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

[John Young]

Hi all, it has been a minute since I posted in the 100 forum. Dhanno, my US-UAE-US truck is being used by the friend of my older boy and likely it will stay with him. And I'm getting ready to leave Dubai and move back to the US and take it a little easier. For some time I've searched for an early diesel 105 to be my last (I promise) truck bought in the UAE. I've seen one or two, but they were rough and 700k km trucks and also they were late in the 100 series, not early. Then along came a 200K km diesel 105 that appears to be an ex Abu Dhabi police truck and I sucked in my gut and bought it. It will take a couple of weeks to get, and no photos til then, but I thought I would post this teaser.

I have a plan for what to do with it until it can be imported to the US--register it in Canada and use it to explore Canada and Alaska during the summers after I retire. It turns out you can get yearly climate-controlled storage in Alberta for about 1100 USD per year, which makes this doable, I think. I've always wanted to spend time in the Great White North.

More later....

 

[excessive]

i dont understand why the rules say a 105 cant be imported, because the 100 was sold in the US, and they were so similar? maybe a 100 series body on on a 105 frame a could be imported right away? either way, im sure it will be an awesome truck. I see 105s for sale on FBMP in South Af and Aus. with diesels and manuals - so cool

 

[onemanarmy]

i dont understand why the rules say a 105 cant be imported, because the 100 was sold in the US, and they were so similar? maybe a 100 series body on on a 105 frame a could be imported right away? either way, im sure it will be an awesome truck. I see 105s for sale on FBMP in South Af and Aus. with diesels and manuals - so cool

Your elected gov't says you can't.

How dare you question them!

 

[John Young]

A while ago I looked seriously at importing a UAE 100 and found that it was listed in some of the exception documents that the Fed govt maintains. I think the NHSTA 25 year rule has an exception for 100's but the EPA has a separate 21 year rule that has no exception. I started focusing on 70s and 80s and kinda stopped worrying about it. May be possible for 100's to come in at 21 years but not 105's I think.

As to who to blame:

"Mercedes-Benz dealers in the US led a campaign for tighter import regulations, which came into law in 1988 as the Imported Vehicle Safety Compliance Act. This established a far more rigorous system for the inspection and registration of foreign-built vehicles, as well as establishing the principle that any necessary modifications must be carried out by a state-certified Registered Importer, not by a private individual."

So at least this author thinks it was the US MB dealers that got very upset about Euro-spec MB's coming in during the 80s and ruining their little monopoly. THAT process STARTS with a 35K USD bond...

 

[John Young]

Today the flatbed came with the diesel 105 and I had my first real look at it.

I was nicely surprised to see that the tires were less than 3 years old.

The engine looks very un-messed-with!

I don't think the AC ever has been touched--a rarity in the Middle East

 

[John Young]

Inside is interesting. Looks pretty much like an ordinary sedan but it has a clip for a radio microphone and REALLY tinted windows. So tinted that someone actually cut out holes for the rear view mirrors.

Headlights need a bit of TLC

Birf balls look about the way they should.

And the barn doors look good.

 

[excessive]

Very cool. will be one of the very few in the states. I find it astonishing that even in the driest desert on earth, Toyotas still rust !!

 

[John Young]

Very cool. will be one of the very few in the states. I find it astonishing that even in the driest desert on earth, Toyotas still rust !!

Both Abu Dhabi (where this truck came from) and Dubai are coastal and major port cities. The central business district of Abu Dhabi is actually an island.

And this was a government truck so it probably spent a lot of its time in government office parking areas--which tend to be in the older part of town/CBD.

Here's an interesting chart:

A lot of Abu Dhabi is within 400m of the sea. And then when you factor in temperature:

It starts to make more sense. 35 to 40 C is common for most of the year in the UAE.

But I agree with you; it surprised me too that rust is a thing in the desert. Most of the 80s have rear window rust damage. Here's an extreme case that I don't like to talk about.

Looks nice, right?

Until you look at the roof

Strangely, the roof is about the only place that got this. Interior is very nice. I'm still trying to figure out how to approach this. The rear passenger door has a good sized dent in it but is a manual carburated late 80 with barn doors and I bought it at auction without being permitted to see it in person (they blame Covid for that), and I had no idea I would find this. Even the head liner is in good shape.

So, yeah, rust in the desert is a 'thing'.

 

[John Young]

Back on the 105, the truck is at a shop owned by an Australian man 'of a certain age' who has done a lot with Toyota diesels. I've asked him to assess but that my intent is to bring it to a reliable daily driver for the rest of my stay in Dubai. His own desert crawler is a Toyo diesel 70 series.

 

[excessive]

those roof holes are from paint damage early on that was never addressed.

 

[e9999]

did you find any of the Middle-eastern equivalent of Donuts in the globebox?

LOVE the idea of storing a truck in Canada to explore till the US relents... smart! Do you need some sort of "official" address to register it?

 

[John Young]

those roof holes are from paint damage early on that was never addressed.

Interesting... have you seen this before?

 

[John Young]

did you find any of the Middle-eastern equivalent of Donuts in the globebox?

LOVE the idea of storing a truck in Canada to explore till the US relents... smart! Do you need some sort of "official" address to register it?

It was in the middle of the day and I had to get back to work so I could only take a quick scan. Have not checked the glove box or center console yet.

Re Canada, I have a couple of years to work through the details. But I am determined!

 

[OGBeno]

Back on the 105, the truck is at a shop owned by an Australian man 'of a certain age' who has done a lot with Toyota diesels. I've asked him to assess but that my intent is to bring it to a reliable daily driver for the rest of my stay in Dubai. His own desert crawler is a Toyo diesel 70 series.

I think I went to the Ozzie's shop in DXB? Near all of the concrete plants?

 

[John Young]

I hired a company for 55 USD to go and clean the truck up so that it is more pleasant to work on, and so I can see what I am dealing with. Then I went to see the results this afternoon.

There is some rust on the top of the windshield as well as a dent on the roof where someone must have stood on it.

 

[John Young]

The leading edge of the rear wheel wells look excellent. I've seen a lot of rust in these areas on 100s.

Bits of trim are needed

Here is the 105 goodness again

 

[John Young]

The engine bay cleaned up nicely

And we've gotten most of the parts already

We have not tried to start it yet.

 

[John Young]

There has been progress. And a few more parts needed, including, interestingly, the drive gear for the power steering pump. I've never seen anything like it.

This looks to me like a bad batch of steel got used by the gear cutter back at the factory.

In any event this part was unobtainium. For this truck I'm trying to use all new, OEM parts. But I had to resort to going up to Sharjah and haggling with the parts guys up there. I was able to get a pretty good part for 125 AED or 35 USD.

The reason it is a little orange is that I pickled it in a little vinegar to get it really clean so I could take a close look. I'm going to get a new gear but put this one in and see how it goes after 6 months.

 

[John Young]

As far as the truck itself, I am told it should be mechanically done in a week. Then I can get it inspected so I can transfer ownership to me. Maybe even register it if I am lucky.

Another salvage part I am going to use is old generation headlamps in glass.

These are pretty far gone, although I might just try polishing them to see how they look.

The new radiator is in, ready for installation

I'm not going to try to fix this. I can find a complete bumper I'm pretty sure.

Another job will be pulling the windshield to address the moderate rust issue.

Once the mechanical work is done the truck is going to another shop that focuses more on body and general refurb. More expensive than they guys I normally use but I'm ok putting the $$ into this truck.

 

[CBeckFJ]

So will you attempt to import this truck to the US? Man that'd be interesting