1995 Mitsubishi Montero LS

[shanesevo]

I started my obsession with cars by playing Need 4 Speed Underground 2 and always loved the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution and it was always a dream car. Then my dream came true about 9 years ago, I never thought in a million years I would become a life long Mitsubishi fanboy. As much as I love my Lancer Evolution, it is far too small to haul my gear to and from campsites and backpacking trips. I had initially had been going back and forth between getting a Land Rover Discovery I or II, but seeing their value skyrocket over the years I continued my search for something else. I found the Gen 2 Monteros and never looked back. While it took me about 5 years of searching for the right one, I finally have my 1995 Montero LS.


Once I purchased I took the timing cover off because of a lack of maintenance records. I decided to do the timing belt and water pump and had a great friend and professional auto tech go through the engine and replace any worn parts. The car got a continental water pump and timing belt kit, valve cover gasket kit, crank position sensor, and serpentine belt.

About a week later, I took her on my first non around town trip to Big Bear, CA for some fishing.






Adventure Driven Design Bilstein 5100s on order!

 

[shanesevo]

By June 2020, I had received the ADD 5100s and installed them, and thank goodness the OEM Mitsubishi shocks would compress but not expand afterward. Boy, was this a difficult job making sure the shocks stayed compressed while getting them into the mounts.



At this point, I noticed that the CV boots were absolutely destroyed. I ordered some EMPI replacement Boots from Advance Auto. They sent me three rather than the 4 that I ordered.


While the CVs were out, I decided to add Aisin manual hubs to save the boots in the future and that 1Mpg ;)





A few weeks later, I realized that only one was working on the car's foglights. I decided to replace them with some Nilight 5in amber lightbars.




For Labor Day Weekend, I drove up to Bishop, CA, with a ton of overheating issues. After leaving the following morning, I took a look at the radiator. It was in horrible shape, completely rusted out.



I added some Thermocure as per recommended by a Montero Facebook group. It made a HUGE difference.

But I wasn't done there, I found a local radiator shop in Northridge, CA ( The Radiator Works), and they made my radiator beautiful again!



At the same time, I decided to change the Tstat with an OEM 3000gt Tstat from Aisin and an OEM fan from Mitsubishi.




I have not had any cooling issues since, thank god. Since this issue, I've finally gotten to take the Montero on some trails with some friends and have realized how great this truck is!







I bought a weld-together bumper from a local fabricator @lampsonfabworks the kit is pretty straightforward and is cut with a CNC machine. Over the last few days, I've been tacking the bumper together and getting it ready to get mounted!

 

[GLOCKer]

I've always liked the Montero! I was disappointed recently...

We teach a class called VCQB - Vehicle Close Quarters Combat/Battle. A local junk yard dropped off four vehicles for us to shot at, through, and from all for this class. Afterwards they were going to tote the vehicles over to the fire department to practice cutting up at their academy. One of these vehicles was a Montero in really nice shape. It was towed abandoned from the side of the road, ran and drive fine according to the tow company owner. It looked as if it had a flat and the owner didn't have a spare and left it. I jokingly offered the tow company owner $100 to let me save it from getting shot up, because it really would have made a nice vehicle for overlanding in North Georgia. He laughed and said that after we destroyed it, he'd get way more than that for it in scrap.

We shot the hell out of it. And let me tell you, it didn't do well. But man it would have been fun to turn into an overlanding rig!

 

[shanesevo]

I've always liked the Montero! I was disappointed recently...

We teach a class called VCQB - Vehicle Close Quarters Combat/Battle. A local junk yard dropped off four vehicles for us to shot at, through, and from all for this class. Afterwards they were going to tote the vehicles over to the fire department to practice cutting up at their academy. One of these vehicles was a Montero in really nice shape. It was towed abandoned from the side of the road, ran and drive fine according to the tow company owner. It looked as if it had a flat and the owner didn't have a spare and left it. I jokingly offered the tow company owner $100 to let me save it from getting shot up, because it really would have made a nice vehicle for overlanding in North Georgia. He laughed and said that after we destroyed it, he'd get way more than that for it in scrap.

We shot the hell out of it. And let me tell you, it didn't do well. But man it would have been fun to turn into an overlanding rig!

It's really sad how many of them end up at junkyards especially those with OEM rear air lockers! I feel as though they are so underrated for such a well-built SUV. I think a lot of it has to do with the overpriced OEM parts. On the other hand, it is nice knowing that I can get parts for it really cheap at a junkyard. I wish you could have bought it, as it is always nice seeing them on the road!

 

[shanesevo]

Here is a little bit of an update on the bumper kit I have been welding together! Here I am mocking up getting ready to weld the frame mounts. The bumper itself needs a little bit of massaging, getting it to fit a little bit better, but the truck is coming along nicely.