[Aniruthan]

Great thread Subhra. Was very good to read an emotional thread of a car that is very attached to you . To tell the truth these olden days Maruti's are so much fun to drive albeit risking our lives a bit. Few days back I was driving around in an Esteem for the whole day and that's one of the best car ever I have driven. The steering is full of weight and feel (No Power assistance), suspension is tight and Rigid and the interior is hard wearing and comfortable. That Esteem was 15 years plus in age and is maintained by my friend (Single Owner). Anyways wishing you loads of happy memories to come by in your 800 buddy. Cheers.

[Burn_out]

Great writeup tacho9000. Goldie looks better than cars fraction of her age. I have fond memories of driving a Non-AC (5speed) M800 to Gadiara, 11 years ago. We were uncomfortable and sweating, but I didn't care from behind the wheel. Just loved the go-kart like drive and the "fill it, shut it, forget it" character of the car .

I have a couple of questions, if you don't mind.
1. Did you change the wiring relay when you upgraded the bulbs ? Did you see and deterioration of the reflectors or lenses due to the extra heat ?

2. What's next for Goldie ? Wider rubber / ICE / Alloys ?

Wishing you many more happy miles.

[Sandman689]

Originally Posted by tacho9000

At this point I'd like to point out that I didn't have a license and was underaged; so it was scary but then again we all have done something mad and crazy like this once atleast in life. My mother was surprised and furious that I had gone to Barasat like that but inside I was feeling like butterflies in my stomach at having being driven all the way alone. That set the ball rolling and from then on till 2009 when I got my license she used to trust me and go on driving in the suburbs of the city on errands. Agreed it wasn't right but then do all petrolheads get their petroholic urges right on time.

Yes, I can strongly relate to that. We had our 1st car in 2009 and I drove until 2011 without a license with our driver ridding shotgun. There were times when my testosterone levels would spike and I would venture out alone.So yes carzy is the correct term.

Originally Posted by tacho9000

Build Quality: As we all know the Maruti 800 was a basic low end car from Maruti for mostly first time car buyers. It was also a built to cost car.

Yes, I clearly remember the right quarterpanel bit. Amidst the personal fight, I did not expect that it would cave in like that. But I hope you did not have much trouble fixing it.

Originally Posted by tacho9000

Now this is one component of the car which is literally bulletproof. The car has been in all these years being driven less but the engine and gearbox hasn't shown any sign of deterioration.

I've had quite a few experiences with Goldie. A lot of them personal and bittersweet. I have witnessed the spartan of a car that it is, very slowly making mechanical improvements overtime from what I had 1st driven her. I empathize on the strong bond that Subhro has with Goldie. This bond between man and machine is indeed unbreakable.

[tacho9000]

Originally Posted by AJ-got-BHP

Standing (ovation) tacho9000 for being able to pen down so much of your emotion over a span of 2 years and bringing the much awaited Ownership Review of your Maruti 800 DX on air; finally. "Better late than never" as they say it.

Thanks AJ. To tell the truth I was being lazy with all the updating around with the thread but then again got my lazy self to get up and get running to complete this thread.

Originally Posted by Aniruthan

Great thread Subhra. Was very good to read an emotional thread of a car that is very attached to you . To tell the truth these olden days Maruti's are so much fun to drive albeit risking our lives a bit. Few days back I was driving around in an Esteem for the whole day and that's one of the best car ever I have driven. The steering is full of weight and feel (No Power assistance), suspension is tight and Rigid and the interior is hard wearing and comfortable. That Esteem was 15 years plus in age and is maintained by my friend (Single Owner). Anyways wishing you loads of happy memories to come by in your 800 buddy. Cheers.

Thank You Anirunthan for the interest. Yes old Maruti's despite being poor in power are yet fun to drive thanks to their direct steering, reasonably taught suspension and tough hardwearing character. I intend to keep the car for forever.

Originally Posted by Burn_out

Great writeup tacho9000. Goldie looks better than cars fraction of her age. I have fond memories of driving a Non-AC (5speed) M800 to Gadiara, 11 years ago. We were uncomfortable and sweating, but I didn't care from behind the wheel. Just loved the go-kart like drive and the "fill it, shut it, forget it" character of the car .

I have a couple of questions, if you don't mind.
1. Did you change the wiring relay when you upgraded the bulbs ? Did you see and deterioration of the reflectors or lenses due to the extra heat ?

2. What's next for Goldie ? Wider rubber / ICE / Alloys ?

Wishing you many more happy miles.

Thanks Avishek Da. No wiring was changed during bulb upgradation but thankfully have checked and happy to report no reflector or lense deterioration has happened as yet.

As of yet no upgrades are to be done except added a pair of tinny Sony 4in front speakers without any amp and happy to not have to raise the volume of music to hear properly at the front. No other upgrades planned but yes need to get the suspension overhauled. It's clunking away to glory on the slightest sight of bumps and potholes.

Originally Posted by Sandman689

Yes, I can strongly relate to that. We had our 1st car in 2009 and I drove until 2011 without a license with our driver ridding shotgun. There were times when my testosterone levels would spike and I would venture out alone.So yes carzy is the correct term.

Yes, I clearly remember the right quarterpanel bit. Amidst the personal fight, I did not expect that it would cave in like that. But I hope you did not have much trouble fixing it.

I've had quite a few experiences with Goldie. A lot of them personal and bittersweet. I have witnessed the spartan of a car that it is, very slowly making mechanical improvements overtime from what I had 1st driven her. I empathize on the strong bond that Subhro has with Goldie. This bond between man and machine is indeed unbreakable.

Thanks sandman689. Who can ever forget the epic fun we had in my car. Taking pains to keep the car in top shape.

Regarding the door panel dent it was recovered to a certain extent and I've kept it like that.

Now time for some updates. Around Mid January got the car serviced thoroughly. It included an engine oil change, gear oil change, coolant change, an engine mount change and carburettor cleaning, air filter replacement. Post replacement the bill came upto only Rs.3500 all inclusive. Now that's cheap and efficient maintenance for people who have seen bills of Rs.11000-14000 on their cars. Its way cheaper still than what many pay to get their A and B segment cars serviced at the A.S.S. After everything was done and the car upto running we went for the Gadiara overnight Team BHP meet and the car performed admirably despite being surrounded by machines which were twice or thrice it's power. The direct steering provided much needed feedback on the road condition on the twisty roads enroute the destination and allowed me to chuck the car into the corners.

Post all this in the month of March had gone to the KOW event on behalf of KO as support member with my car and yet again another flawless performance. Special mention must be made of the return leg driving where Bhpian BlackPearl and myself were having a gala time slicing through the highway in the evening. However the car had gone through some severe bumps on the return leg in the interior roads of Pandua and has started to show more vibrations and thuddings and clunking on normal roads too. Guess time has come for getting the car overhauled and then some nice wheels maybe with slightly upgraded tyres. Wait and watch for the next update.

Finally a big thanks to everyone for dropping by the thread and commenting on it.

Regards,
Subhra

[tacho9000]

So I'm back with another update on my thread albeit a long one. Haven't seen any new posts since last update. Nevertheless let me continue with the updates I've done on my car since.

1. Suspension Overhaul:

The car as I'd said beforehand has been clunking,thunking and thudding around across the city roads as well as on the highway rough patches. With all these in mind I'd since long planned to go for suspension overhaul at my FNG. The suspension was checked out thoroughly by the mechanic and he was of the opinion that the rear suspension doesn't need any work which I was expecting since I hardly have anyone sitting in the rear of the car 90% of the time the car is being run. But the front suspension has taken quite a brunt. Both the shocks were leaking and the lower arms were in bad shape as were the tie rods and ball joints.

Shopping time for car meant rushed off to the spares store and checked around for the shocks but unfortunately for me only shocks weren't available. Instead had to buy a pair of front strut kit which came pre-assembled with the shocks and springs in place ready for Plug and Play. Costed men*by other car standards of shock absorber kit pricing* Rs.1680/- per piece. Two sides totalling to Rs.3360/- along with anti-roll bar bush kit set costing another Rs.80/-. Net bill was Rs.3440/- rounded off to Rs.3400/- by the shop owner. Also got MGP tie-rods, ball joints, lower arms reducing the money in my wallet by another Rs.2200/-. I went away to the FNG with my face looking like this The entire job was done by the mechanics whilst I was lending hand wherever possible and took 2.5hours included chai breaks. Also there was some play in the steering box which was also reduced as much as possible. I was in at 11.30am and out by 2.00pm with a smooth noiseless front suspension. The labour bill was a bit high by previous billing amounts this time at Rs.1200/- What a difference it felt *eyes closed bliss moment*. The total amount spent on getting the car back to its noiseless suspension setup costed me Rs.6800/-, pittance compared to newer gen cars. *evil grin*

Some pictures of the work done.


The strut kits from Monroe


The WIP picture. Sorry for the unwashed car


Closeup of the work being done on the car

2. New tyres:

The car has been since all these years ran on nylon tyres from Goodyear which were manufactured in 2004 and fitted in 2006. Now before I get bashed around for running tyres well past its prime let me clarify at that time I didn't know much about cars and my uncle used to do the maintenance and had hence got them since the car runs very less and hence this contraption stayed all this long as well as for me being a student when car came under my maintenance and upkeep didn't get much money to get the tyres changed this far.

Went to a reputable shop in the city known as Tyre Zone,Ultadanga and requested for changing the tyres. Since my rims were old and rusted quite a bit hence they suggested me to opt for tube type tyres which I agreed to since I couldn't buy a new set of alloys. Now as many know 800 since 1999 had radials in 145/70R12 on DX and EX models hence asked them to show me tyres in those sizes. Only MRF ZCC and Birla Tyres Blazer were available with the manufacturing dates going back to August 2015 to October 2015 for MRF and December 2015 for the Birla Tyres. I requested them for 2016 manufactured tyres and they told me they only have 2016 tyres in 145/80R12 sizes which I on hearing gave them green signal to show me. They showed me MRF ZCT, MRF ZTX, GoodYear Ducaro and Bridgestone S322 of which the MRF ZTX looked good enough for my use to me. Ordered for 4tyres at the store. The final price came down to Rs.2350/- per tyre and all the tyres were produced in Feb 2016 except one which is a March 2016. The older tyres were taken into consideration at scrap value of Rs.50/- per tyre. Total for the tyre change with tyre buying cost, alignment, discount on old tyres came down to Rs.9800/-

So the final bill I had to spend for new tyres and suspension is Rs.16600/-


The car on jack at the tyre store


Balancing in progress


A lateral shot of the car with new tyres


Close up of the new tyre.

If only cars of this generation were as cheap to maintain as this.

Additional addition:

Got myself a Bergmann Autogrip XL car holder too which will replace the flimsy phone holder present now in the car alongwith a new Portronics car mobile charger which will replace the current local multiple charger and a new Callmate premium charging cable.

So that's all the updates done from my side on Goldie. I still continue to love him like I used to before too. No plans of selling him in the near future. He will continue to be my most cherished ride for a long long time. Also thanks to everyone who has dropped by the thread and read on my musings with my car "Goldie".

Regards,
Subhra

[tacho9000]

Hello folks got a some nifty additions done to the car in the form of a 12V socket to charge my phone along with a robust quality portronics mobile charger which coupled with the Bergmann AutoGrip XL phone holder allows the phone to be within an arm's reach for picking up calls on the move along with navigation facility. However the icing on the cake is picked up a small 41pcs toolkit from Groz sold by bhpian AJ-got-BHP. A DIY'er dream toolkit with ratchet kit and an assortment of standard tools for opening different bolts. It is a brilliant toolkit for someone who is into opening up the car for miscellaneous serviceable components. Tried it for the focussed into the trees headlamps and with a rough adjustment found it perfectly usable for now for a return drive from Kolaghat where I went for a casual drive. It is a recommended piece of toolkit for a budding DIY'er if you ask me.

Some pictures


The box of the Groz toolkit


The actual toolkit. Very impressive quality and functioning


The evening sky as it looked at Kolaghat

Till further updates come by.

Regards,
Subhra

[Leoshashi]

Originally Posted by tacho9000

A DIY'er dream toolkit with ratchet kit and an assortment of standard tools for opening different bolts. It is a brilliant toolkit for someone who is into opening up the car for miscellaneous serviceable components. Tried it for the focussed into the trees headlamps and with a rough adjustment found it perfectly usable for now for a return drive from Kolaghat where I went for a casual drive. It is a recommended piece of toolkit for a budding DIY'er if you ask me.

Some pictures

Congrats for the toolkit. Trust me, working on your car now will be a lot more fun and rewarding experience. Even I had a similar quarter inch drive toolkit since many days. However, the itch to upgrade to larger socket sizes increased, and I got myself a half inch drive socket set.

Click to open

Must say, I am every bit satisfied with my choice.

Also, how is the goldie doing?? Kindly post some nice hi-res pics of your 800.

Regards,
Shashi

[tacho9000]

Originally Posted by Leoshashi

Congrats for the toolkit. Trust me, working on your car now will be a lot more fun and rewarding experience. Even I had a similar quarter inch drive toolkit since many days. However, the itch to upgrade to larger socket sizes increased, and I got myself a half inch drive socket set.

Click to open

Must say, I am every bit satisfied with my choice.

Also, how is the goldie doing?? Kindly post some nice hi-res pics of your 800.

Regards,
Shashi

Ask me shashi I'm already dreaming about building up a small garage setup for basic maintenance works of Goldie. Will need some more of the socket kits, combination spanners, oil filter wrench, hydraulic jack and some screw drivers. Will build it up slowly. For now this one for small DIY repairs is doing fine.

Also Goldie is running absolutely fine with the exception of a high speed jumpiness from left hand side front of the car. Went to Kolaghat yesterday and observed this behaviour on the highways. This happens at speeds of above 80Kmph. Will need to look into the cause of this jumpiness and vibration soon. Waiting for some more funds. Have exhausted the current monetary stock getting personal and car related miscellaneous stuffs.

Also need to click some more pics of Goldie. Realised haven't clicked any decent pics of Goldie in a long time. :P

Regards,
Subhra

[tacho9000]

So a small update. Few people were very apprehensive of Goldie's capability to go long distance intercity trips. This has happened because my car hasn't travelled out of town in the past 5years. Today we came down to digha,a weekend destination near Kolkata details of which are compiled in some of the other threads. We went out of house at 07.00hours and reached digha by 11.30hours with a total standing break time of 45mins. Cruised mostly in the 70-90Kmph zone and needless to say Goldie performed brilliantly despite being loaded with 5people and bootful of luggage. The total of 190Kms were covered without any events and zilch trouble. I think the point has been proved once again that despite being very old car Goldie is reliable as ever and I'll continue to drive him more and love him back for the reliability it has shown over the years. Sorry about the lack of pics since the pics are in the digital camera which will be uploaded once I reach back home.

On a related note the Groz toolkit has been helpful in completing certain miscellaneous non-mechanical works on the car. Any amount of praise and thankfulness will be insufficient for bhpian AJ-got-BHP for providing me with this toolkit.

For now that's all the update I have to give. Will be back with more soon.

Regards,
Subhra

[tacho9000]

After a hiatus of more than a year I'm finally back with an update on the car. Since the last tyre change and suspension work the car has travelled around 4000kilometres. The odo is currently standing at 78K+. This is nothing in comparison to what lots of BHPians have covered but then again our car is very sparsely used. It is turning 18year old in 2days too. The Monroe shocks which I had installed last year were cheap duplicates because despite being taken care of enough to not let the suspension get worked too hard it has started clunking and thunking. Also the return action is lost almost 90%. Lesson learnt. For these type of components always go MGP. Also the rear shocks have become weak too. The rear drums are ocasssionally making scraping noise at cold which needs to be looked into too. So, the next garage visit will include both front and rear shocks replacement alongwith check up and if required replacement of it. The rear brakes if need be will be replaced else turned to specifications. The steering box is finally making too much noise and has too much play. Hence will possibly be getting it replaced with and MGP steering box if the mechanic decide that lathe work will not improve the situation. And finally, the AC has become significantly weak over the years and no amount of gas recharging has helped it's improvement. Therefore the AC may be upgraded if funds allow for it. Just hoping that the AC Workshop will be able to give me a more efficient and cooler AC without impacting the engine performance. *fingers crossed*

That's all the updates I have for now. As and when the WIP happens the pictures and subsequent data will be shared on this thread.

Regards,
Subhra

[Leoshashi]

Originally Posted by tacho9000

The Monroe shocks which I had installed last year were cheap duplicates because despite being taken care of enough to not let the suspension get worked too hard it has started clunking and thunking. Also the return action is lost almost 90%. Lesson learnt. For these type of components always go MGP.

Sorry to know that! How did you conclude that those shocks were counterfeit ones?

Recently, the original front struts in my 800 too were replaced. I was willing to try Monroe Quick struts this time, but as luck would have it, the Monroe distributor botched up at the last moment, and I had to settle with MGP( Munjal Showa).

More details here: Link

Regards,
Shashi

[tacho9000]

Originally Posted by Leoshashi

Sorry to know that! How did you conclude that those shocks were counterfeit ones?

Recently, the original front struts in my 800 too were replaced. I was willing to try Monroe Quick struts this time, but as luck would have it, the Monroe distributor botched up at the last moment, and I had to settle with MGP( Munjal Showa).

Regards,
Shashi

Shashi I had checked with a Monroe stockist recently because I felt that this was a very short interval and mileage for a shock absorber to go bad. He showed me the original Monroe which were heavier and higher quality than my shock absorbers. Then on further inspection it turned out that there was a top plate negligible misalignment wrt original, which should not exist if it were genuine ones. That led me to the conclusion. Also they were more expensive at 1800 per piece compared to the 1600 something which I had paid buying the kit. I'd say check properly and then proceed. Counterfeits are dime a dozen in the current market. But I'm not taking any more risk. This time only MGP spares will be going in for the shocks.

Regards,
Subhra

[Leoshashi]

Originally Posted by tacho9000

Shashi I had checked with a Monroe stockist recently because I felt that this was a very short interval and mileage for a shock absorber to go bad. He showed me the original Monroe which were heavier and higher quality than my shock absorbers. Then on further inspection it turned out that there was a top plate negligible misalignment wrt original, which should not exist if it were genuine ones.

For aftermarket stuff, I always prefer to pick them from the distributor for the very same reason.

Even in MGP, 3 types of parts are there(from different vendors). I felt that the ones from Munjals were better than the other vendors(Gabriel etc). Munjals had XXXXXMXX371 as the part number. Other numbers were XXXXXMXX330 and XXXXXMXX360.

Regards,
Shashi

[tacho9000]

Adding a few pictures of Goldie clicked in the recent past



Clicked by BHPian Samba



Clicked by me on my phone camera



On the eve of Bijaya Dashami as we bengali call it.

Regards,
Subhra

[tacho9000]

Found out some old pictures of Goldie from 2013. Thought of sharing in the thread
















Regards,
Subhra