My Gypsy Rebuild - Bushranger

starter · 22nd January 2010, 13:54

Dear Ashish,
A very nice writeup. Thanks for sharing the story of BushRanger with all of us.
Ofcourse, fantastic spirit of NIOC and Mr. Sudhir

Cheers and would love to hear more about Bushranger!
Deepak

harjeev · 22nd January 2010, 19:41

Great writeup Ashish!!! I feel like living the whole OTR again BTW folks, The story has just reached midway so do not leave your seats. Its only the intermission now!

Right buddy!!!

Here are some pictures from that OTR!!!
& Ashish it wasn't the 15th August OTR it was 02nd October 2009

KSM-Vtec · 22nd January 2010, 19:51

Wow wow ...i can relate to this one so well. Great going brother!!!

bigman · 22nd January 2010, 20:06

Fantastic write-up. The NIOC gang sound like the A-Team of the Jeep world.

married2speed · 22nd January 2010, 20:18

At last the Bushranger is here.

Your experience is certainly an eye opener buddy. As you would know that I'm currently on the lookout for a used Gypsy, your experience would act as a beacon of light in the "DARK" streets of Mayapuri. How about we pen down an inspection list for other Jeepers looking forward for buying a jeep from Mayapuri?

In addition, since you got your engine done, did you consider boring the engine?

Ashish B · 25th January 2010, 09:58

Thanks guys, for the continued interest & feedback. The story continues:

At First Choice (Mahendra Multi Brand Service), the vehicle took a long time, as the availability of parts, again, became an issue. We had asked for the complete diff housing unit/ axle/ both wheel plates/ master cylinder/ brake cylinders/ brake line/ bearings etc. etc. However, apart from Mr. Kashyap, no one in his team is experienced in off-roading/ rally domain, especially with Gypsys. Mr. Kashyap being busy in preparing the Raid Scorpios at that time, my vehicle took approx 14 days and then 5 days again. The total bill was 15K.

During the earlier OTRs, I had noticed that the front wheels were scraping with the upper side of wheel-well while attempting steep inclines. This was despite having a brand-new suspension set up. So, the workshop people, themselves, got one additional leaf in all four. Now, the vehicle's height had become very scary (plus, mine is a hard-top), and ride was worst than a bullock cart. So, I got the rear leafs removed, and continue with additional in front.

The problems were getting sorted out one by one.

We had also got body buffing, Hella 500 installation, removal of one extra muffler (which I later found out to be the Cat-con unit) in the meanwhile.

At this point of time, I had kind of given up on hope, and was seriously contemplating selling the vehicle. There were guys who had restored the Gypsys, in better shape, at much lesser cost! The tab had already crossed 2.5 Lac, and I was still not satisfied with my vehicle. Also, I was informed by friends that a carb Gypsy, of my condition, will only be valued at lesser cost, as 'good condition' MPFI Gypsys are available at 2.25-2.5 Lac. So, I asked a few people to get me a deal for Bushranger, and even put up an ad on adpost (for which Mandeep/ Renegade got really mad at me

Ashish B · 25th January 2010, 10:12

Meanwhile, during an evening meeting Vaibhav/ Gotzuk and I exchanged our vehicles for test ride. It was then, when I realized the true nature of Gypsy!!

Vaibhav informed me that my Bushranger 'ghut ke chal rahi hai'. I had also noticed that my maximum speed was only approx 80-90kph.

Now, I remembered that my original carb was declared bad at Mayapuri ('bahut ghisa hua hai, average nahi dega' etc.) and they had put a brand new carb of Omni (3.5K). The vehicle was giving fuel average of 13-14, but on difficult obstacles, the vehicle could not clear. So, we needed an original Gypsy carb now!

I was informed by another friend, that Rahul Dutt, a fellow off-roader/ DS team official had converted his Carb model to MPFI, and he should have his old one with him. Gr8!!

Called him, and he was very happy to offer his carb. Rahul also happens to be the GM of Motor Craft (which I was not aware at the time of asking for his Carb

) and a very experienced technical person on Gypsy. He was kind enough to personally supervise the installation. He also informed me that he had done some modifications with inlet and outlet ports, and the difference was significant!

The vehicle was transformed after this modification, and was running like, a Gypsy should!! Except high vibration and engine noise on high RPMs, the acceleration was fantastic, top speed had increased to 110, however the FE was down to 8-9.

In the next OTR, Bushranger performed brilliantly, and we cleared all the obstacles with ease!! Bushranger even impressed some of hard core 'jeeps are better than Gypsys' off-roaders, and I was proud of my vehicle, for the first time!!

At this point the time, effort, expense, heart brakes was now feeling like worthwhile.

Now, the only apparent issue left was high noise & vibration from engine (on high RPMs, which was not a matter of concern. In a recent jeepers' meet, people had also pointed out the loud noise (funnily, some people even appreciated the 'sports car like' engine noise). However, Rahul was never happy, and used to tell me that my engine was very rough. No issues, we will continue for the time being.

Story continues.

kaustubh_vaze · 25th January 2010, 17:12

Hey Ashish,
Your story is very inspiring man. It also tells us what not to do when we are rebuilding a vehicle.
Congrats on the build.

Regards,
Kaustubh

married2speed · 25th January 2010, 18:20

Quote:

Ashish B;1698386]
I was informed by another friend, that Rahul Dutt, a fellow off-roader/ DS team official had converted his Carb model to MPFI,

Why did you not consider walking down this route buddy?

Ashish B · 27th January 2010, 12:30

@ Married2speed: I realized this very late. By then, I had spent a lot of money, and was not willing to spend another 60K on conversion. So decided to rebuild the same Carb one, and use it for 1-2 years, and then go in for a new MPFI vehicle of engine swap.

Anyway, the story continues:

In the meanwhile, disappointed with the whole Mayapuri experience, I had put up a detailed status update on my NIOC group site, and had blasted everyone in Mayapuri. The whole gang was very sympathetic & supportive, and had agreed that the place is bad. Many people even reminded me of their warnings regarding the same.

However, I came to know later that somehow this information had reached Mayapuri & everyone (the mechanic, who has a huge clout in that area, denter, electrician, painter etc.) was aware of EACH LINE, EACH WORD of my mail. I realized this on a later visit to the place, when they narrated the entire contents!! I still wonder, who this gentleman was, and what was the purpose of this. Anyway, I tried to explain, and realized that the place is no more welcoming for me.

I did not want to cut all contacts with Mayapuri, as the place still remains the last resort for us jeepers. Moreover, my intention of writing on the group site was not to malign anyone, but to highlight the learning & warn the potential new-bies (which I am still attempting here). I had decided to make bridge and continue minor repairs there.

I was driving Bushranger with hydraulic braking only. Installation on brake booster was never considered. Rahul had very strongly recommended this installation, especially as I was riding on F78s. As per him, there is a ready kit available from KBX (3.6k), which can be bought from Kashmiri Gate/ Mayapuri dealer.

So this was an opportunity to re-establish contacts in Mayapuri. I got the KBX kit and got it installed there. Apart from this, we also installed the Relay for headlights. The work was done very promptly. Light now was perfect, so was braking!

After a few days, Rahul checked the brakes, and was terrified to note that while installation of the brake booster, the connector pipe used was not the specified one! The pipe installed was the fuel pipe, which was not suitable for brake fluid. Also, there was no ‘Return valve’ installed, and my brakes could fail on hard braking!!

So, this had to be the FINAL goodbye to the Mayapuri! Never, never again!!

Ashish B · 28th January 2010, 09:26

The pollution test was overdue, and I took it for the test. Originally the test was done by MSM, almost 5 months back. The CO2 reading then was 2.25 (max allowed 3 for carb vehicles). This time, the certificate was denied, as the CO2 reading was 6+!!!

Now, this was another twist in the tale!

Took it back to Rahul (by now, I had realized that he was the one who KNOWS Gypsys inside out), and we found out that the Engine oil had also turned black and thick in just 2000 km running. This was an indication of back gases, which occur due to head/ piston problem.

Here I remembered that while engine 'rebuild' at Mayapuri, we had not touched the head/ valves, and had only placed new sleeves and rings. There was no immediate danger, and the engine would/ should run 5-10K km, I was told.

We had two options, one, to go in for an MPFI engine set up (Esteem engine cost approx 40K, Gypsy 60K, the Baleno and Isuzu options were ruled out for being too complicated). Second option was to rebuild this carb engine (15K).

By now, I am absolutely broke. As per the original estimate, given by everyone, I had initiated the rebuild with a budget of 1.5 - 1.75 Lac, which had by now exceeded by 1 Lac.

Still, in my quest to make the Bushranger 'glitch free' (and worth the entire effort), we went in for the engine rebuild.

We found out that the boring was okay, so were pistons, rods, shaft etc. We needed new sleeves, rings (had to be), bearing, pins & clutch disc. Head required major work, and all Valves were to be replaced. Apart from the main job, we also needed to service/ repair the starter.

The process took 7 days. Simultaneously, we also got the front windshield replaced, as the old one was scratched, and bad for night driving. This leg costed me 18K.

Ashish B · 29th January 2010, 09:22

Unsatisfied with the overall performance of the F78s, I have replaced them with 4 new BFGs, along with new rims. The old rims were not very even, and the ride (especially on low speeds) was very wobbly. The F78s are okay tyres, however, they have problem of braking (especially wet surface). This costed me 14K (9K for balance for Tyres, 5K for new rims). So this part is also taken care of.

Now, it seems (and I sincerely hope), Bushranger is READY in all parameters. The mandatory run-in is ongoing. So far, it feels like a new vehicle altogether. Harjeev will vouch for the gradual improvement in Bushranger, as he has been involved in every stage of upgrade, and has driven it.

I took the Bushranger for OTR on 26th, and it performed great!

With rebuilt engine, BFG shoes etc, now the Stage - I of restoration is over. The Stage - II (FFE, Headers, K&N) should happen in 3 months, and Stage - III (new customized cabin, crawlers, Lockers etc.) by yearend.

Now, that my vehicle is in perfect condition (wow, finally!!) I look forward to the DS10, where Bushranger and myself will test ourselves.

Will keep updating the thread on further journey of the Bushranger!

Cheers!!

harjeev · 29th January 2010, 19:56

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ashish B

Unsatisfied with the overall performance of the F78s, I have replaced them with 4 new BFGs, along with new rims. The old rims were not very even, and the ride (especially on low speeds) was very wobbly. The F78s are okay tyres, however, they have problem of braking (especially wet surface). This costed me 14K (9K for balance for Tyres, 5K for new rims). So this part is also taken care of.

Now, it seems (and I sincerely hope), Bushranger is READY in all parameters. The mandatory run-in is ongoing. So far, it feels like a new vehicle altogether. Harjeev will vouch for the gradual improvement in Bushranger, as he has been involved in every stage of upgrade, and has driven it.

I took the Bushranger for OTR on 26th, and it performed great!

With rebuilt engine, BFG shoes etc, now the Stage - I of restoration is over. The Stage - II (FFE, Headers, K&N) should happen in 3 months, and Stage - III (new customized cabin, crawlers, Lockers etc.) by yearend.

Now, that my vehicle is in perfect condition (wow, finally!!) I look forward to the DS10, where Bushranger and myself will test ourselves.

Will keep updating the thread on further journey of the Bushranger!

Cheers!!

Cheers to that Mate!!!
I totally agree that your vehicle is ready and stage I is now complete!!!
eagerly waiting for the DS'10

GoSlow · 1st February 2010, 12:11

Wow Ashish - what a journey it has been for you. Thanks for sharing your experiences with us. There are some very important lessons learnt from your experience here!

Cheers
Ankit

karizma9292 · 2nd February 2010, 19:18

Nice colour , i guess the rims also with same colour would have looked better . Anyway nice looking gypsy though . and nice tyres .

22nd January 2010, 13:54	#31
starter Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Bangalore Posts: 1,127 Thanked: 903 Times	Dear Ashish, A very nice writeup. Thanks for sharing the story of BushRanger with all of us. Ofcourse, fantastic spirit of NIOC and Mr. Sudhir Cheers and would love to hear more about Bushranger! Deepak
	() Thanks

22nd January 2010, 19:41	#32
harjeev Senior - BHPian Join Date: May 2006 Location: New Delhi Posts: 1,899 Thanked: 292 Times View My Garage	Great writeup Ashish!!! I feel like living the whole OTR again BTW folks, The story has just reached midway so do not leave your seats. Its only the intermission now! Right buddy!!! Here are some pictures from that OTR!!! & Ashish it wasn't the 15th August OTR it was 02nd October 2009 Attached Thumbnails
	() Thanks

22nd January 2010, 19:51	#33
KSM-Vtec Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: MH-02-India-Bombay-Bandra Posts: 1,562 Thanked: 446 Times View My Garage	Wow wow ...i can relate to this one so well. Great going brother!!!
	() Thanks

22nd January 2010, 20:06	#34
bigman Senior - BHPian Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: NA Posts: 1,224 Thanked: 93 Times	Fantastic write-up. The NIOC gang sound like the A-Team of the Jeep world.
	() Thanks

22nd January 2010, 20:18	#35
married2speed BHPian Join Date: May 2008 Location: gurgaon Posts: 215 Thanked: 9 Times	Finally At last the Bushranger is here. Your experience is certainly an eye opener buddy. As you would know that I'm currently on the lookout for a used Gypsy, your experience would act as a beacon of light in the "DARK" streets of Mayapuri. How about we pen down an inspection list for other Jeepers looking forward for buying a jeep from Mayapuri? In addition, since you got your engine done, did you consider boring the engine?
	() Thanks

25th January 2010, 09:58	#36
Ashish B BHPian Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: New Delhi Posts: 71 Thanked: 39 Times	Thanks guys, for the continued interest & feedback. The story continues: At First Choice (Mahendra Multi Brand Service), the vehicle took a long time, as the availability of parts, again, became an issue. We had asked for the complete diff housing unit/ axle/ both wheel plates/ master cylinder/ brake cylinders/ brake line/ bearings etc. etc. However, apart from Mr. Kashyap, no one in his team is experienced in off-roading/ rally domain, especially with Gypsys. Mr. Kashyap being busy in preparing the Raid Scorpios at that time, my vehicle took approx 14 days and then 5 days again. The total bill was 15K. During the earlier OTRs, I had noticed that the front wheels were scraping with the upper side of wheel-well while attempting steep inclines. This was despite having a brand-new suspension set up. So, the workshop people, themselves, got one additional leaf in all four. Now, the vehicle's height had become very scary (plus, mine is a hard-top), and ride was worst than a bullock cart. So, I got the rear leafs removed, and continue with additional in front. The problems were getting sorted out one by one. We had also got body buffing, Hella 500 installation, removal of one extra muffler (which I later found out to be the Cat-con unit) in the meanwhile. At this point of time, I had kind of given up on hope, and was seriously contemplating selling the vehicle. There were guys who had restored the Gypsys, in better shape, at much lesser cost! The tab had already crossed 2.5 Lac, and I was still not satisfied with my vehicle. Also, I was informed by friends that a carb Gypsy, of my condition, will only be valued at lesser cost, as 'good condition' MPFI Gypsys are available at 2.25-2.5 Lac. So, I asked a few people to get me a deal for Bushranger, and even put up an ad on adpost (for which Mandeep/ Renegade got really mad at me
	() Thanks

25th January 2010, 10:12	#37
Ashish B BHPian Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: New Delhi Posts: 71 Thanked: 39 Times	Meanwhile, during an evening meeting Vaibhav/ Gotzuk and I exchanged our vehicles for test ride. It was then, when I realized the true nature of Gypsy!! Vaibhav informed me that my Bushranger 'ghut ke chal rahi hai'. I had also noticed that my maximum speed was only approx 80-90kph. Now, I remembered that my original carb was declared bad at Mayapuri ('bahut ghisa hua hai, average nahi dega' etc.) and they had put a brand new carb of Omni (3.5K). The vehicle was giving fuel average of 13-14, but on difficult obstacles, the vehicle could not clear. So, we needed an original Gypsy carb now! I was informed by another friend, that Rahul Dutt, a fellow off-roader/ DS team official had converted his Carb model to MPFI, and he should have his old one with him. Gr8!! Called him, and he was very happy to offer his carb. Rahul also happens to be the GM of Motor Craft (which I was not aware at the time of asking for his Carb ) and a very experienced technical person on Gypsy. He was kind enough to personally supervise the installation. He also informed me that he had done some modifications with inlet and outlet ports, and the difference was significant! The vehicle was transformed after this modification, and was running like, a Gypsy should!! Except high vibration and engine noise on high RPMs, the acceleration was fantastic, top speed had increased to 110, however the FE was down to 8-9. In the next OTR, Bushranger performed brilliantly, and we cleared all the obstacles with ease!! Bushranger even impressed some of hard core 'jeeps are better than Gypsys' off-roaders, and I was proud of my vehicle, for the first time!! At this point the time, effort, expense, heart brakes was now feeling like worthwhile. Now, the only apparent issue left was high noise & vibration from engine (on high RPMs, which was not a matter of concern. In a recent jeepers' meet, people had also pointed out the loud noise (funnily, some people even appreciated the 'sports car like' engine noise). However, Rahul was never happy, and used to tell me that my engine was very rough. No issues, we will continue for the time being. Story continues.
	() Thanks

25th January 2010, 17:12	#38
kaustubh_vaze BHPian Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Pune Posts: 224 Thanked: 53 Times View My Garage	Hey Ashish, Your story is very inspiring man. It also tells us what not to do when we are rebuilding a vehicle. Congrats on the build. Regards, Kaustubh
	() Thanks

27th January 2010, 12:30	#40
Ashish B BHPian Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: New Delhi Posts: 71 Thanked: 39 Times	@ Married2speed: I realized this very late. By then, I had spent a lot of money, and was not willing to spend another 60K on conversion. So decided to rebuild the same Carb one, and use it for 1-2 years, and then go in for a new MPFI vehicle of engine swap. Anyway, the story continues: In the meanwhile, disappointed with the whole Mayapuri experience, I had put up a detailed status update on my NIOC group site, and had blasted everyone in Mayapuri. The whole gang was very sympathetic & supportive, and had agreed that the place is bad. Many people even reminded me of their warnings regarding the same. However, I came to know later that somehow this information had reached Mayapuri & everyone (the mechanic, who has a huge clout in that area, denter, electrician, painter etc.) was aware of EACH LINE, EACH WORD of my mail. I realized this on a later visit to the place, when they narrated the entire contents!! I still wonder, who this gentleman was, and what was the purpose of this. Anyway, I tried to explain, and realized that the place is no more welcoming for me. I did not want to cut all contacts with Mayapuri, as the place still remains the last resort for us jeepers. Moreover, my intention of writing on the group site was not to malign anyone, but to highlight the learning & warn the potential new-bies (which I am still attempting here). I had decided to make bridge and continue minor repairs there. I was driving Bushranger with hydraulic braking only. Installation on brake booster was never considered. Rahul had very strongly recommended this installation, especially as I was riding on F78s. As per him, there is a ready kit available from KBX (3.6k), which can be bought from Kashmiri Gate/ Mayapuri dealer. So this was an opportunity to re-establish contacts in Mayapuri. I got the KBX kit and got it installed there. Apart from this, we also installed the Relay for headlights. The work was done very promptly. Light now was perfect, so was braking! After a few days, Rahul checked the brakes, and was terrified to note that while installation of the brake booster, the connector pipe used was not the specified one! The pipe installed was the fuel pipe, which was not suitable for brake fluid. Also, there was no ‘Return valve’ installed, and my brakes could fail on hard braking!! So, this had to be the FINAL goodbye to the Mayapuri! Never, never again!!
	() Thanks

28th January 2010, 09:26	#41
Ashish B BHPian Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: New Delhi Posts: 71 Thanked: 39 Times	The pollution test was overdue, and I took it for the test. Originally the test was done by MSM, almost 5 months back. The CO2 reading then was 2.25 (max allowed 3 for carb vehicles). This time, the certificate was denied, as the CO2 reading was 6+!!! Now, this was another twist in the tale! Took it back to Rahul (by now, I had realized that he was the one who KNOWS Gypsys inside out), and we found out that the Engine oil had also turned black and thick in just 2000 km running. This was an indication of back gases, which occur due to head/ piston problem. Here I remembered that while engine 'rebuild' at Mayapuri, we had not touched the head/ valves, and had only placed new sleeves and rings. There was no immediate danger, and the engine would/ should run 5-10K km, I was told. We had two options, one, to go in for an MPFI engine set up (Esteem engine cost approx 40K, Gypsy 60K, the Baleno and Isuzu options were ruled out for being too complicated). Second option was to rebuild this carb engine (15K). By now, I am absolutely broke. As per the original estimate, given by everyone, I had initiated the rebuild with a budget of 1.5 - 1.75 Lac, which had by now exceeded by 1 Lac. Still, in my quest to make the Bushranger 'glitch free' (and worth the entire effort), we went in for the engine rebuild. We found out that the boring was okay, so were pistons, rods, shaft etc. We needed new sleeves, rings (had to be), bearing, pins & clutch disc. Head required major work, and all Valves were to be replaced. Apart from the main job, we also needed to service/ repair the starter. The process took 7 days. Simultaneously, we also got the front windshield replaced, as the old one was scratched, and bad for night driving. This leg costed me 18K.
	() Thanks

29th January 2010, 09:22	#42
Ashish B BHPian Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: New Delhi Posts: 71 Thanked: 39 Times	Unsatisfied with the overall performance of the F78s, I have replaced them with 4 new BFGs, along with new rims. The old rims were not very even, and the ride (especially on low speeds) was very wobbly. The F78s are okay tyres, however, they have problem of braking (especially wet surface). This costed me 14K (9K for balance for Tyres, 5K for new rims). So this part is also taken care of. Now, it seems (and I sincerely hope), Bushranger is READY in all parameters. The mandatory run-in is ongoing. So far, it feels like a new vehicle altogether. Harjeev will vouch for the gradual improvement in Bushranger, as he has been involved in every stage of upgrade, and has driven it. I took the Bushranger for OTR on 26th, and it performed great! With rebuilt engine, BFG shoes etc, now the Stage - I of restoration is over. The Stage - II (FFE, Headers, K&N) should happen in 3 months, and Stage - III (new customized cabin, crawlers, Lockers etc.) by yearend. Now, that my vehicle is in perfect condition (wow, finally!!) I look forward to the DS10, where Bushranger and myself will test ourselves. Will keep updating the thread on further journey of the Bushranger! Cheers!! Attached Thumbnails
	() Thanks

1st February 2010, 12:11	#44
GoSlow BHPian Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Noida Posts: 507 Thanked: 78 Times	Wow Ashish - what a journey it has been for you. Thanks for sharing your experiences with us. There are some very important lessons learnt from your experience here! Cheers Ankit
	() Thanks

2nd February 2010, 19:18	#45
karizma9292 BHPian Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: bangalore Posts: 470 Thanked: 227 Times View My Garage	Nice colour , i guess the rims also with same colour would have looked better . Anyway nice looking gypsy though . and nice tyres .
	() Thanks