Mrgalantguys 1998 Montero Winter package aka "Groot" Build & Adventure thread.

SONICMASD

Adventurer
and how is beam/cutoff adjusted (does it depend on the kind of bulb) and why is this only a new problem if it's not related to bulbs getting brighter?
 

Swank Force One

Adventurer
HIDs are way more sensitive to aiming than the old halogens. Partially because brightness, so you are correct after a fashion. :)

Brighter light + more focus + bad aim = bad time.

The other thing to consider is that once your truck is high enough, the factory adjustment range may not be enough to avoid blinding oncoming traffic. Something i need to look into when i get around to doing my D2S conversion i bought a year ago. Sigh.
 

MrGalantguy

Mitsubishi Loyalist
Awesome mod on the LED headlights!

One of the most annoying things while driving nowadays are the insanely bright headlamps that cars have. I don't ever remember being blinded by people's headlights 10 years ago but now it's a daily occurrence. Do you find these to be too bright for the road? Other people flashing you?

I don't want to become what I hate haha.

I have only had 1 car flash me on opposite side lane on a 1 lane road so far but I believe its because since I my Montero is raised with the 32's it sits more higher. The thing you have to consider is these LED bulbs have the actual LED on 2 sides unlike the a regular bulb or even a HID bulb. I am sure the LEDs on each side cover 180 degrees on each side giving a total 360 degree light distribution but I can tell from the light output you can see some of the pattern/cutoffs from the reflective backhousing. I will have to get better pics...i'll make it a point to take some in the next couple days and post them up.

Overall IMO there is better cutoff in light pattern compared to HID's...but its not like a properly done LED/HID projector lens setup, but "cleaner" compared to just slapping on HID's. Another pro on LED's is that its really a cleaner and easier install since you don't have to deal with the ballast and wiring and the HID bulb wiring which has a tendency to a "birds nest" of wiring on back of the headlight assemblies.
 

MrGalantguy

Mitsubishi Loyalist
During this time of the year I tend to be busy with normal life stuff like work and family but with the holidays...I am even more busy. I won't have much updates till probably in January but here are a few things that have happened.

My windshield had some damage from hurricane Irma and something hit my windshield which turned into a expanding crack...fortunately I put decent coverage and the process on getting a new windshield with USAA was seamless. Safelite came out and replaced the windshield with a Fuyao glass. I did some research and apparently they are pretty good and supply glass to many OEM vehicle manufactures.

Groot by grimgs, on Flickr
Groot by grimgs, on Flickr
 

MrGalantguy

Mitsubishi Loyalist
I guess you can say my family has a thing for Monteros.

My wife's 02 Beige 02 Gen 3, my dads 05 Gen3 and my 98...my sister owns the 12 Lancer GT.
Groot by grimgs, on Flickr
Groot by grimgs, on Flickr
Groot by grimgs, on Flickr

One thing I didn't get around to doing when I was doing the maintenance overhaul was repaint the roof rails. I finally got around doing it before I went ahead and installed my roof basket. One of the perks of running a warehouse is sometimes you get do stuff to your vehicle. It was slow during thanksgiving week.

Groot by grimgs, on Flickr
Groot by grimgs, on Flickr

I do have plans for some upgrades in the next few weeks hopefully.
 

shakotanfun69

New member
Absolutely love this thing. I have a very similar setup for LED headlight bulbs. Similar amazon brand. They work awesome!
 

MrGalantguy

Mitsubishi Loyalist
About a couple weeks ago I started to notice some drops of oil spots underneath the Montero so after some inspecting the high pressure oil cooler line was starting to leak. It progressively got worse especially after the cold snap we got a week ago so ordered a brand new OEM oil cooler line. I am saving the old one to get it rebuilt sometime as a spare so in case down the road this one ever fails I have a spare one and also in case Mitsubishi decides to make them not available anymore.

Groot by grimgs, on Flickr

Pic is upside down but using the harmonic balancer as reference of the front of the motor..the high pressure oil cooler line is the one with the more silver banjo bolt (more towards the front of the vehicle). The oil line was leaking from the actually rubber hose part where its clamp to the metal portion of the line which the oil dripped down the line onto the rear brush plate and leaking from the vent openings there.

I noticed also that the return line was leaking some oil from the banjo bolt..so I went ahead and ordered new crush gaskets for the return line.

Groot by grimgs, on Flickr

I guess timing was perfect because both Monteros needed a oil change so tackled both oil changes and replaced the oil line on Groot while at it.

Groot by grimgs, on Flickr

You will need to remove the air box to have access to remove the top portion of the oil cooler hoses. The high pressure side is the lower one and the return line is the one on top.

Groot by grimgs, on Flickr

I recommend having some sort of rag of paper towel for when you disconnect the oil line as remaining oil will spill out...keeps things less messy.

Groot by grimgs, on Flickr

The hose lasted almost 20yrs and over 200k miles...so can't complain. Good reason to spend the money and replace it with the same OEM quality part. The crush gaskets are in the smaller bag which is x2 per banjo bolt.

Groot by grimgs, on Flickr
Groot by grimgs, on Flickr

Fixed and doesn't drip a single drop of oil ;D
 
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MrGalantguy

Mitsubishi Loyalist
Been awhile since I updated but I have been pretty busy with work and just getting over the Flu. :-[

Phase 2 of the build is with a few rare JDM/Asian market parts arriving so I am slowly going to install them.

1st up is Pajero fender sidemarkers installed. It was a fairly simple process...hardest and longest process is removing the old adhesive from the Montero emblem from the fender. I used a heat gun to remove most of the adhesive and a several steps of polishing the remaining stuff off.

USDM Monteros are NOT prewired for these sidemarkers. I had to build a harness from the pigtail and connector provided with the sidemarker lens and wired them to the signal wires from the front corner lens.

Groot by grimgs, on Flickr
Groot by grimgs, on Flickr

This is a comparison of the Pajero sidemarkers with the Montero badge.

Groot by grimgs, on Flickr

When I removed the Montero emblem I heated the area where the adhesive is at and used dental floss to cut the adhesive. This technique prevents any potential gouging of the paint service if you try to "pry" off the emblem.

Groot by grimgs, on Flickr
Groot by grimgs, on Flickr
Groot by grimgs, on Flickr

I got majority of the old adhesive off but there a few spots where there is actual paint damage from i guess 20 yrs of exposure to the elements.

Groot by grimgs, on Flickr

Soldered new wire to some existing wire from the pigtail and heat shrinked it and wrapped the harness with electrical tape for additional protection.

Groot by grimgs, on Flickr

Used this rod to run the harness to the front turn signal area.

Groot by grimgs, on Flickr
Groot by grimgs, on Flickr

Once wired up just test if it works and install the sidemarker. For those looking to do this..there is not indication on the sidemarkers which side they go on. The side where the bulb connects needs to be on the left side of the fender hole facing towards the front.

To remove the sidemarker simply take a small flathead screwdriver with gently press sidemarker away and pry. This doesn't take much effort to remove the sidemarker.
 

MrGalantguy

Mitsubishi Loyalist
One of the issues that I was having with my Montero was that the rear door wouldn't lock or unlock with the rest of the power door locks. I always had to manually lock/unlock the rear door which became somewhat inconvenient over time.

While installing some parts and decided to lube parts of the back door handle ....this was a good time to diagnose the issue. Immediately found the issue as the door lock rod wasn't connected to the power door actuator. A piece that holds the rod in place was missing which prevented the rod from staying connected to the end of the actuator.

Groot by grimgs, on Flickr

Groot by grimgs, on Flickr

Its this rubber piece...not sure how it fell out but somehow it did thus causing my locking/unlocking issue. I thought I would search for it in the innards of the door thinking it fell off and its somewhere resting towards the bottom of the door insides and go figure...I found it.

Sprayed some silicone and reinstalled it and it fixed my issue with the power door locks for the rear door. Hopefully this helps out fellow Gen 2 owners who may be experiencing the same issue.

Groot by grimgs, on Flickr
 
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PacS14

Adventurer
I don't know what the rubber piece is attached to, but I can tell you that every single one of those locking and unlocking rods that o have seen have a plastic clip that make sure they fit tight onto whatever they attached to, and also rotate a clip to hold onto it to prevent it from sliding out, you might be able to find one at a junkyard fairly easy, if it's from a Montero I believe all the doors use the same size rod, therefore the clip should fit from any door. Good luck and thanks for sharing!
 

MrGalantguy

Mitsubishi Loyalist
Some people may know I recently purchased a set of Work Deerfield wheels from Japan. I got a really good deal on them...but they also needed some restoration as issues like clearcoat peeling, deep staining on the lip, curb rash/curb dents, etc etc. These wheels are 3 piece and aluminum so I had plenty of options to restore them. I originally wanted to repolish the lip but the issues I had were a coupe of the wheels had nicks on the lip and really wanted to keep the "Deerfield" sticker on the spoke of each wheel but that wasn't going to happen if the clearcoat had to be removed. A friend of mine recommended someone and took it to them and he really knew what he was talking about. Repolishing the lip wasn't a option due to the nicks on on the actual lip one couple of the wheels which required sanding down and the chrome is actually paint. He recommended powdercoating them a different color so I wanted a dark wheel as my 2nd option.

He recommended a gloss black lip with a satin black face...i wasn't sure on that look but he had a bunch of wheels to show as examples. I really liked the look...so I bit the bullet and agreed for him to powdercoat that color scheme. Took him about 2 weeks to do everything but I finally got to see the finished product and I am extremely happy with the outcome. The wheels look brand new.

Here are a few before and after pics. I am going to mount them sometime this week and will post pics of them installed. Here are the specs:

Work Deerfields
15x8 -13 offset
Powdercoated Gloss black lip/rivets and barrel with satin black face.

Groot by grimgs, on Flickr
Groot by grimgs, on Flickr
Groot by grimgs, on Flickr
Groot by grimgs, on Flickr
Groot by grimgs, on Flickr

After

Groot by grimgs, on Flickr
Groot by grimgs, on Flickr
Groot by grimgs, on Flickr
 

MrGalantguy

Mitsubishi Loyalist
Well...here are pics of the Work Deerfields mounted along with some other JDM goodies like the rear Pajero badge, Pajero sidemarkers, and front skidplate with Pajero lazercut cut. Decided to take the Montero out near some remote area near my job for a quick photoshoot. All the pics were taken on my Google Pixel.

Groot by grimgs, on Flickr
Groot by grimgs, on Flickr
Groot by grimgs, on Flickr
Groot by grimgs, on Flickr
Groot by grimgs, on Flickr
Groot by grimgs, on Flickr
Groot by grimgs, on Flickr
Groot by grimgs, on Flickr
Groot by grimgs, on Flickr
 

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