1990 Montero V8 project

[Toasty]

One of the byproducts of the V8 swap on my '98 was a surplus drivetrain that I picked up just for the rear sump oil pan (1999 SC400 donor). Unfortunately as it turned out I needed a rear sump pan from a GX470 ?. What to do with a spare drivetrain?
Sometime later I heard that a good friend was scrapping a Gen 1 LWB so I called him up and asked if he'd sell it to me. To my surprise I had helped him some years ago and never requested payment so he offered the truck to me for free. Well, with the '98 V8 swap pretty much wrapped up I thought I'd start cracking at this '90. The goal here is to be as cheap as possible and end up with a fun driver.




This is how it was when I got it, been sitting here some years.



Obviously it needed a grill, corner lights and some fresh shoes.



Here's the donor SC400 (right side)



Day one of actual work.




Wire harness and AC system removed.



Front axle assembly removed.


To be continued...

 

[CharlieNorth]

Should be fun.

 

[Toasty]

Prepping the engine bay for the transplant, got the old engine mount brackets cut off and frame prepped.




I decided to cut the core support on this one and to install the radiator in place of the condenser. I carefully laid out my cuts a to leave the body flange below to be reused and drilled out the spot welds.




Using a nutzert tool from Harbor Freight (the cheap one, not the kit) I drilled the spot weld holes larger to fit the nutzerts and was able to refit the core support perfectly without having to add any materials.

 

[Toasty]

Preparing the engine for installation, I remembered from the last UZ swap that a bracket on the driver header was super close to the steering shaft so I cut it off before installing this time.



Dropping in the complete drivetrain all at once, really nice to be able to do this.



With the engine in place it finally settled in my new ride height.




...but now the back side looks lifted even though that's stock ride height. Looking into air bags now, I'd like to keep it cheap and I don't much care for the idea of cut springs.

 

[plh]

2WD?

 

[Toasty]

2WD?

Yeah, these low pro tires are probably rubbish offroad plus a lowered 4wd just doesn't seem right. I still feel like I can out "Overland" just about anyone in the scene with a slammed Montero.

 

[CharlieNorth]

Oh I am sure you can scrounge up some 44s for those wheels.

 

[Toasty]

Oh I am sure you can scrounge up some 44s for those wheels.

If you want 42's or bigger you're probably going to want 20's anyway right?

 

[CharlieNorth]

Over here with our heavy wet snow those tires are ideal. Large wide and smooth so you can drive on top without digging through the crust well till you break or dig through.

 

[Toasty]

Got the intake plumbing done and I finished the exhaust! Here's a few more pictures of the core support and engine mounting. I've got to make a driveshaft, plumb the fuel, hook up the throttle cable and figure out the mechanicals for the shifter setup next.
The big ticket is the radiator, the one I need is quite expensive from Griffin but if I get the rest done for now I'll be happy. I want to wire this truck myself but the engineer working on my '98 is insisting on wiring this one as well, we'll see. I want to learn and I also don't want to backlog him more than he already is or have to wait another year.

 

[Toasty]

Butchered up an SC400, Gen 2 Montero and Gen 1 Montero fuel pump hanger assembly to make another returnless system for this truck similar to what I did on the '98.

 

[CharlieNorth]

Custom radiators, Presuming you have a TIG welder or access to one, I buy generic circle track radiators from Speedway or wherever you choose. Cut and tuck the tanks as needed and alter the hose fittings to suit.

 

[Toasty]

@CharlieNorth that's what I was looking at, I don't have access to a TIG outside of work and I'm not allowed to work on personal projects at the shop. So it needs to mostly work as is, I might be able to sneak it in for something quick if absolutely necessary. The rad I found is a universal "Scirocco Style" crossflow, dimensionally it fits where the AC condenser was and hopefully I'll be able to use a stock set of radiator hoses.

 

[z168]

This is awesome! Did I think right, that with the new engine and drivetrain, the 4WD system would be scrapped?

 

[Toasty]

@z168 On this one I did scrap the 4WD to make the v8 swap easier, the '98 got special treatment and still has it's Super Select 4WD behind the 5 speed auto. This truck I don't plan on keeping, it's mostly for fun and to hopefully recoup some money from my last swap because I bought a lot of extra parts and most of them are on this truck. For example I bought a complete SC400 drivetrain just for an oil pan that I then didn't use because it still interfered with the front diff, ultimately I bought a GX470 oil pan for my '98 and it fit but it was not cheap. I have some really neat things in store for this '90 that will be revealed later but first it's got to be a running driving 2WD low rider.