Hey guys,
About a year ago I bought a 91 Montero for my son and I to repair as his first car. We made some headway on it for a while last summer, but ran into storage, and working space troubles. I hope to get busy on it again soon. So does my son.
However after getting the Montero I realized how well they were built I decided maybe I'd get one too. Well wouldn't you know that Mitsubishi made these for several generations, and they are all rugged if not somewhat problematic, but what Mitsubishi cars aren't.
I decided I wanted a Gen 2.5 truck that was only sold in the USA for 3 years(98/99/00). They are essentially the same as the Gen 2 but use awesome box flares on the body instead of the regular body sides. There are little differences as well, but very cool looking rugged trucks that could be had with factory rear air lockers if bought with the right package. These were the last of the body-on-frame Montero/Pajero's. Unfortunately the 98-99 , but not the 00 where the only ones available with the factory rear lockers even though they are all the same otherwise.
Well I decided I'd find a 98-99, but it was proving tough to find one that wasn't beat up, neglected, rusty, or all of the above. Until recently I found a 2000 base model in CO that was in good shape, and had lots of cool mods, but nothing crazy. I had been parting out my 89 Mazda RX-7 TII over the past few months, and had a lot of money on my PayPal account, so I brokered a deal to buy the Montero, and have it shipped east.
I knew it needed a few things fixed right away, and I've dug into a few of them so far. The biggest issue thus far has been the badly warped front brake rotors. The seller provided new replacement parts, but I have to get them replaced. Thus far I am waiting for some help from a friend with a lift, and way more knowledge of 4wd front ends than I possess. Also I need a special tool to loosen/tighten the axle nut, and that is proving pricey to buy the right tool, or make due with a modified GM tool. Hopefully I can get it taken care of soon because the truck shakes uncontrollably when actuating the brake pedal.
So far I replaced the broken passengers side rear door handle($10 Chinese eBay part), lubed up a creaky rear door hinge, removed the Cabellas seat covers, removed the locking lug nuts, and replaced with regular ones,full vacuuming and clean up of the interior, and removed the flaky Mitsubishi security system that was acting weird. I lost the ability to unlock/lock the doors with the key fob, but I can work on that later. The passengers side front door lock is acting funny, and I knew about that already, so I will tackle that soon. The valve covers seem to be leaking, and I'm getting some burning oil smell, but it's nothing too bad so far. Also replaced some interior/exterior light bulbs, so I could pass inspection here in MA.
The truck has the following mods that I feel are pretty cool. Manual Aisin hubs, front and rear ARB air lockers, Extra low low range gears in the transfer case, aftermarket ASC sunroof(maybe not so cool), ARB front brush bar bumper, and a snorkel. It seems like a pretty decent rig so far, but I will admit that I sorta miss the smooth ride of the Sienna that this will most likely be replacing. Maybe I'm getting old?
I'll add pics later.
is there more of that thing somewhere? I love those weird vans.
