laurie-the-lorry
Adventurer
So how cheap was your Jeep?
My wife and I bought this one in Chennai, India - at the start of 2005 (Just after the tsunami). Billy as we creatively named him was working as a dump truck on a building site moving dirt. He had no seats {the driver sat on a box}, no windshield or lights, no brakes, no canvass or hoops or any electrics. In fact not much of anything really. But he looked cute and I decided he was going to be our expedition vehicle! Yes I am a little crazy!
Everything in India is for sale, so I asked the driver how much he wanted for his dump-truck, after a while (Indian time - so a long while) we understood each other. He phoned his boss and within 20 minutes, a moped came screeching up with a fellow that proclaimed to be the owner. We negotiated long and hard, he started at $1,000, I laughed and started at $200. Eventually we made a deal at $600 but within that deal he was to replace the steering box, buy lights, screen, seats etc. After confirming he owned the vehicle with a title, I paid $300 and left him to get our new expedition truck ready!
Two weeks passed as we had to make a quick visit back to the UK, and when I returned to Chennai of course not a thing had been done to Billy, the owner wanted more money and was not he was not getting it. I then visited his shop daily, and watched as he collected the oldest worst set of replacement bits possible. Eventually I gave him another $200 and took Billy away.
I built a dash as you can see from the fine checker plate, fitted some gauges; made the brakes work, added two seats and we were off. As expected, it did not last for long. This is our first breakdown when the gearbox exploded in Chennai. The thing about India is you are never short of willing helpers and more often then not the helpers are more of a hindrance. But their hearts are always in the right place and if you can find your patience it can actually turn out to be quite a interesting sport trying to keep all your tools within eye sight, no “spare” parts from leaving and joking with them all the same.
We spent the next couple of months working on the leprosy colonies around Chennai and Chengulpet. Here is a picture of one of our leprosy-afflicted patients, not for the faint hearted!
Pic here
Billy became a favorite of the kids we were looking after at the two-hostels/schools we were running. Although by our standards they had endured a rough first few years on this planet, it never ceased to amaze me how resilient these kids were with endless smiles!
This picture is of Billy on the top of a hill at Kumily in Kerela (a great hill station we loved ) . We had endured a few months of parched arid land and constant 40 degree temperature in Tamil Nadu we were told that 2005 was the hottest summer for decades in the region. I cannot tell you how good it felt to drive into the hills and see greenery. It was literally a breath of fresh air!
The journey and the hills took it’s toll on Billy. We limped into Kumily with only the front axle pulling - the rear differential had literally exploded. We had also lost the brakes again (lucky we were going up hill) and I needed a wheel bearing and another gearbox rebuild. But as always he got us to our destination. I actually can punctuate our trip more easily as to what I repaired and when:
So during our 18,000 mile journey
• I rebuilt the engine - Chennai
• Changed the engine out after it blew up again for a junk yard diesel Tata engine - Pondicherry
• Changed the brakes 3 times - Chenai, Kumily Goa, eventually updating to the 1960’s dual brakes, after three very close calls when we lost brakes altogether
• Rebuilt the gearbox twice – Chennai, Kumily
• Had a canvas roof made – Kerela, when we decided that driving around uncovered in the monsoon was a bit silly really
• Changed the windscreen – Kerela
• Rebuilt the rear diff - Kerela
• New shocks - Goa
The list is endless, but to me it was more than half the fun, even tho I must admit Tamara had the patience of a saint sitting on the side of the road entertaining all the children for hours that come to see what’s happening. All part of a yearlong 18,000-mile journey and my rig cost less than $3,000 with all the repairs and replacements!
Ok it’s not your usual expo rig, maybe a bit rough. For the first 4 months we didn’t have a canvass or hoops, we didn’t need them because it was dry as a bone. When the monsoons arrived we were at a hill station, and boy did it rain! I became very adept at driving down the road in monsoon conditions with my head pocking around the windshield with squinted eyes. We never got round to fitting windshield wipers. I drove like that for ages it felt like.
We slept in Billy once or twice, I had the boxes in the back made to keep our stuff safe and the dog on-top worked wonders as a burglar alarm. We adopted Falcor (the black and white dog) on route, or maybe I should correct that Falcor adopted us! We stayed mainly at cheap motels and a variety of other lodgings, our normal daily expense was around $20 this included food, fuel, lodging, alcohol, cigarettes, maintenance the whole caboodle.
Having Billy allowed us to steer clear of the Banana pancake trail and find the cheaper more entertaining accommodation.
I eventually gave him a lick of paint; these photos are on the way to Diu.
And the last couple here are in Udaipur, Billy is all dressed up for Diwali!
We really did fall in love with Billy, we still own him! He is being used by a friend in Udaipur. I wanted to bring him to the States but I have a feeling he may not be DOT approved!
So how cheap was your Jeep? $500? Plus a bit in preparation!
Sorry if it’s a long post I got a bit carried a away, reminiscing is always good!
My wife and I bought this one in Chennai, India - at the start of 2005 (Just after the tsunami). Billy as we creatively named him was working as a dump truck on a building site moving dirt. He had no seats {the driver sat on a box}, no windshield or lights, no brakes, no canvass or hoops or any electrics. In fact not much of anything really. But he looked cute and I decided he was going to be our expedition vehicle! Yes I am a little crazy!
Everything in India is for sale, so I asked the driver how much he wanted for his dump-truck, after a while (Indian time - so a long while) we understood each other. He phoned his boss and within 20 minutes, a moped came screeching up with a fellow that proclaimed to be the owner. We negotiated long and hard, he started at $1,000, I laughed and started at $200. Eventually we made a deal at $600 but within that deal he was to replace the steering box, buy lights, screen, seats etc. After confirming he owned the vehicle with a title, I paid $300 and left him to get our new expedition truck ready!
Two weeks passed as we had to make a quick visit back to the UK, and when I returned to Chennai of course not a thing had been done to Billy, the owner wanted more money and was not he was not getting it. I then visited his shop daily, and watched as he collected the oldest worst set of replacement bits possible. Eventually I gave him another $200 and took Billy away.
I built a dash as you can see from the fine checker plate, fitted some gauges; made the brakes work, added two seats and we were off. As expected, it did not last for long. This is our first breakdown when the gearbox exploded in Chennai. The thing about India is you are never short of willing helpers and more often then not the helpers are more of a hindrance. But their hearts are always in the right place and if you can find your patience it can actually turn out to be quite a interesting sport trying to keep all your tools within eye sight, no “spare” parts from leaving and joking with them all the same.
We spent the next couple of months working on the leprosy colonies around Chennai and Chengulpet. Here is a picture of one of our leprosy-afflicted patients, not for the faint hearted!
Pic here
Billy became a favorite of the kids we were looking after at the two-hostels/schools we were running. Although by our standards they had endured a rough first few years on this planet, it never ceased to amaze me how resilient these kids were with endless smiles!
This picture is of Billy on the top of a hill at Kumily in Kerela (a great hill station we loved ) . We had endured a few months of parched arid land and constant 40 degree temperature in Tamil Nadu we were told that 2005 was the hottest summer for decades in the region. I cannot tell you how good it felt to drive into the hills and see greenery. It was literally a breath of fresh air!
The journey and the hills took it’s toll on Billy. We limped into Kumily with only the front axle pulling - the rear differential had literally exploded. We had also lost the brakes again (lucky we were going up hill) and I needed a wheel bearing and another gearbox rebuild. But as always he got us to our destination. I actually can punctuate our trip more easily as to what I repaired and when:
So during our 18,000 mile journey
• I rebuilt the engine - Chennai
• Changed the engine out after it blew up again for a junk yard diesel Tata engine - Pondicherry
• Changed the brakes 3 times - Chenai, Kumily Goa, eventually updating to the 1960’s dual brakes, after three very close calls when we lost brakes altogether
• Rebuilt the gearbox twice – Chennai, Kumily
• Had a canvas roof made – Kerela, when we decided that driving around uncovered in the monsoon was a bit silly really
• Changed the windscreen – Kerela
• Rebuilt the rear diff - Kerela
• New shocks - Goa
The list is endless, but to me it was more than half the fun, even tho I must admit Tamara had the patience of a saint sitting on the side of the road entertaining all the children for hours that come to see what’s happening. All part of a yearlong 18,000-mile journey and my rig cost less than $3,000 with all the repairs and replacements!
Ok it’s not your usual expo rig, maybe a bit rough. For the first 4 months we didn’t have a canvass or hoops, we didn’t need them because it was dry as a bone. When the monsoons arrived we were at a hill station, and boy did it rain! I became very adept at driving down the road in monsoon conditions with my head pocking around the windshield with squinted eyes. We never got round to fitting windshield wipers. I drove like that for ages it felt like.
We slept in Billy once or twice, I had the boxes in the back made to keep our stuff safe and the dog on-top worked wonders as a burglar alarm. We adopted Falcor (the black and white dog) on route, or maybe I should correct that Falcor adopted us! We stayed mainly at cheap motels and a variety of other lodgings, our normal daily expense was around $20 this included food, fuel, lodging, alcohol, cigarettes, maintenance the whole caboodle.
Having Billy allowed us to steer clear of the Banana pancake trail and find the cheaper more entertaining accommodation.
I eventually gave him a lick of paint; these photos are on the way to Diu.
And the last couple here are in Udaipur, Billy is all dressed up for Diwali!
We really did fall in love with Billy, we still own him! He is being used by a friend in Udaipur. I wanted to bring him to the States but I have a feeling he may not be DOT approved!
So how cheap was your Jeep? $500? Plus a bit in preparation!
Sorry if it’s a long post I got a bit carried a away, reminiscing is always good!
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