1984 BJ40 Build

[SeanR]

Hello, my first post here. I bought a 1984 BJ40 to rebuild and I want to get this thread started because I'm fairly sure I will need your help. The vehicle is in Ireland but I am in the US. It's a long story but I'm from Ireland and expect to be moving back there in 2010.

My cruiser has had 4 previous owners and with 195,000 miles on the clock it's still mechanically sound. I did have to buy two new batteries for it. It's 24v. It was in use until recently on a farm and by the looks of the front bumper I think they were pushing gates open with it.

Without further ado here is how it looks right now...

It's got a quite a bit of panel rust as you can see. I'm not concerned about this as the panels are relatively easy to replace. It also looks like it's had a rattle can paint job.

I'm not planning a frame off restore since it's running well and is in surprisingly good shape underneath. However, I do intend to refurb the body, get it painted and replace most of the cosmetic fittings like door handles, lights, mirrors, headliner, seat covers, emblems etc. I also intend fit a new suspension with lift and add bigger tires.

My current status with it is that I've sourced replacement body panels in Germany but I can't find a source for the front wings. The right side is a mess. Advice on this would be appreciated.

I also haven't figured out how to add power steering. It's already a handful with the 205 tires and I dread to think what the steering would be like with 285s. Advice on power steering units for a right hand drive vehicle would be appreciated.

 

[dargreg]

Being an 84 You would think it came with power steering,maybe its an 82 .Does it have 4 or 5 speed?

 

[SeanR]

It was first registered in October 1984 and best I recollect is that it's a four speed. I didn't know they made five speeds.

 

[grant5127]

What is a "front wing" ? Fender? if so, they are available from Toyota...... most aftermarket ones don't fit worth a crap........

Right hand 60 p/s box would be a sweet conversion......... if you search the diesel section you'll find where I converted a couple a few years back.........

Good Luck..........

 

[dargreg]

To the best of my knowledge it was 4 speed up until 82 where they installed 5 speeds and power steering from 83 on.Somebody will chime in if Im wrong.

 

[SeanR]

What is a "front wing" ? Fender? if so, they are available from Toyota...... most aftermarket ones don't fit worth a ****........

Right hand 60 p/s box would be a sweet conversion......... if you search the diesel section you'll find where I converted a couple a few years back.........

Good Luck..........

Yes, it's a fender. I forgot to translate! Thanks for the info.

 

[BJ40dude]

nice colour, find attached pic of one same colour i had on my computer, ur body not lookin too bad compared to the mission i have ahead!! , there people in france does body parts too if you google "teseven" ...

 

[grant5127]

Here ya go Man!

I had this RHD 60 box conversion pic handy...........

So are 60 RHD parts easy to come by ? if so that would be the way to go......

 

[SeanR]

Could somebody tell me which years of FJ60 and Hilux I could take the power steering unit from? I'm on the hunt for scrapped vehicles right now. Thanks.

 

[pbgbottle]

1984 BJ40 usually had power steering but some of them did not get it. it also should have a 4spd . BJ42 of that year had the 5spd
for the general market RHD

 

[SeanR]

Update time! I've spent the last few months sourcing and buying parts. There were a few wrinkles, namely getting steel body parts into Ireland from abroad without getting killed with import taxes and making sure that stuff I buy works for a right hand drive vehicle. The local Toyota dealer was as good as useless in this regard. Even when I know that Toyota was still making parts the yokals insisted they were discontinued. It can be tough to give away money sometimes!

Here are some new shots of the old girl before any tear down commenced.

Check out this monstrosity of a hitch a previous owner fitted. I've no idea what they were hauling. Note the plastic ties holding on the lenses.

The bodywork inside isn't too bad. A few small rust patches and holes but nothing that can't be patched.

The outside of course is a whole other ball game.

 

[SeanR]

The worst rust was along the all four wings/fenders. Surprisingly the frame is in great shape.

I sourced replacement front fenders from megastore4x4.pt. They are a bit pricey and have the slowest courier company on the planet. But their service is excellent.

The rear fenders were fabricated by realsteelcruiserparts.net/ in Texas. They accept payment through Paypal but their delivery estimate is outside Paypal's 45 days to challenge a transaction. Make sure your Paypal transaction draws from a credit card in case anything goes wrong later. However, we had a big problem with the parts from these guys. I had assumed that there was only one size of panel for 1984 Landcruisers and Real Steel Cruiser Parts say they fabricate to Toyota's original designs. However, both rear fenders were two inches short on height and too long at the rear where they meet the ambulance doors.

I sourced a lot of soft parts and accessories from Cool Cruisers of Texas. Great service and product range.

 

[eleblanc]

There are no such thing has a 1984 BJ40, 1980 to 1984 they are BJ42. If yours is a 4 speed then it is a 1980, 81 or 82

 

[SeanR]

Actually, the original registration lists it as a 1984 FJ40 and it is in Ireland. But it has a 2.9L diesel engine and a 4-speed manual transmission.

 

[SeanR]

Here's the latest on the refit. I decided at the outset not to do a body off restore as I don't think it warranted or could be afforded at this stage. Any thoughts on whether the fenders are deeper on this vehicle than the US ones? I'm still wondering why Reel Steel Cruiser's parts were short or are they that way by design?

 

[lostmarbles]

There are no such thing has a 1984 BJ40, 1980 to 1984 they are BJ42. If yours is a 4 speed then it is a 1980, 81 or 82

Actually, the original registration lists it as a 1984 FJ40 and it is in Ireland. But it has a 2.9L diesel engine and a 4-speed manual transmission.

I used to think the BJ40 was replaced by the BJ42 too but now I believe its production continued (in parallel with BJ42 production) for certain markets (probably where there was a tax-incentive for having an under-3litre engine).

.. Any thoughts on whether the fenders are deeper on this vehicle than the US ones? I'm still wondering why Reel Steel Cruiser's parts were short or are they that way by design?....

Thanks for the sharing the pics Sean. And I'm interested in the answer to this question too.

 

[Michael Hanson]

Nice work ,Welcome. So did real steel take care of the problems? MIke

 

[Tonka]

gday Sean.

nice cruiser, ive been searching Ireland and england for such a wagon for the 3 years.

you say it is first registered in '84 and others are saying its most likely earlier, have you tried putting the frame number in to toyodiy.com ?

remember that thing could have been sitting at a toyota garage fro a while, or could have been imported in 1984 for outside Ireland.

Getting body parts into Ireland is a ball ache for sure.

do you know of any other 1980s landcruisers down in your part of the world?

I will leave you with a picture of one car in Clare i found, be thankful for the condition of yours.

http://i472.photobucket.com/albums/rr87/tonka48/Picture017.jpg

 

[SeanR]

So did real steel take care of the problems? MIke

By the time we realized there was a problem the parts had been shipped from the US to Ireland, taxes paid etc. We just had to make them work. As it happens the guy I've got doing the body work is turning out to be a bit of a metalwork genius (if he'd just stop talking on the cell phone all day!). He was able to refab the panels and join them up seamlessly.

 

[SeanR]

you say it is first registered in '84 and others are saying its most likely earlier, have you tried putting the frame number in to toyodiy.com ?

I haven't yet but I will if only to satisfy everyone else as to what exactly this thing is!

do you know of any other 1980s landcruisers down in your part of the world?

Yes. Check out the classic section of donedeal.ie (not dot com). There were two yellow rust buckets in there today and I believe that same guy has/had a green one for sale. Also plug "landcruiser" into the main section of DoneDeal and wade through the modern stuff to see if there are any FJs that weren't classified as classic. A problem you may have with DoneDeal is they block contact from people outside the country to prevent the high princes in west Africa doing their 419 thing!

You're going to see a lot of rust on Irish vehicles of that age. There's a good reason the place is so green. I bought mine off DoneDeal. in retrospect I think I lucked out. I bought the first one I looked at.

Edit for Tonka: I think I just decoded your location. You're in NI, right? The "gday" greeting threw me off!