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-   -   Landmaster Project - Part II (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/post-war/43330-landmaster-project-part-ii-20.html)

All the best for round 3 of the restoration.

Was very sad to hear about it Steer, may your project finishes this time properly.

Now this part I love it. How much budget Steeroid Ji ? and suggestions ?

After reading this restoration project for the past 2 hours I cannot help but comment.

@ Steeroid >Its just amazing how you got ripped off with this long distance restoration job.
Hats off to your patience and perservance to put up with all that you have been through, without even getting into how much pain it might have caused considering it was supposed to be a gift for your dad.
Kudos to your spirit again for willing to continue with the project and seeing it through to a logical end. Honestly, I would have scrapped it until such a time that I would have been able to personally supervise it.

While reading through the process of restoration it is good that this thread has managed to highlight how cheats do exist in an otherwise fabulous forum. It serves as a warning to those who may wish to indulge in such activities and also warns unsuspecting fellow BHPians from falling prey to such tactics. The pics of the paint job look like a very bad joke. Its just your magnanimity to let it all go without asking for a refund, while I can see that your actions are limited by the fact that you are overseas.

I hope to be able to get to see the Landmaster as you had envisioned it to be. It truly is a vehicle worthy of your restoration effort.

cheers:
J

Zak, pls post some pics of these, and the interior of the boot / other interior panels where the rusting is.

@zak, great to know now the real side/ fact of the car as on today.I am going to make it a point to come and see the car next time I come down for sure.

@steer, I am cent percent sure there are people in our place who can do all the tinkering / putti and repaint work for the car much neatly and cost wise more effective. A vey professinal paint work can be done at any MRF auto coat people as well. There are still certains shops that are working from MRF.By doing so it I believe it will be more accessible for our team members to keep the car under proper check with your permission.
By far what has been done on the car, as seen on the photos, is really scary.

Repainting at either Colortech in Cochin or Color World in Trichur (the latter are the creators of the gull-wing Tata Sierras and some other serious body mods and interesting paintwork).

ICE is mostly being transplanted from Hydra's Hatch - Hertz 3-ways, Hertz Coaxials, Audison AMP and cables. Only the sub needs to be finalized, which Zuheimi & Zak will take care of.

Last picture shows the frame for spare tyre mounting. Remove that. You'll have more space for luggage.

Place spare tyre in the center with bolting facility. Make sure that you have a hole next to it for water to drain out during inside wash.

Steer, steering away from the bad undertones (or overtones) of this thread, what is the plan now? I would suggest using Wurth in the beet where there is obvious rust. Of course after sanding the rust down.
I know I am far away but please, do let me know if I can help in any way whatsoever.

please note we had done an MM540 LWB at color world at valapad during the '99 - '00 era.The painting was good but I remember certain areas where the polish was not very good and was more to the matt side. We took it back and they applied some sort of gel and yes that was also rectified.
Yes, it was expensive for an MM540 to be painted there, but again it was not in lakhs but in thousands:)
Another garage is the FORD JOHN motors in Mission Quarters also specialised in Dupont paint stuff.

steer sir,

small suggestion, when going in for paint work, please do not go in just by seeing the premises or the facilites.

all my cars right from my premier padmini to my merc, go to a painter called masood here, he has been doin all the jobs for our cars from the last 20 years, right from when i was a toddler. he neither has a paint booth nor an swanky setup.

but the quality of his work is superb, he uses all high quality paints from dupont and misc items and till yet i havent found a flaw in his work.

Steer, my suggestion

1. Use an elliptical sander to remove the paint completely. Dont let them use a gas burner or chemicals.

2. Sand blast the body afterwards. The sand blast gun works on normal air compressors and costs about 300 inr.

3. Treat the rust - the tinkers know best how to do it.

4. Then prep the body take care not to use too much body filler. Also when they apply the filler and start filing it make sure they use emery sheets. DO NOT USE HACK SAW BLADES.

5. Make sure they use a dupont sealer before the paint. Inspect the car at this point. Any flaws in the body work will show through at this stage.

6. For the painting 3-4 base coats and 2 coats of clear should do the job.

If you have problems getting a good garage, let me know. I have a guy who used to be the dupont official painter. He is technically sound as well. I'll send him down to your place. You just have to give him a covered garage. Rent out the compressor and lights and you are done. None of the hassles of going to a professional shop.

Let me know if you need anything else.

THANK YOU FOR REMINDING ME!!!!!!!!!!!!! I know Ford John's son personally - I met him abroad and I've heard so much about the legendary little workshop though I've never had work done there. Why didnt I think of them - calling John Ralph rightaway, he was running an outfit servicing and renting out CATs in Saudi Arabia.

Sajeet - thanks for the suggestion, we will keep this option open too. Need to find a clean, covered space to do the work - will source one and let you know. If nothing we can use the Ashaan's garage in Shornur - he can arrange all the tools required.

Gogi - thank you for the kind words, you can help by travelling in the Landmaster when you come down for "Singh is DrinKINNG"

Hey Steer,
Why dont you try Leela's at Coimbatore for painting. Their finish is one of the finest what i have seen till now.

If you find a good shop in and around your place, thats the best bet and atleast will give you some amount of control. Key thing is to identify a good professional who knows his job and then planning out the details as much of possible and then proceeding.

Harrie has pointed out the areas which are easily overlooked while painting, keep them in mind.

Painting yields best results when basics are followed and without time constraints, especially if the car is old. Most often a young/inexperienced painter will follow the routine he follows for a new age car, on old sheet metal and from then the misery starts.

Absolute must: avoid rainy seasons, even if it rains for couple of days, stop the work and wait for for rain to stop, even if its preparatory work.

Steer - I have heard mixed reviews about the "FORD JOHN" garage[Central Motors].Dont know much about his painiting skills but his mechanical skills is definitely not the best around.Just my 2 cents.Dont know to what extent it is true.Just said this in advance as you already faced a lot of problems regarding this.All the best with your future work and hope I can see your beauty very soon.