[jmvivek]

Thanks Team-BHP for the initiation of a prospective off-roader enthusiast. My name is Vivek and I have been referring to the knowledge base in Team-BHP to rebuild two of my early 2011 acquisitions,an MM540 and a Maruti Gypsy,both 89models with four-wheel drive.

I consider myself, as a novice off roader with not so bad on-road driving skills. I have been a software developer,Datawarehouse administrator maturing into heading Managing Information System for an American Bank
in the gulf and then after 8 years, when things felt mundane there , I moved on to taking up a challenging assignment of implementing state-of-the-art Business Intelligence platform for a local bank in Dubai. 5 years stint there more or less accomplishing what I dreamt for just about when I started realizing the 13years I spend in the gulf was more for money and fame and not exactly what I wanted in life. Took a sabbatical from all of this and turned on to ethical farming in early 2010 and settled myself with my wife and two pre-school kids(just to emphasise that I am not too old!) in Coorg and still fighting it out with the local system to be ethical in my farming and
off-farming practices.

My list of vehicles owned over a period of time would be as follows.

1) RD 350 HT stock condition, Yezdi Classic with RD350 rim/tyres in the front and a Bullet 350, 1972 model stock condition.
RD 350 was my favourite, coming back on vacations early 99,00 the first vehicle to be out of my garage for a spin in Bangalore.

2) My first acquisition with my own money – Fiat Padmini which I kept for only 6 months after doing some semi circles on road while taking sharp turns

3) My Honda Accord- V6- special edition from the Honda Canada. I had driven 230000 kms in this vehicle in less than four years and consider as one of my all time favourites next to RD350. A short stint on ML500 although had to give that away due to my liking for better riding height.

4) A Ford Expedition NBX sport -5.4ltr V8 litres engine which was taken to its extremes in Dubai Abu Dhabi, UAQ, RAK, Al AIn and even cross-country drives to Oman and Bahrain. Done another 250000kms on this

5) And currently with a Gypsy, MM540 and an Indigo GSX petrol(wife’s), to cater to my lifestyle change.

Being initiated into Team-BHP, I look forward to becoming a real Team-BHPian and do justice to my membership approval. With guidance from some of the experienced team members, I should be able to move on as envisioned. I have been following very useful threads/info put in by Sultan Khan sir on the Gypsy/Thar front and also Allan on AutoAttitudes. Rhandle for Force Ghurkha(excellent narration and share of experience for Ghurkha aspirers)
and Behram Dhabhar sir’s expertise and know-how(saw how he was reflecting what he felt at heart more during the Thar launch and also the worry about not meeting some of the Team-BHPian’s expectations).Not to mention Dwaraka sir, Paras for his application and perseverance to rebuild his Gypsy to rally specifications( I rate this as my most favourite on the rally segment for Gypsies). I should close out for the time being, not before saying this out open in the forum.

”KHAN sir, I have been following your gypsy modification knowledge base towards off-road specs for quite some time and have become a fan of yours.
Very few people do this kind of R&D for the right kind of application to support your off-roading enthusiasm/adventure , which comes straight from your heart, although not tipping over to the fanaticism that would make this dangerous. With your guidance and support from Team-BHP, I guess I should build upon and take my off-roading skills to a higher level”.

With this, here is VeeJay shifting on to my 4L on Team-BHP without the difflocks,crawlers,SPOA and not so ultra low transfer case and not doing away with the anti-stay bar to keep in in course at Team-BHP to become a True Team-BHPian !

[PatienceWins]

That is impressive distance covered in good choice of vehicles. Welcome to team-bhp!

[aadithsince1980]

Wishing you a warm welcome to TBHP!

Must be great to be back in Coorg after all the hustle and bustle of the big cities huh!
I am from Ooty- The queen of hill stations (Atleast once upon a time)
But it still feels great going back home once in a while and get away from the hustle and bustle of the city (I work in bangalore)

Anyway, have a great stay on this wonderful forum!
Cheers!
Aadith

[jmvivek]

Originally Posted by aadithsince1980

Wishing you a warm welcome to TBHP!

Must be great to be back in Coorg after all the hustle and bustle of the big cities huh!
I am from Ooty- The queen of hill stations (Atleast once upon a time)
But it still feels great going back home once in a while and get away from the hustle and bustle of the city (I work in bangalore)

Thanks Aadith.

Coorg has a different type of greenery/wilderness to fall in love with.

My elder brother was a student of Vrindavan boarding school,Ooty at its prime time. True Ooty is a very nice place except for the current congestion of hotels and unplanned infrastructure buildup/pollution. I love crossing Ooty from Mysore, especially through the 36 hairpin bends on the Masinagudi route. Should have done this atleast four times in the last one year.

[khan_sultan]

Originally Posted by jmvivek

Thanks Team-BHP for the initiation of a prospective off-roader enthusiast. My name is Vivek and I have been referring to the knowledge base in Team-BHP to rebuild two of my early 2011 acquisitions,an MM540 and a Maruti Gypsy,both 89models with four-wheel drive.

Welcome Vivek, good to have you here. Any help you need, just ask here and am sure you will get all the help you will need for rebuilding your vehicles to your requirements.

”KHAN sir, I have been following your gypsy modification knowledge base towards off-road specs for quite some time and have become a fan of yours.
Very few people do this kind of R&D for the right kind of application to support your off-roading enthusiasm/adventure , which comes straight from your heart, although not tipping over to the fanaticism that would make this dangerous. With your guidance and support from Team-BHP, I guess I should build upon and take my off-roading skills to a higher level”.

Thanks for the kind words Vivek. I thought it was necessary to share the modifications and the thought process, what worked/what didn't here to a larger set of folks so that people can understand what goes into the mods, how to do, etc and in the process increase the offroaders community.

If you are in Coorg area, then do connect with Dr Bishen in Virajpet. He has one of the most capably gypsy with all the required mods and much more. I am sure you will get ideas from him on what to do and where to do what.

And any help/advise needed on the gypsy, just ask -- always ready to help.

EDIT: BTW, the hard top of the gypsy is nice. I like the straight lines. Recently I drove a gypsy at an offroad event with a similar hard top to yours and I liked the straight lines.

Here is a picture.

[jmvivek]

Thanks for your updates. In fact the picture you have posted has got my MM540 as the background after 4 failed attempts. I was there beside you watching you climb up the challenge.

Will get in touch with Dr.Bishen and have a check on his gypsy.