I've been remiss in giving an update, so I figured I would stop forgetting about it and get my fanny in gear.

Reassembly went fantastically well, Advance didn't have the proper bolt length, but they had a slightly longer bolt and I spaced it out with some washers. Only one issue occurred: one of the OEM bolts snapped while I was threading it in BY HAND with only a socket and extension! I couldn't believe it, I know I didn't put any crazy torque with one hand, and it sure didn't bottom out...

So right now I have only the bottom two bolts holding the shift assembly in place. I don't yank on the shifter at all, I actually drive the truck fairly gently (the less I break, the less I have to fix ) so with the rearmost two bolts in place, torqued to spec, should be ok. And now that everything is nice and tight, the shifting is INCREDIBLY light and with no play whatsoever. It almost shifts gears like a sportier car would. It completely shocked me!

Since I was in there and mucking about, I decided to drain the tranny and replace the gear oil (which was original). I put in Valvoline SynPower Fully Synthetic 75W-90, and I can state here that in real-world experience, my fuel economy has improved (estimated 3 mpg) just from that simple change. I can't wait to change the fluid in the rear end and see if I get another small boost.

Don't want to start another thread over a noob-with-Mitsu question... I have the 4G64 and I really need to do my water pump. I currently lose anywhere from no coolant to a full gallon (depending on Maximilian's mood) in a 32-mile roundtrip commute. It doesn't leak too badly when running, I tend to leave a small lake in the parking lot at work. My question is actually this: I know the water pump is belt-driven, and I know I need to remove the timing belt cover to access bolts (as far as I could tell just from poking around). Do I need to mess with the timing belt at all? Will it be in the way? I sure don't want to mess with a timing belt, considering it's something I've never attempted, and my Mitsu/Nissan guru buddy isn't available to help me with it (I have a new timing belt in a box, ready for him when he can help).

I've done water pumps - gawd I've done quite a few - and I'll never understand why some manufacturers would make a timing-belt driven water pump (seized water pumps have blown up one friend's Stratus and another friend's Alero). That aside - can the one in my Mighty Max be changed without touching the timing belt?

Thanks everyone! :-) Can't tell you how out-of-my-element I am under the hood of these little guys.