So back to our regular Montero content..
First thing I did was start to rip off the gross purple tint and the garage door seal-looking "flares". I also found a new old stock window latch and replaced that at the same time. I did find a little rust under the "flares". This bit is the worst of it. As for the frame, there's some light surface rust here and there but that's it. Not too bad considering this has been a CO truck most its life. I also took this time to lower the torsion bars as the previous owner had cranked them to the max and was riding the upper bump stops. And replace the missing front swaybar endlink.
Now for passing emissions...I've got 3 issues, a leaky fuel fill neck, a bad O2 sensor, and oil smoke out the exhaust when idling for long periods. The first two are easy replacements...The third likely means my valve stem seals will need replacing at some point. My current strategy for that is run some cleaner through the fuel and then get the truck as hot as I can before the test.
New oem hose in. The old basically disintegrated in my hands as I pulled it out. And new denso O2 sensor.
As far as testing, 3rd time was the charm and we got a pass! Even though emissions aren't as strict as in CA, I still get nervous every time I go in haha. Also peep that new Mitsubishi badge on the rear! She will be getting a full set of Mitsubishi badges at some point.
Change of ownership in CO means new plates. And since it's been so warm here, decided to spray the grill black while I was at it.
Picked up some other goodies around the same time as well: This neat 3D-printed cupholder that somebody graciously made a file for and a set of 4 poms to replace the current wheels.
Now we're all caught up on what I've done so far. The previous owner daily drove this for the last 5 years and kept a pretty good maintenance record. There's a few things I will still need to catch up on though.
Things I currently noted I need to fix include:
- Leaking coolant from somewhere
- Leaking power steering pump
- Small oil leak (in addition to the smoke -- which I will ride out a bit longer)
- Tachometer doesn't work
- Voltmeter doesn't work
- Oil pressure gauge doesn't work
- Manual driver window crank doesn't wind up smoothly
- Needs carpet in the rear
- Broken exhaust mounts and heat shield
- Rad fan runs constantly from the moment you turn the truck on
- Rust
- Remove the poorly done trailer wiring
- cracked windshield
Thoughts so far on mods:
- Steel bumpers front and rear
- Rock sliders (maybe)
- Skids (it currently is missing all of them)
- Off road lights
- Swap sealed headlights for something better
- Shocks (currently has garbage KYBs)
- 31" tires
- Sound insulation all throughout
- A better headunit and better (actually working) speakers
- Roof rack
- Wheel spacers for the poms
- Gen 2 front seats
- Gen 2 rear trailing arms (assuming they fit on the SWB)
- Clever storage system on the inside for recovery gear
- Muffler for that sweet sweet 6g72 sound
That's all I've got for now. I'm sure both those lists may change as I dive into things.