[DevOnWheels]

It all started 2 decades back when a 9-year-old me saw a beautiful Emerald green sedan owned by the biggest business house of the town. It was love at first sight. But neither was I old enough to buy my own car, nor was my family wealthy enough to buy a Rs. 8L car back then. We had a humble Ambassador diesel and a LML Vespa at that time.

Fast forward to 2015, I got my driver's license and started driving my family's cars. The garage by then was upgraded (rather downgrade in terms of segment and size) to a 2004 Maruti 800 Std in S. Silver and a 2006 WagonR LXi in M.W. Red. In years to come, the 800 was replaced by a 2009 i10 iRDE in blue and WagonR was exchanged for a Tigor Petrol in 2021.
As soon as I completed my studies and started working in 2015, the urge to get that dream old car started growing rapidly. However, as life would have it, the dream never materialized.

After being a regular follower of Team BHP for more than a decade, I finally joined the forum in 2020. And soon BHPian Tanveer02 invited me to join a small local enthusiasts’ group CREW37 Assam which back then had merely 20-25 members comprising of mostly BHPians of Assam and some other enthusiasts, which aren't on the forum. There would be regular discussions on these oldies and whenever someone spotted an example, they would share photos and the urge to own one would grow stronger and stronger.

It was in May’2023, when an Aquarious Blue Fiesta 1.6S comes on sale in Guwahati. I was posted in Kolkata by then, which means the 3rd car can stay here with me while i10 and Tigor will stay at my hometown. Dear friends and BHPians Phukan_Tridiv, Tanveer02 and Mritunjoy went to check the car on my behalf as I was in Kolkata. The condition was totally opposite of what OLX photos represented. So, considering the feedback received from the trio, dropped the plan altogether.






It was in Aug'2023, when a fellow CREW37 Assam member and friend Siddharth Baruah (owned a beautiful 91' 800 that time) shared these photos of a random black 2004 petrol sedan in our WhatsApp group.

That 9-year-old kid inside jumped in excitement.

The Emerald Green sedan that I fell in love all those years back was this... In a very sad state now



Through all these years, I tracked the car with an intention to buy it and restore to its former glory. It changed 3 owners, but luckily stays in my hometown till date. When the first owner sold it, I was very much interested to pick this up, but I was a student back then. My aunt's colleague picked it up and started using for rental purpose. After couple of weeks, he realized what a huge mistake it was, and it got sold to another guy in our known circle only.

Watching the state the car was maintained from its 2nd owner onwards, made me drop the plan.
But the photos shared by Siddharth stuck the right chords in my heart.
We had many discussions regarding this black car along with it's history and present ownership, but no one in our group put any serious thought of buying as it was too old now and getting parts is a nightmare, especially in Assam. I was also in a dilemma of getting another car as both i10 and Tigor were doing well, and my family was strictly against buying a 3rd car.

However, as with any enthusiast, you can’t stay away from automobiles for so long. Since it’s been almost a year I have shifted to Kolkata with no car at disposal, it was becoming really hard to control the urge to get a car here. And this time it must be something which sings to my heart. Around Oct’23, another Fiesta 1.6S (a black one this time) came for sale in Kolkata with just 12k on the odo. However, the seller was not interested to show the car and wanted the price to be finalized first. Once I gave a ballpark figure which was couple of thousands less than what he had advertised for, he would want some advance to book the car first. These things put me off and decided to drop this as well. While discussing regarding this Fiesta with BHPian Chiranjitp and Tanveer02, that black 2004 sedan sprung to my mind. Gave a call to Siddharth and he confirmed that it's still there, and the owner might sell it.

Lots of parts research, discussions, TBHP threads and magazines later, asked Siddharth if he could get the car checked by his FNG.
As expected, he got it checked very next day along with another blue 2001 Baleno which was for sale as well.





Around the same time some of our CREW37 Assam members and BHPians Prakritij, Chiranjitp, Hirohito, BhaskarG, Jamini, Ayan and yours truly planned for a trip to the eastern most part of the country i.e. Walong, Kibithu, Kaho in Arunachal. The plan was to start from Dibrugarh on 24th November’23 and since Duliajan(where both the Balenos were) is only 50kms from Dibrugarh, decided to club the Arunachal trip with work and checkout the Baleno in person.

Flew from Kolkata to Dibrugarh and straight away went to Duliajan to meet Siddharth. Both of us went to check the cars, took test drives, discussed with both the owners regarding their expected prices and left.











Came back to hotel and the discussion started between me, Siddharth and Chiranjitp on which car to choose and what should be the maximum price.

There were some suspension works needed in the black car along with some minor nick-nacks and a set of tyres, but the blue car needed a full paint job and the engine felt tired and misfires a lot despite only 65k on the odo. There was some pully sound when the AC was switched on(owner claimed to be AC compressor pully). Also, because of the black one being a small-town PSU car that too one which never left out of the township, it was really tight even with 98k kms on the odo. Also, in Assam, these small town cars are generally very well cared for and since the black car was daily driven from 2004-19 although very minuscule kms, it was in fully functional state. Considering all these, we decided to get the black Baleno and finalized a price we will offer to the owner without any scope for negotiation.

Next day went to the owner’s house, negotiated the deal (paid 30k more than what we had thought), signed the sale forms and paid a token advance.



Deal was, he will get the paper works done and once the vehicle is transferred to my name, I’ll transfer the balance amount and Siddharth will take delivery.
Once that was done, we completed our Arunachal trip, and I returned back to Kolkata.









Now why a 20-year-old BS2 Maruti when the world is moving towards turbo charged/hybrids and EVs with BS7 emission norms.

Being a late 90s kid, old Japanese cars always had a special place in my heart.

For the Baleno it was love at first sight, that Emerald Green Baleno that I saw 2 decades back.

These advertisements back then were proper wallpaper material.





The 13 noise reduction technologies, no Indian car emphasized so much on NVH back then.



Once I was back in Kolkata, the plan for the restoration started.

Initial plan was do a full service, get new tires and then bring the car to my home in Assam (600km from Duliajan).

Once the car is at home we will slowly start with the works depending on what is needed and what parts we can source.

But as expected, patience was going out of hand and we started searching for parts online without even knowing what is required for the car.

Spoiler: Now, one thing I hated about my car was the absence of rear spoiler since its a LXi. After a failed search of getting an original spoiler, came across an OLX advertisement of a Delhi based seller who was making replica spoiler for the Baleno. Contacted the seller and these photos were received.





Since, it looked exactly same as the OEM VXi spoiler, paid an advance and placed the order.

Wheels: I always loved the 14" 11 spoke alloy of BS3 VXi. But it was nowhere to be found. After a month long failed search, decided to go for aftermarket alloys in 15". But as luck would have it, while we were deciding on the options of aftermarket multi spoke alloy, Siddharth shared a Instagram post by a guy from Kerela who was selling a set of those 14" VXi alloys along with tyres. Since I was buying new tyres, finalized a price for the alloys only and got these shipped to Siddharth's place.



Tyres: Initially decided to go for the stock size of 165/80 R13 and with a plan to upgrade later on. However, after seeing the total amount for a set of 4 tyres now and then upgrade later on to upsized wheels and tyres, decided to go for either 14" or 15" now only depending on the set of alloys. After I made the payment for the alloys, immediately placed an order for a set of 4 Continental UC6s in 185/65 R14 to be delivered at Siddharth's place again.



On 29th January, received a call from the seller that paper is ready and I can take delivery.

Delivery Day: 30/01/2024

Siddharth went to the seller's place, checked the papers and gave a go ahead to me for the payment transfer.

Once the payment in done, this is the first photo I received from Siddharth. Baleno is mine now.



Siddharth drove straight to his home and after an hour shared these photos which brought tears to my eyes.









His mom did a welcome puja of my Baleno

[DevOnWheels]

Baleno ready with her new set of shoes.



Next day Siddharth took Baleno to his trusted FNG (he restored Siddharth's 1991 M800 as well) and got this list of parts which are to be changed now.



Went to a MGP store in Kolkata and submitted this parts list to confirm availability. They asked for a 2 days time to check at their stockyard and online MGP database.

Went to their outlet again after 2 days to get a negative reply. The reply received from their end was not very welcoming and made me think over my decision to get a Baleno in 2024. They said that they'll try to source atleast 50% of the parts within a months time, rest of them is no more available.

Thanked them and left..

Started searching on Boodmo, but as expected all parts were not available. Whatever available was ordered ASAP.

Special thanx to BHPian Shuvc da, who suggested to check with Sheesh Auto Sales as they generally keep parts for these old cars.

Next day, returned home with a bag full of parts.



Yes, all are not SGP or MGP, but mostly reputed aftermarket brands. When there is no support from the OEM, kudos to these aftermarket brands for continuing parts for these oldies.

Parts sourced from Boodmo:
1. Airfilter
2. Spark Plugs
3. Rubber Hose 1
4. Rubber Hose 2
5. Auxilary belt
6. Heater Outlet Hose
7. Brake Pads
8. Coil Spring seat, lower
9. Timing Belt tensioner
10. Tensioner plate bolt
11. Tensioner spring
12. Inner Tie rods
13. Tie rod ends
14. Front Strut bearing
15. Stabilizer links
16. Spark plug O rings
17. Thermostat
18. Tappet cover gasket

Parts sourced from Sheesh Auto Sales:
1. Front strut kit with bearings
2. Front strut mountings
3. Bush Kit
4. AC Belt
5. Brake shoe
6. Timing Belt
7. Oil Filter
8. Petrol Filter
9. Wiper fluid hose
10. Rear suspension bush kit
11. Heater inlet hose

Small stuffs from Amazon and instagram sellers:
1. Dashboard digital clock
2. Engine Oil - Castrol Magnatec
3. Aux Bluetooth receiver
4. Metal pedal set (absolutely hate it, searching for MGA ones)
5. Suzuki branded metal tyre valve cap
6. Suzuki branded black door sill guard
7. Frameless wipers
8. Chrome exhaust tip
9. Car cover
10.12V charger
11. Jopasu car duster

Workshop Part 1: 8th February 2024



Baleno stayed at the workshop for 10 days including multiple holidays in between. Some of the photos which Siddharth clicked whenever he was at the workshop.



















Parts/consumables sourced by workshop:
1. Gear oil
2. Power steering fluid
3. Power steering bearing

Successful Test Drive before going back to Siddharth's home.



Next morning Siddharth washed her and got the new(used) wheels and tyres installed along with alignment and balancing.















Also, wiper fluid hose and new frameless wipers installed.





With new shoes.

[DevOnWheels]

Workshop Part 2(Electricals & AC): 21st February 2024
1. AC Service
2. Cooling chamber cleaning
3. Starter motor overhaul
4. Left fog light bulb change and re-fitting
5. Boot lamp bulb change
6. Reverse light bulb change
7. Boot release cable changed























In the meantime, also got comprehensive insurance done from Digit Insurance.

Ready to hit the road.



Time for some much needed TLC.

[DevOnWheels]

Baleno's homeward voyage

It was decided that I'll fly from Kolkata to Dibrugarh on 1st March'24 and then will drive Baleno to my hometown (600km drive) next day.

However, as a matter of coincidence, BHPian Yogi..Reeturaj da was in town(we call him Mr. Teleporter for a reason) and he offered to join me for the trip.

On 1st March'24, both of us took a flight to Dibrugarh and was surprised to know that BHPians and fellow CREW37 Assam members gunin da, Prakritij da and Nayan da were coming to pick us up from Dibrugarh airport.

Kudos to all of them for taking leave and travelling so far to join me on my best day . What's more special is that it's not like we know each other from childhood, I am the youngest of them all with huge age gap in between. We all are connected only because of a single cause and that's Automotive, but still this gesture was something I was totally not expecting.



The team.



BHPian gunin's ZU.



My first look at Baleno after the 3 months long exercise.



BHPian Prakritij and gunin checking her out.





We went to an authentic Assamese restaurant and had a wonderful lunch along with hours of gossip.



Siddharth even brought a Baleno printed cake.



Siddharth's fully restored 1991 SB308.



Team-BHP + CREW37 Assam gang.



The MAN behind the build. Siddharth Baruah.



Next day morning, me and Yogi..Reeturaj started our 520km drive to Guwahati meeting other fellow BHPians and CREW37 Assam members enroute.

With BHPian Prakritij's Fortuner 4WD AT.



With Paul's Stage 1+ SCross 1.3.





With Mrityunjoy's 2004 Zen with 3Lakh kms on the odo and Alak's Ikon TDCi.



BHPian Tanveer02 posing with his dream 90s car.



Reached Guwahati at night and went for a drive with BHPians ChiranjitP, Phukan_Tridiv & RupamD.





BHPian RupamD putting the custom 16V SMART-i sticker he made for Baleno.





Next morning Baleno did another 85kms to meet her garage mates along with a customary Puja by Mom.









Workshop Part 3(Accessories): 3rd March 2024
Got following works done at my Friendly Neighborhood Accessories shop
1. HU repaired : Was making very high whining noise, speakers were sounding like mobile phone speaker, some juggaad USB port was soldered on the circuit.
2. Powered Antenna: Was not working earlier.
3. Spoiler installed along with brake lamp wiring.
4. Rear parking sensors.
5. Flooring.
6. Steering wheel cover.
7. Dashboard clock.







Arm rest cover hinge and stay was also broken. Used a piece of leather as hinge and Feviquik to join the broken stay.
End result:

[DevOnWheels]

As with all our vehicles, Baleno also received the blessings from our neighborhood Narikali Shiv Mandir.





Same week she touched this magic number as well.



At this point it would seam like the build is complete and the project is coming to an end.

But as anyone with a project car will say, it never ends. The urge to improvise to make it perfect and then go even further is tough to control.

With me, the car was running perfect, but there was a slight RPM hunting at idle.

Purchased the throttle body gaskets and got the TB cleaned properly at BHPian chiranjitp's FNG.



With chiranjitp's ballistic Polo 1.5 TDi Stage 1+ and his colleague's Abarth Punto.



Went to a small drive to Meghalaya with BHPian Yogi..Reeturaj and CREW37 members Sanjay da and Nayan da.







Also got followings things done the same week
1. Starter motor solenoid replaced (was giving trouble sometimes).
2. Car jack from Boodmo.
3. Tool Assembly from Boodmo.
4. New Exide battery.

Now my car had only 1 key as the other one was lost during OIL days. Also, the driver door will require multiple attempts to unlock sometimes.
One day chiranjitp shared a boodmo link for a wonderful deal (Rs.9500 against Rs.12500 MRP) for the entire lock set and I immediately garbed it.



My AC vents were damaged a bit. Got the dimensions checked with Alto and EECO, but somehow these seemed to be not the exact size. Hence started searching for scrapped Balenos. Luckily found all 4 vents from a Instagram seller in Hyderabad.





2 more parts I wanted to change are the headlights(turned yellow, with lots of scratches and cracked left reflector) and sun visors (the outside material was perfect, but the material inside had disintegrated and became powdery.

Luckily got DEPO made Taiwanese Headlamps (original SGP ones are hard to get and very very expensive) and new original sun visors from a seller in Kerala.





With new headlights, needed a set of new bulbs as well. Opted for Phillips' Rally 90/100 halogen bulb and a Philips' wiring kit with.



Headlights, wiring kit, bulb and new horn (Bosch Symphony) installed.









Remember the RPM hunting at idle? After throttle body cleaning, it stabilized a lot, however, we were not 100% happy. Chiranjitp suggested to change the HT cables and Ignition coil as he experienced good improvement in his Swift G13 after changing these. Bought them from boodmo and got installed at my FNG.





While at the workshop, also got the alternator belt changed again as a small cut was observed last time.

Took the chance to got 3M chassis coating done as well to protect the underbody from corrosion.

[DevOnWheels]

ICE Upgrade

Now this is something which have no limits. You have to be very carefull before diving into it.

Having said so, I am not an audiophile and happy with the stock 4 speaker + 4 tweeter setup of our Tigor. To get a similar output for Baleno decided to add following items first.
1. A decent HU within Rs.5-7k as I was running an old repaired JVC unit.
2. A pair of 6.5" coaxials for front doors or a pair of 6x9 oval speakers for rear tray to add a little bass to the setup as the existing speakers were sub standard.

All in, it would have been a Rs.10k setup at max.

However, when you have audiophile friends around, you cant get away so easily.

Phukan_Tridiv, Tanveer02, Chiranjitp & Nayan da suggested to get a Pioneer/Sony HU first and then decide on speakers as per requirement.

Got a great deal on Amazon and bought a Pioneer DMH-A245BT HU.





Once installed, the output blew my mind. The stock speakers (especially the rears) have transformed drastically. No one could tell that these were the same old speakers.



Got a reverse camera installed. Decent quality.



Added benefit of having a 2-din touchscreen. Google map using WebLink.



The boat had sailed now and there was no coming back.

Following week was spent searching, deciding and buying these:
1. DD AUDIO REDLINE SERIES RL-C6.5 Components





2. Blaupunkt THA 485 4 x 85W RMS 4-Channel Amplifier.







3. Pioneer TS-WX306B Subwoofer.



Got all of these installed once I am back in my hometown.



Existing front speaker(1) vs new WagonR stock speaker(2) vs my DD Audio speaker(3).





Stock speaker brackets had to be replaced with aftermarket double spacers as the new speakers had a larger magnet which was fouling with these stock brackets.

Stock speaker bracket.



2 spacers on each door.



Tweeters mounted on the ORVM trim.



Pioneer 1.8mm damping added to front doors.





Subwoofer placed inside boot.



Plans for phase 2:
1. Upgrade rear coaxials and power them with the existing 4-channel amplifier.
2. Mono amplifier for the subwoofer.
3. Rear doors and boot damping.

Now the dashboard design of Baleno is pretty boring. The VXi variants had a silver center console trim which was very helpful in breaking the monotony of the grey interior. I always wanted to get my trim either painted in the same silver colour or get it dipped in carbon fiber pattern.

Luckily around the same time someone in Goa bought a black Baleno VXi to swap the engine into a Zen (B-Zen). Contacted the owner and bought the trim along with the AC console.



Comparison between my stock trim vs VXi silver trim.



Added a dashcam as well: 70mai M200 with STARVIS 2





Retractable sunshade for rear windshield.



Final look of the cabin.

[DevOnWheels]

Baleno's first out of state(Assam) drive after 20 years.

Remember, Baleno was supposed to be a member of our beloved CITY OF JOY?

It was first week of September and time for the ultimate test. I was in my home town and the plan was to start the 1020kms solo drive on 3rd Sept i.e. Tuesday and reach Kolkata next day.



However, considering the age of the car, road condition and my first such long distance solo drive, it was decided to give a break at Siliguri. Also, since I had some work at Siliguri, it made sense to have a 3 day halt at Siliguri, finish all the work and then complete the remaining part of the drive. As a result the total distance became 1070kms.

As planned, started for Siliguri on 03/09/2024 morning.



Got the tyres filled with Nitrogen at my trusted tyre shop.



My 2 decade old machine got blessed at Narikali Shiv Mandir for the 1070km acid test.



Perfect weather for a solo roadtrip.



But Rain-God had different plans.



Result, took 6 hours to reach everyone's favorite DABRI TEA LOUNGE near Buxa forest.



Baleno taking rest after successfully completing the first leg of 300kms.



As recommended by BHPian ABHI_1512 and Yogi..Reeturaj, tried this amazing Sandwich along with a cup of Tea.





Couldn't stop myself from clicking a photo on this beautiful rain soaked road.



What more can one ask for? A 20 year old dream, good music, perfect weather and a solo drive through this amazing road.



Reached hotel at around 7:00PM and parked in front of this beautiful black W204 Facelift.



Next morning, found her guarded by these amazing set of wheels from The Land of Dragons.



Completed my work for the next 3 days and also got her cleaned for the next part of the drive.





Started the 2nd leg on 07/09/2024 morning with a mandatory click.



578kms of challenge for my oldie.



Flaunting her new 1.6 logo on this beautiful highway



Was joined by another Maruti 1.6, but this one had an aspiration to fly high.





Reached the iconic Farakka Barrage at around 12:30PM.



The road condition was a mix of amazing, so-so and horrendous.

Only 116kms to reach Kolkata at 4:50PM. But just after this I missed an important diversion and took the worst road to leave the 4 lane highway and connect with Kalyani Expressway.



Finally reached home at 9:00PM, thanks to the pathetic road and tremendous traffic because of that missed diversion.

Next morning she got her first wash in Kolkata.






Now, many people like to name their vehicles. The concept never clicked to me. However, this time its different. Baleno is special for me. She deserves a name.

And what better than the immortal bird from Greek, Egyptian and Persian mythology who rises and takes rebirth from the ashes of its predecessor.

Baleno also got a rebirth from her 4 year long hibernation thanks to all the hard work of 7 long months. So, Phoenix it is.

Presenting to you all, Phoenix in her new city. The CITY OF JOY!!

[DevOnWheels]

PHOTO DUMP













Siblings.



Pick your Baleno

[Aditya]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[keroo1099]

Brings back memories of how I bought my used 2000 Baleno and went through a similar restoration. The car was bullet proof once I did the same preventive maintenance and I racked up close to 50k km before I moved to a Tjet.

I ended up doing some mods to mine, a slightly stuffed suspension riding on 15" rims eliminated the sag at the rear when loaded and the ride quality over broken roads puts my Tjet to shame. I also managed to get a OE Jap intake plenum which was slightly longer and improved bottom end torque and along with a used Altura ECU made the care more enjoyable. The brakes were upgraded using Bendix semi-metalic pads which I got on a trip to Kuala Lumpur.

Hope you have many happy kms with your new ride.

[dr_TJ]

What an amazing journey.
Loved the write-up. Wishing Phoenix for a lot more kilometers ahead.

[Yogi..Reeturaj]

What a perfect read for the morning. I could visualise every bit of it and am glad I could be so closely associated with Phoenix and you.
This is what a dream come true is all about. Kudos to you and also a big thumbs up to the Crew37 freaks for some amazing memories till date.
Keep chugging and pile on the miles bro.��

[PreludeSH]

Enjoyed reading and looking at the beautiful pics. The Baleno body panels still look so well made compared to any other car Maruti has ever made. You may change your seat covers to brighten up the interiors.

Enjoy your drives

[DevOnWheels]

Originally Posted by keroo1099

Brings back memories of how I bought my used 2000 Baleno and went through a similar restoration. The car was bullet proof once I did the same preventive maintenance and I racked up close to 50k km before I moved to a Tjet.

I ended up doing some mods to mine, a slightly stuffed suspension riding on 15" rims eliminated the sag at the rear when loaded and the ride quality over broken roads puts my Tjet to shame. I also managed to get a OE Jap intake plenum which was slightly longer and improved bottom end torque and along with a used Altura ECU made the care more enjoyable. The brakes were upgraded using Bendix semi-metalic pads which I got on a trip to Kuala Lumpur.

Hope you have many happy kms with your new ride.

Thanks keroo1099 means a lot. Will ask for your help when I start performance upgrades.

Originally Posted by dr_TJ

What an amazing journey.
Loved the write-up. Wishing Phoenix for a lot more kilometers ahead.

Thanks a lot dr_TJ da.

Originally Posted by Yogi..Reeturaj

What a perfect read for the morning. I could visualise every bit of it and am glad I could be so closely associated with Phoenix and you.
This is what a dream come true is all about. Kudos to you and also a big thumbs up to the Crew37 freaks for some amazing memories till date.
Keep chugging and pile on the miles bro.��

Thanks a lot dada for all the support through the entire journey. Need to do aother drive together since Phoenix is ready to munch miles now.

[JD_404]

It was a great read Devarsi da. Congrats for getting such a amazing example and finally transitioning from DevOnHiredWheels to DevOnWheels . While I was initially skeptical about how the car would be when you broke the news in our group, the effort that Siddharth, you and the others have been putting into restoring this has turned this into a piece of beauty.
I was finally able to get a test drive of this thanks to ChiranjitP and boy was I delighted. The ride is comfortable and the engine pulls cleanly irrespective of the rpm. Attaching a few pics of my time with this.







Also attaching a snap of BHPian ChiranjitP who drove down 50kms so that I could expirience this machine