Gack to the Future II

[Shovel]

Haha I didn't even buy the shirts!    I bought two stickers and a patch..   

But for real I need to buy Bilsteins before the October trip there's no way I'm going to just chew up a brand new set of tires with these used up,  prehistoric shocks that are on it. 

[Shovel]

Action continues. 

I removed the interior,  removed the carpet.   Gack abounds.

Some gack,  you know how it got there.    You know what it is.

This gack is a strange odorless yellow oil.   I have no idea what it is.   I have not yet tasted it but the night is young.    I don't know how this vehicle got this yellow stuff in the carpet but it's everywhere,  front to back.  Both sides.   It doesn't appear to be in the headliner or upholstery,  but it's everywhere on and under the carpet and it makes me want to wash my hands twice every minute. 

This carpet comes out and gets cleaned as thoroughly as I can manage,  in fact I started on it already, soaking it first with Maestro Limpio Meadows & Rain Household Cleanser and then basically just letting the garden hose run wild on it,  then spraying it all down with Greased Lignthing and working it into the carpet, letting it sit,  more garden hose rinsing....     My water bill this month is going to suck.   

Why am I cleaning this carpet when I have brand new carpet? 

Two reasons;  first I want to use this carpet as a template to cut the new carpet & don't want to immediately filth up the new carpet.   Second,  this stuff is in pretty decent shape under the filth so I'm trying to bring it back, then there's a young man in Clay's household with a Montero that needs new carpet so he can install this and be a little less scruffy when picking up girls.     Nothing wins over a lady's affection like a clean ride that smells of Maestro Limpio Meadows & Rain Household Cleanser!   

[Shovel]

PARTS WHY WON'T THEY STOP SHOWING UP I JUST KEEP GETTING MORE AND MORE PARTS THE DELIVERY GUY IS PROBABLY SICK OF MY SHIT BY NOW

So where am I on this right now?    Let's do a sanity check:

• Need to finish cleaning interior to prepare for carpet install
• Need to cut carpet and install it
• Need to reassemble interior panels/seating
• Need to pluck last of my parts (new radiator I just had rebuilt, etc) back off that parts pile
• Need to install new timing belt, tensioner, water pump, that whole job in this truck
• Need to install new shocks.   What new shocks?   Well it looks like an order's about to be placed for real now with ADD for Bilstein HDs in a neat three-way-win scenario!
• Need to install new steering/suspension parts, motor mounts depicted in the image above
• Need to install my spare transfer case
• Need to inspect transfer case ball to see if it's the suicidal red one or the chill white one, replace as needed
• Oh yeah I should probably do DMV paperwork soon too huh?
• Fix burned out lights in dash (have LEDs already)
• Brakes (have already) - pads, rotors, full fluid flush
• Sway bar bushings (need to place my order with ADD for Siberians)
• Final clean-and-lubricate-everything-not-yet-mentioned, flush and replace all fluids, make sure all lights work, etc

After all that is done,  there's still like.. new paint job,  putting some tunes in it,  locating 4.90 gears and having Ernest install them in my locking 3rd member,  install a compressor for the locker...

Oh and then drive to Utah with some of you mofos! 

[Hooots]

Kudos for doing the most labor intensive jobs during monsoon humidity 

Are you planning on adding a radiant barrier or sound dampener like fatmat or dynamat? Reflectix under the headliner maybe?

[Shovel]

Gack removal is ongoing,  this yellow oil stuff is tenacious!!!

I was going to be gentle but that wasn't cutting it so I got BRUTAL AND RUTHLESS

The yellow oil turns purple when attacked with Scrubbing Bubbles... that's kind of weird. 

I used all of my gallon jug of Maestro Limpio Meadows & Rain Household Cleanser,  plus most of my Scrubbing Bubbles... 

The gentle approach was not working one bit. 

I also got sick of the amount of oil permeated into the carpet and decided that a few cups of detergent and a trash can was the only way to fly.      Barely made a dent!!

So that got agitated, soaked, agitated, soaked, dumped...   then a whole bottle of Dawn Ultra dish soap and more agitation and soaking - in fact it's out there right now thinking about what it's done. 

All that gack floating in the foam?   This is on something like round six or round seven of cleaning.. and it's still like that.     Man,  I was really hoping this wouldn't be a lost cause but if the overnight Dawn soak and more agitation tomorrow doesn't do the trick I will abandon my idea of using this as a template and if Clay still wants it I guess he can have it but.. maybe he won't want it.   I dunno. 

Didn't really get anything else done because this all took a lot of time   

[Shovel]

Slept poorly last night, woke up with a migraine.  There went my plans to accomplish anything today        I did purchase a sink/vanity/etc for my upstairs bathroom & it's partially installed now so SOME stuff did get done. 

I also picked up a new transfer case shifter from Toasty & as suspected, my old one had the red ball and it was very much dead.   Thanks Toasty!!

New one's in there now, used black silicone adhesive to seal up the top where previously there was grey silicone.     I think I'll have to do this all again in a little while but that's a story for another time.

Also began installing carpet,  I had bought the more expensive "mass backed" carpet from ACC and it's thick and unruly.    This is going to be a bit of work.   I didn't get very far.    I really want to be done reassembling the interior this weekend,  at least the floor/seats.    I have to take the door cards out later but again - that's a story for another time. 

I think almost all of my parts are in other than the Bilsteins and the ADD kingpin I have yet to order (been beating the crap out of my bank account here..   )  so at this point it's mostly just waiting on me to actually finish stuff.     There is a cascading list of things I have to do in order..  carpet sets it all in motion from here.   Whoo!

[Shovel]

The interior is a step closer to done - yay!

New carpet is in - I have a couple mistakes to correct but it's in.

Seats are back in.   Again, a couple problems to correct but they're in.   I think I need to rework the folding mechanism on the rear seats, they're entirely without function.

Jumpseats out permanently.   I wonder how many Montero jumpseats have never been used,  ever.. and then just thrown out.   

ADD kingpin ordered,  I asked Josh not to send it because we're local, why cut UPS in on the profits?   

Anyway not much else to report, yet... but I have a feeling things will be moving quickly here. 

[Shovel]

Time to change my signature... It runs!

[PajEvo]

Those seat covers are diaBOLICAL! Love where this build is going! Might be a template for how to clean an interior thoroughly too? Wonder where the purple came from? Maybe we don't even wanna know... 

[Shovel]

Today was a big day,  insured the Montero, printed out a 3 day permit to get it smogged, and drove it to work!  UNF!!!     

So this was my first on-the-roads, not just neighborhood streets drive.     It's quiet,  has the expected amount of power,  throttle response is good and the transmission seems to behave itself.

No check engine light (and yes the bulb isn't burned out.. it lights up on first turning the key) - not much smoke in the exhaust and it doesn't seem to smoke once it's warmed up.    I'm certain I will need to do the valve guide seals but damn I would love to smog it and have it legal and registered and be over THAT hurdle first.   

The steering is jello and the brakes are unsafe crap,  if I had known how bad the brakes are I would not have driven it today but that's where I am right now.  Bleh.    I have new brake pads ready to go in and new rear discs,  the fronts look really good... just haven't gotten to that point yet.  A job for this week. 

[JohnnyBfromPeoria]

You need to update this thread!

John B.

[Shovel]

You need to update this thread!

John B.

There's only so much to update! 

• Passed smog, officially licensed and registered for 2 years
• Engine makes clucking (like a chicken)/rattling noise.   Not the power steering pump (does it with belt removed) but it sounds like it's from about that area.
• There's some "bleh" crap going on with this truck that I'll concern myself with later..  been working on my sister's car lately because she dropped it off here to get everything in the world fixed on it.    Unrelated to that yesterday Ty and I got him a front axle and rear diff for 4.90's and some other little bits and pieces at the junkyard.   Took about 5 hours under the sun and the usual junkyard heavy labor, creative misuse of tools,  special language,  unsafe practices, etc.
• Flushed most of my brake fluid today.  I didn't cycle the ABS pump (I think that requires a MUT to do) but just gravity bled until the juice came out clear on all 4 wheels
• Finally decided to see if the aftermarket radio in the Montero works, haven't actually turned it on prior to today.    So I stuck the factory amp back in place (the aftermarket radio was wired into it) and discovered that, as expected,  it's all wired wrong.   I haven't pulled the radio out of the dash yet but just based on the controls only the rear channels of the radio play into the amp at all,  and only the front door speakers and rear 6x9s make sound, which is shitty and distorted.     That's all not problematic for me because I'm bypassing the factory amp anyway and doing my own thing (which I will detail later) but.. damn man I don't think I've ever obtained a used car with an aftermarket radio that was wired correctly.   

[Shovel]

Minor update.
I have not been working on the Montero this week due to other tasks and obligations.   It has seriously just been sitting.   

I hate when projects sit,  but I bit off a lot of things at once and it's been a real slog chewing through them.
 
Noteworthy is that between the axle I still need to get from PaJero, the stuff in my garage and the stuff Ty has,   both myself and Ty have all of the hard parts necessary to equip both of our Monteros with 4.90 gears and lockers.  That's not a bad accomplishment, it took us quite a lot of hours out in the sun getting dirty and using mechanic techniques that we would not be proud of in our own garages. 

Now that we have most of the parts we need to go about the work of actually installing them..   that's going to be its own chore and one I do really want to finish by October - though I have to acknowledge I may not.    We'll see. 

[Shovel]

I connected that ground strap between the driver side exhaust manifold and the ac compressor today.   Shit was lit AF.

[Shovel]

I know that pictures are king, and I have none to share.

Today I installed rear speakers & Noico sound deadener in back and removed the rearmost seat belts.    Rewired the aftermarket stereo that the previous owner had put in badly, removed the lower dash speakers, haven't touched the doors yet.   

Did more pressure degacking under the vehicle and finally was able to put away some damn tools for a change, my garage looked like a tornado had been through.    Still not good but.. damn it was bad.   

Installed led lights in the gauge cluster but some of the ones I bought were crap. So my gauges are half led half incandescent..  the good thing is now all the lights actually work.   

We had existing commitments to go have dinner with Staceys coworkers so I stopped work and drove the Montero to Chandler.. so far so good!  No weird noises, no crap.   For the time being I think the engine and transmission are working.

So... Now that it works and is drivable, time to tear it back down so I can regear and replace all the suspension parts.