Conflicted no more, 1990 or 1999 as a daily driver?

[rxinhed]

My favorite of the Mitsu colors. Does this Montero have a sunroof, too?

 

[yugo308guy]

You bet! One of the few issues I know of, it leaks occasionally. I'm sure a little silicone will fix that.....I hope.

 

[fangars]

Mine has the sun roof as well, I need to get in there and lubricate everything. Motor works but the window does not move.

 

[GrassCat]

I'm sure a little silicone will fix that.....I hope.

How will silicone fix it? Do you mean you're going to glue it shut?

 

[yugo308guy]

How will silicone fix it? Do you mean you're going to glue it shut?

Well...I was thinking that maybe it was the rubber seal around it and a touch of silicone might help re-seal it.

Which leads me into my next bit of info, I now have the truck in my possession! I had a nice easy trip with my son. Took us 3 hours to get to Ft Wayne In from Columbus OH, and another 3 uneventful hours back. I was very pleasantly surprised at how well this 23 year old truck traveled. I expected it to be very loose and worn out, but this thing was like driving a MOUNTAIN! It was solid and smooth and comfortable. I want to get it on a lift and get a look at the suspension parts as I expect a lot has already been replaced. No clunking, knocking or anything out of the ordinary. Engine wise was the same, no hiccups at all. Temp stayed low, voltage looked good, oil pressure gauge was respectable as well. Not hardly a hint of blue smoke out of the exhuast at all. The sunroof is going to take a bit more work than anticipated though. It is not seating 100% correctly when closed, and I am sure the drain holes are probably clogged up. Does anyone have a tutorial on how to clean out the drain holes? Any help would be appreciated.

Gratuitous drive home photo:

 

[GrassCat]

A green pump handle around here would be diesel. I thought that was a National thing, but I guess not.

I'm sure you will find most of the parts under your truck will be original.

 

[Clem]

Lookin' good:sombrero:

Where I live the green handle means, diesel. Did I miss something in your description of this new-to-you beauty?

Glad the trip home was uneventful,

Clem

 

[yugo308guy]

Nope...It's a BP, and around here they all have Green handles. Woulda been really cool if it had been a diesel though!

 

[fangars]

Yellow for diesel here. Sometimes green. Congrats on the new to you Montero.

 

[yugo308guy]

Well I guess this thread is going to turn into my build thread. So far I think I have fixed the sunroof by locating the drain holes underneath the truck and using a compressor to blow out all the debris. Right now it seems as though I have good drainage going. Also added just a bit of 3M Sealant to a small gap in the rubber sunroof seal. I have a little bit of squeaking going on with my bouncy seats, I put some spray-on lube to the pivot points to no avail so far and will investigate further this week.

In addition, I was happy to discover receipts that show the water pump and timing belt were both replaced less than 25,000 miles ago, in fact, all the belts, hoses, plugs and plug wires were all somewhat recently replaced. Goodyear Wranglers that have less than 5000 miles on them as well. I will need a new spare, the one on it has signs of dry rot and has no air in it right now.

I forgot to add this picture in with my travel from Ft Wayne.

 

[yugo308guy]

Spent a little time yesterday trimming down my front bumper. The passenger side end cap and support bracket had been torn off by the PO, so I took off the end cap from the driver's side and cut off the bracket on that side as well. the chrome bumper cover is still a little wrinkled, which i am going to try and straighten yet, and I am probably going to paint both front and back Black.

 

[fangars]

You have the same damage I have, replacing the valance and fender is not that expensive, the painting might be.

 

[yugo308guy]

Yeah, I have a neighbor who owns a Maaco body shop and he said about $700-800 to fix the damage and repaint. However, I found a matching fender already in Green for about $105 plus shipping. Not sure how well it would match, but can't believe it would be too far off. I am debating on what I want to do.

 

[Senor Carey]

So now that you've got a road trip under your belt and the chance to crise around in it a bit, what are your opinions on the Gen 1? Is it passable as a DD or have new cars and creature comforts come too far?

 

[yugo308guy]

So now that you've got a road trip under your belt and the chance to crise around in it a bit, what are your opinions on the Gen 1? Is it passable as a DD or have new cars and creature comforts come too far?

I definitely would not say that new cars have come to far. That being said, there are really only 2 creature comforts that I miss, one being cupholders(which I can fabricate somehow) and the other being Armrests. Those are what I really miss. Overall though, I am very comfortable with this being an acceptable daily driver. After driving from Ft Wayne, I would not hesitate taking this on a longer trip, and I really like how simple everything is and feel I will be able to fix those things that do break. I KNOW that things are going to break, but I am planning for it and keeping a reserve fund in the bank to prepare for the inevitable. The cool factor is way up there, hell, even my 19 year old son thinks it's really cool! I am very happy so far and do not regret the decision at all....at this point!