ANOTHER Guy With A Gen 2.5 Build - Sure, why Not? It's My First!

[KIRK!]

Just a thought based on my own experience but you may want to consider mounting your winch plate to your frame rails. I've seen some really nice solid installs that way (plate welded to rails & winch bolted to plate. Plus you don't need a forklift to install/uninstall your bumper due to the excessive weight it would otherwise have with a winch attached.

I should know, my winch is mounted to my bumper & it really takes an extra set of hands to carry them both around.

Great point. I don't think I can get the winch mounted high enough to have the fairlead on the bumper and be back far enough to mount to the frame. Check out the photo from underneath with the c-clamp. The winch plate will hit where the bumper mount is (which will be a gusseting point.). I'll check again though.

 

[KIRK!]

OK, a little more progress on the bumper today. I'm pretty happy with how it's going so far.

Long story short, I basically just made a bracket/support for the winch that is separate from the bumper. I wasn't sure if I was going to get the winch completely inside the bumper, but I was able to and the setup seems like it will work fine. I just have to do a little more fine tuning tomorrow and the winch part of the bumper will be done.

Next steps...extent the ends, lengthen and mount the brush guard from the junk yard, mount the headlight washers (if they'll clear the brush guard), D-ring mounts, weld up the random holes, paint and install for good.

 

[midstate]

Looks GREAT! love the different ideas. gettin the gears working in my head for mine soon

 

[KIRK!]

Some more progress...

I got the bumper sliced and bent back to better fit the curve of the grille area and cut the hole in the top where the winch lever will come through.

Then I got on the grill guard. I found this full brush guard at the junkyard on an Isuzu Trooper. It had two light on it too and was only $45. I always thought I was going to use the whole thing, but I'm now thinking I may just use the middle. It wasn't wide enough to look like it was meant for the Montero. I thought the uprights should be at the edges of the grille so I made new cross bars that are about 6" wider. The old ones had recessed plates with welded in nuts for bolting into. I did the same thing on my new bars. First I made the welded nut inserts from square nuts and washers that fit perfectly inside the tubes. Then I made a jig so that the washers would be held in a recessed position for welding.

 

[eurosonic]

good progress. Are you planning on connecting the skid plate to the bumper bottom?

 

[KIRK!]

good progress. Are you planning on connecting the skid plate to the bumper bottom?

No, the plastic vent piece comes level with the bottom of the winch bracket so I'm just going to bolt it back on in the stock location. That's where I plan to put the solenoid box. I'm going to leave the gap so I can reach through to plug the controller in.

 

[KIRK!]

I did a little math, laid out the light tabs and welded them up tonight...

 

[KIRK!]

More progress. Today I got the ends of the bumper tucked just a little further in and closer to the body and filled all of the random holes. Then I smoothed everything out. Luckily I don't have to be too anal about it because it is going to get painted with bedliner.

I marked and cut the uprights from the brush guard and fit it to the bumper. After some friendly persuasion with the sledge hammer I got the whole thing pretty straight and tacked it in place. I did a couple finish welds and will do the rest off of the Montero.

I was on the fence about putting the headlight washers on the new bumper, but when I decided to leave the headlight guards off I went ahead and added them too. I just shaved the square peg round and in they went. They are in nearly the identical location as on the stock bumper so the hoses just popped right on.

I also welded in some studs for the winch mount and fairlead.

Mocked it up one last time before it comes off for paint.

 

[eurosonic]

awesome!

what welder setup do you use?

 

[off-roader]

Have you driven her hard in hot conditions with the lights up front? I find having too many can dramatically reduce the airflow that cools the radiator.

 

[KIRK!]

awesome!

what welder setup do you use?

That is with my Miller Millermatic 175 MIG. It feels weird going back to it after using TIG for the whole last hot rod I built.

Have you driven her hard in hot conditions with the lights up front? I find having too many can dramatically reduce the airflow that cools the radiator.

Not yet. If it's a problem I can always go to two lights.

 

[off-roader]

Not yet. If it's a problem I can always go to two lights.

I gotcha. Just saying so you can be on the lookout for problems and not get caught flat footed especially in our warm CA summers. :ylsmoke:

 

[KIRK!]

More progress...

I was hoping to get the rockers painted over the long weekend too, but it was just too cold today according to the directions for the bed liner material.

I did finish the brackets to raise the rear bumper 1.5" to match the body lift.

I welded on the D-ring mounts that I picked up on eBay. I also finished up the Craigslist front bumper. I smoothed everything out, primed it and the used a spray on bedliner material. The rockers are getting a heavier duty roll-on type. I was surprised at how well it came out. It takes a little practice to get the technique right, but when you figure it out it lays down nicely. I also decided to spray the grill with the same stuff. Then I painted the logo and the V6 orange. A few other things like the D-rings will be orange too. Since I need to extend all of the winch wires I just put the bumper together without it since it may be a while until I get to that project. The hole you see under the winch plate is where the plug for the winch controller will be. Oh, I also made a mount for the winch control box too.

Fully welded inside the frame rail too.

All mounted up. The hole under the winch plate on the left side is where the the winch controller plug peaks through from where the solenoid box is mounted behind.

 

[eurosonic]

man, your rig is coming along very nicely

 

[grandpa]

Very nice. That looks great!