Mister Blue the sunburned 2004 diesel 105

[John Young]

I delivered the Holy Truck to PowerTec today to deal with a pesky carb issue, but I took the opportunity to have a look at what is going on with Mr Blue today.

The 1HD-T is being inspected

It will get a new timing belt of course, and a waterpump while we are at it.

Mr Blue came with this alternator:

From an ad on Mud it seems this is an 80 amp unit.

The 1HD-T has this alternator on it:

It is definitely physically larger, but I don't see any markings on it. If anyone has an idea of what it might be....? One annoying thing is that it has a different connector than Mr Blue's wiring harness, which is oblong, not round.

 

[John Young]

Mr Blue currently is sans rear axel and is looking a little forlorn.

My adult son is coming for a visit in exactly a month. It would be really nice if Mr Blue were back on the road. I'd say chances are 50-50. We just placed an air freight order with Terrain Tamer for the higher 5th gear on the existing R151 and the kit for the 1HD-T, so that should come in about a week.

Starting to look nice under the skin

The engine bay has a new firewall blanket

But some cleanup remains to be done

Liking what I am seeing

 

[John Young]

But there is still work to do...

While we were under there I asked them to remove the rear bumper under-support and take care of the surface rust. Looks nice now.

And while I intend to replace both front and back bumper covers, hopefully a heat gun will allow the existing rear cover to be undented

 

[John Young]

Things are starting to go back together again and looking pretty good

When they got to uncovering the green electrical tape I posted above it was quite unlovely--but not something I have not seen a dozen times here.

 

[John Young]

Mister Blue is starting to go back together.

I shared this photo with several friends, and @cruisermatt commented back: "I have never seen that pinion nut actually replaced with new on a non-US truck before!!" I know what Matt is getting at. Many shops here are of the 'get it back on the road mindset'. PowerTec, on the other hand, has a long history of performance and desert racing work, not to mention a Australian/Swedish attention to off-road engineering. When I mentioned Matt's comment to the senior person at PowerTec, here is our exchange:

I continue to be pleased and impressed with the quality of the work on Mister Blue.

Mister Blue's new engine, the 1HD-T is getting a bit of love before it goes in. New Terrain Tamer metal impeller water pump, new timing belt and idler of course, new hoses, and a bit of cosmetics. That is Mister Blue in the background, and the white 80 is the Omani Diesel with the transplanted 24 valve diesel from the HDJ81. Still working out some bugs on that one....

 

[John Young]

The engine is back in and looks great!

We missed out on four of the brake hoses but the existing ones are ok for until the new ones arrive from Terrain Tamer. OEM don't seem to be available for them.

Other than that the brakes look very nice.

The inspection of the gearbox is complete and the parts are going back together with the new taller 5th gear.

And Mister Blue's camel covered steering wheel is ready to go in:

Chunky!

 

[JDM Journeys]

The engine is back in and looks great!
View attachment 3507357
We missed out on four of the brake hoses but the existing ones are ok for until the new ones arrive from Terrain Tamer. OEM don't seem to be available for them.
View attachment 3507358
View attachment 3507359
Other than that the brakes look very nice.
View attachment 3507360
The inspection of the gearbox is complete and the parts are going back together with the new taller 5th gear.

And Mister Blue's camel covered steering wheel is ready to go in:
View attachment 3507362
Chunky!

I hope whoever did that steering wheel wrap was compensated generously. Man alive - it turned out perfect... look at those spokes!

Engine looks great too and should steal the show but... *Camel hide*...

 

[John Young]

My younger boy is visiting here from Florida and we've had a number of adventures, but yesterday we had a chance to have a close look at Mister Blue.

That's my son on the left and Shelby, principal of PowerTec on the right.

New condenser

@JDM Journeys was critical of the adapter going from the stock 1HZ air box to the 1HD downpipe from the 80 series where the engine came from. I had not really been to critical of it, but it would be nice if anyone out there knows where I can get a HDJ100 or 101 air cleaner....

 

[John Young]

The engine bay is looking pretty good these days. Not showroom but clean and businesslike. I'm pleased.

Still work to do.

@JDM Journeys made me a bit jealous when he sent me a photo of his engine bay to illustrate the proper air box.

But I do console myself with the fact that this is turning out as a very nice driver and the decision to go to a 1HD seems to be working out well so far. Engine has a subtle turbo note:

 

[JDM Journeys]

View attachment 3521253
The engine bay is looking pretty good these days. Not showroom but clean and businesslike. I'm pleased.
View attachment 3521255
Still work to do.

@JDM Journeys made me a bit jealous when he sent me a photo of his engine bay to illustrate the proper air box.
View attachment 3521259

But I do console myself with the fact that this is turning out as a very nice driver and the decision to go to a 1HD seems to be working out well so far. Engine has a subtle turbo note:

Pretty sure that's Nick's engine bay? But it does look better so I approve!

 

[John Young]

For avoidance of any confusion, the red bay is @gnarleyNick 's. I was illustrating the factory air box as contrasted with the home-rolled airbox presently on the truck. I'm going to continue to look for an OEM air box.

 

[John Young]

Big day today, I picked up Mister Blue to drive for a while.

 

[John Young]

The more I drive Mister Blue the more I like Mister Blue. It just has that little extra bit of comfort and quiet over the 80.

I'm headed back to the US for a couple of weeks. While I am gone I am asking PowerTec to install the EGT/boost pressure gauges and the cruise control.

 

[John Young]

Mister Blue is getting a little more work done. My friend here in Dubai (@United Terrains) who sold me my 93 model 80 years ago came up with new old stock 200 series mirrors which are really, really nice.

(This is actually the Holy Truck, not Mr. Blue, but my friend had a number of these and I liked them so much I am getting them in everything pretty much.)

 

[John Young]

Oh one other cute thing...

While I was away I loaned Mister Blue to a friend of mine--the friend whose young daughter has developed quite an affinity for the 105--but not the Prado, which she finds scary for some reason.

 

[Trapper50cal]

For what it's worth, that alternator you were asking about had an "NP" logo on the end cap - NipponDenso.

 

[John Young]

I am happy to say that Mr. Blue passed its annual inspection. I was a little on edge about it because even though it passed last year with the new turbo engine, I am never quite sure what position the next inspector is going to take. But it passed and I am breathing a sigh of relief. We also put in a lot of work adding an OEM winch pulled off of a 79 series pickup, including some bracketry and a brand new front bumper cover with the winch opening in it.

I'm quite pleased with the end result.

My older boy is coming to Dubai for a week or so and we plan to take a drive to Oman in Mr. Blue and I think the truck is ready. Currently the truck is at another shop getting some attention to the paint.

 

[John Young]

Two more,

 

[John Young]

After all this work by the crew I was able to drive away in a very handsome truck.



And last night I picked up my older boy at the Airport--in Mister Blue!

 

[John Young]

I've been talking about our adventures in Mr. Blue in the Schrodinger's Truck thread, but there was something specific to Mr. Blue I wanted to mention here.

Today on a very hot day coming back from Sharjah Mr. Blue started to idle at 2100 RPM which was very disturbing. We al know about runaway diesels and that was the first thing that came to mind.

I drove Mister Blue to the garage. It was easy enough to get it back to normal.

The regular throttle cable had come up off the guide, holding the throttle open slightly. Here is what it looked like.

The normal position looks like:

The good news is that even in the most extreme condition, the throttle won't be wide open.

Here's what happened, I think. Mister Blue has an Autostrada mechanical servo aftermarket cruise control.

The Autostrada servo is the black box at the top of the photo next to the air cleaner. The cruise control had opened the throttle, taking tension off the pedal throttle. When I turned off the cruise control the Autostrada servo released its cable and the loose pedal throttle cable jumped out of its slot.

I can't immediately think of a good way of preventing this other than making the slot deeper by adding some metal to the crescent shaped cam; perhaps a plate over it. I'm going to see if it happens again. I'm no longer thinking this is very urgent so I have some time to think of what to do. This has not happened to any of the other Autostrada-equipped land cruisers.