1998 Mitsubishi Montero Winter Package w/ adjustable suspension - Project Groot

Nice! They look brand new? Or are they just that mint? :sunglasses: Did he bring back/come bulbs? wiring plans? I someone has one for sale here but no bulbs....:tired:
 
The both came complete with harness and bulbs. Everything is PnP to the factory harness and plug other than the backup light power wire pin which looks easy to do.

Driving lights, brake lights, turn signals and hazards work perfectly out of the box and plugging right in.
 
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Its starting to get hot again in florida and after a week 1/2 of constant rain from that tropical storm a few weeks aga and cloudy days the sun has made it debut and its been killer the past couple of weeks. Last week heat index was above 100 degrees and a weakness in Groots cooling system showed up.

On normal street driving my temps are normal till I enter the highway where it creeps up above the half way point. I noticed this early in the week and it progressively got worse to the point the highest it got was right under the 3/4 mark on the temp gauge. Then normal street driving it was starting to float a tad bit higher than normal. I posted on facebook and got a overwhelming response that it was my radiator clogged. If anyone has kept up to my build...everything in the cooling system is new, other than my radiator. I was going to rod it out but didn't have time to and visually inspecting the radiator it looked ok and its been 7 months since.

So I decided to remove the radiator and get it rodded out. Once I drained the coolant I already noticed the inside top innards of the radiator there was build up which backed up the suggestions that it was clogged. I took it to a reputable place in Orlando where I have encountered the shop before in the past working for Toyota and friends who had work done for them with their radiators and intercoolers called Prater Radiator. I took it to them and visually the radiator looks good for being the original from 98 and gave me a quote of $137 to get my radiator back to optimal condition.

Groot by grimgs, on Flickr
Groot by grimgs, on Flickr

Here it is when I dropped it off. Should be ready tomorrow and update the thread accordingly.
Groot by grimgs, on Flickr
 
Groot by grimgs, on Flickr
Took my radiator to Prater Radiator here in Orlando, FL and took them 2 days to rod out my radiator. They said it was clogged a good bit but other than that the radiator is in pretty good condition. The shop owner highly recommended me to flush out to remaining coolant out of my motor/system before I install the newly rodded radiator to get rid of any remaining material in the system that caused the clog in the 1st place.

I read up on the garden hose method but Florida tap water isn't the cleanest water. It has hard deposits especially limestone etc etc so I didn't want to flush my cooling system with that water. I came up with the idea to flush my system with distilled water and using a transfer pump.

I am very happy with the results as I was able to flush my system out and used distilled purified water while at it.
Groot by grimgs, on Flickr
 
I got 2 pairs of Asian market taillights from my uncles vacation to Hong Kong a couple months ago. He got me a pair of Leibao tails and a pair of Pajero crystal lens taillights. The Leibao tails have some fitment issues as they are "taller" compared to the OEM tails. I am going to have to figure out a solution but in the mean time I am went ahead and installed the crystal tails as they do look better and have better light output than the OEM taillights.

Currently I haven't wired up the backup lights yet...waiting till I get some time remove my rear bumper to black it out and install the cree LED's in place of the stock location rear backup lights.

The only thing I wanted was a smoked out clear section so I got some smoke vinyl and applied it to the turn/backup section of the tails.

This is the crystal taillights and I swapped over the OEM taillight grille in place of the chrome grille they came in
Groot by grimgs, on Flickr
Groot by grimgs, on Flickr

This is after I applied the smoke vinyl
Groot by grimgs, on Flickr

Smoked vinyl installed on the left compared to it being non smoke on the right.
Groot by grimgs, on Flickr

My wife got me some cool fathers day gifts...so I needed these Yakima holder brackets for the roof basket
Groot by grimgs, on Flickr
 
Found a spot out of the blue while on my way to do a errand and ended up finding a awesome quiet trail. I only got a chance to drive on it for a little but planning to explore it a bit more sometime soon.
Groot by grimgs, on Flickr
Groot by grimgs, on Flickr
 
son is a big avid nature fan , especially when it comes to wildlife. Knowing this has helped us understand him as he is autistic so when it came to therapy and understanding him. He has always wanted a pair of binoculars to sight see wildlife in their natural habitat so I bought him some binoculars. One of the main reasons I bought my Montero is to be able to explore and go offroad to more remote places to be where animals are in their natural surroundings rather than zoos, etc etc. So I found a trail near my house and took my little man with me. He is hooked and not only he wants to do more exploring he has this new found appreciation of the Montero. Looking forward to when it get cooler out...I am definitely looking to do more exploring with my son and hopefully my daughter and wife.
Groot by grimgs, on Flickr
Groot by grimgs, on Flickr
Groot by grimgs, on Flickr
Groot by grimgs, on Flickr
Groot by grimgs, on Flickr
 
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Groot needs a front suspension rebuild...so taking this opportunity to upgrade parts. ADD's (Adventure Driven Design) new chromoly upper and lower ball joints came in and Siberian bushings galore. I just need a couple more OEM suspension parts and the rebuild starts.
Groot by grimgs, on Flickr
Groot by grimgs, on Flickr
Groot by grimgs, on Flickr
Groot by grimgs, on Flickr
 
My son wanted to go exploring again so we set out to a place locally known as the Swamp Ghost. Jeepers go here a lot but there have been many stories of many of them getting stuck in the mud mostly by pure stupidity and ignorance. They started putting "No trespassing" signs in the areas that were active but I found a section with no signs in sight so I ventured out there. Since I was going in solo...I made sure I didn't trek anywhere that was suspect. Sections of the area are soft due to the afternoon torrential rains we get but the Montero did perfectly fine going through those areas. My son was on a mission to find Eagle/Hawk nests but no luck, but we did run into several Deer, some species of bird and Panther tracks.
Groot by grimgs, on Flickr
Groot by grimgs, on Flickr
Groot by grimgs, on Flickr
Groot by grimgs, on Flickr
Groot by grimgs, on Flickr
Groot by grimgs, on Flickr
 
Found a spot about 7 miles from where Iive so decided to check it out. The entrance is gated but was open so took the opportunity to check it out real quick. Area looks pretty nice...but its been raining every afternoon so there were areas that had a lot of water so I didn't go too further in w/o a trail buddy. Will definitely check it out when its more dry..and if the gates are still open next time.
Groot by grimgs, on Flickr
Groot by grimgs, on Flickr
Groot by grimgs, on Flickr
 
Last sunday both my son and daughter woke up pretty early and my son wanted to explore and my daughter has been wanting to tag along. I scouted a area near me a few weeks ago that look like a cattle pasture field with the entrance gate that looks to have been open for awhile with the weeds and plants growing almost on top of it. I took them there and they both were hoping to find some cows or horses but nothing than a few birds here and there. Though they had fun bouncing around some of the uneven ground traveling through this huge pasture. My daughter loved exploring and wants to do it again...so looks like I have 1 addition to the adventure gang.:sunglasses:

Groot by grimgs, on Flickr
Groot by grimgs, on Flickr
Groot by grimgs, on Flickr
Groot by grimgs, on Flickr
Groot by grimgs, on Flickr
 
One of the bolt threads for the skid plates war barely threaded when I got my Montero and finally after the last oil change the last remaining useful threads gave up. I thought this would be a good opportunity to teach my son and daughter something and had them help me helicoil the stripped thread.

Groot by grimgs, on Flickr
My son rethreading for the helicoil

Groot by grimgs, on Flickr
My daughter installing the helicoil

Groot by grimgs, on Flickr
Lil man tightening the bolts for the front skid plate.
 
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Love your build! I’m up just north of you in Gainesville. I grew up in Oviedo so I know Orlando well. I’m in the process of trying to get a 2.5 Montero. There are two for sale right now in our area Im trying to choose between the two. Maybe our paths will cross with our two rare birds soon.
 
Jonathan Birkmire said:
Love your build! I’m up just north of you in Gainesville. I grew up in Oviedo so I know Orlando well. I’m in the process of trying to get a 2.5 Montero. There are two for sale right now in our area Im trying to choose between the two. Maybe our paths will cross with our two rare birds soon.
Click to expand...

I guess we already crossed paths:sunglasses:...haven't signed on to OB in a bit.
 
Took my son on his very 1st camping trip this past weekend as my brother in law invited us because my nephew who is in the boy scouts had a family camp weekend. Campsite was at Camp Lanoche just outside of the Ocala National forest. Plenty of activities like archery and BB guns, fishing, etc etc. My son absolutely loved it..and as a big nature/wildlife fan he felt right at home.

Camp Lanoche by grimgs, on Flickr
Camp Lanoche by grimgs, on Flickr
Camp Lanoche by grimgs, on Flickr
Camp Lanoche by grimgs, on Flickr
Camp Lanoche by grimgs, on Flickr
Camp Lanoche by grimgs, on Flickr
Camp Lanoche by grimgs, on Flickr
 
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