Mister Blue the sunburned 2004 diesel 105 (2 Viewers)

[John Young]

I am still working on the name for this truck, but for the time being I am using Azraq, which is the translation of 'blue' into Arabic. I like the name but I'd like to suggest age as in Ol' Blue as this poor truck has been through some stuff.

Some of you may have seen my posts about the white 2007 105 that just got shipped to Canada where it will live until I can import it into the US. It so happened that on the very same day I took delivery of my next, more challenging 105 project, a 2003 diesel 105 that again was a long-serving UAE government truck.

The Farmers Services Centre seems to be roughly equivalent to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, near as I can tell.

Anyways, this truck showed up on auction about a month ago and I got it after a bit of a protracted fight, but for what I think was a reasonable price, and I first laid eyes on Azraq at about noon on Friday:

Yeah, it was bloody hot. I had dressed to get dirty. It was so hot that my phone shut down after a few minutes.

That is 105F. I really could not stand the sun for more than a few minutes myself, given the heat radiating off of every surface. AND I was driving a 70 series pickup with no AC so I was hot to begin with.

 

[John Young]

I was able to take a first few photos

Between the time of the auction and the time of delivery, someone had swiped the door window switches, which was a major irritation. They also had damaged the door cards.

I was expecting the missing shift knobs. The auction photos showed their absence.

The car is a really interesting color blue

 

[John Young]

A few days earlier I had prevailed upon a friend for a set of loaner rims and tires. The guys at Powerhouse somehow managed to get them on out there in the direct sun. I could not have done it.

Overall the truck is in good condition considering the exposure.

But there are some odd things going on. LIke these welded on license plate nuts

The heat has been so intense that some of the sealant between the rear and roof panels has melted out

 

[John Young]

The carpet in the back needs replacing

And there is some light body damage on the right front fender; extent unknown

The right front door card probably can be repaired.

The left front cannot

And wondrously, there is a key!

...of sorts

 

[John Young]

Today was Saturday and I already knew I needed a new driver side door card. I messaged my reliable higher-end parts guy and he said he had a pretty good one off a Japanese truck that matched the photo I had sent. The nice thing about this is that being off a Japanese truck, there would be much less wear as the left hand side is the passenger side in Japan. So early-ish I went off to Sharjah in the pickup with no aircon, and he did indeed have a nice door card in the very same fabric.

I then drove back to Powerhouse to see if I could pick up the old rims for refurbishing. It was hot. Nevertheless, all 5 were ready and the guys helped me load them up.

They look to be in pretty good shape. The tire shop got the tires off leaving

By this time it is closing up on 5 pm. And it had been a long hot day. I headed home reaching it a little before 6.

The owner of Powerhouse had told me that he might be able to get the truck into the garage to have a first look that afternoon but I really was not expecting it. The garage was heaving when I visited first thing in the morning to take some more photos. So it was a very pleasant surprise when the owner send me some photos:

And the truck got its first bath in what was undoubtedly years

 

[John Young]

Then a little after 6 pm he sent me these two videos


So after maybe 7 years sitting in the desert sun, and with 445684 km on the clock this old truck after a simple oil change and battery install started and ran on 7 year old fuel!

Amazing! How can anyone not love the 1HZ?!

I want to comment here on how much I appreciate Powerhouse Garage's help with in both receiving the truck and dealing with the most urgent issues. I don't have a work space at the moment and receiving a truck in this state is pretty much impossible without help.

My plan at them moment is to try to get the truck to registerable and then get to know the truck a little before making any decisions.

 

[Andrew S]

John, I have to say you're living what most of us can only dream of. If I lived in your area I'd also be spending all my money on manual transmission diesel Land Cruisers! Thanks for taking us along on the journeys.

Andrew

 

[John Young]

Today is Monday and I went by to have another look now that a lot of the dirt has been washed off. The truck does look better.

And I took a bit of video of my own

I also decided to go try to get a new case for the key. Someone had been very determined not to buy a new case for the key:

The operation was a success!

I then went back to the garage and both keys worked from an immobilzer perspective. The original electronics worked for the remote locking, but the copy unfortunately did not. I had some time for a closer look at the engine.

Until now I did not know that the hood struts had a hole in them so you can lock the hood in the up position. Makes a lot of sense if you think about it. Anyways, replacement struts arrive tomorrow.

The AC compressor would not engage but it would be surprising if the system had any gas in it at all after all this time. The guys will check tomorrow in any event.

 

[John Young]

Here are a few engine photos

 

[John Young]

 

[John Young]

And the old rims have come back from sand blasting.

They did require just a little TLC

 

[FJFOOL]

Great story, thanks !

 

[John Young]

Today I went and had another look and actually drove it around the warehouse complex. It was bloody hot and the windows don't work because of whoever stole the window controls, but nevertheless I enjoyed having my first drive.

 

[crimsonaudio]

Great thread, I'd LOVE to find a truck like that!

Keep the updates coming, please!

 

[jake9]

Looks like a lot of fun. It goes, but does it stop? Haha. Anyway, thanks for sharing and keep us posted.

 

[John Young]

So today the truck may go for initial registration testing. It has been quite an interesting task to try to title this in the name of a company, something I never have tried before here in the UAE. Lots of 'No Objection Certificates' from various bodies. Everything is just a little more complicated. Had to make multiple trips to the Road and Transport Authority office with all kinds of paperwork.

I even had to do a letter in Arabic on company letterhead. But once I understood the steps and papers required it proved doable to set up a Traffic File for the company. The RTA's offices are nice. And there are interesting signs to read:

Well, I certainly am determined, but I don't think that is what they mean. Am I 'senior'? When I asked about that it seems I might be on the lower edge of that. Next time I might try to see if I actually can get priority.

As I write this, it is noon on Wednesday. We are going to try to test the truck at 2 pm with the loaner wheels and tires. Meanwhile the refurbished rims are back from the powder coater and the new Kumho rubber is in.

These are the same tires as went on the white 105 just shipped to Canada.

 

[John Young]

Today was a red letter day. The 105 went to the testing station for registration.

Lo and behold, it passed!

and in due course plates!

The next step was to get the newly refurbished rims with new rubber on the truck. I flatbedded the truck to the tire place.

 

[John Young]

and it came home for the first time

The thing is solid as a rock. It really is enjoyable to drive it has the comfort of 100 series and the turning radius of an 80. There was a little kind of something loose in the suspension but only thumped once other than that it just felt great it drove down the road straight and nicely the brakes are if anything a little bit too wonderful. I'm a little concerned about the oil pressure which barely went up zero off zero. But first impressions are very very positive.

 

[John Young]

I also took a closer look at the paint and managed to clean off the spray paint that had been used to mark it for some reason.

We are going to try to clay bar the pant to see if it can be made a bit more presentable.
And I also had a look at the the sticker on the side:

It is a little like a color blindness test, but it says "Abu Dhabi Farmers Services Centre" in Arabic and English

 

[ClassyJalopy]

It is already looking a thousand times better! Great work John!

Is this expected to come to Canada as well?