgate itself, why dont you push the rear seat all the way to the back.
This will give you loads of space between the front and rear seats!!!
I had decided this initially, but dint go with it as I wanted the typical army look and also my jeep will be used only by 2 people at the max 3

[Kandisa]

Tarkesh,
i think harjeev's suggestion is good, that way there will be more space for the rear passengers. One question for you, how people will access the rear side seat? Entering from the back will be cumbersome for sure, isn't it?
-regards,

[harjeev]

Originally Posted by Kandisa

Tarkesh,
One question for you, how people will access the rear side seat? Entering from the back will be cumbersome for sure, isn't it?
-regards,

Yeah This could be an issue.
What you could do is purchase a 2nd hand Maruti Gypsy Seats and install them instead of the mahindra seats. The gypsy front left seat has a provision for the passengers entering from the front.
I think you would know as you have recently bought one for yourself.

[Kandisa]

Originally Posted by harjeev

...The gypsy front left seat has a provision for the passengers entering from the front..

Can you shade some light on this? May be some pics

[harjeev]

I used to own a gypsy, but not anymore!!
Maybe guys who own a gypsy can post pics. But This I know that the left gypsy seats are designed as such that a person can climb to the back once it is completely moved to the front.
These seats are also available in Mayapuri

[Brutus]

We all know that the Dabwalli people make crap, but there are a few things that are actully pretty good, like if you want the old FC and Cj3b gauges, i mean the Big one that has 0-14 writtern for the speedo, and has 2 intregal meters for the fuel and heat guages, Then the RCL type windscreen, then all sorts of hooks, from shaktimans to Nissan one tons, then taillights, Even he Double reflector type headlights(casts Rs70 each,lol) are pretty good, and almost as good as those hella headlights on the pickup. Axes, spades, jerrycan holders, gunracks, engine bay lights, Battle tank lights, etc, though i might warn you that you need to have a good eye to differentiate between the original and the desi ones, and once you do that, the desi ones end up costing you only half an arm and leg,lol. while the original ones,even though thoroughly used, still seem like,according to the prices, the they were some sorts of spare parts of super expensive sports cars.

Anyways, for us mechanically minded types, theyhave those flexible exhaust pipe joints taken off from cars abroad, that we can use without having to hang your silencers on rubber mounts that break every often

Well getting back to the topic, theres one more choice as far as the rear seats are concerned. If you don't want those parallel to each type rear benches, and are looking for something that faces forward and still not humongous to look at, then those guys have these very nice looking small forward looking rear bench that is actually small(2 person's seat), as its meant for a ChattiBody jeep(Cj's 80" wheelbase). I dont know if these seats were meant for a Classis or something, though i would'nt be surprised if they were, and they are available both as originals and desi ones.
Whats really nice about these cute little seats is that they have two double hinged clamps(serves as legs) to hold the front end of the jeep, and at the rear it does'nt look like there are any legs at all, and the slant is so much, that the rear end seems to be resting on just the seat cushins(like the original military Cj3B Seats), You can fold the backrest to the bench end, and throw the seat forward, just like its done on the Scorpio or the Innova, albeit sans any locks or complicated hold downs used in them. Its urely simple, pratical and good looking. I don't ahve any photos or i would have attached them
Take care,
Bikram

[Ricky_3007]

Hi Harjeev/Kandisa/Bikram ,

Thanks for the info.

I agree Harjeev that if I push the rear seat till the tail gate then there will be enough space in the middle but , I feel there will be disconnect in the front seat people and rear seat people because of large gap in two rows. Secondly i will use the space back of the seat as storage space since I am putting the spare wheel on tail gate. I am not putting same 550 seats at all the same picture is to just take the measurements . Thirdly I want the roof to have slightly slope at the rear like the pic attached then the rear portion of the roof will touch the persons head as the rear seat will be a push back seat.

I am planning to put Innova rear seat at the rear of the Jeep which is Double foldable(so in case of single or 2 person use there will be more space at rear by folding the rear seat fully) and Innova Front seats at the front(Driver and Co driver).
The arrangement to reach at rear seat will be from left side front door only like Tata Sierra. The Co driver seat will be pushed extreme towards Dash board whenever someone will sit at rear. I have checked up for the leg room for rear seat by asking my friend who is 6feet 2 inch tall to sit on the rear seat and feel whether there is any need of further pushig of the rear seat.

I have already got these Innova seats .

Sounds OK??


Tarkesh