2003 HZJ105 in Canada (1 Viewer)

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Joined
Nov 22, 2010
Threads
15
Messages
183
Location
Nanaimo BC
A wanted to share the details on the HZJ105 I just brought home.

I have had a 55 and 2 60s in the past, and then have been on a cruiser hiatus for the last 5 years with an LN106 Hilux. I was planning to keep that for some time, but in 2019 a new import facility from Europe opened in my hometown that I can literally see out my window. It is used by Mercedes to bring new cars from Europe to the west coast of Canada. The new import facility peaked my curiosity and I started looking into imports from Europe where I could find a LHD diesel cruiser. I have had a few RHDs (the hilux, a delica) and I don't mind them, but prefer driving on the right side... I was reading up on the forums and got in touch with Gilmorneau who has a comprehensive how-to thread in the importing section. It seemed easy enough if you are systematic, and I learned a bunch more helping him store his 24.5 year old HDJ80 in Canada while it awaited its 25th birthday. Seeing his 80 arrive here got me excited and helped me build enough confidence in the process to give it a go.

I wanted a HZJ105. I like vehicles where body parts can be found locally, and I wanted more headroom than the Hilux or a 70 series. On the 105, most of the body and interior can be borrowed from the North American 100s, the engine and transmission from the 70 series mine trucks in Canada (plenty of new parts available in the country), and suspension bits from the 80s. I never minded the naturally aspirated 2.8 liter in the Hilux because I live at sea level and the roads here are not American style interstates - the Hilux never had trouble keeping up. My favorite 105s are the white "poverty pack" versions, but I thought it would also be pretty nice to find one with lockers which I don't think were offered in the poverty packs (maybe someone knows definitively?)

I started watching in 2020 casually, and then started watching seriously in the summer of 2021. 105s are hard to find in Europe as they were never sold in the EU; everything available in the EU is already a grey market import (my understanding at least). I saw a nice poverty pack 105 in France in Fall of 2021 and tired to secure it within hours of it being posted, but I missed it. I also saw some sketchy units outside the EU or in eastern Europe, but nothing that looked good/was a reasonable value. Then in early 2022 I saw this 2003 GX with lockers come up in Albania. I immediately messaged the seller and luckily he spoke good english. He provided some details, sent some photos, and I arranged for it to be checked over, purchased, and shipped out of Belgium to me in Nanaimo BC.

When I had it checked in person it was the classic "seller using the best photo angles", but still it looked like an honest vehicle with original paint and rust free or very close. It had 295k km and was a UNDP (Development Program) car, so it saw real use but also hopefully good maintenance. The only real defects I noted was some questionable trim around the windshield (and I know windshield issues are common with the 100s) and some evidence that the front clip was a bit tweaked (which is easy enough to sort with 100 series fenders available in north america).

Here are some of the photos the seller sent:

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Well a few issues came up after I committed to bringing it to Canada:

- My premise for trying to import from Europe was we have a nice new import facility in town - easy... Pretty much as soon as the deal on the 105 was lined up the shipper informed us that the routes had changed due to the backlog of new cars in Europe. The RoRo ships were now doing shorter turn arounds in the Atlantic to catch up on volume. Nanaimo was not available anymore, only Halifax Nova Scotia. So 6000 km away instead of a leisurely walk. At least there is a train you can load your car on in Halifax to get it to the west coast. It just adds a month and some extra cost.

- I think I missed the part in Gilmorneau's thread where he mentioned it is much harder to purchase from outside the EU. Or maybe I just ignored it... It turned out that getting the 105 from Albania to the port in Belgium was quite a challenge, and I am not sure it would have worked out had the seller not done a lot of work when the Albanian transport agency was trying to back out of the transport due to document issues with transporting through the EU. Luckily the seller was a stand-up guy and helped get it done.

-A few weeks after the deal went down it arrived at he port in Zeebrugge Belgium with one issue. The driver's power window had gotten stuck down, I think while unloading. This is why I wanted manual windows... Luckily it was still dry inside and the port was able to plastic up the window for shipping. This threw a bit of a wrench in my Halifax to BC by train plan though. You aren't allowed to work on cars at the port in Belgium so we couldn't address it there, and I wasn't aware of any way to have it done in Halifax. Shipping it 6000 km across Canada by train with the window sealed only with plastic wasn't going to work, so I decided to go out to pick it up and drive it home. I asked the seller if he thought it would be okay for the drive and he was confident, so I booked a flight.

I flew out on a "red eye" overnight flight from Nanaimo to Halifax on the 1st, arriving at 7 am on the 2nd. To drive back to BC, I needed 2 pieces of paperwork, a "Binder of Insurance" from ICBC, and a temporary registration from Nova Scotia. I had the insurance sorted before I left, and when I arrived in Halifax I took the bus from the airport into Dartmouth (where Autoport is located) and then a short cab ride to Access Nova Scotia. 10 minutes later they had me setup with a 1 month trip permit for $12 - my best experience yet at a DMV. My pick up appointment at Autoport was for 12 and I had a few hours to kill, so I went for a 2 hour walk over to the port to stretch my legs. I showed up a little early and showed them my paperwork. I had confirmed with the European freight forwarder and my Canadian customs broker that the shipper’s hold was off and I was good to pick up the car. But Autoport had different ideas, and they said the shipper's hold was still on the car and I hadn't paid the shipping line. I waited while they emailed back in forth with the shipping line for a few hours, and then they confirmed the issue. 2 hours of racing around and double paying the $247 fee to the shipping line for something cryptic got the 105 out of Autoport and I was on my way. Lesson learned, in my case I needed to check with 4 parties to know that it was clear for pickup (European freight forwarder, Canadian customs broker, Autoport, shipping line). I had not checked the 4th, and now need to try and reclaim the extra $247...

A while before I headed out to halifax I messaged kw90surf who had an engine for sale in Halifax, asking if he knew of any shops that worked on cruisers and could help me change the oil and check it over before the drive back. He referred me to his friends with the Maritime Land Cruiser group, and they offered to give me a hand checking it out and prepping for the voyage. Thanks Jeremy and Brett! They had some well looked after 80s and an LX470. A few hours with those guys and it was ready for the voyage; we got the drivers window up (appears to be a weak motor), oil changed, driveline greased, and got eyes on the timing belt. It was nice to see the timing belt was OEM Toyota and pretty fresh, the injection pump looked recently rebuilt (clean with fairly fresh paint marks), and overall it looked to be in excellent mechanical shape.

1 Halifax WWL Ship.jpg


2 Halifax Trains.jpg


3 At Autoport.jpg


4 Maritime Cruiser.JPG
 
I left Halifax at about 8 pm, and my started by trip home over the next 5 days. I followed the Trans Canada more or less, taking the upper option along Highway 16 through Saskatoon Edmonton and Jasper. I had packed a tent and sleeping bag in my carry on and was able to find nice, free camping along the way.

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5 Night 1.JPG


6 Potato World.JPG


7 Night 2.jpg


8 Lake Superior.JPG
 
The 105 ran well and the 1HZ averaged about 13L/100 km with a "progress oriented" driving style. The only issue that I noted was that the accelerator pedal felt "floppy" and on inspection I saw that the mount for the pedal was cracked and broken, allowing the pedal assembly to tilt left. It still worked fine to about 80% throttle, but to go beyond that it required a specific style of leg action... It was clear that it would be hard to address well on the road, so I just dealt with it and it was first on the to do list before the required out of province inspection for registration in BC. As a 2003, this is the newest vehicle I have ever owned and it is very civilized on the highway and for long distances; I did a little off road testing enroute and it is clear it is also very capable even in its stock form.

9 Lake Superior.JPG


10 Ontario 130.jpg


11 Wawa ON Giant Goose.jpg


12 Heron Bay Night 3.jpg


13 Ontario 79 Civic.jpg
 
I got it home Sunday night, and am prepping it for the out of province inspection on Weds, which required the pedal mount to be repaired and the driver's window.

That is the current status, I will update this thread as I make progress with it. My plan for the 105 is to respect Toyota's design, keep the power to weight ratio near as-is by keeping it close to stock so I don't overwhelm the 1HZ or have to mess with its legendary reliability. I will get it baselined, put on some 255/85R16s for extra clearance (I think these will fit no lift, or maybe I will go 2"), and put it to use. We will see how it develops.

19 Night 5 Hinton AB.jpg


21 Mt Robson.JPG
 
Amazing write up on a truly amazing rig! It is a beautiful country to cross and what better vehicle to do it in that a Cruiser! Keep the updates rolling in on the ol girl, look forward to seeing er again someday, maybe next time I will come to your side of the country! Congrats on the new purchase and the killer road trip!
 
Super cool truck. 105's are rad. Lots of folks in Oz and other places swap in HDFT-E's for upping power. Keep us posted to your progress. Glad you made it home safe and it all worked out. Good stuff!
 
I have thought about the FTE swap and read up on it quite a bit. We will see if it gets there - pretty satisfied with the 1hz so far.

I dealt with the broken accelerator bracket earlier this week. I assume this might have been caused by an out of adjustment throttle cable? Here's what I found when I pulled the pedal and the carpet.
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The bracket is attached to to floor pan with 3 rivets. Does anyone know if this bracket is the same on a UZJ100? I would eventually like to put in a stock, unbroken one.

For now I repaired with a plate on the front and back of the cracked bracket, clamped together with a bolt and bonded with panel adhesive.

Reproduced the hole pattern on foil with a pointy object:

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Transfered to a cardboard template:

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Used a file and some snips to get the plates sized to fit the bracket and around around the captive nuts in back. The bolt clamps it all together:

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Used panel adhesive on the front and back plate and then clamped it all together with a bolt and nylock nut:

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Let it cure for a day and a half and reassembled. Problem solved, at least until I can source a good bracket. Feels very solid.
 
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I just found this thread (and subscribed). Glad to hear you made it home OK. Last I heard you were mid-Canada somewhere. lol..

The truck looks great! Wish you could have picked it up before I visited so I could have seen it in person, but oh, well. Next time.
 
Thanks, couldn't have done it without all the info you have shared. I'm sure there will be a chance to check it out sometime, a Colorado trip is definately on our hit list.

The trip was no problem, the 105 is a very nice combination of civilized and capable. I can't imagine covering the same distance over the same time in the old hilux or 60, and the 105 is so much smoother on rough ground with the coils compared to those leafsprung trucks.
I just found this thread (and subscribed). Glad to hear you made it home OK. Last I heard you were mid-Canada somewhere. lol..

The truck looks great! Wish you could have picked it up before I visited so I could have seen it in person, but oh, well. Next time.
 
Hi EKN, she is a real beauty! Congratulations. I am particularly interested in whatever tire choice you end up with. I also tend to favor tall, narrow tires. I am thinking of moving to alloy rims on my 105--I don't particularly care for the steel rims on it now.
 
Since I got it home I have been catching up on other priorities. Haven't done much to the 105 other than wash it, clean up the interior a bit and daily it. I found a few relics from Albania; a grocery list and a few candy's.

No real surprises so far. A few items to sort out though:
-It surges a bit starting in first gear, depending how you start. I had an 87 4x4 5spd van that had a bad surge in 1st gear, and it turned out to be the intake hose had a crack. So I took apart the intake a bit to clean it up and check for any cracks or issues. The assumed mechanism being: you accelerate, the intake hose crack opens, more air gets in, surge occurs, crack closes, repeat. I found one cracked line on a small hose t-ing into the airbox (back side of filter). I assume this is a pressure sensor for the air filter light? Haven't investigated. Anyways, I taped it up and we will see if that makes a difference. When I have a chance I will replace the line. I also cleaned out the residue from the egr that I could reach. Some oil accumulation, but wasn't bad - and now its gone.
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Also put in a new OEM air filter. The instructions suggest it is washable. I also read that you can fit a larger one from the FTE which presumably flows better. Will try this for now.

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-It also has been seeming to build a bit of vacuum in the fuel tank. Doesn't seem to effect it much, but definately noticeable on empty. The fuel cap on it was a bit grimy and I could imagine the vent being clogged, so I ordered up a new one when I got filters. Put that on tonight, hopefully it's that simple.

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-I noticed some fluid coming out of the steering box as well. It's just damp, nothing too bad yet. But it looks like that will be on the to do list at sometime.

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Also when I got the provincial inspection I asked the guy to charge up the ac, which he did. He also happened to be an ex cruiser mechanic and had an fj45 out back that he was showing me, so that was good luck on a shop I hadn't used. When I was out in Halifax the guys noted that it had pressure built up behind the ac charge/discharge caps, and were saying sometimes ac systems just leak through the schraeder charge/discharge valves enough to lose charge, and at a certain pressure the low pressure switch will prevent the compressor from engaging (my summary of what I heard at least).

So I asked the mechanic to replace the valves and recharge the system. The system had 0.6lbs and he evacuated it and charged it back up to spec (can't remember the number, looked it up in the FSM. Maybe 1.9lbs?). I tried the AC button with no luck, and then he used his powerprobe to energize the compressor. It fired right up with a poof of dust and started blowing cold. So a wiring or switch/relay issue I guess. Anyone have any ideas? Also, that powerprobe was a neat tool - now on the want list.

That's the update for now, the 105 has been pretty low needs so far.
 
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Hi EKN, she is a real beauty! Congratulations. I am particularly interested in whatever tire choice you end up with. I also tend to favor tall, narrow tires. I am thinking of moving to alloy rims on my 105--I don't particularly care for the steel rims on it now.
Thanks. Currently this has some continental 235/85r16s. Tread wise they look a bit unusual but are near new so fine for now. My wheels could use a paint, and have a lot of wheel weights on them, so maybe the continentals are a challenge to balance? I will probably go to to 255/85r16 toyo mts or m55s. I had great luck with the toyo MTs on my old 60 in that size. I will be watching your thread as well, hopefully we can save each other some headaches.

Here is the old 60 with those toyo mts
 
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