[vigneshkumar31]

I went through the accessories official Gurkha brochure and it showed two child seats (like the Storme) as an official accessory. Have you seen these in person?

[Manuuj]

Originally Posted by vigneshkumar31

Hi Manuuj.
Tasteful mods brother...Would your mods be restricted to the aesthetics or would you fancy some engine remaps to juice out more ?

Thanks for your kind words. No remap planned for now. I usually never mess with the engine and transmission. Max is suspension or usually aesthetic modifications.

Originally Posted by procrj

I have been following your posts..

Question on the Bi LED fog lamps - is it a direct plug and play?Would help if you can share a pic of the connector and any videos of the lights in action.

Thanks for your kind words buddy! The pics to show the effectiveness of the BI-LED's I did put up just a few posts ago. Don't have a pic of the connector anymore but it was a direct fit. No wires were cut/spliced.

Originally Posted by vigneshkumar31

I went through the accessories official Gurkha brochure and it showed two child seats (like the Storme) as an official accessory. Have you seen these in person?

No brother. Did not see this. Nor have i actually seen these in the official accessories list when i did last see a few weeks before delivery of Asterix came about. Maybe its a new addition.

Speaking of modifications the front Grill was painted today but final finish hasn't been done. It was carried out at Retro Rraps where the Alloys were painted. Once the final finish is done i will post pics of the process and final finish. Had the chrome Gurkha lettering removed and the Khukri Logo i had made was installed. Also installed the GURKHA lettering on the bonnet as planned. Some more trim pieces are yet to be added. The final paint buffing and finish is also pending.

Here are some pics just to give an idea of the look..








This is the Original Grill for comparison.



The modification today may not be to everyones taste but I prefer it to the Original.
Look forward to your comments.

[madbullram]

I always liked Gurkha but never thought of it in my list, if at all it would have been at say 20th place . After reading your journey , it inspired me so much I have requested for a test drive. Been on teambhp for donkeys years but hands down one of the most detailed, passionate, and brilliant write-up I have read. I am even more amazed at Force service , it was just unbelievable. I hope it has changed everywhere and yours was not just a aberration ��

[Spaced Out]

The Gurkha on the bonnet is infinitely preferable to the original. Less is more. I have disliked this trend of giant lettering on the grill. Laughable when seen on something like the Swift.

Originally Posted by Manuuj

The modification today may not be to everyones taste but I prefer it to the Original.
Look forward to your comments.

[behaln]

Many congratulations for Gurkha brother. Equally happy for the tasteful mods you have carried out on the vehicle.
They will become a benchmark standard for the other owners.
Saw your pic of height comparison between Gurkha and Thar on cartorq as well.

[indian21r]

Originally Posted by Manuuj

The modification today may not be to everyones taste but I prefer it to the Original.
Look forward to your comments.

Beautifully done Manuuj.

Force should use your ride for marketing the Gurkha. Only if it had an automatic, the sales would easily be double.

As I already have a Thar, I was just wondering should I go for pre-owned BS4 or the 2021 Gurkha. I will start the search soon.

You remind me of my Friend Krishna from Hyderabad who keeps modding his Thar. That Thar is to Mahindra as how Asterix is to Force.

[vigneshkumar31]

I’m waiting for the latest pics of Asterix with the bonnet lettering

[Manuuj]

Originally Posted by madbullram

I always liked Gurkha but never thought of it in my list, if at all it would have been at say 20th place . After reading your journey , it inspired me so much I have requested for a test drive. Been on teambhp for donkeys years but hands down one of the most detailed, passionate, and brilliant write-up I have read. I am even more amazed at Force service , it was just unbelievable. I hope it has changed everywhere and yours was not just a aberration ��

Thank you for your kind words! Yes Force Motors Sales/Aftersales have both made huge leaps forward from where they were at one time.

Originally Posted by Spaced Out

The Gurkha on the bonnet is infinitely preferable to the original. Less is more. I have disliked this trend of giant lettering on the grill. Laughable when seen on something like the Swift.

Thank you! I completely agree with you! More work on the Grill being done today since we weren't satisfied with the way it was looking.

Originally Posted by behaln

Many congratulations for Gurkha brother. Equally happy for the tasteful mods you have carried out on the vehicle.
They will become a benchmark standard for the other owners.
Saw your pic of height comparison between Gurkha and Thar on cartorq as well.

Thank you so much! Yes, thanks to fellow Bhpian Adityadean i was able to see it too. I am glad people are getting an idea of what size the Gurkha is. In stand alone pics it difficult to tell the true size of it.

Originally Posted by indian21r

Beautifully done Manuuj.

Force should use your ride for marketing the Gurkha. Only if it had an automatic, the sales would easily be double.

As I already have a Thar, I was just wondering should I go for pre-owned BS4 or the 2021 Gurkha. I will start the search soon.

You remind me of my Friend Krishna from Hyderabad who keeps modding his Thar. That Thar is to Mahindra as how Asterix is to Force.

Do take a test drive of the Gurkha. Just want you to sit inside and have a feel of the Gurkha. Then decide yourself Thank you so much for your kind words! Much appreciated!

In other news the Grill modification work should finally be completed today. What I had posted before was a just for a trial look.

The real deal will debut tommorow.

The best part is thanks to Ricky at Retro Rraps I don't have to answer that dreaded question anymore: "What does 4x4x4 stand for?"

[sivasiva]

Manuj ji,

It's really amazing to see the GURKHA being showered with such attention .The mods done are very subtle and add to the looks of Astreix. After reading your post, i am scanning the roads daily, always on the look out for some pug marks of Gurkha in my routes. Planning to visit a Force dealer shortly to see one in "live".

Looking forward to more updates.

[Manuuj]

A few weeks before Asterix was delivered i was busy trying to figure out what to do with the front Grill as i did not like the unpainted grill with bold chrome lettering that said GURKHA.

I really preferred the earlier grill of the 2019 Extreme. Now i was aware there was no way to swap them as the lines and fitting were completely different.



My idea was to paint the Grill in body color and make a center Logo with the Khukri inplace of the F that was used in the earlier Gurkha. The name was going to be moved to the bonnet, as started by Land Rover and then copied by many cars nowdays (and now by yours truly as well.)

So I went to an Acrylic sign maker for designing and making the Logo's and the Gurkha lettering sometime in mid November.



This is the size and thickness of letters which are self adhesive using 3M tape.









The Bonnet lettering looked good and we moved on to the center Logo for the grill.
I had them made in a few sizes but initially preferred the 5 inch diameter logo which was made up in two parts.
A lower disc wrapped in faux Carbon Fiber and the upper "Silver Khukri in Ring" which would sit on top of the 5 inch diameter disc.





The final Logo Mock up.



Once the Logo and Lettering was made we went and took delivery of Asterix and bought him home. Asterix was then taken to Ricky at Retro Rraps who did such a brilliant job with the Alloy Wheels paint job earlier.

Grill was removed and we realised that the GURKHA lettering was riveted in. These were removed one by one and then the letters also removed carefully using a squeegee.







Ofcourse this left unsightly holes which were covered up.



The Grill was made smooth with zero grit sandpaper and then a base coat was applied. Then the Grill was painted and baked in the Paint booth at 45 degree Celsius and left to dry under the heat of a very effective Infra Red Lamp.







The Lettering and Grill was laid out for a look and at first it looked good on the table..



Once we applied the 5 inch diameter logo to the painted grill though it was quite anticlimactic.There wasn't the improvement in looks we had hoped for. Infact it wasn't looking too butch at all. The looks were now closer to the Tata Sumo!





The GURKHA letters were applied to the bonnet and yet the look did not gel. No one at home also really loved the new look.



It was back to Retro Rraps again after just one day. Ricky thought that the grill paint needed to be matched up a little more also as he wasn't happy with the results of the first spray.

Thus we started again. Removed the 5 inch center khukri logo and sanding down the paint. Then paint matching was done and the entire grill was resprayed once again and the entire process repeated.

We then wrapped the Center Bar of the Grill in Matte Black Avery Dennison wrap and applied a smaller Carbon Fiber wrapped Disc with a Silver Khukri.

Suddenly it all came together today and now I am actually very pleased with the results. The "Tata Sumo look" is now gone and we are back in the realms of the butch Gurkha design language.

Here is the final result of my month long exertion!









Look forward to your comments!

[madbullram]

Loved the look, may be you can try say 20% bigger logo plate? Currently, doesn't it look 2 size too small?

[digitalnirvana]

I absolutely love Asterix and I'm hooked to this thread Manuuj!


Regarding the grille, could you try adding a mesh painted in carbon black to the grille? Similar to the 2019 Extreme edition?

If you do decide to stick to the Khukri logo, I find the new logo a tad too small. The older bigger one actually looks nice.

[PhantomLord]

Originally Posted by Manuuj

The GURKHA letters were applied to the bonnet and yet the look did not gel. No one at home also really loved the new look.

Attachment 2243876

This one looks good, just loose GURKHA on bonnet and may be better kukri logo

[Dry Ice]

The letters on the bonnet look fabulous!

Grill - I would personally get rid of the middle bar, paint the mesh black and add the previous logo (bigger one) directly on the mesh. But hey, I would be fine with the stock look as well. So, if this is what pleases you, that’s all that matters.

With all the mods now out of the way, go chase down that snow storm! All the best!

[Comrade]

I actually like the bigger logo to the smaller one. The new one is too small for the car. Agree with Dry Ice. remove the middle bar and add a mesh grille in matt black?