Bought My First Car - Maruti 800 AC

[Shantanu.lko]

Local make car battery charger is available for Rs. 600-800. It consists of an ammeter and a rotary switch to set charging current. (ie increase or decrease amps).

I use a 12v 5 amp transformer (from an old 21" B/W television) it provides low amps thus doing slow charging. IMO: slow charging is good to maintain battery life.

 

[Varun560061]

I usually never disconnect the battery (I am lazy to re-set all the settings on my clock, HU etc), I have even parked the car for 2 months after that it starts all the way to 3-4th crank. May be in your and Shantanu's car some where there is a wiring fault which makes the ground sourced so that battery is getting drained.

Buy a small DC converter, I have one costs 500 rs, charge the battery over night then you can start the car. Pls let me know if you need I can give it to you.

 

[GuruR]

Thanks Visran, I too am hoping for the same.

This is not a nice news to share but I got no choice. Some facts before I proceed
Car bought - 70k (65K+5Regn etc)
Spent till now - 44.5K (approx amount - i will have to search some more bills to get to the exact amount)

Total Investment till date: 1.2Lacs

I have drained all my savings, monthly earnings etc in this restoration & now I have hit a road block wherein I find I have spent 1 month salary in advance & hence all purchases for my car will be on hold till some fresh source of income comes up. I will be installing whatever parts I have bought in the last few days & leave it as it is for sometime (not sure how many days/weeks/months - but definately not in years).

I have swiped my credit card 95% of the time only for my car. I dont regret the investment I made, but the results aren't really what I expected (especially with rain water leakage).

Selling this car is not in my mind, as it is my identity & my love. I will be active on the forum, but my car shall hibernate for a long time. Fuel is dry, tyres are half flat, battery will be in dead state in a few days.

I had planned to finish the whole restoration in just 30K! but now I realise my inexperience in cars & mad love for the same has put me in some serious times.

I am sure, My love for my car will continue to drive me crazy enough to get into some better jobs & higher pays.

I hope I will be able to gift a neat set of alloys by the time its her first anniversary in Feb 2013 .

I went to such an extent that I quite liquor, trips with friends, shopping groceries, broadband to 2G mobile net, sold my bike, quite my old job for dedicating time to my lovely car. Now I am left with nothing else to give up, so finally putting a temporary pause on my car restoration in a few days.

Tomorrow I am likely to install the bonnet hinges, seat recliners & will disconnect the battery.

Sorry for boring you guys with my emotional story, but this is a friendly CAUTION sign to people like me (who dont have money, but love cars) Beware water here (in car restoration) is too deep. It is usually too late before we realise how deep we have gone.

Anand bhai....

I understand the emotions rolling down in you when you wrote this, i am really impressed by your Div's, the handwork and the patience you are giving to your car is commendable, i also said the same thing in the meet. All i can say here is everyone here who loves his car has spent a lot on it and will continue to do the same as we love our carz.

I will be waiting and i am sure that we will be seeing your car with a new facelift very soon........ BTW we will also be meeting in the future events too :)

 

[Silver Dove]

In my Car there is an exide battery, nearly 2 years old it still starts the car nicely even after 1 month of no starting while i am on tours.

Batteries trend to loose charge once the life nears 80%, this is due to chemical process happening inside the battery (still they are lead acid ones). This happens due to batteries internal resistance and temperature of the battery.

get the battery checked for ampere it can give then u can take a decision for replacing.

SS80 - the wiring is first class now and i have opened the front H , bumper , radiator and on the painting job of my cross member and battery side part
also i have got one aerosol white spray costing 120rs for any white paint makeup only at front side inside engine compartment.


Dear all
1. Point gaps to be replaced
2. Plugs to be replaced
3. small fuel jet to be replaced (carburettor)
4. timing to be done.
i need all of your guidance in doing so diy over saturday and sunday


@Varun whats the cost of a local or otherwise good timing light for timing the engine

 

[Silver Dove]

In delhi Lajpat Rai Rarket - GURU brand Battery charger i purchased around 6 years ago this charges both motorcycle and car batteries and costed me about 360.
Mumbai - similar ones available at lamington road (grant road)
Chennai - it may be available at mount road
Hyderabad - available at koti gujrati gali 2nd lane from andhra bank

 

[Varun560061]

@Varun whats the cost of a local or otherwise good timing light for timing the engine

It costs you around 700rs better ones will cost upto 1200rs.

 

[ss80]

Small Update:
Replaced the steering lock with the help of my father this morning. So from now on only one key for all locks in the car. Here are a few pictures for the same.

All tools & the steering column removed.


Removing the rear clamp of the lock was done using hammer & sharpened "-" screw driver


The old lock fixture


New lock fixed with new screws (one way type again)


The steering column with fresh lock


Lubricated the bottom joint of the column


One of the source for the water leaks was the antenna point & the plastic casing/mount. So removed the antenna (metal parts & wires) & filled the whole with Mseal, finally applied Anabond to the mounting place on the roof & screwed the plastic casing only. Hope it works :) Also applied Anabond to all sides of front windshield beeding (doesnt look that bad, will post clear pics tomorrow)



The central locking in my car was not working & the settings in ICE too were not stored due to a faulty wire (a spark caused some problem - during welding the seat floor nuts sometime back).

So today bought some wires, used the old headlamp wiring fuse box, a new 15Amps fuse & some plastic casing to create a fresh connection. So the Yellow wire from Headunit & the Central locking's red wire (power supply) get power directly from battery.




The idea of parking car with disconnected battery is out of my mind, as it is one of the root causes for many cars to get stranded & rusted. Atleast now I will clean the car weekly, pour some petrol keep it breathing.

 

[Silver Dove]

@varun and @SS80
Can u tell me where is the radiator flush nut of your maruti 800 one picture will help me a lot. i could not find it in my car i was thinking of removing the thermostat and draining coolant from there. kindly let me know detail if it can be done without removing the hose as the nut and metal pipe seems to be rusted i do not want to disturb it, will change it later.

 

[Varun560061]

SS80, the wiring is neatly done ! Also for removing the steering column do we need to remove dash ?
You could have filled grease inside the steering column it would stay for longer than using oil.

Hi Silver Dove, there is not drain plug in 800's radiator the only way to flush id remove the hose at the bottom.

 

[samsag12]

Those are very useful DIY pics, will help many who want to replace the said lock including me.
I presume if one is able to remove the single way lock screws in the car itself then there's no need to remove the column from car i guess. Please clear this doubt.

BTW nice to see that you sealed the antenna hole, hope your leakage woes get over. Also one more leakage prone area is the windshield end of those roof gutter beadings.

 

[ss80]

Varun & Samsag: To remove steering column, the dashboard need not be removed. however indicator stalks & steering wheel have to be removed.

These one way screws are very tight & huge hammering force is required to unscrew them, I dint want to take any chances in getting any part of my chassy bent so I removed it. It takes around 10mins to do so. My humble suggestion, please do not try to unscrew it inside the car.

Another update:
Replaced the old seat recliner & got the under seat box cracks welded & painted. will post pics by evening.

 

[ss80]

The cracked seat box (just one of 7cracks in two seats)


Rusted springs


The weldings






A coat of red oxide & left to dry in sun for two hours






Fully used the Chrome spray can I had






New Recliner fixed




Final Fit


I have fixed the plastic cover for the recliner & lever just today. Will post a pic later

 

[ss80]

Today washed my car (Engine Bay was the main focus) with soap water then diesel then splashed water. Here is a pic guys, Next time I will do more patiently. Diesel does magic to engine bay

 

[Varun560061]

Wow the engine bay is looking very clean. Do paint the head cover, it would look much better.

 

[arunabh8899]

Hi,looks good ,
just wanted to know whether you have cut the pipe of air filter box bcoz mine is longer,what is the reason for cutting it ? Any pros ?