Need Sage Advice: 1st Gen Monty Trade

[Stormhorns]

Howdy Portal!

Diving right in, I have had a 90 Miata for trade on Craigslist for a while now.

Tonight I had a guy offer me a trade for an 84 2 door Monty. It's in ok shape with some mechanical repairs needing done.

http://dallas.craigslist.org/ndf/cto/5111789606.html

Basically other than putting around on google since his offer I have no knowledge of these rigs. I just would like some info on how good these little guys could be for a mild expo rig.

Think 2 people and a dog off road camping for 1-2 weeks.

Is the engine strong? How hard to find parts? Is the tranny worth rebuilding? Etc. as well as any other info you guys may have on em.

It would not be a DD, and I have an f350 so a towable rig may also work.
(Wanna build the f350 eventually)

My Miata is in need of paint and maybe a master cylinder but could be a DD without issues.

Also it would pretty much be my first off-roader, and I'm not afraid to wrench myself.

Sorry for the long winded explanation, but I wanted to get everything out there. Let me know what y'all think.

Thx for your time.

 

[dieseltechJay]

Sounds like a fair trade to me offhand given your car needs work and so does the Montero. As far as a cash price I wouldn't pay more than $1500 personally. The engine is strong, but underpowered in stock form. There are hop-up parts for it, and it can even be turbocharged as it is basically the same motor as the Starion/Conquest. Transmission is always rebuildable, but hard to say what's up with 4th offhand. Could just be a bent shift fork or as bad as a toothless gear. It'll fit the bill of what you want if you put in the work, but if it's a fair trade or not is ultimately up to you.

 

[Eric M]

84s are pretty rare, they're in the NA series which is the very first one. 7.25" differential up front and 8" rear axle in the back, where the later V6 1st gens have the still-in-service 8" 28 spline front diff and the only recently dropped 9" rear axle. The engine is strong as in durable, but if you are looking for power you will be extremely disappointed. The 4G54 is still made and used. I hear of issues with the carburetors, but I don't know off the top of my head what the problem is. If the transmission is too far gone you might be able to find another from behind any of the carbureted 2.6L Mitsubishi 4WD vehicles, code KM145 I think.

 

[dieseltechJay]

84s are pretty rare, they're in the NA series which is the very first one. 7.25" differential up front and 8" rear axle in the back, where the later V6 1st gens have the still-in-service 8" 28 spline front diff and the only recently dropped 9" rear axle. The engine is strong as in durable, but if you are looking for power you will be extremely disappointed. The 4G54 is still made and used. I hear of issues with the carburetors, but I don't know off the top of my head what the problem is. If the transmission is too far gone you might be able to find another from behind any of the carbureted 2.6L Mitsubishi 4WD vehicles, code KM145 I think.

Yeah, I should have specified that part. The problem is the fickle Mikuni carburetor. There was a shop out there that offered a Weber swap back when I was looking at a Gen1 from the defunct Montero-Raider.com website. Possibly others have it as well.

 

[KyleT]

If you value the Miata at 1500, I would probably say it's a safe bet. Old miatas have to be in pretty good shape to bring buyers. I have owned two so far. Want another one some day.

 

[Stormhorns]

Going to look at the Monty later today, is there any specific things ya'll would recommend to look for other than typical used car things?

 

[rxinhed]

Follow up? I put 100,000+ miles on an 87 Raider that I bought for $1K. Best car I've had yet.

 

[Stormhorns]

Hey all!

Thanks again for all the advice/info.

I ended up passing on the monty. It ended up having way more rust than I would have liked to tackle, as well as a few more odds and ends that just made me feel like it wasnt a fair trade.

I did however roll the dice on a 1991 Jeep Cherokee that I think will end up being a solid purchase.

Full story here:

http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/145461-1991-Jeep-Cherokee-Build

Now the Miata is on Craigslist to sell to satisfy my accountant, aka wife, and that extra money will help start my build!

Thanks again everyone!