My new (to me) 2003 Montero Limited Build

Ephalants

New member
I’m unsure of the extent I will mod this Montero yet as its my first 4x4 and I have no clue what I’m doing haha. I picked up this Montero from TheVeteranDad, a user on here, back in November. I got it for $4500 with 120,000 miles on it, a roof rack, brand new all season tires, and a stack of preventative maintenance records!

My first plan is to upgrade to HID headlights with projectors as I think Halogens are a safety risk due to them being so dim. I picked up some projectors and new headlight housings and will post some pictures of the finished product soon.

There is some preventative maintenance I want to take care of, like the exhaust leak I caused the first month I had it, some dings in the windshield, and to replace the ABS sensors. Eventually some all terrain tires will be fitted but baby steps first. Other than that, I just took it on my first camping trip and she did great! Super excited to adventure more with it and see where it takes me.

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Michael Brown

You followed me, so now we're both lost
Looks like it is in good shape. Grab an FSM from my signature if you don't already have one.

I would also recommend better lights, but I'm not sure if the housings are able to handle HID temperatures. I have been using the Sylvania Silverstar Ultra bulbs which put out a lot of light. If you're lenses are dull, you can also get a restoration kit/service done. Just be sure that it includes a UV protection chemical step or else it will oxidize quickly again.

Rock Auto is a great source for parts, they even stock Denso, Aisin, and other OEM supplier brands. PartSouq is a logistics warehouse in UAE that stocks OEM parts for global shipment. Luso Overland stocks some OEM parts as well as replacement exhaust manifolds. Adventure Driven Designs stocks some other parts and skid plates. Rocky-Road sells sliders/side steps, which you seem to already have intsalled.
 

plh

Explorer
I second the headlight restoration and better halogen bulbs. Sylvania Silverstar Ultra or Philips X-treme Vision +130%. Autosol Polishing 100g Cleaning Polish get you to 95% or better in 5 minutes.
 

Jibs

Member
Nice rig. Looks clean and well kept. It seems like you've done your research on it, and just keep at it little by little.
 

Ephalants

New member
How has the life been on the SSUs?
I would go with Silverstars but I have had less than stellar performance from them in the past. I had them in an old BMW of mine and they lost alot of their brightness after 6 months. I figured the HIDs won't burn out for years.
 

southofantarctica

Brush Dawg
I put D2S HIDs in our over 3 years ago. Excellent light output and no heating issues whatsoever, even on nights that are near 100f.

The retrofit is the easiest I've ever done, it's harder to get the housings out of the truck than it is to get the projectors to fit. Just one small tab to remove on the inside of each. The interior space is HUGE on these, get the biggest projector you can.

I do recommend you spend the extra $100 and put in a new lens when you open them up. I didn't and have had to repolish the stock lenses about every 7-9 months. Worth the money to save the headache in my opinion.

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Michael Brown

You followed me, so now we're both lost
How has the life been on the SSUs?

I think I bought them in 2018 and had 1 burn out last Fall. I usually get them off RockAuto or when they are on sale.
Incandescent bulb quality has gone down a lot in the last few years with LEDs and fluorescents. I think the ones in my ceiling fan burn out every 4 months.
 
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Ephalants

New member
So I ordered the projectors and HIDs and have been making progress with putting them together. I went with the Morimoto D2S 5.0 projectors and Morimoto bulbs, with switchback halo DRL. I was going to just throw them in and get them in the car, but since I’ve always wanted to do a headlight conversion like this and I grew up loving Japanese tuner culture/style, I decided to take my time and do them how I wanted them. They’d be more at home on my old WRX, but I love the way these have turned out so far! So here are some progress pics, they arent everyones cup of tea, but thats why its my car and not yours lol.
 

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Ephalants

New member
So I’ve been silent for a bit. I ended up getting the headlights together and they work amazingly! So much brighter than stock and light up the road for 100s of yards. Would highly recommend this upgrade to any Montero as the stock lights suck. Next cosmetic upgrade will be something with the grille and eventually I will install the side decals I ordered. All in due time!
 

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Ephalants

New member
About a month or so ago, I picked up some 80’s Rikken wheels off a Toyota Pickup. Got all 4 for $50 which was too goo a deal to pass up. They are 1 piece with a nice step lip on them. In the process of painting these before fitting some Toyo Open Country AT3s on them. More pictures to come as I progress on them.
 

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Ephalants

New member
And final update for today. I have finally started to deal with the notoriously leaky valve cover gasket and rear cam seal. I ordered a gasket kit online and got to it on Saturday morning. I was surprised at how easily the Intake manifold came off. I know there is something you are supposed to do with the butterfly valves bit I forgot what it is so I will look into that while the manifold is off the engine. As far the gasket, it was leaking all over the drivers side exhaust manifold and smoking badly. The spark plug tubes on the drivers side are also filled with oil, so those will get cleaned, replaced, and resealed while I’m in there. Then I have to get the rear cam seal and intake manifold gaskets replaced and stitch it all back together! Its a bit of a pain but I can’t imagine how much a shop would’ve charged me for the same job.
 

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Michael Brown

You followed me, so now we're both lost
Make sure all the butterfly valves and screws are there. Some members have deleted this assembly completely for a loss of low end torque. I just put a drop of Permatex Orange thread locker on the end of the threads to keep them there. Make sure you have a good JIS (Vessel is a favorite) screwdriver if you want to remove them. Standard Phillips bits and drivers will strip out the head.

If it is smoking, then it may also be the valve stem seals. I had badly leaking valve covers and spark plug tubes, but it did not have any smoke from the tailpipe.
 

Ephalants

New member
Make sure all the butterfly valves and screws are there. Some members have deleted this assembly completely for a loss of low end torque. I just put a drop of Permatex Orange thread locker on the end of the threads to keep them there. Make sure you have a good JIS (Vessel is a favorite) screwdriver if you want to remove them. Standard Phillips bits and drivers will strip out the head.

If it is smoking, then it may also be the valve stem seals. I had badly leaking valve covers and spark plug tubes, but it did not have any smoke from the tailpipe.
I did exactly what you did and used red Loctite on the butterfly valve screws. Luckily all of mine were still tight and nothing seemed out of place so I was not too worried about them, but the Loctite will give peace of mind. As far as the smoke, it wasn't coming from the tail pipe, but would come from under the hood. I opened the hood while it was running one day and saw it coming down onto the exhaust manifolds, so I'm hoping that's all it was. I finished it up and got her running last night so I will watch it over the next few days and make sure everything is good to go.

Now to deal with the suspension creak that its developed.
 

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