After more than a year of mechanical mayhem, Glenn’s Mitsubishi Pajero is looking good … almost!
Bought as a barely running old clunker, my 1989 Mitsubishi Pajero V6 wagon provided plenty of drama with its fuel system and a failed water pump soon after I got it back on the road. Thankfully, as I mentioned a few issues ago, after months of effort, my mighty Pajero now seems to be a reliable camping companion.
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| Remember my blocked fuel injectors just up there? After another 3000km, they blocked again again. Dammit! So I ripped out the fuel lines and replaced with rubber hose. |
After the frustration of the fuel injection fight, I turned my attention to finding an original front bumper. When bought, my Pajero was equipped with a front bullbar and although they do provide protection from stray animals, I didn’t really want a big, bulky cow catcher on the nose of this weekend cruiser/camper. In fact, I wanted that ugly bar gone, so as soon as I’d put the Pajero on H-plates I began looking for a showroom/standard front bumper.
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| My wrecker-find bumper was bent. By tying it to a fence post and using low-range reverse gear, I tugged it straight before cleaning it and brightening its rubbers. |
But do you think I could find one?
I searched regularly. I called local wrecking yards and kept my eyes on for-sales. My Pajero is the top-line model from 1989 so it has extra bumper over-riders compared to the standard model but I was willing to buy the base bumper to banish that big, bulky bar to the bin. But no matter what, every for-wrecking vehicle I enquired about carried a bullbar, not a standard one. For months, I could not find a standard bar.
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| This classic Pajero has been to the NSW Snowies, over the Blue Mountains and to the New England region. Terrific fun. |
Eventually, I got lucky. During a melancholy afternoon photographing the cars in a soon-to-close wrecking yard in western Sydney I found a row of Pajeros … One was a top-spec 1989 model, like mine, with its factory front bumper, complete with those groovy little over-riders!
Bingo!
Luckily, I had my wrecker-raid toolbox in my car. Within minutes I had that bumper removed, ready to take home!
Another aspect of my Pajero that I wasn’t happy with was the spare wheel: it didn’t match the others. When I resurrected this Pajero in 2021, I bought and fitted a set of Aussie-made 1980s-era ROH Range Rider 15×7-inch alloy wheels. However the set I bought numbered only four, so I began searching for a matching one as a spare. In time, I found and bought a broken set of three. Then I found another one, so I bought that too!
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| At last, I have a matching spare wheel! I found this 30-year-old ROH rim and had it wet-blasted to match the other four. |
Back in the ‘rad’ era that was the 1980s, these ROH alloys featured centres/spokes in a choice of bold hues: red, gold, white and charcoal. I often celebrate 1980s styling traits – as do many of us – but I’m glad the four rims for my Pajero had been hydro-blasted to a grey alloy sheen as it updates them very nicely. Of course, I wanted the spare to match the grey so I had a car-crazy mate, Doug, blast one of the extra rims at his OCD Vapour Blasting business. I sold the others.
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| The ROH wheel set enhances the Pajero’s profile. |
Now I have five matching satin-grey alloy wheels on my Pajero.
But those good-looking wheels and bumpers have highlighted the plight of the Pajero’s paint. The peeling clear coat – typical of many vehicles of this age – looks increasingly tatty, so I might have to do something about that soon.
Photography: Glenn Torren