We've also taken it on a few off road excursions recently, the most notable being Drummond Island. It's on the east end of the Upper Peninsula, and it takes a short ferry ride to get there. Usually this is the jeep playground, and of course we saw many of those and plenty of expensive side-by-side toys. We were the only non-jeep on the trails, other than one Samurai.
The Montero did fantastic! We were with a TJ Wrangler with a lift and 33" tires, and we easily made it through all the same sections. Even with the tiny tires, equivalent to about 30", we only scraped a couple spots. I really do not want to increase tire size, these smaller tires give excellent mechanical advantage and super low weight. However a small lift may be the future to help with clearance, and some skid plates. Unfortunately there aren't really any aftermarket shackles available, but the front end is easily lifted up to 2" by tightening the torsion bars.
Nice. Wish we were closer together so i could join you on the trails with mine :)
irish44j (Forum Supporter) said:
Nice. Wish we were closer together so i could join you on the trails with mine :)
Agreed! The 5hr drive to Drummond Island was just about the max I ever want to do in that truck, unfortunately its not the best highway cruiser in 80mph Michigan trafic.
engiekev said:
irish44j (Forum Supporter) said:
Nice. Wish we were closer together so i could join you on the trails with mine :)
Agreed! The 5hr drive to Drummond Island was just about the max I ever want to do in that truck, unfortunately its not the best highway cruiser in 80mph Michigan trafic.
Yeah, I hear you. I'm ok with about 3 hours in the Raider (and mine has rear coils so probably more comfortable than yours). but will usually try to find a non-interstate route to take, even if it takes longer. I really don't like going more than 65 or so in it, though it would have no problem going faster.
Its really not bad around 70mph, the rear ride is much better with the bilstein rear shocks compared to the KYB gas-a-just we used to have. Wind noise and tracking get way worse above 70mph however, and with the small 235/75 tires engine RPM rapidly approaches 4000rpm!
One thing I do want to address is the air filter system on the weber DGEV carb, it's an open gauze type filter so it does not filter dust very well. On top of that, it has a loud "sucking" noise at part throttle. There are no vacuum leaks, but I guess that's just how they sound with an open filter right near the firewall. At cruising speed, part throttle and in vacuum, the noise gets old fast. It sounds fantastic at WOT!
Found this unicorn, a montero still around at a junkyard in Michigan! Going to make a trip there for the factory Mikuni carb air filter and adapt that to fit the weber carb. That should help a few things: better filtration with a paper filter, air filter "can" pulls fresh air from the fender and not the engine bay, and should reduce the intake noise when cruising.
Compared to the weber carb open filter:
Also on the list for repairs and upgrades in the future:
- Brake master cylinder needs to be replaced, it has started to leak quite badly
- 87+ 2.6L exhaust manifold install (does not have the "pre-cat" that the pre-'87 manifolds have, and a better runner design)
- 2.25" Stainless exhaust, not sure about muffler choice yet but likely one resonator and one muffler in the rear. Will also add a wideband O2 bung so we can get fancy tuning with measured air fuel ratio. The weber DGEV doesnt have much for tuning, but I hope to get it a little more dialed in for power and better mpg.
- Saving this for winter: timing chains, water pump, oil pump, thermostat.
No major mechanical updates this time, other than the SmittyBilt awning that Irish noticed in another thread! I have been working on piecing together everything needed for the exhaust work; 87+ manifold had plugs welded and was cerakote coated, CAD modeled a flange for the 2-hole "downpipe" and sent for plasma cutting, and ordered a 2-1 stainless collector for the downpipe.
We had some ridiculously warm weather in Michigan, so why not go on one last off road camping trip? Joey picked up this awesome Isuzu Trooper and took it out on it's maiden offroad voyage. Short one night trip but hit up plenty of trails.
jjvd21
New Reader
2/21/21 7:39 a.m.
Engiekev,
Thanks for all of your Montero posts. I owned an almost identical silver Montero in the mid 90's through early 2000's. A google search brought me to the topic its been a fun read down memory lane. I have one recommendation for you to finish off the project - pull both headlight washer caps off (straight away from truck). Buy yourself a set of crayola markers the kind with the cone tip - preferably 2 black. Drill a small hole dead center on the caps about the thickness of a cocktail straw. Pop the caps onto the headlight washer receptacles. Replace all headlight washer fluid with water. I think you'll find that the Montero is more than just a fun rig, it's a 30' water cannon as well.
jjvd21 said:
Engiekev,
Thanks for all of your Montero posts. I owned an almost identical silver Montero in the mid 90's through early 2000's. A google search brought me to the topic its been a fun read down memory lane. I have one recommendation for you to finish off the project - pull both headlight washer caps off (straight away from truck). Buy yourself a set of crayola markers the kind with the cone tip - preferably 2 black. Drill a small hole dead center on the caps about the thickness of a cocktail straw. Pop the caps onto the headlight washer receptacles. Replace all headlight washer fluid with water. I think you'll find that the Montero is more than just a fun rig, it's a 30' water cannon as well.
Well thats an interesting idea! They are already quite powerful, we'll give it a try when it finally warms up here!
I need to update the thread, a local friend helped fabricate a fully stainless exhaust and I installed the 87+ exhaust manifold. The car drives far far smoother mid range, before it had some hesitation. Plus, it now sounds like a proper import!
jjvd21
New Reader
6/8/21 6:53 a.m.
engiekev said:
jjvd21 said:
Engiekev,
Thanks for all of your Montero posts. I owned an almost identical silver Montero in the mid 90's through early 2000's. A google search brought me to the topic its been a fun read down memory lane. I have one recommendation for you to finish off the project - pull both headlight washer caps off (straight away from truck). Buy yourself a set of crayola markers the kind with the cone tip - preferably 2 black. Drill a small hole dead center on the caps about the thickness of a cocktail straw. Pop the caps onto the headlight washer receptacles. Replace all headlight washer fluid with water. I think you'll find that the Montero is more than just a fun rig, it's a 30' water cannon as well.
Well thats an interesting idea! They are already quite powerful, we'll give it a try when it finally warms up here!
I need to update the thread, a local friend helped fabricate a fully stainless exhaust and I installed the 87+ exhaust manifold. The car drives far far smoother mid range, before it had some hesitation. Plus, it now sounds like a proper import!
Have you tried the water cannon?
I have not yet! Right now trying to figure out what aftermarket seat belts to fit in place of the factory units. The OEM parts are just too worn and the "yank" ratcheting mechanism wasn't working well at all, the inertia lock with the little ball works fine when tilted, but not the straight ratcheting part. Taking a page from Irish's book I'm trying to find an aftermarket 3 point belt that fits in the OEM location.
In reply to engiekev :
I had an exciting moment with the seatbelt in my Montero last year: As I was taking off from a stop light, I pulled on the shoulder strap to snug it up a bit.. unbeknownst to me, the lap belt had slipped under the seatback recline lever, so when I pulled the belt, the lever got pulled up, and I found myself laying flat on my back staring at the ceiling as I rolled through the intersection.
I'm jealous of your Bilstein shocks, I replaced my blown shocks with the KYBs, and they're nice but I bet the Bilstein units are much better.
dannyp84 said:
In reply to engiekev :
I had an exciting moment with the seatbelt in my Montero last year: As I was taking off from a stop light, I pulled on the shoulder strap to snug it up a bit.. unbeknownst to me, the lap belt had slipped under the seatback recline lever, so when I pulled the belt, the lever got pulled up, and I found myself laying flat on my back staring at the ceiling as I rolled through the intersection.
I'm jealous of your Bilstein shocks, I replaced my blown shocks with the KYBs, and they're nice but I bet the Bilstein units are much better.
Unfortunately the Bilsteins are only available for the rear, and not the front for Gen1 without changing the upper control arm. Totally worth it, it transformed the ride quality, and they're fairly cheap! I believe they're the same part number as Montero Sport, so they aren't listed on rockauto for a Gen 1 montero directly.
Vinyl wrap has begun! 3M 2080 matte grey metallic.
And the idea for a blow-through turbo from a Starion is very tempting (yes, EFI would be better , but much more complicated and costly). Sounds like a Weber DGV 32/36 can be made to work with low boost blow-through operation, fueling handled by rising rate FPR, higher flow inline pump.
http://www.turbogemini.com/Blow%20Through%20Carby%20Kit.htm
Wrap looks good so far! If you want Starion turbo parts, send me a PM. I have most of the stuff left over from my good running '88.
obsolete said:
Wrap looks good so far! If you want Starion turbo parts, send me a PM. I have most of the stuff left over from my good running '88.
Email sent, let me know if you don't get it (GRM is weird).
I found a '87 starion turbo for a donor vehicle locally for $1000, tempting.
The better route here would be simply to swap the entire engine, wiring harness, ECU. That would also be a good opportunity to upgrade the stock clutch a bit. Since this is a 5spd trans, the clutch and trans likely won't hold up to very much torque. An auto swap might be in the future if we blow it up. Sounds like the oil pan needs to be used from the montero.
The easier route would be swap the turbo, manifold, O2 housing, TBI parts, ECU & harness, and use the existing G54 engine. Downsides: no forged crank, no oil squirters. Upsides: ~5 total parts to swap.
Alternatively, for the turbo, the DSM turbos can be made to fit the starion manifold with some modification, and a custom O2 housing would be needed. This opens up the door to a TON more turbo options, 13g/14b/16g are all good options and far more plentiful.
http://starion.mrbdesign.com.au/EVOIII.html
Another alternative is ditching the starion TBI crap and going to real EFI, there have been a few people with 2.6L Monteros successfully swapping to the Holly Sniper EFI, though its not super well documented. I guess its unclear to me how you would use the holly ecu to control spark, if at all?
https://expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/so-you-want-to-fuel-inject-your-carbureted-gen1-montero-or-really-any-carbureted-car.226157/
