Prescott
Observer
Ive decided to finally put it out there and somewhat introduce myself to the community. I originally bought a 1993 Montero SR and loved it. Beautiful paint, cared for, stock; Exactly what i was looking for. For a bit i did small things here and there, and bought a ton of extra parts from rockauto just in case. I like having spares. of everything. I did the back bench area so I could have a nice lay down spot and a little more storage, replaced the back windows with sliders, and a few other small things that needed tending to. I was able to get out in the dirt a few times and have quite a bit of fun with it before it decided to lose all compression after a day of spirited off roading.
Earliest photo that I have of it
This is when things started getting less fun for the Montero. I was warned and quickly found out that replacement parts are not always around and finding someone who has the exact part you need is going to be difficult. I tore down the motor completely and got it to my machinist who honed it, decked the heads, valve job, blah blah blah. Keep in mind I did all of this right before the wonderful summer months here in AZ. Luckily for me I do not have to drive for work so I wasnt worried about having the Montero down for a period of time.
In the mean time, I found a blue 1996 SR on craigslist for a few hundred bucks and went to go look at it. I have one Montero already that doesnt run, why not have another!. I knew eventually I was going to have a few and knew I would want a 2.5 as well. So I picked it up and got it towed home. Its not in bad shape at all and has some things I like. I figured if nothing else I could take a few things like the locker out of it and throw it in the 1993. Who knew at that point. I had the cash and didnt really care.
WIth work getting busy and the days getting much hotter I found myself less excited to sweat it out in the garage to finish the motor. Well turns out there are a couple positions within my company that I could apply for, however it would mean I need to drive. So the race is on, and now you're all caught up.
So I was faced with a decision
1. get another car to rat around town
2. buy a motor
3. build the crappy 3.0 in my garage.
Being an AC/maintenance tech and outside all day, #3 was the least appealing. I spent some time looking at other cars and really didnt get excited like I was about the Montero. So buy another complete motor to swap in was the choice for me. I have talked to some of the guys here on the forum and Pampena motorsports was mentioned to me. I tried getting a hold of them to no avail. Called, emailed, facebook, nothing.
Lucily for me a motor became available to me through an extremely generous local forum member. Ive been on tons of forums before and getting a text from someone who had plans for their motot but was willing to sell it to me, (for a darn good price), was incredible. I am so thankful and if that member is OK with me divulging info, i would happily give him all the credit.
With that being said, I will be picking up my 24 valve sohc next weekend. Buying it was the easy part. Deciding what vehicle to put it in is causing me to lose sleep. This is where I hope some of the guys here will be able to assist me. Heres what im faced with.
1) The 1993 is a known good driver. No scary secrets that I dont know about. No electrical gremlins I dont know about, no screeches, clanks or clunks. It has the 3.0 12v in it.
2) The 1996 is completely foreign to me. Never drove it, never started it, bought it with a hole in the block the size of texas. It does have a body lift and 35s though with the locker. That montero though has the 3.5 DOHC in it.
So this big long introductory post to ask this simple question....
What vehicle would you put this motor in. A couple things I am considering for each.
The 96 is cool because it has the soft 8s, 35" tires, rear locker and everything the 96 SR came with. Visually I like the 96 more i believe.
The 93 is a solid runner.
My biggest hurdle is finding what vehicle the 24v sohc will go into more easily. Im pretty sure I have everything I need both ways but less hassle might be key. I figure once this gets running I will throw my supercharger on it in October when it starts to cool off. Thats a whole other thread topic.
So,
1) Which vehicle would you use and why?
2) Which will require less hassle
3) If my plan is to supercharge it, should I just get Megasquirt to begin with?
4) Transmission interchangeability?
My computer is not posting pictures right now so as soon as it does I will post more pics of everything.
Thanks everyone
JD
Earliest photo that I have of it
This is when things started getting less fun for the Montero. I was warned and quickly found out that replacement parts are not always around and finding someone who has the exact part you need is going to be difficult. I tore down the motor completely and got it to my machinist who honed it, decked the heads, valve job, blah blah blah. Keep in mind I did all of this right before the wonderful summer months here in AZ. Luckily for me I do not have to drive for work so I wasnt worried about having the Montero down for a period of time.
In the mean time, I found a blue 1996 SR on craigslist for a few hundred bucks and went to go look at it. I have one Montero already that doesnt run, why not have another!. I knew eventually I was going to have a few and knew I would want a 2.5 as well. So I picked it up and got it towed home. Its not in bad shape at all and has some things I like. I figured if nothing else I could take a few things like the locker out of it and throw it in the 1993. Who knew at that point. I had the cash and didnt really care.
WIth work getting busy and the days getting much hotter I found myself less excited to sweat it out in the garage to finish the motor. Well turns out there are a couple positions within my company that I could apply for, however it would mean I need to drive. So the race is on, and now you're all caught up.
So I was faced with a decision
1. get another car to rat around town
2. buy a motor
3. build the crappy 3.0 in my garage.
Being an AC/maintenance tech and outside all day, #3 was the least appealing. I spent some time looking at other cars and really didnt get excited like I was about the Montero. So buy another complete motor to swap in was the choice for me. I have talked to some of the guys here on the forum and Pampena motorsports was mentioned to me. I tried getting a hold of them to no avail. Called, emailed, facebook, nothing.
Lucily for me a motor became available to me through an extremely generous local forum member. Ive been on tons of forums before and getting a text from someone who had plans for their motot but was willing to sell it to me, (for a darn good price), was incredible. I am so thankful and if that member is OK with me divulging info, i would happily give him all the credit.
With that being said, I will be picking up my 24 valve sohc next weekend. Buying it was the easy part. Deciding what vehicle to put it in is causing me to lose sleep. This is where I hope some of the guys here will be able to assist me. Heres what im faced with.
1) The 1993 is a known good driver. No scary secrets that I dont know about. No electrical gremlins I dont know about, no screeches, clanks or clunks. It has the 3.0 12v in it.
2) The 1996 is completely foreign to me. Never drove it, never started it, bought it with a hole in the block the size of texas. It does have a body lift and 35s though with the locker. That montero though has the 3.5 DOHC in it.
So this big long introductory post to ask this simple question....
What vehicle would you put this motor in. A couple things I am considering for each.
The 96 is cool because it has the soft 8s, 35" tires, rear locker and everything the 96 SR came with. Visually I like the 96 more i believe.
The 93 is a solid runner.
My biggest hurdle is finding what vehicle the 24v sohc will go into more easily. Im pretty sure I have everything I need both ways but less hassle might be key. I figure once this gets running I will throw my supercharger on it in October when it starts to cool off. Thats a whole other thread topic.
So,
1) Which vehicle would you use and why?
2) Which will require less hassle
3) If my plan is to supercharge it, should I just get Megasquirt to begin with?
4) Transmission interchangeability?
My computer is not posting pictures right now so as soon as it does I will post more pics of everything.
Thanks everyone
JD
