[GTO]

Dear Guderian, I am envious of you for two reasons:

- You now own my favourite 20 lakh SUV

- You have some flair for writing man! The first page of this thread had me in splits.

Congrats on the T-Fort! The bullet-proof build and punchy engine blows its competitors away to smithereens. I'd be very keen in knowing more about it's Achilles heel....the brakes. Do update after a long drive.

When you're up to it, check out RedRoosterRacing's TIEN suspension for the Fortuner. Vid3369 insists it improves the ride & handling. Plus, they have a small enhancement for your engine too

Thanks for sharing the report, and drive safe!

[Sutripta]

Hi,
Given your handle, and your penchant for big macho vehicles, one would be apprehensive about how you drive. So reading

Originally Posted by Guderian

Otherwise very smooth sailing as I am a defensive, conservative driver.

was a relief.

Enjoy your ride.

@ Pramod: So I take it that the workshop manual is available?

Regards
Sutripta

[figo_united]

Originally Posted by Guderian

he was in a suit and that too a proper corporate suit - not the Borat type we often see on hapless sales types !

Almost fell out of my chair reading that part

Excellent thread Guderian. thoroughly enjoyed reading the report.
Do keep the updates flowing and wish you a lot of happy miles with the Admiral.

[Ricky_63]

Originally Posted by Guderian

the total cost of the accessories ordered:

Anti rust - 6500.
Cladding - 19427.
Grill Guard - 14918.
Floor Mats (Rubber) - 1053.
trunk Mat - 363.
Total - Rs. 42,261 - Too much ?!!

Quite honestly I'd have gone with only the 3 highlighted ones, as the cars nowadays do come with anti-corrosion warranty & the side cladding..well I guess it is a personal choice


Cheers

[Guderian]

Originally Posted by GTO

Dear Guderian, I am envious of you for two reasons:

- You now own my favourite 20 lakh SUV

- You have some flair for writing man! The first page of this thread had me in splits.

Congrats on the T-Fort! The bullet-proof build and punchy engine blows its competitors away to smithereens. I'd be very keen in knowing more about it's Achilles heel....the brakes. Do update after a long drive.

When you're up to it, check out RedRoosterRacing's TIEN suspension for the Fortuner. Vid3369 insists it improves the ride & handling. Plus, they have a small enhancement for your engine too

Thanks for sharing the report, and drive safe!

Hi GTO,
Coming from you it's a delight !
And you really wouldn't want to know the number of times I read your official report on the T Fort - especially after the booking.
That was one fantastic report which, among other inputs from TBHP, first helped me make up my mind and later reduced the shake in the knees after the booking !
Shall update after my long drive next week to the South.
As far as the enhancements are concerned - too far away monetarily and warrantarily ! Post warranty may be...

Originally Posted by Sutripta

Hi,
Given your handle, and your penchant for big macho vehicles, one would be apprehensive about how you drive. So reading

was a relief.

Enjoy your ride.

@ Pramod: So I take it that the workshop manual is available?

Regards
Sutripta

Thanks Sutripta - frankly its all bluff and bluster and nothing else. Large vehicles - but drive meekly (helps FE, spares, life of the vehicle and enjoy my drives) long, loud posts - but never speak above a whisper, a meek sort of a peaceful bloke really am I !

Originally Posted by figo_united

Almost fell out of my chair reading that part

Excellent thread Guderian. thoroughly enjoyed reading the report.
Do keep the updates flowing and wish you a lot of happy miles with the Admiral.

Thanks for all the good wishes Figo !

[nilanjanray]

Originally Posted by GTO

When you're up to it, check out RedRoosterRacing's TIEN suspension for the Fortuner. Vid3369 insists it improves the ride & handling. Plus, they have a small enhancement for your engine too

That would invalidate the warranty, right? I too want to make some enhancements, waiting for 3 years to be over :-)

[Guderian]

Originally Posted by Ricky_63

Quite honestly I'd have gone with only the 3 highlighted ones, as the cars nowadays do come with anti-corrosion warranty & the side cladding..well I guess it is a personal choice


Cheers

Hi Ricky, The cladding for me was purely a requirement in Mumbai's traffic - having experienced the number of times the cladding on the Scorpio helped to stave off serious challenges to metal skin as a well as in space starved parking areas when open the door the cladding end hits the next vehicle and the door edge is saved from chipping.
Also Mumbai's weather, per me, does require the anti rust - another advantage I realised from the earlier vehicle, was that the thin coat of the gooey stuff helps as a damper and the noises are further muted. Once the skin falls off after about 4 years you feel an increased noise level in the cabin (or at least I thought I did !).
Or maybe I am just trying to defend my decision and feel good ?

[Guderian]

Some Additional Snaps - 1 - Another Brick in the Wall.
(Moderators: Pardon me, but I am compelled to load snaps set by set as if I load them all at once - which I tried twice and was frustrated - many snaps vanish in the final post/appearance !)

Folks here wanted to see the cladding on the wall here you are ! The bright idea of the LoH and poor me scouring the market for the right kind of 'rubber' (now don't yer get any fancy ideas me lads - it's for the claddin' on the wall you see !), getting a good carpenter and giving him the general picture and getting him to fix it - all a day before the Admiral rolled in to occupy his lair. But for the cladding poor Admiral's backside (read rear bumper) would have been terribly hemorrhoided ! Do you think he could have ever sat then in his Admiral's chair on the bridge of the Japanese Imperial Naval Ship Mikasa, his flag ship ? Check the snaps below to see why I say so !

Rubber cladding:


1-1/2 inch thick rubber - what a search it proved to be ! Everything was either too hard or too soft. Finally found this in a Byculla street - Rs.65 a KG. Got a piece with weighed 9 KGs:


Trick was also to fix it well without the metal 'pattas'/strips which I first thought of and the Carpy chap shot down stating that that would damage anyone's backside ("Gaadi ka kya, kissi ka bhi peeth uda dega - to kya faida ?"). Good thinking mate. Fixed it with long screws. Areas where it was suspected that the screws could impact the bumper it eas concealed by scooping out rubber material and then fixing it deep inside:


And now you'll see why it was desperately required:


But for the wall cladding Admiral's bumper would have been spaghetti as I saw several Fortuner bumpers this morning at the ASC.......but more of that later !
So much for armour protected parking bays. Believe you me, landing the Admiral in the parking bay is trickier than landing a F/A-18E/F Hornet (Navy Version) on a stamp sized aircraft carrier and that too in the night ! Parking sensors go senseless beeping their guts out when I hear them scream - "Idiot ! Let him do what he wants...Beep beep bop bop papapaaam" and they break into a merry jig !

More snaps coming up on the interiors, underbelly and engine parts.

[RS_DEL]

Herr General ( pardon the inaccuracies if any in the address, only due to lack of knowledge and not disrespect),

You are one wit and your language skills are the best compliment to your wit. Late in the day I know, but best wishes for enjoying your new ride.

Drive safe and Have fun (with the ride not the PYTs'-who are eyeing you and your ride or the missus will kill you)

[Guderian]

Originally Posted by RS_DEL

Herr General ( pardon the inaccuracies if any in the address, only due to lack of knowledge and not disrespect),

You are one wit and your language skills are the best compliment to your wit. Late in the day I know, but best wishes for enjoying your new ride.

Drive safe and Have fun (with the ride not the PYTs'-who are eyeing you and your ride or the missus will kill you)

Hey RS - You are pardoned ! Though I prefer being called Generaloberst.
Never too late in the day to congratulate anyone, not the least me at my age, on a 'new ride' ! About the PYTs - shhh.....you no tell, me no tell ! I know what you did last summer.
Thanks for the good wishes sir !

[Guderian]

Some Additional Snaps - 2 : Let's Look Around and Go Down Under !

And here come some snaps of the things that we normally don't see - which to this day I love above the beefy brawny vehicles - the 4X4 sytems, the little design gems that give it that little extra etc.

1. Looking under the front tyre saw a strange sight - a reverse mud flap ? So finally the Japs got something wrong ? "Our data say in India rain fall wrong side of tyre. Banzai ! So flap face other side !"


Nope said the design mind. Reading about air dams realised what it was.

Looking up saw this scoop above the air flap:


Which throws air in good quantities towards the engine side:


Both front tyre sides have this fitment.
Something like the air cowl of a jet engine which comes out during reverse thrusts - pushing air in. Nice.

For the first time I saw a vehicle which had such amount of open space around the radiator. By Mumbai standards enough to construct a 1 BHK.

Admiral Togo should then be a real cool guy !

This is how the bonnet scoop looks from inside. Reminds me of the entrails of a dismembered frog during dissection days !


And this slams down quite a bit of cold or otherwise air into the intercooler.


The air from the intercooler is sent down the chute to the turbo. Admiral has one of the sweetest sounding turbo whistles I have ever heard !

Going Under !
The rearward prop shaft. In the background is the fuel tank protected from all four sides.



Tranfer case -attached to rear prop.


Rear prop comes avisiting the rear differential. Note the prop shaft too rather well protected - emerges from a cocoon.




The forward prop shaft and case.


Note the protective plate under the case.


The f'd prop meets the f'd differential.


The fuel tank -strapped etc but all plastic - no serious its heavy duty reinforced glorified can !


Another shot of the can !


And the rest......a jumble of shots from the engine bay - vacuum modultaor, EGR valve, EGR, Brake booster, oil filter within easy reach,
from within the cabin etc
So there you have it folks, inside, outside & underside !
All in all begining to really appreciate the design, the thought process behind every little piece in the Admiral.
Great !

[Sutripta]

Originally Posted by Guderian

[b][u] Do you think he could have ever sat then in his Admiral's chair on the bridge of the Japanese Imperial Naval Ship Mikasa, his flag ship ?

Hi,
Wasn't the flagship the Yamato, and then the Musashi? In fact, given the size of your ride, did you consider either of these names?

Regards
Sutripta

[amitwlele]

@Guderian - I had only requested for the interior snaps. In this post you have literally gone into the innards of the Admiral

The cladding was absolutely required. Now i know what you meant. I hope because of the cladding you are not putting caution to the wind while parking.

[pramods]

Originally Posted by Sutripta

@ Pramod: So I take it that the workshop manual is available?

Regards
Sutripta

Yes, I do have all the workshop manual for Yeti and they are available to all via there erwin site.

Coming back to T_Fort, Mechanicals look so strong that they would go on and on and on..

-Pramod

[deetjohn]

Congrats Guderian on the Fleet Admiral!

And your command on the language is just amazing. I enjoyed reading every bit of that.

Try to cover the screw heads with bits from a rubber-tube or something. You can cut small patches from a used rubber-tube and stick it on top of all the screws which might be in the firing line.