Last weekend I decided to revive my father-in-law's 84 model Maruti 800 DX. It had been sitting in the parking for a few months and had been through a flooding cycle in my building basement. It had started to eat at my conscience and I decided to take the plunge. Got assistance from a friend who is also an enthusiast and we took up the task.
The tyres had lost pressure and we took them off. Got them refilled, fitted back and they were back to normal. These are not too worn out and will last a couple of years more. The battery had shorted and died and the petrol tank was dry as a bone. With a replacement battery and a can of petrol, directly feeding the engine through a set of tubing, the car cranked up at the first shot. Drove it to the local garage for cleaning, checking and tuning.
The garage guy had been maintaining this car for me for around 4 years before it went into hibernation. He was delighted to see it back in his yard! Left it with him for a couple of days. The following tasks were performed:
Wheel bearings greased
Petrol tank cleaned
All fluids changed (engine oil, coolant, brake fluid etc.)
Engine tuned, sparks etc. cleaned
General checkup and greasing
New battery (Exide)
Total - Rs. 2340 (engine maintenance) + Rs. 3000 (new battery)
Now we needed a good body work guy to restore the showing signs of age on the body of the car. Went around town and talked to quite a few people. Most of them were 'general welders' who said they would do the job and quoted exorbitant amounts for it (anywhere between 17k to 30k!) Having lost my confidence in the two day hunt for a good guy, I almost ditched the project!
Luckily, my friend remembered a local body modder. We went and met him (Mr. Desuza). He has been doing car body work and modding for around 20 years. His eyes gleamed at the mention on 'old model Maruti to be restored'!
. That gleam was enough for me to make my decision.
Yesterday morning, I drove the car to his shed. He looked at the car and gave me an approximate estimate of 'guess how much!' (refer pics for guessing the estimate on the job). I am now getting body work (patching, denting, welding and panel fabrication if required) and a complete interior and exterior paint job done on the car now! The paint choice remains red (although some people are insisting I make it yellow!).
Ths body work and repainting would take around 10 days. I will then look at doing the interiors. Will keep taking pics and post.