[wanderernomad]

After a whole month of redoing some of the mods like rear Ac vents and side foot rails, now I am planning a roof top platform to carry goods and a lean to all built in. The basic frame work is ready and will be up in a day or two. Rest of the work will be undertaken during the October when a canvas support bag and the basic structure for a lean to will be added. Will be taking it to Mhow on vacation and what better way than to spend the vacation working on your wheels.

There are roof racks available ready made but they do not serve the purpose I ahve in mind and hence the fabrication of even the roof rack platform has been done in house.

[wanderernomad]

Basic roof rack in place. Now the fabrication of the canvas bag will start. Meanwhile finished the installation of the mood lights in the car as the initial idea of using the lights as puddle lamps flopped. The lights LEDs have been installed in the front foot wells behind the dash and beneath the front seats to illuminate the rear foot wells.

[wanderernomad]

Completed an arduous journey of about 2500 Kms from New Delhi to Mhow and back with some local places like Omkareshwar, Maheshwar thrown in. The more i drive this car the more i fall in love with it. This is one car that has totally changed my view from the time I bought it to the present day. Awesome speeds, excellent ride comfort. The roads were some of the worst I ahve driven on and yet she handled them with aplomb. There were sore points as well like the lost RHS front fog lamp. Imagine the darn thing just fell off!!
And now a new one is costing a cool 2.5K along with the holding cover!! Talk about VFM from TATA. A local one is costing around 500 but am yet to decide. Maybe Ill go check Mayapuri if I get lucky. Will post a detailed driving report from the cars point of view soon. Updates are that the roof rack luggage bag is complete and has acres of space, sturdy and looks good, too. Take a look -

[wanderernomad]

A biker broke the RHS ORVm on Saturday.The after market ones are totally black in colour and do not have space for the chrome insert. Will have to think about how to go about it now.

[ashthedivx]

You can paste up a chrome sticker upon the black casing, if nothing works out.

[wanderernomad]

Let me get it painted the body colour first. Since its plastic Ill try to force fix the chrome insert with screws from the inside. Otherwise, Ill use a chrome sticker to hide the screw holes as well.

[wanderernomad]

Lost another tyre, extensive damage to the side wall. One thing is for sure it didnot hit any kerb or anything else but I had to drive about 3 KMs on a flat. Could it have caused the side wall to crack?

[wanderernomad]

Replaced 2 tyres with used 14" inchers donated by a bhpian who had them lying around since a upgrade to alloys. They have just enough juice on them to last another 6K- 7K kms or so, when I plan to change the entire set with new ones.
ORVM R&D shall be taken up tomorrow and let us see what best can be done to understand the finer mounting points of an ORVM.

[wanderernomad]

Dad has taken away my car and I shall be posting on the Baleno threads till I get it back. Lets see if the baleno is as mod friendly or not. lol.

[jazzrockz]

[quote=wanderernomad;2123838]Completed an arduous journey of about 2500 Kms from New Delhi to Mhow and back with some local places like Omkareshwar, Maheshwar thrown in. The more i drive this car the more i fall in love with it. This is one car that has totally changed my view from the time I bought it to the present day. Awesome speeds, excellent ride comfort. The roads were some of the worst I ahve driven on and yet she handled them with aplomb. There were sore points as well like the lost RHS front fog lamp. Imagine the darn thing just fell off!!
And now a new one is costing a cool 2.5K along with the holding cover!! Talk about VFM from TATA. A local one is costing around 500 but am yet to decide.

Same fog lamp problem for me too!!! the lamp came out dragged all along the road for some time till some body pointed it out. It was still attached and working fine, but for a completely scratched cover glass. So my mech changed it with a local make and the bulbs blew out! Better you go with the company lamps.
Amazing but true i had the same problem with my right mirror. Got a cheap one fixed, but the mirror in it is atrocious... thankfully i saved the OEM mirror, hope it will fit this cheapo.
Oh yeah, i drive a 2007 Marina LX TDI. Best thing for long distances and bad roads!

[wanderernomad]

Got the side orvm and the fog light fixed at the Tata Dealership. Thought about sticking to the OEM only. The disc brake pads need to be replaced and will get it done at the 40K km service that is coming up very soon.

[wanderernomad]

The car has now done 40,000 KM. The battery was changed to EXIDE Express on 24/01/11 with ODO at 39,200. Lasted about 3.5 years, is it normal? The OEM EXIDE Freedom battery was costing 6500 INR but settled for this one with 2 years warranty. Also got the 40K Km service done. Shall post the breakup soon.

[wanderernomad]

Got the tyres changed to 185/65/14 Continental Eco Contacts for @3700INR. Also got the rear wiper blade changed as the wiper arm doesn't come as a separate unit. You need to purchase the entire set!

[wanderernomad]

Had to get the clutch overhauled. Lots of other minor works done. Details coming up soon.

[wanderernomad]

The 3 rd gear is slipping around speeds of 40 KMPH. All other gears are working fine. What could be the issue here? Is it the gear sleeve?