Sarawak Map

 

 

 Map of Southeast Asia

Malaysia

Sarawak

latest picture: October 25, 2012

• click a picture to see details

 

Yes, we do it a second time: We allow our faithful travel companion that celebrated its 30th birthday on July 21st, 2012, a second “rejuvenation” – in a way as a gift for its milestone anniversary and entry into the old-timer age. Since its extensive last rejuvenation mid 2006 it is especially the rust that gives it a hard fight again. Since then, it remained 6 more years steadfastly at our side over rough and smooth ways and through thick and thin for a further 39’506 mile, 36 different islands in 19 new countries – all islands in Southeast Asia, the Pacific and the Indian Ocean. Now it is time to whip it into shape again in order that the three of us can continue our world trip for many more years to come together.

401  July 26th, 2012:

We are standing in front of our container

in the port of Bintulu in the East Malaysian

province of Sarawak on the island of Borneo waiting anxiously for the seal to be broken

on the 25th container coming from Réunion

402  After 56 days of imprisonment in

the container on high sea, we finally are

reunited with our trusty LandCruiser again.

The friendly customs lady at the harbor

customs is posing for a remembrance picture

in front of our car. There is no check at all

403  July 27th, 2012:

We hit the road and drive the

125 miles from Bintulu to Miri.

Halfway Emil connects our

second battery to be charged

404  We reached our destination: We

are back at the workshop of “Yung Lee

Auto & Painting Workshop” in Miri –

after 6 years, 36 different islands in

19 new countries and 39’506 miles

405  First Mr. Lance Lau and Emil

go on a test drive. Since Réunion,

we have one worry more:

a steering problem

406  For the derusting job it means

to unload the whole of the roof rack.

Mechanics help Emil with the heavy

aluminum cases. Luckily Mr. Lau

offers us a storage room

407  The roof rack is lifted by a

crane while Emil reverses

408  Also the interior of the car has

to be emptied. The only thing remaining

is the mattress suspension device.

Our “dormitory“ is 69 inches

long and 61 inches wide

409  As in 2006, Emil is searching for

spare parts at Tung Fang Motors in Miri

downtown. In order to save time and

money we take over the procurement of

spare parts from the many parts shops

Rust – encouraged by the salty air during our visits of 36 islands in the past six years – is spreading massively again

410  on the co-drivers side

at the front pillar

411  at the middle roof pillar

412  on the drivers side

at the front pillar

413  The panel beater is hammering at

a metal sheet that he welded on the door

414  Welding on the fender

415  Emil is looking worriedly at the

dismantled steering that started to

make problems since Réunion.

The repair is a quite delicate job

 

More than two weeks have passed by since the steering box was disassembled. In the meantime we were hunting for spare parts and found the “Cross Shaft 44111-60020“ for US$ 232. What we did not find is the “Valve Assembly 44120-60041“. Our LandCruiser being a left-hand-driven vehicle (LHD) and most of Southeast Asia’s being right-hand driven makes things more complicated, particularly if looking on the second hand market. Via email we already investigated at Toyotas in Switzerland, Gibraltar, the Philippines and Japan (the latter via Toyota Malaysia) – without success. It is not anymore available as the production is discontinued. Now we are looking for it on the American market. In the meantime, the body work is proceeding slowly, but steadily. However, the job is bigger than expected, i.e. more rust is showing up. Therefore it will take at least another month to be completed.

416  Emil is testing the steering wheel

with the newly built in “cross shaft“.

Unfortunately it shows the same resistance

as before what means that we have to

replace also the “valve assembly”

417  Page of the Toyota

Parts Catalogue with the

steering box parts

418  Emil is writing down the

numbers of the needed parts in

order to find them somewhere

419  Liliana is looking with dismay to

new rust holes, which were hidden

by either paint or other metal sheets

420  Another shocking awakening

with more bad rust

421  The welder is at hard work in

order that our LandCruiser is getting

a really good vehicle again

422  Time-consuming work: Where

the rust was just crumbling, the panel-

beater welded new metal plates

together - piece by piece …..

423  ….. Emil is starting to paint the

newly welded metal sheets with anti-

corrosion paint from Singapore …..

424  ..... the front part is finished.

Emil verifies his work

425  What we neglected in 2006, we

do now: Emil paints “Frameto”– the

expensive but very effective rust converter

from France on exposed spots

426  Liliana is looking worriedly to

the dismantled stuff below the

steering wheel, which is usually

hidden behind the dashboard

427  What’s inaccessible for the

paintbrush, is reached with the airbrush

428  Part of the roof looks really bad.

How could this happen after only six

years of the first “rejuvenation”? .....

429  ….. the welder is

intensely at work .....

430  ..... that looks much

better again!

431  Tea-time: We sit with boss Lance Lau

at the snack bar next to his workshop,

drinking a “Kopi Susu” – a sweetened

coffee with sugared condensed milk

432  ”Survived” on our rear window:

Our first nostalgic sticker from

Mexico from 1986 …..

433  ….. and the road tax sticker from

2003 from the Government of

Grenada in the Caribbean

 

In the meantime we are into the second month. While the rust removing still is making good progress and an end is in sight, there is news also concerning the steering box. After the negative results at the different Toyota’s (Malaysia, Japan, Gibraltar, Switzerland, Philippines) we put our request in three forums: a Philippines 4x4, the American TLCA (Toyota LandCruiser Association) and the German ”Buschtaxi” – unfortunately all three remained negative. Our last attempt was then Specter-Offroad in Los Angeles from where we had already spare parts flown to American Samoa in 2009. It was SOR where an entire steering box was available, however not new but rebuilt. And this part is now since August 28th, on its way by Fedex to Borneo. For this, we had to dig deep into our pockets. The parcel weighs 29lbs., adding another US$250 freight to the part’s price of US$1’100. But we hardly can continue without any steering! Let's hope that the Malaysian Customs will be generous with its duties and taxes.

434  The „Yung Lee Auto & Painting

Workshop“ is also our „playing ground“

at our daily checks

435  It is progressing: Emil’s car

side looks quite interesting with

its patchy putty fillers

436  We do not hope that our Land

Cruiser will meet the same fate like

its neighbor on the workshop area!

437  The last holes to be welded

and to be filled are around

the fuel inlet …..

438  ..... this means to remove the

60 gall. gasoline tank. Liliana

checks it at the spray booth .....

439  ..... also this last welding job

is completed professionally

440  An exotic sight: The LandCruiser is

wrapped up with Chinese newspapers, ready

to be painted with the grey primer …..

441  ….. Voon Teck Choi at work

with the airbrush. Slowly our best friend

is becoming a grey eminence! .....

442  ..... next step: Drying before

it gets its new blue coat

443  The time has come: Our

LandCruiser in the spray booth .....

444   ..... finishing touch:

Voon Teck Choi is spraying

the insides of the doors …..

445  ..... the bodywork is completed!

Our indispensable travel buddy

is shining in new splendor

 

September 13th, 2012: The number 13 does not necessarily mean “bad luck”! At least exactly on that day we finally hold the steering box flown in from the USA in our hands! It took 16 days from Los Angeles to Miri on Borneo by Fedex, whereby it got stuck 10 days at the airport of Kuala Lumpur due to customs procedures. Initially everything seemed to be processed rapidly. Customs taxed the spare part with Ringgit 600 (US$195), which amount we had to agree upon. There is no way around it, even if the part is leaving the country together with our LandCruiser in October again. Next day, there is another email from Fedex in our inbox. “Taxes have been revised by customs and amount now to Ringgit 1450 (US$470) we are informed. No, they cannot do that with us! Emil takes his time to write a lengthy email to the customs, explaining who we are, what we do, when it entered Malaysia with a “Carnet de Passages” and which agent did then the car’s import papers, where it is now repaired and from where the required spare part originates. He attaches all the necessary documents plus the online site of the catalogue of Specter Off-Road with the price of the steering box. Afterwards there is for two days silence. Slowly we are getting worried and ask per email how things are proceeding. Immediately there is an answer saying “customs cleared”. The amount has been lowered again to the originally quoted US$ 195 and two days later, Miri’s Fedex courier hands over the 29 pounds heavy parcel.

446  Mr. Lau and Emil are examining

the steering box that just arrived

by courier from the US

447 The “corpus delicti” - the faulty steering

gear showing the same resistance despite the

newly replaced „cross shaft 44111-60020“

ends up now in our “spare part box”

448  Gasoline tank: The leakage we

treated on 5/19/2007 with gasoline

resistant epoxy in Timor Leste and some

other rusty parts have been welded

449  The rear axle shafts have

been checked and the bearings

and seals have been replaced

450  The front axle shaft is dismantled

and half of the parts are replaced

preventative. It is just frightening how

many parts have to interact here

451  We re-install a heater (US$100),

having left behind the original one in 2006.

Thus we will be equipped again for colder

temperatures and higher elevations

452   In order to replace the clutch, the

heavy gearbox has to be removed

453  Left is the new and right is the old

clutch set. For the clutch disk we paid

Ringgit 160 (= US$54) and for the

clutch cover Ringgit 310 (US$105)

454  Simply a great sight again:

Our “new” LandCruiser from above

September 25th, 2012: Today our LandCruiser is waiting in vain in the workshop for our visit. Reason:

Liliana is celebrating her birthday at the Park City Everly Hotel in Miri in the province of Sarawak in Malaysia on the island of Borneo

455   Liliana and Emil at the festive

decorated table. The five-course

menu offered by the management

tastes excellent with the main

course being “Grilled Rib-eye Steak”

456   Liliana enjoys the

congratulations and the chocolate

cake with the little candle

457   The staff surprises us with

a “Happy Birthday” song and

poses for a souvenir photo

458  The strong roof rack is painted.

Since 28 years it carried unharmed

nearly 17 times more than a ton of

weight around the world

459  Mr. Lance Lau and Emil fix the

new country sticker, made in Réunion.

It shows 172 countries since our departure

on October 18th, 1984. Unfortunately it

seems that the quality is inferior –

despite of its hefty price of US$310

460  Emil is reloading the roof rack

with our somewhat heavely battered

“Zarges” aluminum boxes

461  Our LandCruiser – being our

home since 28 years – is filled with

a lot of “treasures”. Liliana is

sorting them out …..

462  ….. among the treasures are two

precious T-Shirts, signed by management

and staff of the Toyota distributor on

Sint Maarten in the Caribbean …..

463  ..... as well as hundreds of newspaper

clips and a collection of maps around the

world probably a bookshop would be

proud of (only a fraction is pictured)

464  Due to two small oil leaks in front

and in the rear of the oilpan, the Land

Cruiser needs to be jacked up again …..

465  ..... Mr. Lance Lau, a mechanic

and Emil are looking for the cause.

Conclusion: The oil pan gasket has to

be replaced. It is not available in Miri, but

finally and luckily in neighboring Brunei …..

466  ..... Emil closes our spare part case

on the roof rack after he had to realize that

we do not have this part anymore on stock

467  The work is done. Mr. Lance Lau

(right from Liliana) and his crew pose for a

picture at the workshop in front of our car

468  The boss invites us and his mechanics

to a Malayan lunch in the “Riverbend

Garden”. Accidentally, it is October 16th,

2012 – the day of our 28th anniversary of

our epic journey. Our LandCruiser left on

this date Switzerland in its 1st container

bound for Montreal in Canada

469  On the road again with our beautifully

restored LandCruiser in its new look:

Babyblue with a sun like yellow tarp

from Réunion (unfortunately no

orange colored one was available)

 

The “rejuvenation“ is accomplished: Our baby-blue LandCruiser is standing in front of us in its old brightness. Its rejuvenation has taken 67 days – days which we witnessed in all its details. Today we are sure that the workshop of Mr. Lance Lau in Miri on Borneo was the right choice back in Réunion (Namibia, Jordan and Kuwait were also under consideration). Because of the results of the 1st rejuvenation we trusted him and under his supervision, the mechanics have done a good job. We also could bring forward any idea and they were always implemented according to our wish. For example: A third gasoline pump was installed, which – if necessary – can be engaged to suppress air bubbles in the carburetor if overheating starts to build up. Then the idle lying compressor of our disassembled air conditioner was transformed into a tire inflating device. The team-work was relaxed until the very last moment. What we also appreciated was the free replacement car during the many weeks. How much did the “lifting” of our LandCruiser cost? For the derusting, new paint and the mechanical jobs (some were preventive maintenance) we paid US$ 2’940 and for the spare parts of which we took care, we paid US$ 3’145. Result: We are happy with the outcome of the 2nd rejuvenation. It was worth to ship our companion from the Indian Ocean to Sarawak knowing that it would be in good hands.

470  Bintulu/Sarawak October 25, 2012:

Emil is driving our LandCruiser into its

26th container. It will leave Borneo

on October 29, 2012, to Dubai/U.A.E.

More websites from Malaysia and Borneo:

• Report from West-Malaysia (Peninsula), 1993/94 and 2005
• 1st Rejuvenation of our LandCruiser in Miri/Sarawak/East Malaysia from 6/15/2006 - 8/26/2006
• Report from Sarawak, Part 1: Northeast (Miri) from June to August 200
• Report from Brunei in September 2006
• Report from Sabah in October 2006
• Report from Sarawak, Part 2: South (Kuching) in November 2006
• Pictures from our Borneo trip through Sarawak, Brunei, Sabah and Kalimantan from August to November 2006
• Report from our Indonesia trip, Part 1: Kalimantan-Java-Sumatra in December 2006
• Pictures from our Indonesia trip, Part 6: Kalimantan in July 2007
• 3rd Rejuvenation of our LandCruiser at the same place from 2/6/2017 - 5/3/2017
• Pictures of the first part of our 2017-Malaysia-Indonesia trip in Borneo, Sulawesi, Molucca Islands and West Papua starting August 2017