Project Pokemontero

[Mazdax605]

Hey guys,

I've been on the forum for a few years, but don't post a lot. I've owned my 89 Delica Starwagon for 2 years now, and love every bit of it.

Around March of this year I inquired about a 1991 Mitsubishi Montero RS a friend of mine had purchased as a parts car. He told me he still had it in fact, and decided that it was too complete to tear apart as a parts car. He wanted to sell it, and I was interested in it as a father/son project for my 13 year old (at the time) son. He said he wanted $800 for it, and I agreed that was a fair price. In April my union decided to go on strike, so I had to put off the purchase of the Montero. Well last month I brought my son up to my friends house so he could see the Montero. He loved it, so we agreed to do the deal. It took a month to figure out how, and when to go get the Montero. A friend of mine brought his trailer over on Tuesday, and we headed North about 1.5 hours with traffic to get the truck. It arrived around 9:30 PM, and we left it where it rolled off the trailer.

The next day my wife said my son was super excited about it being home, and was out sitting in it and pretending to drive. That evening after work I had him out working on it with me. We worked on some of the easier stuff like figuring out why the rear doors weren't working correctly. The right rear wouldn't open at all, and the left rear would only open from the inside. Some hassle with the door card on the one door that wouldn't open at all, but we got it there. Turns out the latch and handle mechanisms were just crusty from no use. A little bit of lube, and working the handles, and viola the doors work.

I put the battery from our camper in the Montero last night to move it around, and check out the electrical systems. A few things weren't/aren't working. Right directional wasn't working as it had a rear bulb burnt out. Replaced it, and they work, but sort of slow still. Hazards weren't working, but that was due to the lack of the flasher being plugged in. Rear gate lock button wasn't working. Took it apart, and cleaned up the contacts, and it works like a dream now. Intermittent wiper function didn't seem to be working correctly, but seems fine now. Windshield washer pump not working, and the reservoir is cracked aged. Will need replacement. Dome light is broken, and will need replacement.

The larger issues are there is oil in the coolant, so we need to do head gaskets at the very least. This is a SOHC 3.0 litre V6 equipped truck. Auto trans, and pretty stripped for options, but does have AC(not working), cruise control, power windows, power locks(work a bit funny), and tilt steering.

We came up with the name of the project as my older son who this will belong to loves all things Pokémon, and Montero just sort of blended with that. Hence Pokemontero. I may look into getting some custom decals to replace the missing fender badges. Over all the truck needs a bunch of work, but is pretty solid for what it is, and the price we paid. I'm just happy to have him learning how to wrench, and spend some time with me. We have a couple of years until he can drive it legally, but it should be a fun couple of years.

http://i1079.photobucket.com/albums/w51 ... xz78qx.jpg

http://i1079.photobucket.com/albums/w51 ... huzw8j.jpg

[Mazdax605]

We've made a little progress on the project. Made a list of things to do, and picked away at some small stuff. Gonna start buying the parts for the head gasket replacement.