Project - 1969 Mitsubishi Jeep 4DR5 (J24)

[fiat fan]

At Pattipola. Waiting for the Train.

 

Sri Lanka in one Picture!

Life in one Picture!

A feeling can only be felt by a true Petrol Head...

Edited August 19, 2020 by fiat fan
Added last line. Cries in corner admiring!

[Kavvz]

7 hours ago, fiat fan said:

At Pattipola. Waiting for the Train.

 

Sri Lanka in one Picture!

Life in one Picture!

A feeling can only be felt by a true Petrol Head...

And only a true petrol head would jump out and take a picture of his car while waiting for the train! ( The jeep looks great man! What a great find...) 

[vitz]

On 8/12/2020 at 12:42 AM, fiat fan said:

Thanks bro.

 

Everything from the ride to and from Kandy to Colombo is bad. The inner city traffic is worse.

Kandy Tuks can make you a poor man.

You are correct about Tuk Tuk fellows in Kandy....Real idiots. 

Some years back people have an understanding in sharing round the bounds. Nowadays, that is not there anymore. If a policeman is not around, idiots will never give a chance......

Jeep looks great, happy touring......

Edited August 19, 2020 by vitz

[fiat fan]

4 hours ago, Kavvz said:

And only a true petrol head would jump out and take a picture of his car while waiting for the train! ( The jeep looks great man! What a great find...) 

Haha true. Thanks bro. I’m very happy about it too. Simple and capable.

 

fun fact: 1st question people asked on the trip “thel kohomada wada? ”

                2nd question, “ Denawada? “
 

My brother told me this. I would have slapped them. Ask me how it performs offroad.

[fiat fan]

47 minutes ago, vitz said:

You are correct about Tuk Tuk fellows in Kandy....Real idiots. 

Some years back people have an understanding in sharing round the bounds. Nowadays, that is not there anymore. If a policeman is not around, idiots will never give a chance......

Jeep looks great, happy touring......

I have spent 1 hour daily to drive 4kms. That says a lot.

 

Thanks bro

[fiat fan]

[Sylvi]

Members,

It is a very happy to see a fully reconditioned jeep of 25- era on the road, most of them are on their grave yards of the world or not existing at all. I do not want to request the present cost of recon of this jeep up to date, it is only for future reference of the readers in future for their information.

Because in few years time no one can predict what will be the cost. I have had the experience of reconditioning costs for last few decades on Automobiles. For example in year 1950 highly skilled Mechanic salary was 1.00 a day, today I will not mention the figure due to present Man hour varies from rupees 200/= to 500/=. My estimate will not be correct and can be high or low?

Fat Fan I hope you will not misunderstand me if I request the cost of entire project up to now.

To find a set of mechanics to complete a job to 100% satisfaction of the owner of a vehicle or any other project it is unimaginable. Percent Am upgrading two civil projects in Colombo and out side, for last few months.

Started in December last year delayed due to the Pandemic, what entire world suffered and going through up to present day. I have had highly skilled men worked as two sets in both places. Also two sets are working to date.

More than 10 skilled workers have had left with informing me various excuses, with little extra payments over and above what is due to them, never turned back to complete their part of the job what they were entrusted to complete.

Little above what I have stated applies to every employment in our country. If any body inquires from an entrepreneur of their industry they do, the above will be the first complain  among our paid workers in all positions in an a establishment.

What I have mentioned on above is little (OT) of the topic.

Sylvester WIjesinghe

Sylvi.

[fiat fan]

8 hours ago, Sylvi said:

Members,

It is a very happy to see a fully reconditioned jeep of 25- era on the road, most of them are on their grave yards of the world or not existing at all. I do not want to request the present cost of recon of this jeep up to date, it is only for future reference of the readers in future for their information.

Because in few years time no one can predict what will be the cost. I have had the experience of reconditioning costs for last few decades on Automobiles. For example in year 1950 highly skilled Mechanic salary was 1.00 a day, today I will not mention the figure due to present Man hour varies from rupees 200/= to 500/=. My estimate will not be correct and can be high or low?

Fat Fan I hope you will not misunderstand me if I request the cost of entire project up to now.

To find a set of mechanics to complete a job to 100% satisfaction of the owner of a vehicle or any other project it is unimaginable. Percent Am upgrading two civil projects in Colombo and out side, for last few months.

Started in December last year delayed due to the Pandemic, what entire world suffered and going through up to present day. I have had highly skilled men worked as two sets in both places. Also two sets are working to date.

More than 10 skilled workers have had left with informing me various excuses, with little extra payments over and above what is due to them, never turned back to complete their part of the job what they were entrusted to complete.

Little above what I have stated applies to every employment in our country. If any body inquires from an entrepreneur of their industry they do, the above will be the first complain  among our paid workers in all positions in an a establishment.

What I have mentioned on above is little (OT) of the topic.

Sylvester WIjesinghe

Sylvi.

Thank you for the kind words. It really is a pleasure to run these old girls. No screens and tech. Just you and the vehicle. 

I do not have a full break-down of the cost yet. After the Jeep is completed, I will update the list.

We started with 13 Lacks.

The purchase price of the Jeep was 8.5 Lacks (After 15 different copies, this was the best price to condition available).

 

The mechanicals cost close to 90K.

The AC was 60K.

The Canopy /Rear Seats / Full floor carpeting was 65K.

The paint/de-rust work and undercarriage was 85K(cheap because of a relative)

Front 2 seats was 20K.

 

I will update as I go.

Thanks for the Interest guys!

[matroska]

23 hours ago, fiat fan said:

At Pattipola. Waiting for the Train.

 

Sri Lanka in one Picture!

Life in one Picture!

A feeling can only be felt by a true Petrol Head...

Was the engine running?

I asked cos this is a pic you can feel and hear - as soon as i looked at this i felt the crisp slightly chilly air, i heard the rugged no nonsense engine puttering on and I could smell the canvas top - this is a 5D Pic actually. 

Edited August 20, 2020 by matroska

[fiat fan]

27 minutes ago, matroska said:

Was the engine running?

I asked cos this is a pic you can feel and hear - as soon as i looked at this i felt the crisp slightly chilly air, i heard the rugged no nonsense engine puttering on and I could smell the canvas top - this is a 5D Pic actually. 

You got that right bro!

You can also hear the railgate bell going "tin tin tin"

Also it smells like that smell you get after a service! 

No screens in sight. No sahara flash audio. No auto break.

Just you and your thoughts while giving a slight tap to the steering as you hum some nostalgic tune.Slight wind in your chest are through the wind flap. 

You eat a pol rotti in a  small "petti kade" with a plain tea and a piece of Hakuru, while staring at the ol girl waiting for you to drive her away into the starry night.

You come up to that hill and you take the gear and clang it in place, while you work away them non power wheels.

Some non Instagram model nangi with more than a hanky covering her, will slyly stare at you and give you a shy smile while you pass by and you honk that old school horn giving her a wave. You know you are living a good life with the simple pleasures.

Next thing you know, you are wading through a river without you even knowing. Instead of buttons that do stuff for you, you putter about with three pedals and three gear levers(2 for 4×4).

 

Thank you All.

Love from the community makes things worth it and life worth living! The car community is a special thing I tell you!

 

Well that reply was longer than intended!

[Sylvi]

Members,

It is a very happy to see a fully reconditioned jeep of 25- era on the road, most of them are on their grave yards of the world or not existing at all. I do not want to request the present cost of recon of this jeep up to date, it is only for future reference of the readers in future for their information.

Because in few years time no one can predict what will be the cost. I have had the experience of reconditioning costs for last few decades on Automobiles. For example in year 1950 highly skilled Mechanic salary was 1.00 a day, today I will not mention the figure due to present Man hour varies from rupees 200/= to 500/=. My estimate will not be correct and can be high or low?

Fat Fan I hope you will not misunderstand me if I request the cost of entire project up to now.

To find a set of mechanics to complete a job to 100% satisfaction of the owner of a vehicle or any other project it is unimaginable. Percent Am upgrading two civil projects in Colombo and out side, for last few months.

Started in December last year delayed due to the Pandemic, what entire world suffered and going through up to present day. I have had highly skilled men worked as two sets in both places. Also two sets are working to date.

More than 10 skilled workers have had left with informing me various excuses, with little extra payments over and above what is due to them, never turned back to complete their part of the job what they were entrusted to complete.

Little above what I have stated applies to every employment in our country. If any body inquires from an entrepreneur of their industry they do, the above will be the first complain  among our paid workers in all positions in an a establishment.

What I have mentioned on above is little (OT) of the topic.

Sylvester WIjesinghe

Sylvi.

[Sylvi]

Fat Fan,

After very long time I spoke to another one time active AL  member who restored a long wheel base Mitsubishi jeep 7 years ago. My assistant who is with me for last 15 years have good contact with him and they once in a way discuss about various problems popup during day to day running the jeep.

I mentioned about this jeep few posts back. He was very happy to discuss about the modifications what we did on that jeep during the time, the said member was restoring same. Only Alternator had changed after 5 years of using in 2018 December to a used one with very high Amperage of 80+. I mentioned about duel air conditioning of that jeep during the modification of that jeep, during that time when he was attending to that on early posts to AL almost 6 to 7 years ago. Main problem he had was Alternator was not generating sufficient Amperes when he drives on top gear under 25 Kilometrers on flat roads. This was due to the owner  ( AL member) had done a very costly repair on the engine, also advised by the mechanic who did that repair to use the vehicle at low speeds for 2000 Kilometers.

My solution for that was changing the crank shaft pulley to a bigger diameter one and changing the Star connections of the Alternator stator winding to Delta, to Generate more amperes on slow RPM of the engine, was successful for few years until he changed the Alternator to higher Amperage unit.

Other problem what he had was there was not enough Vacuum storage due to a small Vacuum storage tank. One mechanic had changed is entire brake system with a bigger brake booster totally different to original. The modified system that mechanic had not expected the problem what he had faced after the modification. 

Every time the brakes are applied the vacuum drops to about 40% of the storage. I examined the Vacuum booster, that unit was OK did not have any Air leaks. I changed the Vacuum tank to a different tank. Bigger used vacuum tank was costing very high, the said jeep owner wanted a cost effective solution. Only way was to fix a empty LPG small cylinder to be the Vacuum tank, which I did after informing him under the Chassis of the jeep. Connected with new tubing. Fixed a new Vacuum gauge on to the meter board, to know the build up of Vacuum and how quick the vacuum is build up again for safe Brakes.

One AL member was attacking me for this modification that the vehicle will explode, and to my modification was not correct. Still he is using the jeep with that.

Above was little what I have done to the said Jeep when others was not able to solve a problem.

Sylvester Wijesinghe

Sylvi.

[Kavvz]

6 hours ago, Sylvi said:

Other problem what he had was there was not enough Vacuum storage due to a small Vacuum storage tank. One mechanic had changed is entire brake system with a bigger brake booster totally different to original. The modified system that mechanic had not expected the problem what he had faced after the modification. 

Every time the brakes are applied the vacuum drops to about 40% of the storage. I examined the Vacuum booster, that unit was OK did not have any Air leaks. I changed the Vacuum tank to a different tank. Bigger used vacuum tank was costing very high, the said jeep owner wanted a cost effective solution. Only way was to fix a empty LPG small cylinder to be the Vacuum tank, which I did after informing him under the Chassis of the jeep. Connected with new tubing. Fixed a new Vacuum gauge on to the meter board, to know the build up of Vacuum and how quick the vacuum is build up again for safe Brakes.

One AL member was attacking me for this modification that the vehicle will explode, and to my modification was not correct. Still he is using the jeep with that.

Above was little what I have done to the said Jeep when others was not able to solve a problem.

Sylvester Wijesinghe

Sylvi.

Why didn't the owner just switch to disc brakes / brake components from a Pajero Mr. @Sylvi? Its a pretty common upgrade / switch isn't it? And it would have solved these problems would it have not? 

( @fiat fan I'm not saying you need to do this. My understanding is that you're happy with your setup and how it functions...) 

Edited August 21, 2020 by Kavvz

[fiat fan]

21 hours ago, Kavvz said:

Why didn't the owner just switch to disc brakes / brake components from a Pajero Mr. @Sylvi? Its a pretty common upgrade / switch isn't it? And it would have solved these problems would it have not? 

( @fiat fan I'm not saying you need to do this. My understanding is that you're happy with your setup and how it functions...) 

We might if we upgrade something. So far its all good.

[Sylvi]

Fat Fan,

I did not want him to spend money on that vehicle, he told me he had spend all his savings and to do some thing for him to use this jeep for another year. His wedding was closing in few months. As far as I remember I only charged him the workers salary and the actual cost of parts only. I came to know him through this Auto Lanka.com he send few Emails to me and requested me to build a battery charger for his 24 Volts system. I remember giving him a 12 volts battery charger which  I build. At that time the AL was discussing about battery charges.

Biggest problem on that jeep was the Vacuum build up did not retain in that small tank. I dismantled the Vacuum  exhaust booster,  there was nothing wrong all seals were good, rotor plates were serviceable. Once when the brakes are applied brakes was correct only for that, immediate next application of brakes peddle was stiff because the Vacuum had dropped for already used application. Moment Vacuum tank was made big the vacuum retained in the tank was good for another number of times use.

I will inform him about this conversion, Will get his feed back.

Sylvester Wijesinghe

Sylvi.

[fiat fan]

Update. 
 

AC was calibrated and small adjustments done.

Hand Brake cable was replaced as some guy literary yanked it out.

 

Bought a tool set for it. 

Bought a  New Jerry Can.

Also got a Towing belt.

Work is slow these days. The Jeep is parked till we get tires and stuff.

Also attached a pic of the Speedos. Feels weird after seeing screens and LEDs on modern cars heh? I personally love it!

[fiat fan]

Also a pic of the ol’ girl.

Dusty at the moment. Needs them new tires badly.

 

Fun fact- There are other more @PreseaLover‘s it seems. Few people started following my bro and stalking him asking “denawada” ?

Every time we take it out around Colombo, there is always a small party of people(mostly in their 60 and 70’s) standing by it with memories and war memorabilia. 
 

Always open to a chat about these ol’ girls. 
 

People seem to love that we Preserved the old school looks and not pimp it with humongous tires and tacky add ons. Most of the restored examples follow a herd and try to pimp it up unnecessarily, almost all have lost that original look.

Thanks for the interest guys.
We will do a proper photoshoot and a detailed review once everything is done.

[fiat fan]

Yikes. I had no idea this thread was that popular. Thanks everybody  ??

[fiat fan]

Highway ok  ?

And its parked Illegally (I think).
 

Bro went off to Kumana Jungle. Highway drive was good no issues.

Late night drives @ 3.30AM

Some more stuff to be done, but parts and labour is expensive currently.

[Sylvi]

17 hours ago, fiat fan said:

Highway ok  ?

And its parked Illegally (I think).
 

Bro went off to Kumana Jungle. Highway drive was good no issues.

Late night drives @ 3.30AM

Some more stuff to be done, but parts and labour is expensive currently.

fat Fan,

Your jeep has a elegant look on that parking lot. like to have more pictures in near future.

Also if you like inform the cost in different stages of rebuilding.

Sylvester Wijesinghe

Sylvi. 

[fiat fan]

The jeep is back home from the Jungle life. 
 

ZERO issues for them 5 days. 1000 plus kms(mostly deep off-roading).

 One full tank(4 liters less after the stainless steel lining) sand a 20L jerry can. So yeah Its super good on fuel. With AC and 2 passengers. The AC was even used inside kumana and had no issues.

It went places where even the big boys stuttered(I’m guessing light and smaller size plus skilled driving helped). Even though the tires are butt ugly. They are original Dunlops made for land masters, which turned out to have bags of grip.

Wading as also not an issue. Mainly due to Zero electronics, we were able to go deep.

On the way back there was HEAVY rain all the way from Kumana to Colombo, 9 hour nonstop journey with constant AC and vipers/lights etc working, the thing was having no issues. Lights are also powerful and the yellow fogs always help. 
 

Next up it needs a stereo and speakers.

Nothing crazy though. Just two in the front and two in the back. No amps No subs. 

Single din pioneer with cd/usb/radio/bluetooth. And a magnetic phone holder for maps and media playback. Thought of going for Bluetooth as its bit loud on high speed and holding the phone while driving is not cool. 
 

Also Bought a pair of walkies to take back when I can get back.

Out of all our cars, this is easily the most loved and biggest stress reliever/happy machine. Makes life come close to how it’s shown on Instagram.

 

Pics in Kumana Jungle Entrance.

Edited September 11, 2020 by fiat fan
Pics

[fiat fan]

 

On 9/7/2020 at 6:15 AM, Sylvi said:

fat Fan,

Your jeep has a elegant look on that parking lot. like to have more pictures in near future.

Also if you like inform the cost in different stages of rebuilding.

Sylvester Wijesinghe

Sylvi. 

Thank you Mr Sylvi. 
 

She does look good. Lots of compliments and potential buyers it seems.

I will be visiting you soon as everything is done. I will also further update the prices once completed(I actually did post the cost breakdown to date).

[Sylvi]

19 hours ago, fiat fan said:

 

Thank you Mr Sylvi. 
 

She does look good. Lots of compliments and potential buyers it seems.

I will be visiting you soon as everything is done. I will also further update the prices once completed(I actually did post the cost breakdown to date).

Fat Fan,

Take your time complete same. I met another Jeep enthusiast on the road at Jaela few days back he told me he has 2 jeeps, the 31 Sri jeep is done very well, total cost only for rebuilding was Rupees 4 Million may be correct, will upload the Picture with the person who did the rebuilding.

Best of luck all trouble you take to rebuild a vehicle. Very few will do today.

Sylvester Wijesinge

Sylvi.

 

[kmeeg]

20 hours ago, fiat fan said:

It went places where even the big boys stuttered(I’m guessing light and smaller size plus skilled driving helped). Even though the tires are butt ugly. They are original Dunlops made for land masters, which turned out to have bags of grip.

 

Love how it looks. Would you put skinny tall tires or put wider tires?

I have a feeling if you put wider tires it will kill the engine power. I've seen many say there are lots of benefit with skinny tall tires.

Me personally have used wider tires for the looks on my vehicle but will look to reduce the width and go little tall when its time for tires next.

[fiat fan]

2 hours ago, Sylvi said:

Fat Fan,

Take your time complete same. I met another Jeep enthusiast on the road at Jaela few days back he told me he has 2 jeeps, the 31 Sri jeep is done very well, total cost only for rebuilding was Rupees 4 Million may be correct, will upload the Picture with the person who did the rebuilding.

Best of luck all trouble you take to rebuild a vehicle. Very few will do today.

Sylvester Wijesinge

Sylvi.

 

Many people opt for the long wheel base(31-) due to better on road dynamics.

4 mil is a stretch to be honest. 2.5 mil should be the Max.

Thank you again!