[4ePajero]

I decided to re-build the Pajero by firstly replacing the engine, transmissions and interior. After that I'll do "preventive maintenance" over a few years and by doing that, replace most of the service items. This should amount to much less that the instalments on a 'new' vehicle.

It is a "work-in-progress" project and I'll add to it as I go.

History:

I bought the Gen1 as a import from Japan. It was a 2.5Td Auto LWB Exceed.
I was never really happy with the 2.5 with auto tranny, mostly because the tranny overheated when worked a it hard.

I had a local workshop fit a Chevy 4.3 V6 with a Borg Warner T5 5-spd box and the standard Mitsu transfer case.
It was a great transplant, but the fuel consumption of the carb version of the 4.3 made me decide to go back to a diesel.

The choice was made to fit a Mitsu 3.2 Di-D engine, with a Mitsu V5M31 5-spd and transfer case.

The Di-D engine:

I bought the complete engine with transmission, transfer case and peripherals from a breaker.
The most important peripheral was the complete wiring loom with the ECU, transponder and key barrel.
The engine and peripherals came from a wreck which had less than 20000 kms on the odo.
I decided to go for the complete drive train in order to keep it as standard as possible. My experience is that transplants go wrong when different parts are made to match by means of adapters etc.
The peripherals included turbo, 125A alternator, starter, AC pump, vacuum pump, power steering pump, inter cooler, air filter housing, viscous coupling/fan & exhaust manifold.













Body preparation:

The Di-D engine and especially the transmission is larger than the 2.5 TD. Furthermore I always had 33" tyres in mind, so I lifted the body by 2" (50mm). I had the spacers made up from UHDPE.

New brackets were manufactured to raise both bumpers by 2" as well.

This made the fitting of the engine much easier.

Fitting the engine:

The engine fits neatly into the engine bay, without having to modify any sheet metal.
The radiator is also in its original position, albeit lowered by 2" to suit the body lift.

I stripped the engine bay as far as practical and sprayed it a satin black to hide all the blemishes an engine bay picks up over its life.

The old mounting pedestals were removed (chisel and FBH), new engine mountings were manufactured and welded to the chassis rail.
All this was accompanied by the normal numerous cycles of fitting and removal of the engine and transmission to make sure that nothing fouls and clearances are OK.

This was the first fitting of the engine in the engine bay:




More later ..

[4ePajero]

Fitting the transmission:

The advantage of the 2" body lift was that I could retain the cross member to mount the rear of the transmission.

I fitted the old mounting rubber on top of the cross member after manufacturing mini-brackets to tie the rubber mounting to the rubber mounting:






Position of the gear levers on the transmission hump:

The workshop that fitted the Borg Warner T5 really butchered the transmission hump. That was because the T5's lever sits way forward, relative to the Mitsu ones.
I cut all their mods away, ending up with a crater in the transmission hump (torsion bar visible through hole!):





I then shaped a 'cover' from 1.6mm aluminium sheet to cover the hole and provide correct placement of the rubber boots:


This is the final result, with the transmission shifters visible through the hole:



Here is the final result before fitting the carpets:



Dash board:

I completely removed the dash board.
Firstly it was to be re-sprayed, but it made the modifications to the wiring much easier:



Heater:
When fitting Chevy V6, the previous workshop found the space between the engine and the fire wall a bit small, so the solution with the heater pipes were easy:


After I had the pipes cut off and new ends soldered on:


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[4ePajero]

Wiring:

As I said previously, I bought the complete loom with ECU, transponder and key barrel with the engine.

(At this stage I will just mention that we are three brothers and we were doing similar transplants on three Pajeros - 2 Gen1s and one Gen2 SWB).

We got hold of the factory wiring diagram (±800 pages in all!). Without this it would have taken more knowledge than what we had to get the wiring done. I have had it scanned, so .... ).

I have to give credit to my older brother, who took the sorting out of the electrics & electronics on his shoulders.

Many of the functions controlled by the ECU had to be disabled / removed eg Traction control. My bother split both looms (existing and new) and combined the two into a work of art! It does not look back-yard at all, but the same as all the work we did, as if it was done in the factory.

To me this is the most crucial part of the transplant (I suppose because I had very little part to play in it).

The pictures show the work in progress:

[4ePajero]

The Inter Cooler:

I used the inter cooler from a Di-D:

It was fitted in this area, where there is good air flow and it is reasonably well protected behind the bash plate:


The pipes were made up using a combination of flexible and mild steel pipes.
The end result:

[4ePajero]

The Radiator:

The original Gen1 2.5Td's 3-core radiator was used, with the following changes:
1. I had it re-cored, more as a precaution than necessity.
2. The mounting brackets were raised 2" (thus radiator lowered by 2") to allow for the water outlet from the engine to line up with the top of the radiator.

The outlet on the engine was cut and re-welded after rotating it 45 deg to line up the top hose:



To date the radiator is working 100% and cools the engine with no problem.

Oil Cooler:

The 4m40 (2.8Td) and 4m41 (Di-D) engines have oil coolers built into the block:




I decided to retain the external oil cooler of the 2.5 Td. (I suppose one can never have to much cooling?) The pipes to the external cooler needed slight mods to the Di-D's oil pipes:



The Sump:
In order not to mount the engine to high in the engine bay, I modified the sump slightly to clear the front diff housing. A standard 'dome' plate was welded into the sump, which provided the required clearance:


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[4ePajero]

The Clutch:

The original 2.5Td was coupled to a auto box, but I went for a 5spd on the Di-D. This necessitated a new pedal set.
This is where good design from Mitsu came in. I bought a pedal set from a Gen2 Pajero, refurbished it and it bolted straight into the body! All the fittings, bolts etc were there in a 1989 auto Gen1 to use a 1997 Gen2's pedal set!

[4ePajero]

The Completed project:

I posted a very small portion of what the project entailed here, but here is the end product. It is now a very powerful Gen1 with excellent fuel consumption (±10l/100km), riding on 33" Bridgestones:

[4ePajero]

Brakes:

Not that there is anything wrong with the Pajero's brakes, the following factors convinced me to upgrade the front brakes on the Pajero:

* 33" tyres fitted (vs 29" standard) equates to nearly 15% reduction in effective braking effort, due to the longer arm on the moment.
* heavy loads I carry when over-landing
* general standard of driving in the rural Eastern Cape demands quick stops!
* crystal ball shows either an off-road trailer or off-road caravan in our future
* it's a Mitsu, so it should be easy!

After reading a few threads on the 4x4Wire forum, it became clear that upgrading from the Gen1's smallish single piston calipers to the Gen2's 2-pot callipers is a bolt-on conversion! Typical Mitsu!
The only required modification is to trim the dust shield with a tin-snips / small grinder.

The first step was to get a pair of Gen2 front callipers.

Our friend Martin / Gert at Parthunt came to the party and supplied a pair of brand new callipers with disk pads for R1200-00 (that's not much more than the prices quoted on this forum for some vehicles' disk pads).

2½ hrs to do the swap!

Amazing that parts off a 1999 Pajero bolts straight onto a 1984 design !
(mine is 1989, but the Gen1s were virtually unchanged from 1984 - 1990)

Most of the time taken was for preparation, placing Paj on trestles, wheels off and tidying up.

Simple bolt-on.
I just had to trim the dust shield a touch with a tin-snips.

Master cylinder:
As a matter of principle, I replaced the brake master cylinder kit as well.
The first one lasted 20 yrs and 325 000 kms, s I might as well!

I could not find the kit for the Gen1 Mitsu, but found out that Nissan copied the design for their Maxima / Skyline & 1-tonner master cylinders , so that provided the kit rubbers.
For the record, I used the Spirex kit FED.SX 7926X

Looking at the pics again, I think I will fit new rotors (disks) shortly.

The new calipers:



The "old":



The "new":

[4ePajero]

Steering Components
After 327000 kms the original steering components are showing a bit of play, so I decided to replace the following:

* Pitman arm
* idler arm
* drag link knuckles (tie-rod ends).

I sourced everything from Midas. Echlin makes the replacement parts.
The 1989 Pajero was not listed, but as I suspected, the Gen2 steering components are identical / interchangeable. (Why am I not surprised? )
Coincidently, most of the parts cross-referenced to the Colts as well.

Total cost of components: ±R1000-00. Labour = free!

I started today by replacing the idler arm, which had quite a bit of play.
From the photos it can be seen that the Gen2 idler arm's bushes are considerably longer than those on the Gen1 idler arm, which should give a longer life(as if 327000 is bad!).
The Gen2 idler arm also has 4 mounting bolts, while the Gen1 had only 3.
The 3 bolts I used lined up perfectly, and the swap took less that an hour, a lot of that was in preparation, wheel off and on, jacking.
It just needs a grease nipple where the little hole is. That will come from the old ball joints, next week.

Next weekend I'll tackle the Pitman arm and the drag link. To remove a Pitman arm can be a mission.

The old idler arm:


The new idler arm fitted:

[4ePajero]

Today (4 April 2009) I replaced the following:

* Pitman arm (part was same as Colt Rodeo 2.0 / 2.8 NA)
NB Pitman arm for Gen1 and Gen2 are different.
* 4x Tie rod ends


No dramas - even the Pitman arm came off relatively easily after 330 000 kms of service.
What a pleasure to work on such a well-engineered vehicle.

That should then be the last time I rebuild the steering system. Whoever of the sons inherit the Pajero will do the next rebuild at ±600 000kms.