[Guderian]

What a thrilling Sunday !

This snap should describe it all.



But then there was much more to it.

A damsel in distress rescued.
A safari in even greater distress rescued...too.

Report follows.

[Off Roadie]

Head quarters are waiting with baited breath for a field report, General, make it quick.

[Guderian]

Report/s and snaps - here !

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/4x4-ex...ml#post2833436

[Guderian]

Have been taught as a child, later as an adult and now as a lazy husband & father that great pleasure, joy and merriment comes after intense hard work and labour. Ummm...quite like the activity all/many of know which makes the world go round and nations populous !

OTR 4X4ing must be the only event where the dictum mentioned above is busted. For it is after a delightful OTR event that you break your back trying to get your vehicle back into shape. Or at least in this case -break your back watching someone else do it !

And so it was today. I knew for sure that after yesterday's clay and slush filled OTR at Rajmachi I had to make some time to completely wash out Admirals innards. And this is for the general health of the Admiral. For clay and mud has this odious habit of creeping into the vitals like wheels, brakes, prop shafts etc if not washed away and fouling up the mechanicals in due course of time.
I decided against going to the ASC - as they'd make me wait in quite a long line besides the tax and tax on tax (quite taxing even reading it !) on a simple task like washing and cleaning - leading to a bloated bill looking like a lady in the the family way at almost the end of her term and seconds before the big event. And I loathed to go to a way side wash and wipe joint which would further muck up what was already mucked up. And so while driving around looking for a respectable small chap I came across this fairly large multibrand vehicle service station near my house. Went inside and was treated like a king and Admiral like an Emperor. Lo and behold - something right near by and my myopic eyes couldn't spot and atrophied brain couldn't think - of it. Should have thought of it much earlier instead of agonising over it. Was met by the Manager and supervisor and escorted inside.
Anyway and needless to say let the snaps do the talking.

Admiral arrives in this bedraggled state at 9.25 am.


Fairly big place with lotsa cars and offering quite a few services.


At precisely 9.30 am Admiral was positioned for the dry docking.


To my mind it was a tough task as the clay was refusing to let go of Admiral.


Up a daisy:


And the first round of clay blasting begins.




The going was tough as the clay was real sticky type. Like something that bogged, first, Napoleon's army and then my Panzers in Russia years ago.

Incidentally Admiral was awarded with a battle honour for his efforts yesterday - the S d H (Scar d' Honour). This, when the front left alloy wheel pushed aside a huge rock when coming down, nay sliding down a long very slippery, clayee incline. His action paved way for other guys to avoid the rock by a mile on that rutted trail to hell.


Meanwhile it was clay, gooey clay, everywhere. Lumps and trucks of it falling everywhere.


Meanwhile here comes the diesel man. He's the guy who slathers the entire underbelly with diesel to loosen all the stubborn clay and tar stuck below.


Slowly what appears to be parts of Admiral slowly appear !



And the second round of blasting begins.


And it begins to look like it's good old days ! Drippin' though.


Meanwhile there was a scream and faint from one of the deck hands. He spotted more clay. This time inside the Admiral's bridge. He was promptly deployed to clean it. Last time, he thought to himself, that I'll ever open my mouth in over enthusiasm.


Every inch was brushed.


And then came the airman who used an HP hose to blow away all the detritus.


And then the engine bay:


There was a genuine puzzlement on part of the water blaster. As to how the engine bay was this clean despite the rest of the vehicle appearing to have participated in a female mud wrestling contest.

Anyway blasted:


And now slathered by the dieselman who was earlier the airman and prior to that the dieselman. He now has a severe identity crisis.


Blasted again !
I insisted that the frontal portion through the grill be doused/water blasted - the one way to clean the radiator really well. Keeps the AC output at its optimum best.


And then the dieselman with the airman's tendencies (or is it vice versa) came to air blow the engine dry.


And then began the soap opera !



Toyota (emblem) receives the toothbrush treatment. Every panel gap was brushed clean gently. Never seen the ASC chaps do many of these activities.

Which prompted me to ask the guys - "Yeh toothbrush kissne isthemaal karke phenka tha ?" To which the guys gave a cheesy smile and responded - " Kya saab ! Yeh naya hai jo hum ispecially lete hain - 'saaft' toothbrush."
To which I responded -"Achha, achha isske baad kissi ko de dete ho - danton pe isthemaal karne !" This time they didn't appreciate my humour.

And the final blast:


And the andar ki baat...interior scrubbing.


All to make Admiral look like this finally !


All for Rs 450/-.

Which I gladly paid and thanked everyone and rushed out into heavy rain. Dash it !
But then the underbelly was clean and soft as a new born baby's bottom - the most important aim of the assignment this morning.

"I am singin' in the rain..."

[ghodlur]

@Harish,

Finally the muck out and the gleaming Fortuner rolls out. Must have been a hell of a job getting the clay cleaned.

Is the place Shreeji Tyre plus, looks familiar looking at the second pic of the bay area.

[Guderian]

Originally Posted by ghodlur

Finally the muck out and the gleaming Fortuner rolls out. Must have been a hell of a job getting the clay cleaned.

Is the place Shreeji Tyre plus, looks familiar looking at the second pic of the bay area.

Hi ghodlur,
Yes finally and thankfully the job has been done.The clay was indeed a sticky nightmare.
This is Auto Planet on Tikuji ni Wadi Road. Must say I quite liked the place.

PS- Who's Harish ?

[mac187]

I too got my Swift cleaned in a similar fashion at a place near my house. They were not good at interior cleaning tho. My question to them then and now to you is, 'Is is good idea to pressure wash the engine bay and radiator grill?'

I was scared that some important electric connection would short due to the water in the engine bay. Also, I understand that the radiator fins are prone to breakage at slightest force.

[KL01BE]

Wow, That was some treatment, which the Admiral rightly deserved, after all that mud bashing! Glad you took him to meet his elements, where he truly belongs (to Rajmachi, and no other guesses General! Please !!). That scratch on the alloys need some more treatment I guess. As the General always does, looking forward to the next DIY report.

[Manuuj]

Herr General good to see the Admiral did so well in field exercises. Also glad to note it got propah dirty! The place you found for the wash up sure seems to be a good find. One Q though what shampoo did they use for the soap opera?

There was no mention of greejinng taking place. When will you be getting that done?

[Guderian]

Originally Posted by mac187

I too got my Swift cleaned in a similar fashion at a place near my house. They were not good at interior cleaning tho. My question to them then and now to you is, 'Is is good idea to pressure wash the engine bay and radiator grill?'

I was scared that some important electric connection would short due to the water in the engine bay. Also, I understand that the radiator fins are prone to breakage at slightest force.

Hi mac187, Your concern is absolutely well placed & correctly put. Actually what I have seen the guys doing is to reduce the pressure and not directly hit anything in the engine bay especially the wires tubes etc. But hit the metal parts like the bulkhead and the bonnet cover etc. Rest is by and large gently sprayed and then the Jamura (helper boy !) comes and daubs it with one or the other solution and primes it for the final wash. Even in the ASCs they do the same stuff. Secondly the radiator blast is a must to ensure that the AC fins are completely clean. Normally even in the ASCs unless told they don't do this and over a period of time it begins to impact the AC output as the effective cooling reduces.

Originally Posted by KL01BE

That scratch on the alloys need some more treatment I guess.

Hi KL01BE, Thanks.
Nothing to be done on that alloy right now. Deep slash ! Unless some resurfacing and/or touch up is done. Not in a mood to do that. Leave it as it is as a souvenir of Rajmachi !

Originally Posted by Manuuj

One Q though what shampoo did they use for the soap opera?
There was no mention of greejinng taking place. When will you be getting that done?

Hi Manuuj,
Thanks !
Actually have no clue as to what shampoo was used for the soap opera. Whatever it was appeared to have worked well. But it was a mild one as I could make out - on my fingers.
Decided to avoid greasing at that place for 3 reasons. One that I was not sure of the quality of the grease that would be used. Secondly, during the Rajmachi outing there was no driving in submerged conditions at all - even in that single water cross the depth wouldn't have been more than 600 mm (2 feet) and so the shafts would have been much higher and also save a few spots not much of water splashing. Thirdly, Admiral's regular servicing is round the corner so thought would get it then...

[faustus77]

Guderian
Hi
You have an excellent way with words.
Loved your narration.Even without the photographs would have been able to visualise the steps taken at the time of washing.Rs 450 seems to be a very good deal.Worth it to get your admiral spic and span
In one of your posts you mentioned like your panzers getting stuck in Russia.As far as I remember Guderian was never on the eastern front.After posting this I will check on google.
You would definitely be aware he was Rommel's superior and he taught him and this became a classic case of a student overshadowing his master.
Regards
PS.Am very curious about your choosing the moniker Guderian(have wanted to ask you since I joined).He was not as famous as Rommel yet you chose.
PPS.After posting checked on google.Guderian was in Russia until december 1941.As it was for a short while missed that particular command of his.

[nilanjanray]

Good post around the soap opera. I have never used non-ASC washing folks, will try one out. Will have much better control and will be able to oversee the process better. And will allow me to do more mud/water bashing that I try to avoid (do lots of dry trails though) because of the effort in cleaning up.

Is that a small dent on your leftside step (pic # 5 - vehicle lifted up)? The rock battle scar?

Btw, are the prop shafts at such a height? Doesn't seem like 2 feet up when I look.

[Guderian]

Originally Posted by nilanjanray

1. Good post around the soap opera...

2. Is that a small dent on your leftside step (pic # 5 - vehicle lifted up)? The rock battle scar?

3. Btw, are the prop shafts at such a height? Doesn't seem like 2 feet up when I look.

Hi Nils,
1. I was myself taken aback by the professionalism shown by the multi-brand ASC. And at least in the matter of washing & cleaning they seemed to be far more clued on ! And they too their jobs seriously. Got me thinking...

2. That dent has been around for quite some time. It's a souvenir from a semi-off roading event almost a year ago (reported here many pages ago !) when I went to one of my company's sites off Khandala. I didn't want to do anything about it ! Gave Admiral a rakish look and the new souvenir from Rajmachi on the front left wheel also gives him a great character.

3. The prop shafts would be that high (apporx) from the tyre line. The fore shaft a little higher than the aft shaft.

Originally Posted by faustus77

Guderian
Hi
You have an excellent way with words.
Loved your narration.Even without the photographs would have been able to visualise the steps taken at the time of washing.Rs 450 seems to be a very good deal.Worth it to get your admiral spic and span
In one of your posts you mentioned like your panzers getting stuck in Russia.As far as I remember Guderian was never on the eastern front.After posting this I will check on google.
You would definitely be aware he was Rommel's superior and he taught him and this became a classic case of a student overshadowing his master.
Regards
PS.Am very curious about your choosing the moniker Guderian(have wanted to ask you since I joined).He was not as famous as Rommel yet you chose.
PPS.After posting checked on google.Guderian was in Russia until december 1941.As it was for a short while missed that particular command of his.

Hi faustus,
Thanks for the warm words. Thanks for being around.

OT:

We'll have a separate discussion on Guderian offline - but suffice to say that I believe that Gen. Guderian (the father of Blitzkrieg and Commander of the Panzergruppe) was far better a Gen than FM Rommel. He was the only General who told old toothbrush mushtache what he thought of him on at least three occasions. He and his Panzers played a major role on the Eastern front at least in the initial days and were on the outskirts of Moscow till AH interfered with the operational battle plans and asked the Panzers to swing south to Kiev to get the oil fields. He added Oak Leaves to his Iron Cross in Russia and Russia was a major point in career for more reasons than one. A thorough professional - he was possibly the only General from the Wehrmacht who was honourably acquitted post the Nuremberg trials.
Incidentally Guderian and Rommel were never had much to do with each other in terms of commands or arms except for some amount of professional rivalry. Rommel was basically an infantry man who was given the command of a Panzer division much later - just before invasion of France.
If interested would suggest you read Panzer Leader - his autobiography and a book titled Achtung Panzer to get more details.

[Swanand Inamdar]

I was hoping to see the dirt scars of a lovely battle on the Admiral for a few more days!
Like I said on the outing thread, it adds character to an already beautiful vehicle.

But then, that clay needed to be washed, and washed soon.
Good to see the Admiral back in its shining armor.

So, when does the Admiral cross Bombay Presidency and head into Pune Cantonment?

[Guderian]

Originally Posted by Swanand Inamdar

I was hoping to see the dirt scars of a lovely battle on the Admiral for a few more days...

So, when does the Admiral cross Bombay Presidency and head into Pune Cantonment?

Hi SI,
So was I...it gave Admiral quite a raffish character. You should have seen the glances we got from the colony-wallahs as I drove in. A look at the vehicle and then a quick glance at me - not even wanting to lock eyes.
Another reason to do a quick professional wash was to ensure that the GDW didn't lay his hands on it. Luckily on Monday morning he was on his chutti and before he returned I wanted the thick clay to be off - or else one swab with the cloth and the paint work would have been ruined. As it were the paint work on a Toyota scuffs easily. So !

No idea about the next sailing plan. Haven't seen the Admiral's sailing orders. But rumour has it that it could be pretty soon.

Aloha !