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Old 19th November 2009, 18:07   #31
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I would say the best Tranny for 4WD application availble in India is the KMT-90.
Plus it is cheap to maintain and parts are easily available

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As you were seen many threads talking about the BA-10 which is aluminium made and not so good for really hard core offroad adventures.
I don't buy this. If Bangalore folks are doing some kind of "Hard Core" off roading (I doubt anywhere in india we do that, what we do here is LKG stuff) there is always a Green MM550 of Viji which has a BA-10 (I am not that frequent). Till date he did not have any problem just for the reason it is Aluminium casing (Lot of modern vehiclles use Aluminium for GB Casing including SUVs) . It has other disadvanage like it is loger than KMT-90, hence the support cross member is little behind than of KMT-90, resulting the Jeep sitting duck. BUT it is never ever possible to get a direct hit on the Gearbox. There are lot of other parts like Cross member, Prop shaft, skid plate etc before anything hits the GB.

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When military takes into consideration, they are talking about life risking drives not fancy offroad where you couple the off/on road activities. This is the exact reason why the Civilian MM550s were equipped with BA-10 combi while the military MM550s were mated with KMT-90 combi.
No, not only that, Military uses it because, as i told you, it is easier to repair, less complicated, and parts availability. Since u have a BA-10 with you, i am sure you know how coplicated the shifting mechanism itself is

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In any day KMT-90 is much superior to BA-10, the only advantage I see it in BA-10 is the smoother operations and Overdrive.
you will agree that, an ability to change the gear very quickly is a boon when it comes to Off-Road terrains. BA-10 rules here. several times i have quickly changed to 1L from 2L (Thanks to Syncro) while driving and to Low Revers while rolling back.

Everyone say that BA-10 has a bad reputation world over, but before blaming BA-10, just have a look at the engine it was mated with in Wrangler, No doubt this GB will not be able to tolerate the Torque/Power that massive engine produces. But here we are talking about the Puny lil XD3P 2.5

I am fully aware about the complications of BA-10 and plan to change it to a NGT530. But it is not as bad as everyone says

Thanks
--Sree--

Last edited by sreerajunnithan : 19th November 2009 at 18:10.
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Old 19th November 2009, 19:59   #32
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@Sree, thanks for the wonderful info.

As you said BA-10 needs minimum a MWB and cannot go well with SWB jeeps ;-)
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Old 23rd November 2009, 01:28   #33
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Originally Posted by sreerajunnithan View Post
I am fully aware about the complications of BA-10 and plan to change it to a NGT530. But it is not as bad as everyone says
Thanks--Sree--
Thanks Sree. It was a hell lot of info about Gearboxes.

Update .
I was kind of confused about what colour to choose for my 550.Since there were too many of military green 550's around I wanted to give it a different look.Finally I decided the colour. I will be sharing it with you soon. But I can give a Hint. if anyone is too curious to know. the clue is "Marines"

More pics with pre-painting in progress.

MM550  Army to Civilian Makeover by JeepCaptain-image006.jpg

MM550  Army to Civilian Makeover by JeepCaptain-image007.jpg

MM550  Army to Civilian Makeover by JeepCaptain-image008.jpg

MM550  Army to Civilian Makeover by JeepCaptain-image009.jpg

MM550  Army to Civilian Makeover by JeepCaptain-image027.jpg

MM550  Army to Civilian Makeover by JeepCaptain-image028.jpg

JC
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Old 23rd November 2009, 08:43   #34
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Hi great going Shibu & Siva

Eagerly awaiting the updated on your MM550 & the final color.
Now that you are saying Marines, Is it by any chance the MARINES camouflage???

What tyres have you decided and will you be keeping the Army Rims???
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Old 23rd November 2009, 11:54   #35
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Originally Posted by harjeev View Post
Hi great going Shibu & Siva

Eagerly awaiting the updated on your MM550 & the final color.
Now that you are saying Marines, Is it by any chance the MARINES camouflage???

What tyres have you decided and will you be keeping the Army Rims???
Harjeev, Thanks a lot man. How can I forget or miss your contribution to my project.
Friends, At one point Siva was completely stuck with the 550 restoration. The gearbox also had to be overhauled along with the engine. Hence gearbox was removed and overhauled.Clutch & Fly wheel was in bad condition and had to replaced. Siva thought the fly wheel should be easy to find and was not worried much.But to his surprise when it was time to put together the Engine and GB back Siva realised that the MM550's fywheel and some other parts were not available in Chennai or the dealers ran out of stock.

At that time Siva made an SOS call to none other than Harjeev and he bought the parts from Delhi and shipped it to Chennai and the restoration continued in few days time.
Thanks a ton Harjeev.

Coming back to the colour. I will break the suspense. See the pic below and you will see my choice. BTW- any kind of camouflage is a big NO! for civilian vehicles. I badly wanted to keep the camouflage which the 550 came with and Siva checked with his contacts & RTO agents and confirmed any colour is OK but not mlitary green or any camouflage.

MM550  Army to Civilian Makeover by JeepCaptain-hummernew.jpg.jpeg

Does this colour choice ring any bell for you? There is a similar 550 in NIOC .I had this colour in mind for long time but was not sure how it looks like on a 550 and then when I was in Delhi I saw that NIOC 550 in real and was really impressed. So called up Siva and confirmed the colour. Siva was not very happy initially but when It was completed he was really pleased.

We also had another issue. Siva had already bought the soft top which was green in colour and he was not sure whether it will match the colour I suggested.

Will post the 550 in new colour soon.

JC
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Old 23rd November 2009, 11:55   #36
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hmmm most difficult for me is now, as I couldn't keep myself to hold the latest pictures. Shibuuuuuuuuu hurry up before I post them in here ;-)
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Old 23rd November 2009, 12:54   #37
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Did a bit of PS on a pic posted by Harjeev (sorry Harjeev took it without permission) just too see how it would look, couldn't wait

regards
MP
Attached Thumbnails
MM550  Army to Civilian Makeover by JeepCaptain-mm550.jpg  

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Old 23rd November 2009, 13:56   #38
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Originally Posted by motorpsycho View Post
Did a bit of PS on a pic posted by Harjeev (sorry Harjeev took it without permission) just too see how it would look, couldn't wait

regards
MP

man, you are going lot ahead of Shibu's speed.
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Old 23rd November 2009, 14:20   #39
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Originally Posted by trammway View Post
hmmm most difficult for me is now, as I couldn't keep myself to hold the latest pictures. Shibuuuuuuuuu hurry up before I post them in here ;-)
Siva, I will post pics now.
Friends Siva is so excited with the final outcome and has been threatening me saying that he is too tempted to post the 550 pics with new paint job. But I wanted to complete the restoration thread step by step so that others who wants to similiar restoration can benefit out of it.

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Originally Posted by motorpsycho View Post
Did a bit of PS on a pic posted by Harjeev (sorry Harjeev took it without permission) just too see how it would look, couldn't wait

regards
MP
Hey motorpsycho, I see some great creativity here. Kudos to you man!
My 550 looks exactly the same as your pic except the colour on the wheels. Well done!
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Old 23rd November 2009, 14:28   #40
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MM550 with new with first coat of new paint.

Friends, Since it is no longer a secret. Thanks to motopsycho's photoshop skills.

Here is the 550 with new paint job. Please note it is still in WIP I mean only first coat applied.

MM550  Army to Civilian Makeover by JeepCaptain-image000.jpg

MM550  Army to Civilian Makeover by JeepCaptain-image001.jpg

MM550  Army to Civilian Makeover by JeepCaptain-image002.jpg

MM550  Army to Civilian Makeover by JeepCaptain-image003.jpg

MM550  Army to Civilian Makeover by JeepCaptain-image004.jpg

MM550  Army to Civilian Makeover by JeepCaptain-image005.jpg

MM550  Army to Civilian Makeover by JeepCaptain-image014.jpg

MM550  Army to Civilian Makeover by JeepCaptain-image015.jpg

To be continued
JC
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Old 23rd November 2009, 15:12   #41
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NIce looking jeep shibu. I was planning to change my jeeps colour, but never knew a newly painted sand colouyr looked so good. I may teetain my colour when i repaint it:-)
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Old 23rd November 2009, 15:13   #42
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hey Shibu,

i think in 'God's own country' you should be having a green/military green coloured jeep to blend with the natural greenery of the surroundings!

a desert coloured jeeps looks good in Rajasthan, not in Kerala!

thats my humble opinion.
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Old 23rd November 2009, 16:20   #43
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Originally Posted by vinod_nookala View Post
NIce looking jeep shibu. I was planning to change my jeeps colour, but never knew a newly painted sand colouyr looked so good. I may teetain my colour when i repaint it:-)
Thanks Vinod, your 540 was also in my mind when I choose this paint. But yours is more lighter I guess.I wanted bit more darker so I decided to go for the same as US Marines which is more sandy.
Yeah please dont change your 540's colour keep it.Looks so good.

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Originally Posted by Parm View Post
hey Shibu,

i think in 'God's own country' you should be having a green/military green coloured jeep to blend with the natural greenery of the surroundings!

a desert coloured jeeps looks good in Rajasthan, not in Kerala!

thats my humble opinion.
Yes Parm, You are right. Green paint would lave looked better in Kerala.But you know there are too many of green Jeeps there 540's , 550's CJ500 and CJ3B's. So I decided to keep it different.
Who knows I might decide to drive this 550 for the Desert Storm which is held in Rajastan.

cheers
Shibu
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Old 23rd November 2009, 16:47   #44
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Iam glad!

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Originally Posted by JeepCaptain View Post
Thanks Vinod, your 540 was also in my mind when I choose this paint. But yours is more lighter I guess.I wanted bit more darker so I decided to go for the same as US Marines which is more sandy.
Yeah please dont change your 540's colour keep it.Looks so good.

cheers
Shibu
Shibu,
Thanks for complimenting my jeeps look. Never knew mine could inspire others. Yes mine is a lighter shade. I inspired your colour and yours will inspire mine. Iam planning to get it painted some time next summer. Will go for your darker shade.
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Old 23rd November 2009, 16:57   #45
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Originally Posted by trammway View Post
man, you are going lot ahead of Shibu's speed.
Thank you very much Trammway , patience is not one of my virtues

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Originally Posted by JeepCaptain View Post

Hey motorpsycho, I see some great creativity here. Kudos to you man!
My 550 looks exactly the same as your pic except the colour on the wheels. Well done!
Thank you very much JC

I think the paint will make the Jeep stand apart , almost all the jeeps on our forums are in green .

IMO Light colours rob a bit of aggression from the jeeps. But I liked the colours a lot.

regards
MP

Last edited by motorpsycho : 23rd November 2009 at 17:02. Reason: added commment
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