[muneemmk]

The Ambasador TNB 600 Started it's Life In the Hands Of A Radiologist In Tatabad, Coimbatore.It Was a deep Wine Red Coloured Mark 3 with a petrol engine.Dr.Rithuparnan Kept His Car Till He Passed away, after his demise the car was in the hands of Guru Nityachaithanya Yeti. So this car was sort of famous in that part of the country. Ooty, Coimbatore,Metupalayam Etc. After Guru's demise the car was in the faithful ownership of Geeta(Daughter of the Doctor) and Shoukath who were his primary disciples. When Geeta Decided to move to a Buddhist Monastery in California. Shoukath(Who looks like the long lost twin brother of Speedzak) was left with taking care of the car. Which he found very difficult which is when my dad came into the Scene and saved the day.

The Car was in a pretty pathetic condition, it had just gone through an engine rebuild and a full tinkering and painting when i got it in my hands. The Car Was painted in a really lousy manner with the cheapest paint. The Brakes were err... Lets put it this was there was no brake. The Engine was real good though due to the rebuild. The car was held together mostly by the Putty and Metal Paste that was under the paint that was the condition of the rust.

After driving it around for almost 3 years with out spending even a penny we decided to start doing something on our beloved car.I First Took The Car To The Garage to Fit An Air Conditioner and a Power Steering which my mechanic said will take around two weeks after three weeks there was no sign of it getting done in no less than three more weeks, so i thought well why not put in a power brake as well will have to do that some day or the another. My Mechanic Sourced a Brake Booster and disc brakes from Thrissur (2nd Hand Spare Parts Dealers) just like the A/C and the Power Steering Unit. The work continued for another month there was no sign of my car seeing the daylight. Then I thought why not get it repainted as well as put in a 5 speed Box from the ISUZU along with Differential real axle and brakes from the Conty. The work went on for 2 more months; frustration was building up in my family as it was our only means of transportation apart from my 2 bikes. I started losing my sleep over it. That when I decided to quit my job and be a full time worker at my workshop where my beloved was waiting to see the road.

The Paint which was on the car looked the classic 70 colour that is a solid dark Grey colour.Wanted to change it to something more beautiful and metallic so went with the light blue colour from the 2007 Camry. Got the colour combination from DuPont’s website and mixed it. I Decided to burn away the paint and the putty as a whole and start from the metal. So I Burned away the Paint and Putty and Chalk Powder, YES CHALK Powder!!!! That was under the paint which was up to 2 inches in thickness in some parts. Started from the base that is, Polyester metal paste, putty, Primer, surfacer, a coat of black to check the shape. Then putty again, then black again , then surfacer again. Then Finally the Base Coat and the 2 coats of clear at a paint booth.

To buy the original parts off the rack i rented out an Innova and brought back an Ambassador in the Innova from Coimbatore, the head lights, tail lights,
bonnet, bumpers(f & r),dashboard, meters, indicators, grille, locks, steering, door finishers, window garnishes, window frames, door handles and mechanical, windshield wipers,motors,switches,levers,pedals,beadings, clips were some of the parts I brought back from Coimbatore in an Innova.

The Car Then Got Re-Upholstered with beige interiors which i am not very happy about and still haven't changed the bench seat. The Dashboard got painted with DuPont paint matching the upholstery colour.

Started up the engine after 8 months it started up after a little work with the diesel pump, starter motor. Found it to be in pathetic condition due to lying ideal for this long. But I am Still unable to change it due to Lack of Red Ghandis. So after nine months of swearing, yelping begging and sometimes literally crying. My car finally got back on the road. There are various problems still to be sorted out, but I think my car is the best Ambassador I have and most people have seen on the roads in Kerala At least, As Long as one doesn’t drive it.

It's Been On the road for the last six months and i have done around 6500KM Till Date In The car Mostly runs between My home and Ernakulam or rare Jaunts to Coimbatore,Mettupalayam etc.


More Modifications I am considering and which I will execute in the coming days.

• Desperately want to change the Matador Engine to a Isuzu or a Toyota 2C

• Make a Custom Dash As the Original HM Dash's Build Quality is nothing to Write Home About.

• Do A Total RE-Upholstery Work From Koyas,Coimbatore

• Get a Better ICE with Components at the Front (Polk or Bull) and a 10" Sub (Polk/Kicker) with a four Channel Amplifier (JBL).

• Make a Smaller Custom Grill With Mesh Instead Of The Original Grande Grill.

• Alter The Rear Suspension To that of The Contessa With Balance rods and Coil Springs.

• Gypsy Rims or Alloy Wheels with Better Footwear.

Currently We (Me & my DAD) are considered as Social outcasts and mentally deranged Due to spending such exorbitant amounts on a 1976 Ambassador .But are Happy with Our Decision. Currently i am in dire straits, will have to wait for three to four months to restart any work on the car.

[ATL_BOY]

your passion is commendable my friend ... looks stunning !

[muneemmk]

The Finished Product

[musicmanaman]

Thta's a very good write up, what gear box is it running on now, is it Isuzu 5 speed or the normal 4 speed, and what engine is it running on now, is it petrol or diesel, looks like a petrol engine from the air filer on top.
I also noticed you have changed the indicators, the old amby's had them in front while the new one's they are way back.
Try to put in a Isuzu 1800 CC with 5 speed gear box, it's a real jem, however is a heavy on fuel, I by the way drive a Amby Avigo 1800 cc Petrol and the mileage I get is between 7 and 7.5 kmpl on average, I have heard that HM now have a turbo diesel, want to try that out one of these days.
Your car looks fantastic by the way, and please keep all posted as the work advances.

[Rudra Sen]

So, what's the cost till date? Car looks really nice.

[speedzak]

Man! This is some amazing read to open the day with.
I've just got one word to say, WOW!!

And nice to know that I had a part to play in this amazing project.

[akash_m]

Man.. Thats a complete tranformation! No words for it. I must credit the garage & mechanics/technicians behind this. Also, the color chosen be you is awesome. Few questions though, how were you able to precure all the spare parts, especially the dash and the facia. Are they readily avilable?

We all would like to know the cost involved in this re-birth!

[muneemmk]

Originally Posted by musicmanaman

Thta's a very good write up, what gear box is it running on now, is it Isuzu 5 speed or the normal 4 speed, and what engine is it running on now, is it petrol or diesel, looks like a petrol engine from the air filer on top.
I also noticed you have changed the indicators, the old amby's had them in front while the new one's they are way back.
Try to put in a Isuzu 1800 CC with 5 speed gear box, it's a real jem, however is a heavy on fuel, I by the way drive a Amby Avigo 1800 cc Petrol and the mileage I get is between 7 and 7.5 kmpl on average, I have heard that HM now have a turbo diesel, want to try that out one of these days.
Your car looks fantastic by the way, and please keep all posted as the work advances.

Currently I am Running around with a 5 speed Transmission, It's A diesel Matador 305C Series Engine,The Air Filter's Borrowed From A Conty because it uses a paper filter which can be replaced unlike the matador's Oil Bath Type Filter also fitted a electronic supercharger(An A/C Blower from a Maruti 800 welded onto the Air filter actuated from the accelarator pedal) Which is of no particular use,should have used a little more common sense when i was doing that Mod. I am thinking of the Isuzu or The Toyota 2C engine for replacement but no petrol engine as this car will be used daily , will get a petrol engine as soon as i buy a 2nd car.

Originally Posted by Rudra Sen

So, what's the cost till date? Car looks really nice.

The Car Looks Nice, But Wish had better equipment and a better photosense most of the photos are shot with a N73,Motorazr,K530i and a saving grace my friends Canon D400 , The Cost Till Date is roughly around 2.9 Lakhs, and you prompted me to write this thread.

Originally Posted by speedzak

Man! This is some amazing read to open the day with.I've just got one word to say, WOW!!
And nice to know that I had a part to play in this amazing project.

Just Like Speedzak This Shouk Guy is also a wanderer he won the National Literary Acadamy Award For Travalogue this year about his travel to the Himalayas.

[musicmanaman]

The Avigo bonnet has a small water spray nossil, which you may want to add to your Amby.
By the way I have cracked one of my head light glass, would you be knowing how much they cost?, I have to replace the same one of these day, the assembly is fine, only the glass on the right hind side.
I have bucket seats in the front, but I guess the one in your Amby is better, as it can accomodate more people with comfort.

[Rahulkool]

Nice work mate and car looks awesome ....

but in my opinion you sud have kept the exterior to stock, i completely hate that bumper in amby. it looks much better in old chrome bumpers

[jkdas]

Man, nice job!

Is that OE wheels covers? All this work and no alloys? IMHO, alloys would have made it look more beautiful.

[musicmanaman]

The Car Looks Nice, But Wish had better equipment and a better photosense most of the photos are shot with a N73,Motorazr,K530i and a saving grace my friends Canon D400 , The Cost Till Date is roughly around 2.9 Lakhs, and you prompted me to write this thread.

2.9 lakhs!!!, is that only for the transformation, or with the car purchase price included.

Originally Posted by Rahulkool

Nice work mate and car looks awesome ....

but in my opinion you sud have kept the exterior to stock, i completely hate that bumper in amby. it looks much better in old chrome bumpers

I love the new bumpers, I think the crome one's were really bad, the new one's are body colored and go well with the car, but then again, this is a personal choice.

[muneemmk]

Originally Posted by akash_m

Man.. Thats a complete tranformation! No words for it. I must credit the garage & mechanics/technicians behind this. Also, the color chosen be you is awesome. Few questions though, how were you able to precure all the spare parts, especially the dash and the facia. Are they readily avilable? We all would like to know the cost involved in this re-birth!

All the Parts were available off the rack , the dash was painted in that colour with DuPont and a coat of matt clear.

Originally Posted by musicmanaman

The Avigo bonnet has a small water spray nossil, which you may want to add to your Amby.
By the way I have cracked one of my head light glass, would you be knowing how much they cost?, I have to replace the same one of these day, the assembly is fine, only the glass on the right hind side.
I have bucket seats in the front, but I guess the one in your Amby is better, as it can accommodate more people with comfort.

I would also like to add the same and have the same thingy but no space inside the engine bay to place the reservoir/pump Assembly.. The Head Light Assembly Used to cost 900 rupees first but I also broke my head light assembly and this time around it cost me 1250 bucks.

[musicmanaman]

The Head Light Assembly Used to cost 900 rupees first but I also broke my head light assembly and this time around it cost me 1250 bucks.

My headlight assembly is fine, only the outside glass has cracked, do I have to change the enitre assembly, or can one by the glass alone, which should be much cheaper than the whole assembly.

[thirst4torque]

Originally Posted by jkdas

Man, nice job!

Is that OE wheels covers? All this work and no alloys? IMHO, alloys would have made it look more beautiful.

Get a nice set of alloys for this beauty! Awsome work! Looks a killer.