WW, you got the day right Saturday. Your actions set the stage for Sunday's awesomeness.

Toasty, I'm up and motive. I PM'd LT with a picture of what I think the relay I'm looking for is, just have to wait for him to look at it and tell me if that's the one, then I'll hunt it down and slap it on.

The fueling issue was always the thing that gave me doubts. Now that that appears to have been resolved, I'll get another pump for the '87 and get that part squared away for that truck, too. Hopefully my plan for how the filters are set up will hold together under fuel pressure...just have to keep extinguishers handy in case it all goes to hell.

Just about done putting the steering back on the '95, then it's off to get an alignment. Maybe I'll even take it for a spin later...

I can't say THANKS enough to you guys.

John B.

Awesome! Glad you're finally getting back on the road dude! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" />

Sorry I couldn't make the wrenchfest this time around. Had a busy football weekend with my son.

Well, Joel over at Jack's alignment didn't charge me because he didn't align it. He said to bring it back to him after I replace the passenger side upper ball joint (cheap EBay crap), passenger side lower a-arm front bushing, adjust the wheels bearings and what the hell, go ahead and replace those front differential mounts while you're in there, why don't cha? I didn't give him enough time to notice the worn out motor mounts and transmission mount or I'm sure he would have mentioned that, too.

I ordered new front wheel bearings and races (why not), the one new ball joint, control arm bushing, an air filter for the '86, an exhaust gasket for the same and took a chance on the fuel injection relay, as I figured I'd never even see one in a junkyard. Heck, I wouldn't even know where to look for it.

So, still more parts are on the way.

John B.

Oh, don't feel TOO sorry. I have a favor to lean on you for...heh heh.

John B.

Glad to see the troops rally, you guy's make a real effort to help one another out.
BTW JB, does Kenny still work at Jacks?

Yes, Ken Tweet still works at Jack's, but he took off early yesterday. They have a third guy there now and Joel said Ken is planning on scaling his hours back.

Speaking again to the alignment, I guess I didn't do too bad, as the wheel is almost centered and it tracks straight going down the road. Not bad for doing it by eye.

Rock Auto blows my mind. One of my two shipments will be here tomorrow and I just ordered the stuff yesterday.

John B.

LT, I "think" I see where that relay plugs in, but can I ask you to verify? It appears there are three separate plugs coming off the driver's side of the engine and they total what looks to be seven or eight wires. That would appear to match up with the relay I ordered. Sound correct?

BOTH Rock Auto packages should be here tomorrow. They're great. Might just have the '86 churning before the weekend.

John B.

let me know when the relay comes in i'll stop by on my way to work, do a quick overlook of everything and we can FIRE IT UP!

LT set me straight on the relay plug. Passenger side footwell, right where I didn't think to look. Plug and relay appear to be the right match.

Ordered up more parts: power steering crank pulley (this engine was in a manual steer truck and never had the option. Strange design, but they would just add-a-pulley onto the front two grooved one), power steering pump bracket (have to use my remote reservoir pump, no big deal, the attached reservoir Montero pump is too deep), and I also spent the extra ten bucks for the two underhood stickers to show the correct engine and the vacuum line layout. All that stuff had to come through Mitsubishi Parts dot com, as Rock didn't have them and I appear to have received the best online prices I saw during a quick search.

The only two things I can't do myself from here on out are to connect the new exhaust to the old system (one or two welds, maybe a short pipe section) and to switch over the a/c lines to the truck compressor after evacuating the R12 and converting it to R-134, hopefully.

The Montero fan shroud IS actually offset a little to the passenger side, which I never noticed before, and appears to be usable in this install, which is good because the engine sits way back from the radiator and the fan will need all the help it can get. Hopefully I don't have to use a fan spacer.

I should be able to test fire this thing as soon as I get the relay!

John B.

Relay should be to the house later today. FedEx tried to deliver package one of two yesterday but didn't leave it without a signature (really, FedEx?, it's just auto parts). So, I should be getting both boxes from Rock Auto today. Spoiler alert: I guess I can't go to the junkyard with Toasty for that reason. Can't risk missing them.

Got the '95 re-tinted yesterday, and man, what a difference. Previously, I had the driver's and passenger's front doors re-done, as they weren't legal when I got the truck from Monte3, and that's a primary offense now in AZ, meaning they will pull you over for that without any other thing to do with anything. So that left nine panels of glass for my friend (Stick To It Window Tinting) to re-do. Well, eight, since the back window wasn't tinted, since it got replaced after it got broken. Anyway, the old tint was so bad that it appeared a couple of the cargo area windows were broken because the tint had some really weird lines in it from top to bottom and it had all turned purple and looked like crap. The whole truck looks ten years newer now and I can't wait to get to work on the plastic cladding to get it repainted and looking really good.

While Keith was tinting (it took almost 7 hours, he's a perfectionist), I took off the wiper arms and spare tire carrier and spray painted them gloss black again (I only messed up two of the wiper arms - dumb move - redo...). I also rubbed more Lexol into the leather parts of the seats.

I made a command decision and debadged the front and rear of the truck. I unscrewed the three diamond logo and the V6 emblems from the front grill, then used a heat gun to remove the Mitsubishi label from the rear hatch handle. Sorry Monte3, but I also removed the "3" from your old sticker on the back, but I left the three diamonds with the checkered flag part, as I think it's pretty cool looking. I'm still thinking about whether or not to remove the side badging. I probably will, but just not sure yet.

Today I will tear into the passenger side front suspension and get ready for the replacement parts so I can get it all fixed up for an alignment. Hopefully I can get slacker Kevin to do some masking to get ready for painting the body cladding, too. I need to pick up front bearing seals, as I forgot to order some, plus I need some brass punches to remove my old bearing races.

John B.