25 Years Young

Originally Published: February 2013 Words: Kenny Tucker Pictures: Steve Taylor

Andy says that even with independent front suspension, the Pajero’s off-road skills are ‘remarkable.’ This shot illustrates the way it allows both sides of the car to move downwards at the same time, but with three inches of lift from the reindexed torsion bars there’ll always be more ground clearance than standard below the diff, and while articulation isn’t as great as a live axle would be, the wheels do still follow the ground to a pretty good extent

Mitsubishi’s 2.5 TD engine from the late eighties was available with or without an intercooler. It’s the latter you’re looking at here, which developed a quoted 89bhp when new. That’s enough to do the job Andy wants, so he’s done the sensible thing and left it well alone. The only alteration under the bonnet saw the addition of an electric fan, which Andy fitted as lifting the body meant the original engine-driven unit fouled the bottom hose

The body is mounted using a 2” lift kit from Xpajun. This company’s name stands for Xtreme Pajero and Shogun – they do body lifts for lots of other makes too, but Mitsubishi’s finest was where they started so you can safely assume this is a vehicle they know. The lift is made from a synthetic material whose strength rating is 20 times that of steel, so whatever happens it’s going to outlast the rest of the truck

There’s no airs and graces to the front bumper, which was fabricated from scratch in steel plate. Revolving shackles mount through to spreaders, and behind the hawse fairlead is a 12,500lb Winchmax. This is quite well flush to the body, though the bumper itself takes a degree or two out of the Pajero’s approach angle. You’d still take it over the original any day

Like the front bumper, the rear was fabbed from scratch in mild steel. Skinned out using chequer plate, it once again protrudes a little but ensures that if there’s going to be a ground hit, none of the vulnerable or expensive bits are going to be bearing the brunt of it. You can see the bottom end of a Jaos ladder here, too, used for accessing the roof rack

More hardcore steelwork comes in the shape of these box-section rock sliders. Once again fabricated from scratch for this vehicle, they’re mounted in to the chassis to take the truck’s full weight when the going starts to get haggard

The winch slots in snugly beneath the radiator, tucking into the bumper with just enough room to spare. You could get it closer to the leading edge of the vehicle by concocting something fancy in tube, but for laning and playdays that would be gilding the lily. The strength of steel plate and a sure, steady 12,500lb pull are ideal when recovery is about getting out, not getting punches. Note also the wire mesh covering the grille to prevent leaves and other crud from blocking the radiator

Andy says the Mk1 Pajero was ‘pretty well waterproofed as standard’ in terms of wiring. Rude not to make the most of that, obviously, so he made a snorkel out of Wickes drainpipe and a hat from eBay, then ran breathers to everything that needed them. Thus if the axles or transmission ship water, it hardly matters because the engine is moments away from totalling itself

Roof racks and green laning don’t tend to go together, but this Jaos unit is at least quite trim and well shaped to deflect branch hits. The spotlights it carries are small and sturdy enough to live with a bit of rough treatment, too

A NATO hitch is something you definitely don’t see every day on a Pajero. Andy uses it for easy recoveries, but it’s also necessary as his camping trailer is an army-spec Sankey unit

Andy Allen’s Pajero spent most of its first quarter-century as a standard three-door diesel. But then he started turning it into a sorted machine for playdays and green laning – and now it’s set fair for its second.

In the days before Mitsubishi turned the Shogun into a glam-wagon, it was a tough, worthy off-roader. But Andy Allen’s isn’t one of those. It is tough and worthy, and you can see quite clearly that it’s an off-roader. But it’s not a Shogun.

Shoguns were already coming to the UK as grey imports in the 1980s. Andy’s is one of those, so it’s called a Pajero instead, but what matters more than its name is the fact that it’s an early one. The Mk2 had an inclinometer: this one didn’t even have a cassette player as standard.

So we’re talking about a proper truck, which originally sold badly back in Japan because people saw it as a commercial vehicle. Not glam, then, and definitely spot-on for modding.

Which is what Andy did, slowly and steadily, over the course of six years after buying the Pajero as a completely standard truck. The changes he’s made are restrained and well chosen, because it’s an everyday road car too, but he’s turned it into a motor that stands comparison with the gently lifted Defender 90s you see more and more of at playdays now.

Like an increasing number of off-roaders with Japanese 4x4s, he’s not just done it by chucking loads of money at bolt-on bits. This is a truck with plenty of DIY engineering and fabrication – and one which demonstrates the value of leaving well alone, too. The chassis, engine, tranny, props and axles are all as they left the factory a quarter of a century ago – which you can take to mean that they’re all perfectly good for the kind of stuff Andy wants them to do.

This is, in his words, to make the Pajero ‘a capable laning vehicle and fun playday truck,’ which can also tow a Sankey trailer loaded with camping gear when the Allen family head for the hills on holiday. A Sankey trailer: told you it stood comparison with a Defender 90.

Andy goes on to say that ‘despite having independent front suspension it has remarkable off-road ability.’ Again, you’ll have noticed that by looking at the pics, but you might also have spotted that the front wheels don’t do ever so much in the way of articulating. It’s the back axle that does most of the work here, but it doesn’t have the locking diff Mitsubishi fitted on later models, so the only traction aid is ‘a lead right foot and momentum.’

Happily, then, the Pajero has proved as tough as it is able. ‘I’ve never broken a diff or halfshaft or any piece of the running gear,’ says Andy, ‘apart from one auto-locking front hub – deep in the caves at Cinq Piliers!’

Anyway, the suspension is where most of the modding work has gone into the Pajero. At the back, Andy fitted a set of coils from a LWB Mk2 Shogun – which lifted the lighter SWB model by three inches. Up front, the torsion bars were reindexed for a similar amount of lift to level the vehicle out, while the front shocks and both anti-roll bars were rebushed with polyurethane.

That’s as far as you can lift most 4x4s without the prop and front driveshaft angles getting ratty. But Andy wanted more – his 265/70R16 Marix Lions are coming on for 31” in diameter – so he also fitted a body lift from Xpajun. A Rough Country steering damper helps keep those big, hairy tyres under control, too, while a set of extended wheelarches helps keep them legal.

With five more inches beneath it, the Pajero is unlikely to stuff its nose into a bank, perch a sill on a rock or crash down off a step and land on the seat of its pants. Even so, Andy armoured all three areas using custom fabricated bumpers and rock sliders. He’s knocked up heavy-duty fuel tank and transfer box guards, too.

Up top, the bonnet and scuttle panel are beefed up using ally plate, and the door mirrors have been replaced by Land Rover Defender units – because they’re cheap and easy to get hold of. The other kind of protection comes from a 12,500lb Winchmax running synthetic rope. It’s not there for any kind of competitive use, just to get Andy out of trouble when it all goes wrong.

For this same reason, Andy didn’t see the need to fit any trick electrics to cope with hours of winch duty. He did install a split-charge system, however, running a second battery in the boot to juice extra spots, a CB, 12v power sockets and interior lights without threatening the starter unit. ‘One aspect of vehicle modding I enjoy,’ says Andy, ‘is designing and building simple electrical systems,’ which makes him the opposite of most of the off-roaders you’ll read about in here.

Elsewhere in the boot, which is trimmed out chequer plate, it’s standard playday and green lane fare. Andy carries a high-lift, second spare wheel, hand tools and a selection of ropes and shackles, while the roof rack is home to a couple of bridging ladders.

Nothing flash, nothing ground-breaking, but everything he needs to have fun off-road without having to spend half his life worrying and the other half turning back.

The comparison to a Defender is probably ridiculous, but the similarities to so many of today’s playday 90s are there to see. A no-frills lift, some stout armour and a sensible set of tyres, and away you go. What more do you need? Sounds like the recipe for a cool daily drive, and a great off-road toy – whatever the badge on the bonnet.

PAJERO, FABRICATED BUMPER, XPAJUN BODY LIFT, WINCHMAX 12,500LB WINCH, FABRICATED ROCK SLIDERS, JAOS ROOF RACK, JAOS LADDER