[ringoism]

Originally Posted by vivekdewanta

On the same incline a 4WD Bolero with 4.88 without accelerator struggles or stall. Even gypsy fails on that incline, not sure which ratio does Gypsy got...

Once I remember accidentally I put almost a litre of gasoline (petrol) inside the gas tank. And surprisingly Marshal never stalled or created any problems, maybe she was happy though.

Bolero DI 4x4, like Thar DI, came fitted with 3.73:1. And turbo DI might have just a bit less grunt down low than the NA Marshal. BS4 definitely less. Not sure where you saw 4.88's. I drove old Commander/Armada with 5.38:1, they are not IMO tenable at this point even for hill highways. We are not bumping along town to town at 25 or even 40kmph anymore.

Gypsies are great off-roaders but have no low-end grunt, they require some rpms to get along, can't idle up gradients as we can, and weren't designed to.

As for a bit of petrol in the mix, believe it or not Mercedes at one time recommended this for easier starting in winter.

And yes, have thought through /researched every possible upgrade to ours and wouldn't change anything at this point other than maybe hang a turbo on it, already have most of the hardware on hand, a pretty easy upgrade that even with stock pump slightly re-tuned would net me some more midrange pull.

With the 31" tyres it's pretty ok at 85-90kmph on the highway now, low-end pull still more than I've ever needed (all the more in 4x4 low range), so "if it ain't broke, don't try and fix it".

Marshal may not have been built for highways, but two decades later, improved roads are part of our subcontinental reality. A 5-speed gb could be adapted, but there are issues/compromises/costs there with no need of discussing now.

-Eric

[BlackBeard]

Originally Posted by ringoism

And yes, have thought through /researched every possible upgrade to ours and wouldn't change anything at this point other than maybe hang a turbo on it, already have most of the hardware on hand, a pretty easy upgrade that even with stock pump slightly re-tuned would net me some more midrange pull.

Congratulations on the very detailed thread regarding your vehicle & upgrades on it. I have been following it for a few years now.

Have/Did you ever consider installing a auto-locker/LSD in your vehicle?

I found some interesting info in the below link:

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/4x4-v...light=MM540XD& (My MM540XD upgrade)

[ringoism]

Originally Posted by BlackBeard

Have/Did you ever consider installing a auto-locker/LSD in your vehicle?

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/4x4-v...light=MM540XD& (My MM540XD upgrade)

Wow, second time this question came up recently.

Yes, have considered. But consensus in various "snow belt" forums abroad is that they're a bad idea on ice/snow, tending to make handling dangerous and unpredictable. And the main reason we personally own a 4x4 is for snow.

A selectable locker like Gurkha's would be great.

But I'm going to focus upgrade efforts on the Getaway now, and for that, I'd prefer a LSD to an auto-locker, so long as we remain in snowy regions. If we shift to Mizoram later, an auto-locker would be fine.

All options are a little expensive and considering what challenging situations we've sometimes been in, and how rarely we've been stuck even with open diffs, I'm not sure about the cost/benefit ratio in our case.

-Eric

[ringoism]

I have finally put up a classified ad here on Team-Bhp. Been thinking intermittently of selling the beloved Marshal for some time now, but with Getaway increasingly sorted and a couple years of RC/fitness/tax remaining on the Marshal's papers, now seemed a good time. Car continues to be regularly used, even daily recently, as it has been better-suited to the crowded bazar in tourist season, and also to the unpaved, steep, loose link road I was having to negotiate every morning from the wholesale market back to our home. Yes, this crossing is also there, the car handles it all brilliantly / effortlessly:



Other than the annual insurance fee, car presents very little ongoing cost of ownership, and I/we have wavered a bit on the question of letting it go: It is simpler, more maneuverable, and more efficient to run vs. Getaway, gets more attention and parked roadside even serves well as a good landmark for guests / delibery personnel!!!

It would be easy enough to just drive it out and keep in in Mizoram for use during our annual visits out there; if that allowed us to subsequently come in by rail, net savings could be substantial vs. driving there and back each time.

BUT it seems right to offer it to someone else to enjoy for awhile, assuming we can get a decent price for it.

Am hoping I won't regret it. Besides an offer closer to home, have had a couple of inquiries from members further South over the past day or two.

Diesel bans and limited renewals are a concern for many enthusiasts these days, but the way I see it, something 23 years old might currently be a safer bet than something 13 - or perhaps even eight years old... Specifically due to some mention in the previous update of the Motor Vehicle Act of the necessity of creating legal provisions for the ongoing registration of vintage and classic cars.

By most existing definitions outside India, it's the 25 year mark that qualifies a vehicle for such special qualifications and provisions under the Law. Which could end up soon qualifying this one to be run - at least within particular guidelines - pretty much indefinitely.

-Eric

[ringoism]

Originally Posted by ringoism

I have finally put up a classified ad here on Team-Bhp. Been thinking intermittently of selling the beloved Marshal for some time now... it seems right to offer it to someone else to enjoy for awhile...

As of this past Saturday, the good old Marshal is gone, having been sold to a party from Arunachal who saw the ad here in the classifieds, and flew in to purchase and drive it back home.

I sincerely hope he'll join Team-Bhp and write of some experiences as good as what we've enjoyed in that wonderful old vehicle! A 2,500km cross-country trip with a couple of his friends across the north of the subcontinent at the beginning of his ownership ought to be a good start! The one last dream I'd had was to drive this car out to the Northeast via the length of Nepal - something that will never come to pass for us, but that could be left for them to accomplish.

My younger son cried the evening before and again the morning of the sale. We all felt it inside, it's been such an integral part of our family life for 12 years. Very sad to see it go, but the time seemed right, and as we watched it drive off and disappear around that final bend, I can say I had a peace about it.

It helped considerably that this person into whose care we were transferring it struck us as a genuinely great guy who's happy to have found it and appreciates it for what it is. A mature man of retirement age, he had driven such vehicles back in the day, and knew what he was getting himself into. He took the wherl from the Bhuntar airport to Manali, and seemed to become comfortable with the old beast in short order.

He had, moreover, been patient when I temporarily wavered on the question of whether to go through with the sale, didn't haggle on price, and even brought along an assortment of premium chocolates to help console our grieving kids...

In terms of sheer distances covered, the Getaway has probably done more in the past 1.5 years than the Marshal had in the past dozen - and with much greater comfort / speed. That said, it will never match this older Mahindra in terms of rugged simplicity, manoverability, eye-catching vintage style, overall character, off-road prowess, or - despite its advanced electronics - even in fuel efficiency...

But cars almost universally represent compromises. The Marshal was clearly biased towards bumping along country roads and horrible village tracks in as frugal and rugged a manner as possible - as such it has proved perfect for our local uses and touring in these hills; And its new owner should surely find it equally suitable for intended uses in and around his farm.

We feel so blessed to have been able to own both of these great, capable, versatile, sturdy vehicles.

The Getaway was supposed to have been a replacement, but we realize now that NOTHING can truly replace this Marshal - OUR Marshal - the one our family has grown up in, commuted in, gone for picnics in, carried countless friends and neighbors in, and enjoyed so many wonderful adventures in.

So we simply move on for now, and gratefully.

-Eric

[svsantosh]

Originally Posted by ringoism

As of this past Saturday, the good old Marshal is gone, having been sold .........

It is only fitting the Old and the New are captured next to each other!! The Real Passage of Time here...

Will be missed.

[vivekdewanta]

Originally Posted by ringoism

As of this past Saturday, the good old Marshal is gone, having been sold to a party from Arunachal who saw the ad here in the classifieds, and flew in to purchase and drive it back home.

Attachment 2643936

Instead of selling you could have kept it as a memory for your future generations. Maybe they would have restore it and motor act rules could have changed by then, who knows the future.
I'm still keeping my Marshal from 1998 in my garage as my army retired Grand parents gifts. I learned driving in that vehicle only. Now it's without document but it still runs well.

[ringoism]

Originally Posted by svsantosh

It is only fitting the Old and the New are captured next to each other!! The Real Passage of Time here...

Will be missed.

Brother, you've been along on our ride for a long time - I believe I'll maintain this old profile pic indefinitely as you have also inspiringly done, as an ode to a very good time in our lives and the car that helped it all happen.

Thanks!

[vivekdewanta]

Originally Posted by ringoism

Brother, you've been along on our ride for a long time - I believe I'll maintain this old profile pic indefinitely as you have also inspiringly done, as an ode to a very good time in our lives and the car that helped it all happen.

Thanks!

Moreover I'm also keeping one of your Marshal photograph which I always loved, as a memory.
Recently I also got some time to take out my Marshal in sun and rain. It's not the best picture but it is what it is.

[ringoism]

Originally Posted by vivekdewanta

Moreover I'm also keeping one of your Marshal photograph which I always loved, as a memory.
Recently I also got some time to take out my Marshal in sun and rain. It's not the best picture but it is what it is.

It's one of my favorite pics, too - so thanks. The other is owned by Bhpian Vikrant, and has also been recently sold. Both of us got what we felt were good prices for them, and I've seen a couple other modified units offered in the 5L range in the past year or two. So I think their rarity (in 4x4) and renown are beginning to make them more desirable, something I'd always hoped would happen. In retrospect despite all the challenges early on, I feel we chose well - as did the new owner - and would say these deserve whatever recognition they get.

Yours looks like a nice, untouched original, which is getting harder to find as time goes on. I am sincerely hoping that the H.P. Gov ceases from this incredibly stupid, mindless, counterproductive and politically self-defeating plan of forcibly scrapping all 15+ year old vehicles. Granted they get a couple lakhs' tax revenue on every new car sale, but it is definitely not going to measurably affect air pollution levels (which are relatively low in H.P., more so in remoter districts), and will put a great many middle-class families in hardship.

Being there in Shimla, you ought to initiate a petition. Or maybe start selling "Don't Scrap Me" stickers for the back windows of cars! What is needed is a sincere, heartfelt, fact and science-based public appeal against wild and unaccountable ideas put forth by officials who are either self-serving or clueless.

A LOT of people are expressing these thoughts on the street, but I don't know that anyone is making their voices heard at higher levels.

Back to happier themes, I wonder if out in Pathankot or elsewhere you'd still be able to find a Dana 44 19-spline LSD from an Army 550. Being a 4x2, it might provide that extra little forward push in situations where a drive wheel is losing grip.

-Eric

[vivekdewanta]

Originally Posted by ringoism

Back to happier themes, I wonder if out in Pathankot or elsewhere you'd still be able to find a Dana 44 19-spline LSD from an Army 550. Being a 4x2, it might provide that extra little forward push in situations where a drive wheel is losing grip.

-Eric

Well, I have already procured the axles 2 years back from 550 NGCS but couldn't get time to install and test it down the track. Hopefully will be doing the installation by the end of this year, before the winter falls.
Since it doesn't have the documentation any more so have to hammer it in my own garage. Installing the gearbox and transfer case back then took almost 3 days. As these 550 differentials are NGCS with disc brakes, whereas mine is all 4 drum brakes and small brake booster, so have to work on brakes as well. Moreover have to arrange the rims from 139 to 160 PCD overall it's a lot of work still pending.

[ringoism]

Originally Posted by vivekdewanta

Well, I have already procured the axles 2 years back from 550 NGCS but couldn't get time to install and test it down the track. Hopefully will be doing the installation by the end of this year, before the winter falls.
Since it doesn't have the documentation any more so have to hammer it in my own garage. Installing the gearbox and transfer case back then took almost 3 days. As these 550 differentials are NGCS with disc brakes, whereas mine is all 4 drum brakes and small brake booster, so have to work on brakes as well. Moreover have to arrange the rims from 139 to 160 PCD overall it's a lot of work still pending.

Not SO much work really, you'll arrive there if you get going and persist.

It's going to be a very nice transformation when complete.

Pedal effort was a bit high, but small booster worked ok with front discs for us. Rims are everywhere, that PCD used on so many vehicles. Ours were Safari, they take ₹3000/set for these in our part of H.P.

I always wanted that offset rear "pumpkin" (as the Yanks call it), it has its benefit in deeper ruts / higher center ridges.

You may be one of the only ones (or the only one) left with a Marshal on Team-bhp now.

-Eric

[BlackBeard]

Originally Posted by vivekdewanta

Well, I have already procured the axles 2 years back from 550 NGCS but couldn't get time to install and test it down the track. Hopefully will be doing the installation by the end of this year, before the winter falls.
Since it doesn't have the documentation any more so have to hammer it in my own garage. Installing the gearbox and transfer case back then took almost 3 days. As these 550 differentials are NGCS with disc brakes, whereas mine is all 4 drum brakes and small brake booster, so have to work on brakes as well. Moreover have to arrange the rims from 139 to 160 PCD overall it's a lot of work still pending.

Originally Posted by ringoism

Not SO much work really, you'll arrive there if you get going and persist.

It's going to be a very nice transformation when complete.

Pedal effort was a bit high, but small booster worked ok with front discs for us. Rims are everywhere, that PCD used on so many vehicles. Ours were Safari, they take ₹3000/set for these in our part of H.P.

I always wanted that offset rear "pumpkin" (as the Yanks call it), it has its benefit in deeper ruts / higher center ridges.

Very interesting to see some 4x4 DIY modification work, Eric of course I have been following your posts for more than a decade, long before joining TBHP, very informative and engaging, thanks.

Something similar was done in the below thread in 2008/09, NGCS differentials on a pre NGCS chassis MM540XD with steering upgrade, later on the front brakes were upgraded to discs so obviously the pedals changed (clutch, brake), maybe this helps.

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/4x4-v...pgrade-18.html (My MM540XD upgrade)