1998 Mitsubishi Montero Winter Package w/ adjustable suspension - Project Groot

[Mrgalantguy]

Its been a few weeks since I brought Groot home but the weekend after I brought it home Hurricane Irma hit and have been busy since with home, family and work.

Here it is finally..."Groot 1.0" as its still going through some upgrades as my light/medium overland build.

List of things done in phase 1.0:
-Front case service (Gates timing belt kit, Aisin water pump, OEM cam and front crank seal and timing belt tensioner, OEM harmonic balancer, OEM updated crank bolt,)
-Top service overhaul (All OEM intake/plenum gaskets, EGR gasket, OEM Valve cover gaskets, OEM cooling systems gaskets and Orings)
-NGK Platinum plugs
-NGK Spark wire set
-Beck/Arnley fuel injector gaskets/Orings
-New OEM Y-pipe exhaust gaskets
-White ball tcase shifter upgrade w/ new oem gasket
-OEM front pump seal
-OEM tcase output seal front and rear
-Amsoil synthetic gear lube for transfer case
-Amsoil synthetic gear lube for front and rear differentials
-Ceramic brake pads
-WIX fuel filter
-Undercarriage coated with rust prevention and 3m undercoated
-OEM air filter
-ALL interior bulbs replaced with LED smd bulbs
-LED Simdevanma 6000k headlight bulbs
-LED "yellow" Calais foglight bulbs
-JDM corner lens
-JDM rear spoiler
-32x11.5x15 Rolling Big power tires
-15x10 wheels ($40 special 8))
-Luso overland recovery hook

Groot 1.0 by grimgs, on Flickr
Groot 1.0 by grimgs, on Flickr
Groot 1.0 by grimgs, on Flickr
Groot 1.0 by grimgs, on Flickr
Groot 1.0 by grimgs, on Flickr
Groot 1.0 by grimgs, on Flickr
Groot 1.0 by grimgs, on Flickr

 

[Mrgalantguy]

I decided to try out some LED bulbs instead of HID's mainly because I don't like the wiring clutter HID kits have and I have read pretty positive reviews on the newer LED kits out now. I decided to try out these LED bulb kit from Amazon that has 4.5 star reviews and literally is plug and play. No ballast to worry about and non of the wires for the bulbs and ballast....just the LED bulbs, it makes for a very clean look and simple install. These are 6000k LED output bulbs and they do give off a "cleaner" light beam if that makes any sense compared to HID's.

Groot by grimgs, on Flickr
Groot by grimgs, on Flickr

The only modification that I needed to do is to cut the dust boot wide enough so the LED bulb back where the fan is and the wire/plug can come out.
Groot by grimgs, on Flickr
Groot by grimgs, on Flickr

I also upgraded the foglight bulbs to LED yellow bulbs and they are brighter than the standard halogen bulbs.
Groot by grimgs, on Flickr

Once I get some good night pics I will post them up so some of you can see the light output.

Here is a pic I took last night...hopefully it will suffice for now. I have to find a road with no lights to get a better idea of the light output.
Groot by grimgs, on Flickr

 

[Mrgalantguy]

During this time of the year I tend to be busy with normal life stuff like work and family but with the holidays...I am even more busy. I won't have much updates till probably in January but here are a few things that have happened.

My windshield had some damage from hurricane Irma and something hit my windshield which turned into a expanding crack...fortunately I put decent coverage and the process on getting a new windshield with USAA was seamless. Safelite came out and replaced the windshield with a Fuyao glass. I did some research and apparently they are pretty good and supply glass to many OEM vehicle manufactures.

Groot by grimgs, on Flickr
Groot by grimgs, on Flickr

I guess you can say my family has a thing for Monteros.

My wife's 02 Beige 02 Gen 3, my dads 05 Gen3 and my 98...my sister owns the 12 Lancer GT.
Groot by grimgs, on Flickr
Groot by grimgs, on Flickr
Groot by grimgs, on Flickr

One thing I didn't get around to doing when I was doing the maintenance overhaul was repaint the roof rails. I finally got around doing it before I went ahead and installed my roof basket. One of the perks of running a warehouse is sometimes you get do stuff to your vehicle. It was slow during thanksgiving week.

Groot by grimgs, on Flickr
Groot by grimgs, on Flickr

 

[Mrgalantguy]

About a couple weeks ago I started to notice some drops of oil spots underneath the Montero so after some inspecting the high pressure oil cooler line was starting to leak. It progressively got worse especially after the cold snap we got a week ago so ordered a brand new OEM oil cooler line. I am saving the old one to get it rebuilt sometime as a spare so in case down the road this one ever fails I have a spare one and also in case Mitsubishi decides to make them not available anymore.

Groot by grimgs, on Flickr

Pic is upside down but using the harmonic balancer as reference of the front of the motor..the high pressure oil cooler line is the one with the more silver banjo bolt (more towards the front of the vehicle). The oil line was leaking from the actually rubber hose part where its clamp to the metal portion of the line which the oil dripped down the line onto the rear brush plate and leaking from the vent openings there.

I noticed also that the return line was leaking some oil from the banjo bolt..so I went ahead and ordered new crush gaskets for the return line.

Groot by grimgs, on Flickr

I guess timing was perfect because both Monteros needed a oil change so tackled both oil changes and replaced the oil line on Groot while at it.

Groot by grimgs, on Flickr

You will need to remove the air box to have access to remove the top portion of the oil cooler hoses. The high pressure side is the lower one and the return line is the one on top.

Groot by grimgs, on Flickr

I recommend having some sort of rag of paper towel for when you disconnect the oil line as remaining oil will spill out...keeps things less messy.

Groot by grimgs, on Flickr

The hose lasted almost 20yrs and over 200k miles...so can't complain. Good reason to spend the money and replace it with the same OEM quality part. The crush gaskets are in the smaller bag which is x2 per banjo bolt.

Groot by grimgs, on Flickr
Groot by grimgs, on Flickr

Fixed and doesn't drip a single drop of oil ;D

 

[Mrgalantguy]

Been awhile since I updated but I have been pretty busy with work and just getting over the Flu. :-[

Phase 2 of the build is with a few rare JDM/Asian market parts arriving so I am slowly going to install them.

1st up is Pajero fender sidemarkers installed. It was a fairly simple process...hardest and longest process is removing the old adhesive from the Montero emblem from the fender. I used a heat gun to remove most of the adhesive and a several steps of polishing the remaining stuff off.

USDM Monteros are NOT prewired for these sidemarkers. I had to build a harness from the pigtail and connector provided with the sidemarker lens and wired them to the signal wires from the front corner lens.

Groot by grimgs, on Flickr
Groot by grimgs, on Flickr

This is a comparison of the Pajero sidemarkers with the Montero badge.

Groot by grimgs, on Flickr

When I removed the Montero emblem I heated the area where the adhesive is at and used dental floss to cut the adhesive. This technique prevents any potential gouging of the paint service if you try to "pry" off the emblem.

Groot by grimgs, on Flickr
Groot by grimgs, on Flickr
Groot by grimgs, on Flickr

I got majority of the old adhesive off but there a few spots where there is actual paint damage from i guess 20 yrs of exposure to the elements.

Groot by grimgs, on Flickr

Soldered new wire to some existing wire from the pigtail and heat shrinked it and wrapped the harness with electrical tape for additional protection.

Groot by grimgs, on Flickr

Used this rod to run the harness to the front turn signal area.

Groot by grimgs, on Flickr
Groot by grimgs, on Flickr

Once wired up just test if it works and install the sidemarker. For those looking to do this..there is not indication on the sidemarkers which side they go on. The side where the bulb connects needs to be on the left side of the fender hole facing towards the front.

To remove the sidemarker simply take a small flathead screwdriver with gently press sidemarker away and pry. This doesn't take much effort to remove the sidemarker.

One of the issues that I was having with my Montero was that the rear door wouldn't lock or unlock with the rest of the power door locks. I always had to manually lock/unlock the rear door which became somewhat inconvenient over time.

While installing some parts and decided to lube parts of the back door handle ....this was a good time to diagnose the issue. Immediately found the issue as the door lock rod wasn't connected to the power door actuator. A piece that holds the rod in place was missing which prevented the rod from staying connected to the end of the actuator.

Groot by grimgs, on Flickr

Groot by grimgs, on Flickr

Its this rubber piece...not sure how it fell out but somehow it did thus causing my locking/unlocking issue. I thought I would search for it in the innards of the door thinking it fell off and its somewhere resting towards the bottom of the door insides and go figure...I found it.

Sprayed some silicone and reinstalled it and it fixed my issue with the power door locks for the rear door. Hopefully this helps out fellow Gen 2 owners who may be experiencing the same issue.

Groot by grimgs, on Flickr

 

[Mrgalantguy]

Some people may know I recently purchased a set of Work Deerfield wheels from Japan. I got a really good deal on them...but they also needed some restoration as issues like clearcoat peeling, deep staining on the lip, curb rash/curb dents, etc etc. These wheels are 3 piece and aluminum so I had plenty of options to restore them. I originally wanted to repolish the lip but the issues I had were a coupe of the wheels had nicks on the lip and really wanted to keep the "Deerfield" sticker on the spoke of each wheel but that wasn't going to happen if the clearcoat had to be removed. A friend of mine recommended someone and took it to them and he really knew what he was talking about. Repolishing the lip wasn't a option due to the nicks on on the actual lip one couple of the wheels which required sanding down and the chrome is actually paint. He recommended powdercoating them a different color so I wanted a dark wheel as my 2nd option.

He recommended a gloss black lip with a satin black face...i wasn't sure on that look but he had a bunch of wheels to show as examples. I really liked the look...so I bit the bullet and agreed for him to powdercoat that color scheme. Took him about 2 weeks to do everything but I finally got to see the finished product and I am extremely happy with the outcome. The wheels look brand new.

Here are a few before and after pics. I am going to mount them sometime this week and will post pics of them installed. Here are the specs:

Work Deerfields
15x8 -13 offset
Powdercoated Gloss black lip/rivets and barrel with satin black face.

Groot by grimgs, on Flickr
Groot by grimgs, on Flickr
Groot by grimgs, on Flickr
Groot by grimgs, on Flickr
Groot by grimgs, on Flickr

After

Groot by grimgs, on Flickr
Groot by grimgs, on Flickr
Groot by grimgs, on Flickr

 

[MrCoffee]

This is an awesome thread!!!!

 

[Derek50]

Looks great! That vr4 is awesome too!

 

[James Deaton]

Wonderful thread! Coincidentally my oldest daughter has been saving up for about 8 years, just turned 16, so we pulled the money out of her account and picked up a one owner 1994 Montero RS for her :) SHE LOVES IT!

Following your build closely... and if you ever want to get your $40 back from those black wheels, I know a girl who would be ecstatic about them :):):)

*It’s dirty in this pic after two overlanding trips last weekend.

James

 

[Joey83]

Great story! :D

I'm gonna look for a Galant now :P

 

[Mrgalantguy]

Well...here are pics of the Work Deerfields mounted along with some other JDM goodies like the rear Pajero badge, Pajero sidemarkers, and front Pajero skid plate. Decided to take the Montero out near some remote area near my job for a quick photoshoot. All the pics were taken on my Google Pixel.

Groot by grimgs, on Flickr
Groot by grimgs, on Flickr
Groot by grimgs, on Flickr
Groot by grimgs, on Flickr
Groot by grimgs, on Flickr
Groot by grimgs, on Flickr
Groot by grimgs, on Flickr
Groot by grimgs, on Flickr
Groot by grimgs, on Flickr

 

[Mrgalantguy]

Wonderful thread! Coincidentally my oldest daughter has been saving up for about 8 years, just turned 16, so we pulled the money out of her account and picked up a one owner 1994 Montero RS for her :) SHE LOVES IT!

Following your build closely... and if you ever want to get your $40 back from those black wheels, I know a girl who would be ecstatic about them :):):)

*It’s dirty in this pic after two overlanding trips last weekend.

James

View attachment 52359

James that is pretty awesome! You should also check out the guys at Adventure Driven Design...they cater to the Montero platform for us North American Owners. If your daughter is looking to upgrade the suspension or add some underbody armor for her Montero, they definitely have the products.

Monteros are great rigs...extremely capable in factory form with its beefy drivetrain and transmission. Fortunately they are relatively cheap to buy right now...but they are starting to go up in price.

 

[James Deaton]

Thanks for the tips! We are in maintenance mode at his point... replacing the bulbs in the instrument cluster, rear washer bottle grommet, valve cover gaskets and rear cam plugs (we have a 12V 3.0L), and oil cooler lines...

James

 

[icant4x4heretoo]

You're building (some what) How I want my 2.5 gen to look like. ...where did you source those JDM rims?

 

[Mrgalantguy]

You're building (some what) How I want my 2.5 gen to look like. ...where did you source those JDM rims?

I ordered them through yahoo japan auction

 

[icant4x4heretoo]

I ordered them through yahoo japan auction

oh geess...that place is still alive!!! LOL. I haven't been there seen the late 90s/00s when I had Honda. hehe. I guess I gotta brush up on how to use it again.

 

[Mrgalantguy]

My uncle went on vacation to tour china and Taiwan and asked if he was able to find some parts for my Montero if he could get them. He brought back these for me...I am pretty happy.

Groot by grimgs, on Flickr

 

[James Deaton]

Whoa neato! Shiny...

 

[icant4x4heretoo]

YES! now you have reverse lights on your tail lights. you can convert the ones on the bumper AUX. LED back up lights.

 

[Mrgalantguy]

That's the plan