[rajeevsulu]

That is a beautiful car and a beautiful find. My uncle owned a red Sierra back in the day. The Sierra was and is a looker.

Many congratulations and enjoy your buy.

Cheers

[shankar.balan]

Tata Sierra was always a head turner right from the first time I ever set eyes on it, in 1989-1990 in New Delhi. It used to cost 4 or 4.5 lacs those days. Well out of reach for most folks.
There are a couple which I keep seeing. This white one and one more, painted bright red. Both seem to be ‘in use’.

[extreme_torque]

Sierra is my childhood car crush. I remember the DC modified Sierra Karma in the Pepsi advertisement with shahrukh khan and there was nothing that I wanted more at the time.

And that Sierra advertisement, taking rough with the smooth, still remains one of the best auto commerical ever. Looking forward to the rest of restoration. Lucky duck!

[Vinod_nair]

Congratulations Rishabh for this barn find.

Tata Sierra was well ahead of time, look at the butch stance, and the tailgate mounted spare, drool stuff. Ratan Tata had arrived, as @ringoism rightly mentioned, nothing can go wrong with these simple timeless engineered machine.

Glued to your thread for updates.

Edit: would love to have a look at the passenger seat and the mechanism, keep it and get it upholstered well.

[ruzbehxyz]

Congratulations Rishabh for the wonderful buy. It’s a collectors delight. Most SUV lovers and kids of the 90s remember this icon and had a crush on it. I too loved this one. The look was ahead of its time. Enjoy it !

[123.rishabh]

Originally Posted by avira_tk

Great find and wish you all the best restoring it, the car brings back great memories of going to school in comfort. My uncle owned one and boy, it was wonderful, comfortable and reliable. The open glass made the climb up to Coonoor a really memorable experience.

The original softroader, decades ahead of the pack, too bad Tata gave up on it. The night drives were less stressful with the (then) unique high set driving position.

Thanks for the wishes avira_tk.

Originally Posted by sanyog26

Many congratulations to you Rishabh on this rare find.

Although my family has never owned a Sierra, but I used to admire the car a lot in my childhood days here in Delhi. One of our neighbours, a police officer, used to own one in white shade. Unable to recollect whether it was NA or turbo.

Always had this dream of owning a Tata SUV one day. In 2004 when we were upgrading from a Ford Ikon to a SUV, we briefly considered a Tata Safari, but somehow my father chose the Mahindra Scorpio, which served us for almost 3.5 years and we had to sell it off as it developed a lot of niggles post 2 years of ownership.

Would love to see a Sierra in flesh one day, to relive the childhood dream once.

Thanks Sanyog26, ill surely invite you over once the restoration is complete.

Originally Posted by rajeevsulu

That is a beautiful car and a beautiful find. My uncle owned a red Sierra back in the day. The Sierra was and is a looker.

Many congratulations and enjoy your buy.

Cheers

Thanks rajeevsulu, back in the day I saw most of the Sierra in white, red was comparatively a rare sight on the road.

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

Tata Sierra was always a head turner right from the first time I ever set eyes on it, in 1989-1990 in New Delhi. It used to cost 4 or 4.5 lacs those days. Well out of reach for most folks.
There are a couple which I keep seeing. This white one and one more, painted bright red. Both seem to be ‘in use’.

@shankar.balan, It surely was a head turner, even as on date 3 people have approached the workshop where the car is present, asking if it is available for sale .
The one in your picture has a pretty good functional mod in the front, the Octavia MK1 headlights should be really useful at night, not very sure about the rear WagonR lights though.

Originally Posted by extreme_torque

Sierra is my childhood car crush. I remember the DC modified Sierra Karma in the Pepsi advertisement with shahrukh khan and there was nothing that I wanted more at the time.

And that Sierra advertisement, taking rough with the smooth, still remains one of the best auto commerical ever. Looking forward to the rest of restoration. Lucky duck!

@Extreme_torque, Yes I remember the Pepsi ad in which Shahrukh Khan was there with some actress and trying to mess around with a dog and finally manages to get the can and the keys remain with the dog outside the DC Sierra.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0RLSzgdFOU

The OG Telco & Tata motors advertisements have always been favorites of many. The rough with the smooth was the one for the pre facelift cars. I also love the Sierra Turbo ad "Its not owned, Its Possessed" That's how every petrol head would dream to park their cars like

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNzrnEdcB_A

Originally Posted by Vinod_nair

Congratulations Rishabh for this barn find.

Tata Sierra was well ahead of time, look at the butch stance, and the tailgate mounted spare, drool stuff. Ratan Tata had arrived, as @ringoism rightly mentioned, nothing can go wrong with these simple timeless engineered machine.

Glued to your thread for updates.

Edit: would love to have a look at the passenger seat and the mechanism, keep it and get it upholstered well.

@Vinod_nair, Thanks for the kind words, I will post the detailed pics of the seat once we start with the interior upholstery work.
Have received an old review thanks to BHPian @Sidindica, which shows pics of both the NA & Turbo Sierra's interiors, will be using the same theme for the interior restoration. Just incase someone has any more interior pics of the original car, request you all to kindly post on the thread.

Originally Posted by ruzbehxyz

Congratulations Rishabh for the wonderful buy. It’s a collectors delight. Most SUV lovers and kids of the 90s remember this icon and had a crush on it. I too loved this one. The look was ahead of its time. Enjoy it !

@ruzbehxyz, Thank you, the Sierra will surely be appreciated more in the times to come.

[123.rishabh]

I have started the mechanical restoration of the vehicle and will be writing about it in detail in two parts.

Mechanical Restoration Part 1.

Went to my old Tata authorised service station (Delta motors, now Arya motors) in Gurgaon, who took care of my Safari for 11 years.
They used to have a 95-96 model white Sierra NA till 2018 which was used as a service support cum tow vehicle and was capable of towing Dicors & Stormes.
Met my advisor and he called a few warehouses and confirmed that none of the parts of the Sierra were available in and around the area.

Then I went back, opened the parts and took the samples to the basic service parts to my trusted aftermarket parts dealer.
Service was carried out with the following parts

1. Oil Filter : Did not find a Tata genuine part, instead found a Mahindra genuine oil filter of the exact same size and spec belonging to the old Scorpio.

2.Engine Oil : Went for the old and trusted Mobil Delvac MX 15W40
(7.5L bucket, already used the same in my Safari Dicor 2.2)

3.Diesel Filter : Removed the old Purolator dual paper cartridge filters and replaced with a new pair of Delphi ones.




4. Air Filter : Initially nothing was available in Gurgaon so had to give the sample of the old filter to my trusted parts dealer and planned to wait for 4-5 days before the new one arrived.


5. Timing Belt : There was no marking / part number on the timing belt, so we counted the number of teeth and started to find a belt with exact same no of teeth. I was very particular about getting a fresh manufactured belt as rubber degrades over time and it would have been a risky part if it was older than 3-4 years.
Luckily we found a 2024 manufactured Tata Genuine part which had the same no of teeth and belonged to a Tata Ace.



Meanwhile we carried out the service and my mechanic put a thick cloth in the Air intake hose to avoid any dust going inside till the new filter arrived and parked the car.


The next day he also changed the timing belt, found the tensioners in a decent shape (will also change these in the future as i find them) and informed me about the same.


I came to the workshop the very next day and directly sat inside the car and cranked it. It took a slightly longer crank (Normally starts in half of it) and suddenly started to make some abnormal noise (As if one cylinder stopped working) and I suddenly shut the engine down.
Opened the engine bay and realized that I forgot there was a cloth in the air intake pipe and the car had sucked the same .
Thankfully no damage was done, we had to open the complete air intake piping along with the intake manifold to pull out the stuck cloth in the upper block. If this was a turbo, It would definitely have done something bad to the turbo blades.


After all this, I made a comprehensive list of parts which need changing and have ordered it from 3 different vendors in MP & MH.
The list is as follows
Mechanical :
Front Suspension Bush Kit (18 No)
Rear Suspension Bush Kit (10 No)
Bonnet rubber stoppers (6 No)
Engine Mounts (2 No)
Gearbox Mount (1 No)
Timing Belt Plastic Cover
Coolant Reservoir & Cap
Windshield Washer Reservoir & Cap
V Belt
Toothed Fan Belt

Cosmetic :
Rear Spare Wheel Vinyl Cover (with Sierra Cursive Font) already received, pic below
Telco Sport Export Spec Wheel Covers (4 Nos)
ORVM (2 No)
Front Door weather strips (2 No)
Fender Indicators (2 No)
Tail Lamp (2 No)
Headlamp (1 RHS) : The reflector is rusted in my car, will try to use the reflector of the new lamp in the old original Lumax STANLEY JAPAN headlamp housing
Roof Plastic beadings (2 No)
ABC Pedal rubbers (3 No)
Gear knob boot
Inside upper plastic trims on doors
Tailgate outside door handle

Need to source these parts which i am still searching
1. All 4 wheel well claddings (The rear ones are not in perfect shape)
2. LHS rear bumper corner (Wont mind buying it for both sides if available)
3. LHS Number plate lamp (Its slightly broken, works well)
4. OE or Similar looking Mud Flaps (4 No)
5. New emblems (All of them are intact but need to see if i can restore the paint on these)

Basis fitment of the above parts, will check what more is required.

Meanwhile i removed the grill ornaments and the hood emblem and gave them a nice clean, planning to keep it this way since it is original and in a pretty decent shape for the age.

BEFORE


AFTER



Here is a pic of the spare wheel cover


Will keep updating in the Part 2, here is a shot of the 2 head turners from different eras waiting for their respective parts. (Cayenne S V8 waiting for a coolant pump)

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by 123.rishabh

I have started the mechanical restoration of the vehicle and will be writing about it in detail in two parts.

Meanwhile i removed the grill ornaments and the hood emblem and gave them a nice clean, planning to keep it this way since it is original and in a pretty decent shape for the age.

Will keep updating in the Part 2, here is a shot of the 2 head turners from different eras waiting for their respective parts. (Cayenne S V8 waiting for a coolant pump)

So happy to see this careful ‘preservation oriented’, ‘sympathetic restoration’.
Would it be possible to scour the scrap markets to get a replacement Tata Engineering emblem?

I will PM you a gentleman’s number - he has a workshop and does a lot of work on restorations and is based in Bhopal/ Indore. He may be able to help/ advise you ref replacement OEM/ after market parts supply.

You can send him a message on WA and mention my reference if you wish.

Good luck!

[Vinod_nair]

Originally Posted by 123.rishabh

I have started the mechanical restoration of the vehicle and will be writing about it in detail in two parts.
here is a shot of the 2 head turners from different eras waiting for their respective parts. (Cayenne S V8 waiting for a coolant pump)

A must visit place for all Jeep and other old vehicles parts and accessories in mayapuri is Khairatilal, he will guide you if not available with him.

Lucky man, has the 2 most diverse vehicles in his garage for restoration.

All the best.

[WhiteSierra]

Originally Posted by 123.rishabh

I have started the mechanical restoration of the vehicle and will be writing about it in detail in two parts.

Mechanical Restoration Part 1.

Hi Rishabh, Congrats on your Sierra restoration, I've been following your thread from beginning and I'm eagerly waiting for the complete restoration process and pictures and videos of the same. I'm currently restoring my 1992 NA Sierra which is also in Red colour and I plan to restore it closer to it's original look. I was looking for that Sierra spare tyre cover, but I couldn't find it anywhere in my city and also couple of TATA authorised spare parts shops in Mumbai, any leads would be highly appreciated, I PM'ed you on the same. Thank you and all the best for complete restoration of your steed.

[BABABOT]

Originally Posted by 123.rishabh

I have started the mechanical restoration of the vehicle and will be writing about it in detail in two parts.

Mechanical Restoration Part 1.

Went to my old Tata authorised service station (Delta motors, now Arya motors) in Gurgaon, who took care of my Safari for 11 years.
They used to have a 95-96 model white Sierra NA till 2018 which was used as a service support cum tow vehicle and was capable of towing Dicors & Stormes.
Met my advisor and he called a few warehouses and confirmed that none of the parts of the Sierra were available in and around the area.

Then I went back, opened the parts and took the samples to the basic service parts to my trusted aftermarket parts dealer.
Service was carried out with the following parts

1. Oil Filter : Did not find a Tata genuine part, instead found a Mahindra genuine oil filter of the exact same size and spec belonging to the old Scorpio.

2.Engine Oil : Went for the old and trusted Mobil Delvac MX 15W40
(7.5L bucket, already used the same in my Safari Dicor 2.2)

3.Diesel Filter : Removed the old Purolator dual paper cartridge filters and replaced with a new pair of Delphi ones.
Attachment 2677029

Attachment 2677028

4. Air Filter : Initially nothing was available in Gurgaon so had to give the sample of the old filter to my trusted parts dealer and planned to wait for 4-5 days before the new one arrived.
Attachment 2677027

5. Timing Belt : There was no marking / part number on the timing belt, so we counted the number of teeth and started to find a belt with exact same no of teeth. I was very particular about getting a fresh manufactured belt as rubber degrades over time and it would have been a risky part if it was older than 3-4 years.
Luckily we found a 2024 manufactured Tata Genuine part which had the same no of teeth and belonged to a Tata Ace.
Attachment 2677033
Attachment 2677032

Meanwhile we carried out the service and my mechanic put a thick cloth in the Air intake hose to avoid any dust going inside till the new filter arrived and parked the car.
Attachment 2677045

The next day he also changed the timing belt, found the tensioners in a decent shape (will also change these in the future as i find them) and informed me about the same.
Attachment 2677048

I came to the workshop the very next day and directly sat inside the car and cranked it. It took a slightly longer crank (Normally starts in half of it) and suddenly started to make some abnormal noise (As if one cylinder stopped working) and I suddenly shut the engine down.
Opened the engine bay and realized that I forgot there was a cloth in the air intake pipe and the car had sucked the same .
Thankfully no damage was done, we had to open the complete air intake piping along with the intake manifold to pull out the stuck cloth in the upper block. If this was a turbo, It would definitely have done something bad to the turbo blades.
Attachment 2677046

After all this, I made a comprehensive list of parts which need changing and have ordered it from 3 different vendors in MP & MH.
The list is as follows
Mechanical :
Front Suspension Bush Kit (18 No)
Rear Suspension Bush Kit (10 No)
Bonnet rubber stoppers (6 No)
Engine Mounts (2 No)
Gearbox Mount (1 No)
Timing Belt Plastic Cover
Coolant Reservoir & Cap
Windshield Washer Reservoir & Cap
V Belt
Toothed Fan Belt

Cosmetic :
Rear Spare Wheel Vinyl Cover (with Sierra Cursive Font) already received, pic below
Telco Sport Export Spec Wheel Covers (4 Nos)
ORVM (2 No)
Front Door weather strips (2 No)
Fender Indicators (2 No)
Tail Lamp (2 No)
Headlamp (1 RHS) : The reflector is rusted in my car, will try to use the reflector of the new lamp in the old original Lumax STANLEY JAPAN headlamp housing
Roof Plastic beadings (2 No)
ABC Pedal rubbers (3 No)
Gear knob boot
Inside upper plastic trims on doors
Tailgate outside door handle

Need to source these parts which i am still searching
1. All 4 wheel well claddings (The rear ones are not in perfect shape)
2. LHS rear bumper corner (Wont mind buying it for both sides if available)
3. LHS Number plate lamp (Its slightly broken, works well)
4. OE or Similar looking Mud Flaps (4 No)
5. New emblems (All of them are intact but need to see if i can restore the paint on these)

Basis fitment of the above parts, will check what more is required.

Meanwhile i removed the grill ornaments and the hood emblem and gave them a nice clean, planning to keep it this way since it is original and in a pretty decent shape for the age.

BEFORE
Attachment 2677051

AFTER
Attachment 2677052
Attachment 2677053

Here is a pic of the spare wheel cover
Attachment 2677054

Will keep updating in the Part 2, here is a shot of the 2 head turners from different eras waiting for their respective parts. (Cayenne S V8 waiting for a coolant pump)

Hi
you seem to be so passionate about this restoration. I liked the way you are so absolutely sure about what you need. I would like to borrow this aspect of yours when I hand over my CJ 4 B to my mechanic for restoration this week.