[Kandisa]

Originally Posted by Parm

....Restoration of a JEEP is like the birth of a child and then seeing the jeep taking shape when you build it with paitence and passion!......thats what i see in your jeep

Parm, it couldn't have been said in a better way.
@bigman, in mandeep's words, our aim was to make this jeep 'understated but elegant' but good that it has some stunning look also!
Thanks guys, hours of toiling in 'cruel summer' have indeed paid off! And the design, execution, colour choice, seat & tyre selection.......it all belongs to the one 'Man'
Seats: I already mentioned in detail in one of the previous posts. Yes, these are Innova seats, not too stylish like the recaro replicas (people hardly have genuine recaros here) but really comfortable, having ample thigh and lumbor support, which was my main requirement. Had to pay a premium though, approx 7k for these as these pair were not used that much. It came with waterproof cover and incidentally goes well with the shade of the jeep! But if you want to experience what seat comfort means, have a seat in the blue jeep, original APC seats, unmatched feeling! Pretty expensive, but worth every rupee!

Tyres: The size is 30X9.5R15 which is roughly 241/79/15; net height is same as 7.0X16 and 1" shorter than 7.5X16. And the width is just right, not too skinny, not too wide! I was not prepared for these tyres as hardly heard of them before (my knowledge was limited to BF, Michelin, Yoko and Maxxis) till mandeep mentioned he had these tyres in his Nissan Patrol! And i must say the surprise is quite pleasant. Price after negotiation is slightly lower than the common BFGoodrich 235/70/16 tyres. Interestingly,in 15", this tyre is 1" taller than the 16" counterpart.

Top & Door: The top will be slightly modified, no plan of doors immediately as we have planned to do something good which can't be done properly by the mayapuri people and will cost a lot here. In fact some more modifications will be done gradually but not now as we don't want to do any fabrication kind of stuff from mayapuri, horrible workmanship!

Lastly, the side view mirror as seen in mandeep's pics, is another sweet surprise for me. Never knew that this came in any similar model of mahindra jeep in India.He took it off and preserved the very 1st time the jeep was spotted in mayapuri!

[GoSlow]

WOW Somen!! What a jeep. It looks super in the pics. I am sure it looks even better in real life!

Full marks to Mandeep and you for such good workmanship.

How is it to drive? Do we see you at the next OTR now?

Cheers
Ankit

[4x4 loaded]

Nicely done Kandisa. Appreciate it.

[Kandisa]

Originally Posted by GoSlow

WOW Somen!! What a jeep. It looks super in the pics. I am sure it looks even better in real life!
Full marks to Mandeep and you for such good workmanship.
How is it to drive? Do we see you at the next OTR now?
Cheers
Ankit

Thanks Ankit, the only thing i can say is that the colour does look different in real life from what you see in the pics. As per the drive is concerned, the best part is that it is very easy to drive and smooth. Some bits and pieces of things need to be rectified which will be done once i start it driving regularly. We will bring it to OTR once i get some hands on experience of the feel of the vehicle, particularly the 4x4.

[willys MB]

Congrats !!!! Somen and Mandeep,

The Jeep looks great in its very unusual and nice colour. Looking forward to see you guys with your Jeep in the 15th Aug. NIOC Extreme OTR (only for Jeeps).

Cheers

Sarvinder

[Kandisa]

Originally Posted by willys MB

Congrats !!!! Somen and Mandeep,
The Jeep looks great in its very unusual and nice colour. Looking forward to see you guys with your Jeep in the 15th Aug. NIOC Extreme OTR (only for Jeeps)....

Thanks Sarvinder Sir. Getting the colour done really took some effort! We will definitely try to make it to the event.
-regards,
Soumen

[sreerajunnithan]

Your Jeep has came out very well Soumen. I liked the color very much!!! Congrats and happy Jeeping!!!

--Sree--

[Ricky_3007]

Awesome Jeep Soumen!!! Just fantastic!!!

Congrats on your jeep completion. It looks just great!!!

How do you feel in these Innova seats? Have you done any mod for it? Because I also have got Innova seats for my MM550 as I mentioned in my thread. And I had placed 1-2 pics on my thread as well but somebody said the fitment of seats was totally off. Anyways I have not yet fixed the seats but your suggestion will be helpful. I have small storage box as well under the driver's seat in my 550.

Tarkesh

[Kandisa]

Originally Posted by sreerajunnithan

Your Jeep has came out very well Soumen. I liked the color very much!!! Congrats and happy Jeeping!!!
--Sree--

Thanks Sree. I remember when i was in search of a jeep i really envied you the day you got your 550 XDB!

Originally Posted by Ricky_3007

...How do you feel in these Innova seats? Have you done any mod for it? Because I also have got Innova seats for my MM550 as I mentioned in my thread. And I had placed 1-2 pics on my thread as well but somebody said the fitment of seats was totally off. Anyways I have not yet fixed the seats but your suggestion will be helpful. I have small storage box as well under the driver's seat in my 550

Thanks a lot Tarkesh. The feel of the seats is really nice as i 've mentioned, very good thigh and lumbor support. No mod as such was done in it, only the mounts were fabricated. Though these mayapuri people did a shoddy job i am continuing with it for the time being and it will be changed later. I am not an expert, but seeing the pics in your thread, i guess probably the seats were mounted bit higher in your jeep. So modifying the height of the mounts (shorten) should probably solve the problem. I too had that storage box initially but finally removed it, but it won't create any problem for the seats.
-regards,

[Kandisa]

Here are some more updates of the work done last week.

The old steering wheel was replaced with new original Mahindra one.



The tie end rods were inspected and the joints were replaced with new parts.



Though the jeep didn't show any signs of overheating in the couple of test drives we did, even on traffic congestion situation, we decided to get an additional electric fan for the high-rev engine. The fan was installed in front of the radiator and was connected to a separate spare switch on the dash. So total peace of mind now from any probable heating issue



Finally the carpetting was done on the entire floor. Heat resistant materials were installed underneath in the front cabin area. The carpets were only placed and not fixed on to the floor. Some more furnishing will be done very shortly







Lastly a pic of the new battery we got quite sometime back, Amaron Hi-way 80 Amps.

[harjeev]

Great buddy!!!
See you at the next OTR!!!

BTW the carpet in the front and rear are they fixed or can easily be removed!!!
The reason I ask is because if it rain and water seeps under the carpet, (if a permanent fixture), wouldn't that hold water which overtime may lead to rusting!!! Just thinking!!!

[Kandisa]

Hi harjeev,
yes the carpet has only been placed and not fixed on to the floor. As you have rightly said, for an open vehicle like this, its better to have a removable option. So basically the entire carpeting has been divided into three sections and each of these can be removed easily.

[Amar82]

Very neat looking jeep.Awesome work

[diesel_maniac]

Hi Soumen. I just got hold of your thread yesterday night. I went through it all starting in the night itself. Just finished reading through it.

First of all Congratulations to you for finally having a Jeep of your dreams and to Mandeep for having pulled off such a perfect job.

Secondly, you have done such a wonderful work of sharing your experience with everyone else. I had a delight reading your updates.

Even though I have been associated this project for the initial mechanical job work phase only. I would really like to appreciate your commitment and dedication to this project. To top it all the Patience that you have shown over the duration cannot be matched by anyone I have met till date. Hats off to you Buddy. Hope you will enjoy this Jeep for many long years to come.

Cheers

Jasvinder

[Parm]

Any new updates on this jeep? waiting to see more photos and update!