20 year nap / 85 Montero resurrection

[Dr.G]

I joined this forum in Aug 2018 desperate for a hard to find flexplate. After a member ( haruman ) came to my rescue I have been hard at work turning my little forgotten Montero backyard find into a daily driver. Here are some photos from the process.
Montero nap.jpg Brought from California to rest here in Arizona for about 20 years before I found it.
montero awake.jpgNew shoes after lots of work and test drives. Cleaned up those old Enkies for some classic appeal.
montero carb.jpgThe only way to go, right! Original carb had no chance at a second life. It was rough but I still have it if anyone needs parts.
montero hvac.jpgHeater core sprung a leak and without an evaporator in sight I decided to ax the whole unit for a Vintage Air. Didn't hurt that I'm a Vintage Air dealer. ( mock up box seen here ).
montero vintage mox box.jpgFit almost perfect
montero b silent.jpgDue to coolant getting everywhere under the carpet I pulled it all out and decided to sound deaden to floor and roll out all new jute padding.
montero progress.jpgLate night working on the floor but like I said I'm driving it daily so I got either keep going or drive it half finished. As you can see the Vintage Air tubing is hanging unfinished. Gotta pull the dash one last time then that'll be nice and tidy.
montero and friends.jpgA photos with friends
monty and kiwi.jpg
monty and red.jpg
montero with ruger.jpg

Thanks again to you all at mightram50 for your help. I've been enjoying my Montero so much that I rarely touch my other two vehicles. If there are any parts that you see I'm not using and you need them please ask and I'll gladly part with them. I wasn't prepared to make this a whole build thread tonight but I'll keep posting progress photos from time to time.

[tortron]

Looking good mate, I do love a brown car.
Don't really get those vintage air units over here, but looks a tidy install. Might keep it in mind

[geezer101]

Nice work! Hard work and persistence pays in bucket loads. Your Monty looks like it's fighting fit now, especially with the refinished Enkies keeping it period correct. You made retrofitting A/C look easy (goes with experience I bet) World needs more guys like Haruman when you need 'em. It's what the forum is all about

[Dr.G]

New manual hubs went on today. After spending a week making sure the P/N MD886389 would fit. So I ordered the cheapest knock off hubs I could find in the USA. Yes I'm cheap and impatient but since ebay and Amazon both said these hubs wouldn't fit my Montero I didn't want to chance ordering expensive hubs. Turns out they fit perfect. I guess 28 spline manual hubs are pretty standard for most Monteros / Mitsubishis across multiple platforms.
MONTERO AUTO HUB.jpgUgly old AUTO hubs. They didn't give me warm and fuzzies on my last wheeling trip so they had to go.
MONTERO HUB OFF.jpgbye bye
MONTERO MAN HUB.jpgFound on ebay for $55 plus free shipping. If they last great! If they break then at least I know the expensive ones will fit.
MONTERO NEW HUBS.jpgLooks and acts like a proper off roader now

Thanks for reading

[Dr.G]

Some photos of the dash out for the last time before I button up the Vintage Air install. As of right now I only have the heater hooked up. Waiting on time, money, and need to source / make brackets for compressor.
dash out.jpg
dash out pana.jpgThis is a Vintage Air Gen II Super. Their next to biggest unit. Gen V was too big and too expensive in my opinion. Although if I took the time to measure and test fix the Gen V and cough up the cash I could have retrofitted sensors to the original HVAC controls. So I'll just be installing the separate control panel below thew radio. I'll upload more photos when completely done.

[Dr.G]

PARTS UP FOR GRABS! I'm not selling these because I want someone to actually take them off my hands instead of throwing them in the trash. If you see something you want just pay shipping or come get them ( Gilbert, AZ ). If you want me to ship them to you all I ask is you make this as easy as possible. Pick your preferred shipper and I'll run it down there. Time is money so if you want to reimburse me for my time I'll definitely accept donations of money or partially used gift cards.
montero parts.jpgThere's a carb and air cleaner, most of the heater / blower parts from under dash ( heater core leaks ), rocker arm assembly ( not sure if actually for Mitsubishi ), and a fresh air valve ( broken ).

[Dr.G]

montero parts.jpgalso there's a computer, fuel pump with lines and canister thing ( not sure if good ), vacuum line with random solenoids and stuff for carb/ emissions.

[yamahlr]

Great work!

[haruman]

Awesome, I was wondering how this project was going! Glad I could help.

[travhous]

Looking great!!! I have looked into the vintage air and it's nice to see pics of someone actually installing one. Keep up the great work and keep us posted.��

[MrPaco]

After spending a week making sure the P/N MD886389 would fit.

Dr.G, from your research of the locking hubs and this specific part number, do you know if these would fit an '87 Power Ram 50 as well?
Thanks

[Dr.G]

Dr.G, from your research of the locking hubs and this specific part number, do you know if these would fit an '87 Power Ram 50 as well?
Thanks

If you're Auto Hubs look like mine I'd be willing to bet that yes they'll fit. I got mine super cheap on ebay and they've been tested twice already. So for so good.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Pair-Manual...72.m2749.l2649

"4x4 MANUAL LOCKING HUBS - Available NOW
Fitment:
1982 to 2000 Mitsubishi Montero
1987 to 1989 Dodge Raider
1982 to 1993 Dodge Ram D50 4x4 Pick-up
thru 1981 Plymouth Arrow D50 4x4 Pick-up
1982 to 1994 Mitsubishi MightyMax 4x4 Pick-up
Description: Mitsubishi OEM Brand New Manual locking hubs." http://www.ns-micro.com/~tuffpans/

My recommendation is if you're going to ran big tires or a front locker then get the expensive ones.

expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/needed-asap-manual-hubs-gen-2-2-5-i-have-looked.129316/

[Dr.G]

Looking great!!! I have looked into the vintage air and it's nice to see pics of someone actually installing one. Keep up the great work and keep us posted.��

I've only been using the heater so far and it works great. Should be getting the A/C finished up in the next few weeks. I will post pics of that installation. My only disappointment so far is that my factory controls don't control the new unit. Some cleaver engineering or spending more money on the newer unit could remedy that but I'm just going to live with two sets of HVAC controls. I'll post pics that also show this.

[Dr.G]

This Montero just continues to impress. Loaded with stuff for a 4 day trip into cold snowy weather it handled steep grades and 8-10 inch deep snow covered trails better than my expectations.
winterosnow.jpg wintero.jpg
For it's outstanding performance and problem free cabin stay hundreds of miles from home I rewarded the Montero with shiny new Diamonds
grill diamonds.jpg

[Dr.G]

Cleaned up the center dash a little. Still need to address the mangled radio hole but until I settle on a new deck that I like I'm going to leave it.
dash cleaned up.jpgvintage air controls.jpg
Not sure why these uploaded sideways and upside down..

[geezer101]

Great stuff man. And to think this had been laid up for 2 decades...

[Dr.G]

A/C Update! It's done. I spent a few nights in the shop finishing up my A/C because here in AZ " summer is coming ". This is a Vintage Air Gen II Super kit, 14-fitting Extended-Length Beadlock Hose Kit w/ drier, and a sized to fit condenser.
ac getting started.jpgac mock up.jpgGetting started w/ measuring and compressor bracket mock up. Instead of trying to find an original a/c bracket and using a reman old school compressor I went with a tiny modern compressor and made mounts.
ac bracket.jpgSince I couldn't find a compressor belt pulley, adjuster, or bracket I decided to use the alternator belt and use the alternator as the adjuster.
ac cond 2.jpgcondenser installed with hand made aluminum brackets. Even though I was trying to avoid cutting holes I ended up doing it anyway to get the line ran where I wanted them.
ac dryer.jpgac firewall.jpgac lines.jpgPushed the lines through the old grommet where the wiring for the computer once was. It was perfect because I didn't want to drill holes. Blocked off Fresh air opening since there isn't an easy way to utilize it with this unit. plus I still have the outer vents for fresh air.

ac charged.jpgac temp 2.jpgCompressor lines ran and time to vacuum and charge the system. About 1.3 lbs of R134a. Cold air at last. I'm getting temps in the 40-50 degree F range.

I'm invested in this project about $1200 not counting my labor. Which I'm pretty happy about. I would have much rather kept all the original HVAC but finding good quality new or used parts as becoming an impossible chore and I would have spent way more time and money to not only get A/C in the Montero but also fix my heat.

Gen II Super - Heat Cool and Defrost https://www.vintageair.com/builder-s...n%20II%20Super

Beadlock 14-Fitting Extended Length Refrigerant Hose Kit with Drier for 134a https://www.vintageair.com/hose-kits...t1=Hose%20Kits

046702 - Sanden SD-7B10 Front Runner Compressor Double V-groove pulley Standard Finishhttps://www.vintageair.com/accessori...rder=&pageno=5[/h]

[Dr.G]

Great stuff man. And to think this had been laid up for 2 decades...

So awesome! from this
left for dead.jpg
To this! Last weekend we traveled 3 days and over 300 miles on Arizona back roads and it performed amazing.
wow.jpg

[tortron]

So cool

[Dr.G]

We'll since I sold "truck" ( Honda Ridgeline ) after making the Montero my full time daily driver I had to figure what to do about my huge loss of storage space. Loved my Ridgeline for the storage and many others but that's behind me now. In search of a roof top mounting system suitable for my two favorite past times kayaking and camping. I looked at Yakima and Thule which turns out are very pricey for a couple pieces of plastic and aluminum ( $400-$600 ). Then I came across Smittybilt HDS-6 mounting brackets for a cool price of about $150 and that is for 6 brackets not just 2. So I paired those with 13 foot piece of 1x2 1/8 wall steel tubing cut into thirds ( $56 ), drilled and tapped mounting holes, attached it all with the included bolts and washers that came with brackets, and finished the tubing off with black wrinkle paint to match the brackets. Boom! Three roof rails made of solid steel for just about $220. Then I tossed a basket on top that I used with my Jeep. Happy Kayaker / Camper
roof rails.jpgroof rails2.jpgroof rails3.jpg

[Dr.G]

Back at it with some Montero Maintenance. I started getting a little rattle from the timing cover area and instead of trying to simply adjust the balancer chain I went full overkill and did the whole chain kit. Mostly because I really hate Blue silicone and whoever built the engine back in the 90's used it everywhere and I just won't stand for that. LOL.
montero sugery.jpg montero old chain.jpgmontero new chain.jpgmontero back together.jpg
This went way easier than I expected. In the process I tossed on a new alternator, oil pan gasket, Distributor O-Ring, and valve cover gasket. So what better way to break-in an new chain!? I figure load it up with kayaks and go hit the river. Then follow that up with a 400 mile road trip.
Montero kayak.jpgmontero winslow.jpg
and we found this poor guy.
save me.jpg

[geezer101]

The Monty looks right at home - well, yours does. As for the one sitting in that yard it looks like it could do with it's own resurrection. It appears to be complete and none of the glass has been broken. Good to see you didn't take any shortcuts when you had it all apart.

[tortron]

Photos look right out of the marketing department of 80s mitsi

[xboxrox]

gee Dr.G

So, mind telling us a little about that rifle..?

[vagrant_mugen]

Man I do want a Montero....
My Monty snouted max will have to suffice for now. I would literally kill for a crew cab max, they sold them in mexico
& central/south america I believe, but I was rolling over the idea of cutting off the back of a 4dr montero & closing it
off into a cab & bed. A custom crew cab pickup Montero.....

Sorry, regardless your Monty is hella handsome there bru. Lookin good.