The (2nd to) Last Hurrah... a 2007 HZJ105 - 'Missus White' (1 Viewer)

[John Young]

More horrors from the truck's past life have come to light.

As they have peeled back the paint on the roof addressing a couple of minor dents and generally assessing, they have found a myriad of holes filled in with bondo! I mean a LOT of holes:

So in addition to the fairly professional braised in mounts for the bubble bar, they apparently were screwing down something with a bunch of self tapping screws.

The guys have already been welding up all the holes. Holes I did not even know were there but very likely would have been a real disaster in the long run. I am glad these guys are so thorough.

This is what it looks like underneath:

Here is another close up of the really great work on the right rear barn door:

 

[John Young]

There are still a few dents here and there:

And just for fun, here is the truck next to my 105. And yes it is a Land Cruiser.

 

[John Young]

Progress continues apace.

The color code on the dataplate is 062 which is White Pearl Crystal Tricoat. Looks like it was painted early on in a sort of metallic bronze. This is a color that you see here for presidental guard trucks, or trucks guarding embassies.

To keep things simple I probably will stay with the factory tricolor white. But what do you think?

 

[John Young]

I dropped by the garage again to see how things were going.

 

[John Young]

They have started painting.

 

[John Young]

 

[John Young]

more photos...,

 

[John Young]

 

[John Young]

 

[John Young]

 

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[John Young]

new insulation going in

The recovered steering wheel is in

back glass has been reinstalled

Windshield is in

 

[Zamranger]

Geez the thing looks brand new. Well done!

 

[John Young]

Geez the thing looks brand new. Well done!

Thank you. It's actually been pretty interesting and quite a lengthy process.

The first stage was to basically just get it running and driving and past registration inspection so that I could drive it around.

The next was to go through it mechanically quite thoroughly and replace all of the things that I didn't like, like the old radiator which had a small weep in it, and all the relevant hoses. And some really good engine mechanics looking at whether the engine had any issues even though it only has 200,000 km on it

We're now in the third stage which is where we're basically taking it all apart from a interior and exterior perspective but not the mechanicals. And I decided to really splash out on this one because it is such a unusual and special car. So I'm trying a place I haven't used before which is definitely higher up on the economic spectrum that I normally operate. But the outcome is really showing the value.

We're also kind of racing the clock. It's supposed to go in a container in the middle of June to go to Canada where it will mostly be in storage because of course I can't take it to the US except for a visit. My plan is to spend a couple of months a year up in Canada and Alaska after I retire. And I wanted a super reliable vehicle. I will be 72 before I can go and bring it back down to US

 

[Zamranger]

Thank you. It's actually been pretty interesting and quite a lengthy process.

The first stage was to basically just get it running and driving and past registration inspection so that I could drive it around.

The next was to go through it mechanically quite thoroughly and replace all of the things that I didn't like like the old radiator which had a small weep in it all the relevant hoses. And some really good engine mechanics looking at whether the engine had any issues even though it only has 200,000 km on it

We're now in the third stage which is where we're basically taking it all apart from a interior and exterior perspective but not the mechanicals. And I decided to really splash out on this one because it is such a unusual and special car. So I'm trying a place I haven't used before which is definitely higher up on the economic spectrum that I normally operate. But the outcome is really showing the value.

We're also kind of racing the clock. It's supposed to go in a container in the middle of June to go to Canada where it will mostly take him storage because of course I can't take it to the US except for a visit. My plan is to spend a couple of months a year up in Canada and Alaska after I retire. And I wanted a super reliable vehicle. I will be 72 before I can go and bring it back down to US

I'm going through a similar process here in Zambia, I bought a 2002 HZJ105 and building it into a "forever" car/ultimate overlander. I'm about to drop in a 1hdt and then a full respray, luckily zero rust issues in Zambia but bodywork cops a beating in the bush.

 

[John Young]

I'm going through a similar process here in Zambia, I bought a 2002 HZJ105 and building it into a "forever" car/ultimate overlander. I'm about to drop in a 1hdt and then a full respray, luckily zero rust issues in Zambia but bodywork cops a beating in the bush.

I hope you will start a thread on your 105, ZR. I would love to follow along!

I just picked up a late 2003 105 which I can bring back to the US when I'm 'only' 68 years old. But I will use this one as a daily here in Dubai until I leave.
I really like the 105 and feel lucky to have managed to find two of them. Ideally I would love to find a 1998-2000 so I could bring it back to the US earlier as a daily. If you happen to see one, even if it is pretty much a wreck, please let me know! 105's are really rare here in Dubai.

 

[John Young]

I'm so pleased I'm just going to post some photos.

I'm actually amazed at how they were able to bring back the original hub covers. Here is a before photo:

Admittedly they were pretty good before.

 

[Zamranger]

I hope you will start a thread on your 105, ZR. I would love to follow along!

I just picked up a late 2003 105 which I can bring back to the US when I'm 'only' 68 years old. But I will use this one as a daily here in Dubai until I leave.
I really like the 105 and feel lucky to have managed to find two of them. Ideally I would love to find a 1998-2000 so I could bring it back to the US earlier as a daily. If you happen to see one, even if it is pretty much a wreck, please let me know! 105's are really rare here in Dubai.

I'm filming the build so hopefully will have a bunch of videos on it soon.
105s are everywhere here and across different parts of Africa, would be pretty easy to pick up a 98-2000. the challenge is usually the electronics and servicing. But if you are serious I can keep an eye out, $10-15 for a decent one.

 

[John Young]

The unpainted sheet metal under the console had some pretty serious surface rust. I asked the guys to pull it and paint. The next person in there most likely will be me.

floor insulation is complete

Roof insulation is complete:

 

[John Young]

I'm filming the build so hopefully will have a bunch of videos on it soon.
105s are everywhere here and across different parts of Africa, would be pretty easy to pick up a 98-2000. the challenge is usually the electronics and servicing. But if you are serious I can keep an eye out, $10-15 for a decent one.

Serious as a heart attack. And I think it would be cool to try to go through the process of bringing a LHD from Africa to the Middle East, pull it apart, and redo it. Mostly trucks go the other way. I have to investigate importation. I think they have to be 'classic' which probably is doable. I will PM you buddy.

I am confident now that I can pull one of these apart and put it back together again and get something nice out of it. The parts are SO much easier to find than the 80 series. I'd been starting to get a bit down about doing more trucks because the 80s parts are getting so hard to locate and even in the salvage yards of Sharjah they are starting to empty of anything 80 related.