![]() | #1 |
BHPian Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Mumbai
Posts: 399
Thanked: 240 Times
| ![]() This is going to be a very short thread!! For Jeep II (Or part II) I decided to finish the complete restoration and then put up the thread. I lost all the stage wise photos taken over the last 6 months in a disk crash So all I have are the photos taken after the job has been completed This Jeep came to me FREE!! Belongs to a family friend. 1st owner from new. Was lying in 1 place gathering salt for the last 6 years Anyway here is the finished product. The next post is what i did to get to this point: ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
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![]() | #2 | |
BHPian Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Bangalore
Posts: 174
Thanked: 21 Times
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![]() | #3 |
Senior - BHPian ![]() Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: in a Toyota!
Posts: 2,731
Thanked: 705 Times
| ![]() looks like a nice restoration, could have some detailed info about restoration in terms of cost invloved? how about some photos with the soft top? |
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![]() | #4 |
BANNED Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Chennai
Posts: 1,377
Thanked: 108 Times
| ![]() Nice ,decent jeep without frills Looks like even the seats are oe.Which year model is this |
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![]() | #5 |
Senior - BHPian ![]() Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Bangalore
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| ![]() Beautiful JEEP!!! Wana write some upclose and personal experiences restoration project pls? |
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![]() | #6 |
BHPian Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Mumbai
Posts: 399
Thanked: 240 Times
| ![]() When I got this Jeep, it was sitting for many years. Friend's Dad's Jeep. His Dad and my Dad were buddies. Thats one of the reasons I took on this project, i guess So what have I done with it? Lets start with the single largest element of the car: NEW BODY!!! I got a new one. Yes its still possible to get one of these. Brand new (or NOS, maybe), never been used Wish I had the pictures of the original. Lets just say you could poke it with tooth picks The cost of tin work and painting was working out to 50k Problem was new body was a military spec 550 body. (Yeah its good too. heavy gauge and all) everything didnt match up to my MM540 chassis. For example the pedals are still 2 mushrooms and a chamach. The 550 has floating pedals and a floating chamach It broke our hearts to take a torch to it. But we had to. Converting to floating pedals meant too many changes and the basis of this project was restoration to as good as new, not a 540 to 550 conversion Lets say we managed ok GB + TC Yup. Brand new too. Was sitting in a dealership in Pune for years. Godown got burnt. lotsa stuff destroyed. Few things were untouched. got bundled up and sold to a scrap merchant. I was the lucky buyer. When we opened the gear box to have a look see, it was shining and spotless To be continued....... |
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![]() | #7 | |
BANNED Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Chennai
Posts: 1,377
Thanked: 108 Times
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Man you never answered my question and this is too much suspense i say ![]() I guess only the chasis is old rest all is OOOYYYEEE | |
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![]() | #8 |
BHPian Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Mumbai
Posts: 399
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| ![]() Original: MM540DP 1995 MH 01 Single Owner 2WD Factory Soft Top 4+1 Gear box New: MM540DP 1995 MH 01 2nd Owner 4WD Custom Soft Top 4+1 Gear Box KMT90 Low and High Gear TC |
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![]() | #9 | |
BHPian Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Mumbai
Posts: 399
Thanked: 240 Times
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i guess have answered your question Its a 1995 model Mechanically the Jeep was quite good. While it was running it was well cared for. My friends Dad had one of the best diesel fuel pump overhaul workshops in Bombay (It was Bombay then). So they knew a thing or 2 about Jeeps | |
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![]() | #10 |
BHPian Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Mumbai
Posts: 399
Thanked: 240 Times
| ![]() Time taken: 2 days Actually 1 and a half I had my other Jeep which turned out the donor for the differentials Since I had bought the new GB + TC all I needed was the front and rear diff plus the new front prop shaft Got a new prop shaft for the rear diff. Fabulous piece. The front prop shaft I used from the donor i could have used the diff from the 2WD. But that would have meant flipping the axles and some milling/lathe work. Since it was raining heavily I was not in the mood to cart diff and axles all over the place So I had this guy come over to my buddy Steiger's garage. He got all his stuff. We just helped him with the jacks and blocks. He got in and out of it like a rabbit If we had given him a light and let him work late he would have been doen by late night But as i said, it was raining and we were badly in need of some drinks and all so we called it a night with the GB and front diff propped up on blocks next day by noon we took it for a trial. Worked well Moral of the story: Its no big deal converting from 2WD to 4WD. you just need the right guy to do it and quite a lot of money. About 35k, if you change the main shaft of your 2WD gear box and get new diffs, TC and a front prop shaft |
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![]() | #11 |
BHPian Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Mumbai
Posts: 399
Thanked: 240 Times
| ![]() K.I.S.S!! Yes it was and should be (if you want to be sane at the end of it...) Keep It Simple Stupid!! And thats what i have tried to do from start to finish Started work mid April and finished end June. Getting a new body did move things along so briskly I thought very hard as to what I was going to do with the interiors: Innova seats Bolero dash New cluster Headlining But then i thought "hey this is a 540, if I want to make it like and Innova I might as well buy one. The bolero dash especially the preowned one looks like a boil on the behind of a baboon (sorry my opinion only)" So I said to Steiger "Lets dispense with the fancy for the moment, call our man Parmar and lets restore these seats to original" And thats what we did. We even went searching for the chequered vinyl thats there on the original seats. Mohanlal Rexine thought we were batty. "Here's some nut job searching for some age old out of fashion design" I have retained the original head lights as the dome shaped ones are not available no more If you see on the snaps there is some rusting on and around the ring. A free weekends worth of brightwork to get it to original mint the windshield and tail gate i had to get changed. The were too far gone. got some decent replacements The stepney mounts are different as this is a military 550 body. The tail gate opens the other way in a military body. So the stepney touches the tail light when you open the gate. Even after you put spacers.... Last edited by 53BHP : 13th August 2010 at 23:41. |
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![]() | #12 |
BHPian Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Mumbai
Posts: 399
Thanked: 240 Times
| ![]() Thank you GreyBerry Yes the original picture unedited is the 2nd from top. When the pics were taken the sky was overcast. I did a bit of tuning to try and get as accurate a representation of the color of the Jeep in real life!! |
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![]() | #13 |
BHPian Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Mumbai
Posts: 399
Thanked: 240 Times
| ![]() The team? The Cost? What more? Changes? Advise? All of this tomorrow... Have a good night |
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![]() | #14 |
Senior - BHPian ![]() | ![]() Wow!! very interesting thread! Short and Sweet and I like the concept K.I.S.S of yours 53 BHP (Keep It Simple Stupid) you had all the chances of converting this machine into 550XD but why only 540DP any particular reason? As you changed it with 550XD body? and what was the reason to convert the break, clutch pedals of 550 to 540 type wherein people love trying to convert the other way around I personally feel the 540 types are better and convenient compared to the recent dissatisfied experience I had with our recent purchase ARMADA when compared to my CJ3A. Eagerly waiting for more updates and pictures. Excellent write of yours making it more intresting, appreciate it. Keep flowing. Thanks. Bala |
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![]() | #15 | |
BHPian Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Mumbai
Posts: 399
Thanked: 240 Times
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Thanks Thing is when you go looking for a new body, you cant really be fussy about what body you get. Ask the other guys on the forum who have tried this harjeev, if you are reading this, we talked. Took your advise and didnt mess around fixing my cheese holed original body. Got lucky though with this one. didnt have to go to the trouble of travelling to delhi to your adda and finding the body and taking apart the carcass. Had the body delivered to my doorstep ![]() Lucky break Bala I am ok with the mushroom pedals. The floaters have brake assist, so you dont have to bust your calves standing on the pedals. But thats ok for me. This will not be my daily driver. I would like it to be but cant. The reasons will follow in the rest of the thread Rohit | |
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