99' 3.0l V24 SWB Pajero

[JonHardars]

Alright, so I figured I'd throw up a thread to list what I've been doing with my car and some pictures.

A little info on it;
It's a 1999, Facelifted, SWB, V6 3.0L V24, 181hp Pajero.
Bought it back in November, 2017, driven 207k Km.

Started some rust repairs in the beginning of 2020 after noticing a rust hole in the frame and ended up doing a bit more than originally intended, including everything here below and probably more;

New, 33x12,5, 15" BFG AT K02 tires.
New Brembo brake discs.
New brake disc dust covers.
New brake calipers.
New brake pads.
New shocks, non adjustable.
New exhaust from engine manifold.
New snorkel, mainly for looks, but functional.
New flood lights to replace broken fog light.
New bearings in all wheel hubs.
New oils and filters.
New antifreeze.
New fuel pump.
New Aluminum side steps.
New LED headlight bulbs.

That's all I remember right now, might have to add to the list later, especially since I would quite like to do more for it.
I haven't had the chance to get any good pictures of it after the "rust repairs", but the majority of it was underneath and not visible anyways so here's some older photo's I got before I took it off the road and if there's interest, I'll post some pictures from the "rust repairs".

 

[Schmaab]

Looks awesome! Beautiful pictures too!

 

[Toasty]

My dream rig!

 

[B-Line Performance]

One day those will get imported to the US.

 

[JonHardars]

One day those will get imported to the US.

Now that you mention it, I don't think I've ever seen a SWB or Wide Body model from the US..

 

[lev]

Beautiful Monty! So is that a blister-fender SWB with a Pajero Evo-style body kit?

 

[JonHardars]

Beautiful Monty! So is that a blister-fender SWB with a Pajero Evo-style body kit?

The blister-fenders are stock from the factory,1997-1999 they gave the Pajero a facelift, including those new fenders and the bumper reaching up to cover the grill.
I'm not sure where body kit comes from to make it even wider, it was already installed when I got it, but you see it on a few Pajero's here in Iceland, different from the Evo as you can see on the following picture though. Works well for the extra wide tires.

 

[JonHardars]

Here's some pictures of what caused me to take it off the road and start doing some rust repairs.




As you can see, the frame's walls were getting rather thin, there was also a crack on the underside.

 

[lev]

When a frame rail is being held together by a zip tie... Time to learn to weld?

What do you use in your neck of the woods for rust resistance? Here in North America, we have Fluid Film and Woolwax.

 

[JonHardars]

When a frame rail is being held together by a zip tie... Time to learn to weld?

What do you use in your neck of the woods for rust resistance? Here in North America, we have Fluid Film and Woolwax.

I think the zip tie was mainly there for an electrical wire, but it couldn't have hurt to have it for the frame too.

We have Fluid Film too, and a wool wax called Prolan, I bought a jug of the Prolan, though I haven't gotten around to spraying it on yet, need to try and power wash the inside of the frame first.
Honestly though, where I live, there's not much of a rust problem, so I hadn't even heard of these chemicals before. But like an idiot I bought this car from out of town and didn't think to check under the car and behind the tires for rust.

And indeed, welding was very much needed, the other side turned out to be just as bad. I don't have a whole lot of pictures of the repairs, but we ended up grinding the majority of the rust off with wire wheels and plating over it.

 

[JonHardars]

Figured I'd give a little update on the look of the car, added a ARB roof rack with a ARB spot light LED bar, some cheap LED flood lights in place of the old fog lights as well as a cheap snorkel, painted the wheels, replaced the side steps and got new tires.
Taken it on a couple of day trips and driven it around town, it's working well but it could still use a lot more love, there's some rust spots on the body but I haven't quite gathered the courage to pull the fender flares / body kit off and see the rust behind, as well as to see the bill for a paint job since it's covered in lil scratches and rock chips aside from the rust I'd need to cut out and replace.

Possible future mods;
I'd like to beef up the side steps, they flex quite a bit when stepped on, maybe see if I can make lift points on them.
Possibly replace the new shocks and old springs as I'm not quite happy with the ride quality.
Add some work lights to the rack to light up the near by area around the car when off roading in the dark.
I pulled off the spare tire and got some tire plugs since it was too small and I'm more interested in adding a fuel can, just need to figure out a bracket.
I'd love to add a winch, but I'm not sure how to incorporate it without messing up the look of the front as I quite like it.
Replace the old bulbs in the instruments cluster with LED's.

 

[CharlieNorth]

I do not see any trees nearby, but chainsaw bar oil is allot better than fluid film. Around where I am the fluid film provides very good protection for a week or so. Our last years chain oil is still there and will be freshened up soon. If you can get a good coating on the inside of the frame would be a good thing, I expect you found allot of piled rust inside as you were doing repairs. The frame failes from the inside. Plug off as many frame holes as possible.
Ride quality, the wrong new shocks make for a bad ride all on their own, I am old fashioned and use KYBs on most street and multi purpose vehicles.

 

[JonHardars]

I do not see any trees nearby, but chainsaw bar oil is allot better than fluid film. Around where I am the fluid film provides very good protection for a week or so. Our last years chain oil is still there and will be freshened up soon. If you can get a good coating on the inside of the frame would be a good thing, I expect you found allot of piled rust inside as you were doing repairs. The frame failes from the inside. Plug off as many frame holes as possible.
Ride quality, the wrong new shocks make for a bad ride all on their own, I am old fashioned and use KYBs on most street and multi purpose vehicles.

No, we don't have a lot of trees here, remarkably few even, and yeah, there were literal piles of rust in there, we got some out before patching over the holes, but I'm reluctant to drill holes all over the frame to get the rest out. I plan on trying to power wash what I can out and then coating the inside with a Prolan wool wax, it's supposed to give a good coating, we'll see how long it lasts. The shocks were definitely a mistake, I haven't had prior experience with changing shocks and underestimated the importance of investing in quality ones, these were some no name brand shocks from Milner Off Road. I'm looking into some Old Man Emu shocks, they have listed shocks for a SWB pajero, as well as springs and torsion bars. They don't have a reservoir however like you see in the fanciest trucks, so I'm not sure how amazing they are, but I've been told they're supposed to be good.

 

[CharlieNorth]

When blasting out the frame, very little will go out the back. The rear cross tube aft of the tank blocks access. If you can back it up on something to get it tail high and use air quite allot will come out the front. As you have seen there are allot of holes along the frame, both inside and out. Most were closed from the factory, both oval and round other than the 4 transpot hook locations. The round holes are 30mm and plastic plugs can be purchased. The oval holes have factory plugs, might be hard to source. I have poured oil into the frame from each end which is helping keep my '95 SR alive. I will be oiling my Pajero but would love to sandblast and paint the frame first. We used to have companies that would submerge the frames to strip them then preserve. I doubt they have survived.