[bigman]

Any ideas will be welcome...Any idea of what could be the cost of a decent paint job without removing the body from the chasis?

Its not much of a job to remove the body tub from the chassis. I would be inclined to give the chassis a good clean then paint that as well, then mount the tub on the chassis before painting that. Is there any reason you do nto want to do the chassis. Everyone will tell you it is in very good condition and like brand new but as you are doing everything else it is pointless skimping on this.

My MM550s paintjob cost RS14,000 but that included them doing any welding/repairs and the chassis was cleaned , rust coated then sprayed black in that price as well.

[4x4 loaded]

Originally Posted by bigman

Its not much of a job to remove the body tub from the chassis. I would be inclined to give the chassis a good clean then paint that as well, then mount the tub on the chassis before painting that. Is there any reason you do nto want to do the chassis. Everyone will tell you it is in very good condition and like brand new but as you are doing everything else it is pointless skimping on this.

Thanks for the reply Bigman. My mechanic was wondering how to keep the body after it is removed from the chasis...I am talking about the B-pillar which cannot be kept upside down. He was suggesting me to have the under body painted in a service station where they would use the same technique to sprinkle paint just like water...can anybody tell me how to keep the tub after removing from the chasis without harming the B-pillar. It has already been put back in shape.

[bigman]

My tub was just sat on some old tyres. It kept it off the floor and the chassis work was not a very long process so the tub was soon back on the chassis. You can change the tub mounting bushes as well at the same time. To paint the underside they can rest the tub on its side or upside down, again they can use placement of old tyres to prop the tub up in the right areas so they are not loading any area too much.

[4x4 loaded]

Originally Posted by bigman

My tub was just sat on some old tyres. It kept it off the floor and the chassis work was not a very long process so the tub was soon back on the chassis. You can change the tub mounting bushes as well at the same time. To paint the underside they can rest the tub on its side or upside down, again they can use placement of old tyres to prop the tub up in the right areas so they are not loading any area too much.

Thanks for the idea Bigman. Are the body mounting kit for MM550 available in original. I had searched a lot in Calcutta. None of the Mahindra authorised dealer, stockist or even the service centers could source me the original. All they have are local made.So I decided to keep the originals which are already in the jeep as they still have enough life left in them.

[harjeev]

changing the body mountings is a good idea as you never know when you might do it again or will get a chance to do it. and they do not cost alot.
Also it would help alot in the long run to completely remove the bodytub and undercoat the underside with anti rust coating. This will greatly increase the life of the tub.

[4x4 loaded]

Yes Harjeev i am aware of the body mounting kit but the issue is.....

Originally Posted by 4x4 loaded

... Are the body mounting kit for MM550 available in original. I had searched a lot in Calcutta. None of the Mahindra authorised dealer, stockist or even the service centers could source me the original. All they have are local made.....

[bigman]

My dad tried to source some original bush and could not even get them from a Mahindra dealer. The ones you could get in the market were poor quality. I am told that Range Rover classic bush are very similar but give the vehicle a very minor raise (mm). I am going to source some of these in UK and use these.

[4x4 loaded]

Hello all,

The work has been going a bit slow lately as I was busy with some work. The following works were done:

1. The pipes were fitted to the B-pillar to give it a neat rollbar look and also to strengthen it. The dentor suggested to cut the B-pillar joint as per the pipe's diameter and then fix the pipe on to it. I asked him not to cut the B-pillar joint and instead slit the pipe so that the joint could be set into it. A small plate was also fixed on the B-pillar. The pipe was then fitted on to it.(Pic#1)

[4x4 loaded]

....contd. from the previous post.

2. The tailgate was damaged. The top pipe on the gate was broken but was taken care superbly. A small pipe will be inserted into the top pipe. (Pic# 4)

3. Selecting the right backlight gave us a hard time as we did not want to cut the body-joint at the back (Pic# 5). We bought the Indicab backlights that comes in a set of three- red, yellow, white. We will only fit the red and yellow as there wont be anymore space left for the white after fitting the grab rail.

4. The scrapping of the old paint has been started. (Pic# 7). Right now its completely scrapped off.

We are going to put the soft top on a scissor type setup in the American style which is being designed by Uday Sir at his work shop. It will be ready by tomorrow. Once its fitted with the correct angle (which is a bit tough in an MM550 ) we will start off with painting.

[Kandisa]

Nice to see the update Saikat. IMHO, it would have been better to fabricate a slant inverted U type of front portion for the roll cage in stead of fixing up the rear portion on to the b-piller like this. Post some pics of your soft top when its complete.
-regards,

[Parm]

i dont know if you can still do this or not>>

i think a roll bar under the pillar B would have been a safer bet instead of welding the two side bars into the pillar B itself!

you should never weld a rollbar into the body, it should always be welded into an iron plate and the plate should be screwed into the bodyparts!

[4x4 loaded]

Originally Posted by Kandisa

Nice to see the update Saikat. IMHO, it would have been better to fabricate a slant inverted U type of front portion for the roll cage in stead of fixing up the rear portion on to the b-piller like this. Post some pics of your soft top when its complete.
-regards,

Originally Posted by Parm

i dont know if you can still do this or not>>
i think a roll bar under the pillar B would have been a safer bet instead of welding the two side bars into the pillar B itself!

you should never weld a rollbar into the body, it should always be welded into an iron plate and the plate should be screwed into the bodyparts!

Thanks for the suggestion guys...we were unware that roll bars should be screwed and not directly welded to the body.

However erecting a roll bar under the B-Pillar was not possible because the seats will be fitted in the same area. Giving space to the roll bar means the seats will have to be moved inwards, closer to each other. We have front facing seats at the back. So the only access to the back will be between the two front seats. We will have to fit the seats a bit away from each other (outwards) from their original position to make the way to the backseat easier. For guys like us it wouldnt have been a problem. But sometimes we will take our family in the jeep and for them it would be extremely difficult to get in. Moreover the the rear door wil be completely inaccessible when we open the softtop and fold the scissor frame at the back. Pic # 1 shows the original position of the seats, hope that makes it clear now.

The other option was to position the rollbar behind the B-Pillar area. The B-pillar looks to be inclined towards the front as it moves up. That means making a straight rollbar along it creats an angle that gives a messy look which we didn't want. Look at Pic # 2.

So we decided to give it a roll bar look (but not actually a roll bar) however it did reinforce the B-pillar...what says guys?

Kandisa, I will definitely upload the Pics as and when the progress is there.

Regards...Saikat

[4x4 loaded]

Hello all,

Need some suggestions:

The front bumper was bent at places at the time we purchased the jeep. The extensions of the bumper at both the sides were a bit outwards. (Pic# 1).
Later on after the Bumper and the extensions were straightened, it now has a very small gap between tyre and the extension. If I put new set of tyres specially Sandgrip or similar one then surely the tyre is going to hit the bumper extension during the slightest articulation.

Can somebody please suggest what can done about this? What could be the possible reason for this? The last picture is Tarkesh's Jeep ( http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/4x4-ve...my-spec-9.html)... where the gap seems to be allright. Please Suggest.

Regards...Saikat

[bigman]

You should be able to buy a new front bumper quite easily. I had mine replaced as it was in poor condition. Some people take those little extensions off as well, so that is another option.

[Ricky_3007]

Dear Saikat,

I think Satnam has made a good point. You can remove those extentions.

Tarkesh