Hey all!
I'm new to the Montero community and 4wd vehicles in general, but have been wanting to get into something 4wd for some time now. I wanted a truck for light wheeling with friends, winter trips to ski resorts, and transporting my dog, Axe. I ended up with a Montero because 1) price was right (I'm in dental school and have taken on way more loans that I care to think about), 2) I love having something you just don't see everyday, 3) LR discovery seemed like too much of a headache, and 4) I love the retro looks of the gen1 Montero and the stoutness of the drivetrain.
Here's a brief synopsis to bring y'all up to where I currently am with the truck:
Fast forward to April 2017, and I found my truck. 1991 LWB LS so headlight washers, sunroof, bouncy driver seat, and rear LSD

. 4.63 gears. 2 owner vehicle, with the 2nd owner having purchased it from the OG owner in 1994. The truck ran but had been sitting for 8 years as the PO couldn't get it to pass smog after an engine swap. 172,000 miles on the clock (unknown on swap) and the owner couldn't recall ever even using the 4wd. The truck was in great condition with the exceptions being the rusted out moonroof track and the stench/filth/cigarette/wet dog that had perpetrated the inside. Since the truck ran so great, I got a trip permit, changed oil and coolant, and drove her 200 miles home without any issues.


Immediately I fell in love with the truck. Coming from a background of lowered cars, I now totally understand why people love trucks so much! The only thing bothering me was all the blue! Seriously, everything in this thing is blue. The paint, the seats, the carpet, the dash...even the windows have crappy blue tint.
First order of business was to de-filth the truck and replace the rusted moonroof track and get rid of some blue:
First I scrubbed down the dash as best I could, then yanked the carpet and seats for several rounds with the rug doctor... The filth just kept on coming and coming. Finally when the water came out clean, I decided to begin dyeing the carpet with colorbond carpet dye.

Since I had to pull the headliner in preparation to install the new moonroof track I pulled from a 97 at the pick and pull yard, I also cleaned that as well. For those wondering, a moon roof track from the gen 2 will drop right into the gen 1 with only two welded on bolts needing to be cut off the track. Cheap and easy fix if you moonroof rains rust flakes on you like mine!



Cleaning and dyeing the carpet and headliner immediately made a huge difference on the look and smell of the interior:

At this point I picked up a couple goodies while at the junkyard and got right into installing them:

Install was easy enough since the gen 1 seats provide a nice flat platform to work with: simple as trim down the brackets of the LR disco 2 brackets flat and prep, weld, and paint!


These seats totally change the look and comfort of the interior. Armrests make a huge difference!!
At this point I started getting the truck ready to pass smog. After a preliminary smog test to see where the truck was at, I ended up replacing/redoing timing, spark plugs & wires, distributor cap/rotor, O2 sensor, and cat to get a good smog. Getting this truck road legal was a great feeling!

Since I could now drive around in the truck, I got rid of the crap tint (still working on the rear door...), painted the grill and skid plates, and installed some lights:

Also got some new tires to replace the crap all seasons the PO had put on the truck. Went with 31x10.5r15 goodyear wrangler authority...already wish I had gone with 33s lol.


Now that the truck is on the road, I've slowed progress on it to work on my (surprise surprise, it's broken..) Mazdaspeed6. So, the truck currently sees DD duty on my 3 mile commute and trips to the dog park with my boy, Axe:

Long term plans for the truck include redoing the entire interior in a tan/black scheme, roof rack, mild lift, rock sliders, bumpers front and rear, and repainting the exterior to a satin grey color, etc...maybe a 1UZ or LS swap? Who knows...we'll see where it ends up! I'm basically drawing a lot of inspiration from the builds done by Mohenic garages. I'm hoping to end up with a sweet-looking and very capable (off road) truck!
I've already received a lot of help from many of you and am glad to be part of such a great community!
Cheers!