[Sanidhya mukund]

Originally Posted by Mitadru

Try and see if you can get the generic ones and then cut and fit according to your requirements for the weather strips. For the beadings, see if its pickup brother's parts can be sourced cause it was in production for a longer time . And essentially they're the same till the rear doors after which the difference starts. Anyways keep us updated. And what is the status regarding RC renewal? Have you made any progress in that front ?

Thanks, will explore the generic options. As far as the front doors are concerned, the Tata 207 parts will be a direct fit. It’s the rear doors that are difficult to get parts for. Even the 207 dual cab had different rear doors. But as you said, I will try and look for generic ones for them.

Yes, RC renewal is gonna be a fairly straightforward process. No stupid NGT rules in Bihar (yet) so I would simply have to get the fitness test done, pay the penalty for the lapsed RC and should be good to go.

[Sanidhya mukund]

Update:

So an update after a long time. The power steering pump mounting has been very difficult to source. My mechanic tried his best, but just wasn’t able to fabricate a new one. This being a relatively less common model, even the scrap yards weren’t yielding any results. Finally, my mechanic came across a donor car. It belonged to the current owners father, and has been lying idle in their field for the last 15 years. It has literally sunken into the soil!

Recently, a tree fell on it. The owner now wants to get rid of the car, and we are in the process of negotiating with them. Ideally, I would want to buy the whole car because it has a lot of parts that I need. Hopefully, this yields some positive results.





On the other hand, I have also selected the upholstery. Inspired by BHPian Schnellby’s NE118, I have also chosen a light Tan colour. The roof will be done in the original shade, all the plastics will remain black and the door pads + seats will be done in this colour.

[Dry Ice]

Originally Posted by Sanidhya mukund

.. Finally, my mechanic came across a donor car. ..

That’s a nice stroke of luck to find a donor car. Hopefully you are able to salvage the parts you need. All the best.

[Mitadru]

Originally Posted by Sanidhya mukund

Update:

So an update after a long time. The power steering pump mounting has been very difficult to source. My mechanic tried his best, but just wasn’t able to fabricate a new one. This being a relatively less common model, even the scrap yards weren’t yielding any results. Finally, my mechanic came across a donor car. It belonged to the current owners father, and has been lying idle in their field for the last 15 years. It has literally sunken into the soil!

Recently, a tree fell on it. The owner now wants to get rid of the car, and we are in the process of negotiating with them. Ideally, I would want to buy the whole car because it has a lot of parts that I need. Hopefully, this yields some positive results. Attachment 2750832

Attachment 2750833

Attachment 2750834

On the other hand, I have also selected the upholstery. Inspired by BHPian Schnellby’s NE118, I have also chosen a light Tan colour. The roof will be done in the original shade, all the plastics will remain black and the door pads + seats will be done in this colour.

One man's trash is another man's treasure is an apt quote here. Try and get as much of the parts as possible. And I like the idea of Tan interior, but i personally feel it wouldn't suit well in a interior full of black plastics. I had seen the same combination Sierra in the EvoIndia YouTube channel, and it looked a bit odd. Anyways since you have taken the risk of restoring this car, you get to decide what feels best. When your restoration will be complete, and the other red Sierra's restoration will be complete, we'll have two well preserved slice of Indian Automotive history. Btw, how's the registration process going?

Also how's the Ikon ? Haven't heard of it lately. With the ban on fuelling old vehicles in NCR, how will you get fuel for it ? Or are you resorting to jerrycan for getting petrol? And how's our dear Esteem ? How many years away is it from getting the coveted classic car status ?
Eagerly waiting for your reply.

[Sanidhya mukund]

Originally Posted by Mitadru

One man's trash is another man's treasure is an apt quote here. Try and get as much of the parts as possible. And I like the idea of Tan interior, but i personally feel it wouldn't suit well in a interior full of black plastics. I had seen the same combination Sierra in the EvoIndia YouTube channel, and it looked a bit odd. Anyways since you have taken the risk of restoring this car, you get to decide what feels best. When your restoration will be complete, and the other red Sierra's restoration will be complete, we'll have two well preserved slice of Indian Automotive history. Btw, how's the registration process going?

Also how's the Ikon ? Haven't heard of it lately. With the ban on fuelling old vehicles in NCR, how will you get fuel for it ? Or are you resorting to jerrycan for getting petrol? And how's our dear Esteem ? How many years away is it from getting the coveted classic car status ?
Eagerly waiting for your reply.

I remember the video that you’re talking about, the Tan on that Sierra was a little darker than the one I’ve chosen. That car also had a lot more of its interior in tan, including the roof. My inspiration is BHPian Schnellby’s NE118. Here’s a picture from his thread. I feel like this looks quite nice for white coloured cars of this era:



As I had mentioned before, the paper work will be initiated once the work is completed. If you have any specific queries with respect to paperwork of any of the cars, please feel free to PM me.

Ikon and Esteem: You know how it is with old cars. No news = good news

The fact that they have been chugging along peacefully, not throwing any tantrums is precisely why you haven’t been seeing any posts about them. The Ikon is 100 percent flawless as far as mechanical and electrical aspects are concerned. Esteem does have some intermittent carburettor related faults, will now only address them once the Estate project is closed.

[Mitadru]

Thanks for the reply. Just wanted to know one thing.Does Maruti service guys know how to tune carb vehicles now ? Or will they reject it cause of the age of the car ? Got curious cause of a recent video in YT, where a guy took his Ford Model T to the dealership, and well , they serviced the car. So is it the same here ? And though you have completed restoration, in case of running repairs , will you be able to source parts from MGP if you order them ? ( I don't expect off the shelf replacement) . Also I have the same question for the Estate. How much percentage of parts will be available within,say , a month of ordering?

[DR Manabendra S]

Great to see that the restoration is going on. I have not missed a single post, and it's great to see the effort you're putting to get the car back on the road. Especially considering the delays which you have faced. Wishing you thousands of "new" kilometres in this vehicle.

[scorpian]

Originally Posted by Mitadru

Thanks for the reply. Just wanted to know one thing.Does Maruti service guys know how to tune carb vehicles now ? Or will they reject it cause of the age of the car ? Got curious cause of a recent video in YT,?

Hit and miss!!! They don't any technician out here in Goa who can overhaul or tune a carburettor .
Last I checked i was told even carburettor repair kits are no longer easily available and have to buy locally.
Tuning carbs is an art that is lost now. Very few old mechanics who spent their life on varb vehicles understand and can tune. Rest all is just a try and see method.
Parts availability for cars like zen etc have been stopped. Mass no longer even takes orders for them. What's available is local theirs party made stuff which is nowhere close to the original stuff.
I have also seen parts of Ritz being very difficult to source now.

[Sanidhya mukund]

Originally Posted by Mitadru

Thanks for the reply. Just wanted to know one thing.Does Maruti service guys know how to tune carb vehicles now ? Or will they reject it cause of the age of the car ? Got curious cause of a recent video in YT, where a guy took his Ford Model T to the dealership, and well , they serviced the car. So is it the same here ? And though you have completed restoration, in case of running repairs , will you be able to source parts from MGP if you order them ? ( I don't expect off the shelf replacement) . Also I have the same question for the Estate. How much percentage of parts will be available within,say , a month of ordering?

I wholly agree with BHPian Scorpion’s reply. The Maruti Service centre these days is not equipped for anything other than oil change and running replacements. Heck, give them an S-Cross 1.6 or a Baleno 1.0 Turbo and they’ll behave as if a UFO has landed. MGP parts for the Esteem have long been discontinued. A few are available to order, but even those are the ones that were shared with later models. Do remember, the last Esteem rolled off the production line almost 13 years ago.
About the Tata Estate - most folks at Tata dealerships don’t even know about the existence of something called an Estate. You should have seen the disbelief on the face of the SA whom I had contacted for parts. Even their system doesn’t have “Tata Estate”.

Originally Posted by DR Manabendra S

Great to see that the restoration is going on. I have not missed a single post, and it's great to see the effort you're putting to get the car back on the road. Especially considering the delays which you have faced. Wishing you thousands of "new" kilometres in this vehicle.

Thanks a lot for the wishes! There’s finally “Light at the end of the tunnel”:

[Mitadru]

Originally Posted by Sanidhya mukund

I wholly agree with BHPian Scorpion’s reply. The Maruti Service centre these days is not equipped for anything other than oil change and running replacements. Heck, give them an S-Cross 1.6 or a Baleno 1.0 Turbo and they’ll behave as if a UFO has landed. MGP parts for the Esteem have long been discontinued. A few are available to order, but even those are the ones that were shared with later models. Do remember, the last Esteem rolled off the production line almost 13 years ago.
About the Tata Estate - most folks at Tata dealerships don’t even know about the existence of something called an Estate. You should have seen the disbelief on the face of the SA whom I had contacted for parts. Even their system doesn’t have “Tata Estate”.

Pretty early morning reply So good to see that the electricals are working finally. And are you seriously saying that they don't have the Estate on the list ? Can it be due to the fact that it was manufactured by Telco, and not Tata Motors? Although it is a bit hard to believe, it can be that the Sumo is in their inventory because it was later produced by Tata Motors? About MGP, I kind of expected that reply. The pain you had to go through to just get the fuel tank of the Esteem is enough an indicator. Ik you've said it earlier, but do fit a nice audio system in the Estate .Or see if you can get the original stereo repaired in Delhi, the next time you go to the car .
After the restoration is done, please post a YouTube video on how the car feels to drive. There's a lack of good videos on this car . You as a long term owner, would be the best person to give a verdict.

[Leoshashi]

Originally Posted by Sanidhya mukund

Do remember, the last Esteem rolled off the production line almost 13 years ago.

A small edit, please make that 17 years.

I agree, most Maruti workshops are immensely incompetent these days. Atleast in cities I've experienced, like NCR, most mechanics don't know how to properly bleed a brake/clutch system. Forget anything else.