[ntomer]

Hi,

The Jeep bug bit me too :-) For past couple of months, I was on the lookout for a good used MPFY Gypsy, but couldn't find one. Then one day I went to Mayapuri to look for an army disposal one and saw the MM550 there and fell in love with it.

Researched a lot about it, bothered people (Harjeev, thanx for all the help buddy) and what not. But the advice from all was no matter whatever you do it with it, it will never become reliable. Even then I tried some more, but even the owner of my home town's Mahindra A S S, who is a family friend told me - Nitin beta, I'll do whatever you ask me to do and some more, but this vehicle just can't get the reliability as you'd expect. And since I was planning to drive to Leh and beyond in it, the idea was dropped.

Then again did a recce of Mayapuri on last Saturday (16-Jan) and saw 3-4 MPFI Gypsies there. Decided to take Monday off, bring the cash with me and buy one of those. And asked a friend to come from Bulandshahar, with a trusted mechanic.

So come Monday and off went to Mayapuri. The first stop was Pali Motors. He had 4-5 MPFI Kings. Out of those we liked two - one is a blue colored, 2002 model, Indian Oil Aviation service (with an orange beacon) disposal vehicle, with hard top. This is a very good vehicle, I assume it would have run mainly on airport runways and would not have been bused. The odo read 88K.

The other was a UP Police Gypsy (white), which was in the service of Addl. Director General of Police. This do was a 2002 model and had done 96K. The side left side of Gypsy was re-painted and it had clearly gone through some accident, but not a major one since the bonnet was original, and also there were no signs on front, lower side and underside of an accident so most probably something had stuck it on A-pillar, breaking it and door. But according to the mechanic (the one who was with us), it's engine was better than the India Oil one and although it had already done 96K, it is good enough for another 50-60K.

We asked the mechanic for his point of view, and also called up the owner of service center where he works, both suggested to buy the Indian Oil vehicle. But I was not convinced, I have always believed that Engine and Chassis are the two most important parts of a car, and if there is some minor problem in body line they can always be rectified.

Another point in favor of the white gypsy was that it registered in Lucknow and the registration can be simply transferred in my name; whereas in the blue one's case it had to be registered. So I opted for the white one.

I closed the deal for 1.8L, it included a hard top, Cielo seats for the front, and Gypsy front facing seats for the rear.

When I was driving back from Mayapuri to home, I noticed that vehicle was making a lot of noise, although there were no major vibrations in body or gear lever, the 4*4 lever was shuddering like crazy. And these were hard shudders, not vibrations.

I slotted it to 4H and 4L (without moving the vehicle) and then again 2H so that if something was stuck somewhere, it can be corrected but it didn't help all.

Please tell me what can be the reason for it and what should I ask the mechanic to look for.

Also while driving, I noticed that the Check light was blinking, I asked the shop-owner about this and he told me that to check ECM, then put a fuse and due to that this light was blinking. Once he removed the fuse, this light will vanish. But I am not convinced with this reply. Please tell me what can be wrong and what should I check for.

I plan to keep vehicle almost stock. I will just put CFLs in the rear, install an AC and Wagon-R's electrical fan, install a music system and put new tires.

For tyres I want to go either for Michelin or Yokohama. I know that people have put Yokohama Geolander AT/S 215/75 and are quite happy with that, what is the equivalent in Michelin, and which one is better. And their prices too please :-)

Also, please tell me what other things I should ask the mechanic to check for - transmission?, transfer case?, suspension?, or anything else.

I reached home at 1:00 AM in the night after buying the vehicle and immediately send it to home town,so no pictures yet. I will ask my friend who is overseeing the work there, to click a few and send to me.

Thanks

Nitin

[jealousdiamond]

Congrats on getting bitten by the Gypsy bug
IMHO , the acquisition seems to me a bit overpriced though . Neverthless its a Gyspy afterall . Please share the list of mods planned alongwith the progress on the gypsy .

[offroad_maniac]

Congrats for getting a MPFI @ nice price. Do post some pictures.
As you have said it was looking like side impact, then check with the mechanic if any T-Case bolts had got loose. Also check if there is oil in it, there might be a leakage, resulting in that grinding noise.

[predatorwheelz]

4-5 MPFIs from army auctions? Its like music to my ears. Do post pics of the Gypsy you've bought.

OT - Also post pics of the Land Rover that you saw lying at Mayapuri.

[phamilyman]

Congrats saab - yeh toh awesome waali cheez ho gayi!

badhai ho - pics kaun dalega?

[ntomer]

Originally Posted by jealousdiamond

Congrats on getting bitten by the Gypsy bug
IMHO , the acquisition seems to me a bit overpriced though . Neverthless its a Gyspy afterall . Please share the list of mods planned alongwith the progress on the gypsy .

Thanx buddy.

I also think it is a bit overpriced, but he was now ready to come down a bit, and moreover I would find any thing else which was suitable :-(

No mods as of now, only rear composite fibre leaf for rear, and Yokohama tires.

Originally Posted by offroad_maniac

Congrats for getting a MPFI @ nice price. Do post some pictures.
As you have said it was looking like side impact, then check with the mechanic if any T-Case bolts had got loose. Also check if there is oil in it, there might be a leakage, resulting in that grinding noise.

Thanx buddy.

I will ask mechanic to check those. Do you think shuddering in 4*4 lever is also because of that?

And the 4*4 light doesn't come in console when I slot the gear in 4*4. The guy at Mayapuri said that this must be some small problem, and will be resolved easily by changing some coupling.

Was he right, or I am in for some big trouble?

The King is in my home town right now, I will get the pics in a couple of days, will post them then.

Originally Posted by predatorwheelz

4-5 MPFIs from army auctions? Its like music to my ears. Do post pics of the Gypsy you've bought.

OT - Also post pics of the Land Rover that you saw lying at Mayapuri.

Yes, there are 4-5 ex-Army, an ex-Indian Oil and 3-4 ex-Police.

Pics of Gypsy in a couple of days. And sorry no pics of the Land Rover. I had thought of clicking it, but by the time my Gypsy was ready (11:30 PM), it was too late :-(

Originally Posted by phamilyman

Congrats saab - yeh toh awesome waali cheez ho gayi!

badhai ho - pics kaun dalega?

thanks buddy.

pics main hi daaloonga, bus do dino ka waqt do :-)

Cheers

Nitin

[KSM-Vtec]

Congrats Brother!!!! welcome to the gypsy world...

[ntomer]

Originally Posted by KSM-Vtec

Congrats Brother!!!! welcome to the gypsy world...

Thanks Bro.

You won't know it, but more than anybody else you are responsible for this Gypsy.

After seeing the photos of your Leh trip, all I could think was doing this trip myself. And what better vehicle to do this than good ole' Gypsy :-)

Cheers

Nitin

[KSM-Vtec]

Originally Posted by ntomer

Thanks Bro.

You won't know it, but more than anybody else you are responsible for this Gypsy.

After seeing the photos of your Leh trip, all I could think was doing this trip myself. And what better vehicle to do this than good ole' Gypsy :-)

Cheers

Nitin

Whats are you saying, i dont believe this!!!!! Good to know that it was such an inspiring trip for you. Thanx a lot i am really delighted. Hope i dint miss out on replying to any of your post on my travelogue thread.

[ntomer]

The shop-owner told me that it's a bad idea to keep spare wheel on the rear door, as the wheel is very heavy and the joints would not be able to take it's weight, and will tear down the sheet on which these joints are bolted.

Instead he asked me to buy a custom made iron mesh and fit it below the foot-rest and keep the spare wheel over there; like usually police vehicles do. But IMO, spare wheel mounted on rear door looks very good and I'll prefer to keep it there.

So I am planned to weld an angle iron inside the body where rear door are bolted, this way this angle iron will give extra support to door, and in turn door will be able to handle spare wheel better.

What do you say? Is it a good idea, or should I just go the recommended way?

Cheers

Nitin

[KSM-Vtec]

Originally Posted by ntomer

The shop-owner told me that it's a bad idea to keep spare wheel on the rear door, as the wheel is very heavy and the joints would not be able to take it's weight, and will tear down the sheet on which these joints are bolted.

Instead he asked me to buy a custom made iron mesh and fit it below the foot-rest and keep the spare wheel over there; like usually police vehicles do. But IMO, spare wheel mounted on rear door looks very good and I'll prefer to keep it there.

So I am planned to weld an angle iron inside the body where rear door are bolted, this way this angle iron will give extra support to door, and in turn door will be able to handle spare wheel better.

What do you say? Is it a good idea, or should I just go the recommended way?

Cheers

Nitin

Well its very true that the stock setup cannot handle the weight and does endup bad. A lot of ppl add an extra L bracket on the upper edge of the door, in the long run this makes a lot of difference and one need not put the spare wheel below.

You can also add 2 extra hinges on the door itself for more strength.

[jealousdiamond]

Originally Posted by ntomer

So I am planned to weld an angle iron inside the body where rear door are bolted, this way this angle iron will give extra support to door, and in turn door will be able to handle spare wheel better.

What do you say? Is it a good idea, or should I just go the recommended way?

Cheers

Nitin

Nitin , have seen a few Boleros with that kinda attchment to hold the spare wheel without putting weight on the doors . Its a good idea to get the wheel mounted on the extra bracket (custom made) something which locks itself to the rear door , The latches are (of the assembly) mounted on the door instead of directly mounting the wheel on the door . Would try and post a picture of the attachment.

Don't even think on the lines of putting the wheel below the footrest , its one heck of a thing to get it off and back again in case you get a flat tyre . My humble request please refrain yourself from doing that

[ntomer]

Originally Posted by KSM-Vtec

Well its very true that the stock setup cannot handle the weight and does endup bad. A lot of ppl add an extra L bracket on the upper edge of the door, in the long run this makes a lot of difference and one need not put the spare wheel below.

You can also add 2 extra hinges on the door itself for more strength.

I've also thought of adding two extra hinges, but the weight will still be borne by sheet metal only, so it shouldn't make much of a difference.

Can you post a pic or a sketch of this L bracket setup, and more details on how can I do this?

Cheers

Nitin

[ntomer]

Originally Posted by jealousdiamond

Nitin , have seen a few Boleros with that kinda attchment to hold the spare wheel without putting weight on the doors . Its a good idea to get the wheel mounted on the extra bracket (custom made) something which locks itself to the rear door , The latches are (of the assembly) mounted on the door instead of directly mounting the wheel on the door . Would try and post a picture of the attachment.

Don't even think on the lines of putting the wheel below the footrest , its one heck of a thing to get it off and back again in case you get a flat tyre . My humble request please refrain yourself from doing that

Yes sir, I am not going to do that. That look butt ugly and will also be inconvenient.

But I am not sure I understood this bracket concept. Can you please post a photo of it, and if not, post a sketch :-)

Cheers

Nitin

[Parm]

CONGRATS ON YOUR MG413 MPFI.

i havent done this for a long time.

i think this will be the first for the year 2010, so here goes>>