FJ25 with split windshield? (1 Viewer)

[PolarBear]

Hi, guys. I'm writing from El Salvador, where I live and work--until we depart late next month for onward assignment to the Philippines. Yesterday (Sat., 6/16), I drove from San Salvador up to a small village out west up in the high country near Ahuachapan to look at a nice blue 1958 FJ25 softtop (with no top or top bows, unfortunately) that I may purchase from a friend of mine. There are old Land Cruisers everywhere you look here in Central America (although a lot more in Costa Rica than here in El Salvador), so seeing one rusting away in a roadside junkyard is not at all unusual. However, as my wife and I were heading back toward San Salvador, I spied an old Land Cruiser in a small roadside junkyard that looked different, and so I stopped the truck (our daily-driver FZJ80) to hop out and have a look. It was indeed an old FJ25, all right, but get this: it had a split (two-piece) windshield that cranked opened at the bottom like the jeep-like early 1950s Toyota "BJ" or "BJ85" or whatever it was called, and it was very clearly factory original--not cobbled together by borrowing a split windshield from some old Jeep or Land Rover or something. El Salvador can be a dangerous place (only about the size of Maryland or Massachusetts, but 10-12 homicides per day); we were in a not-so-great area, and there were some very shady-looking characters hanging around, so I snapped a few quick photos and got the hell out of there. I'm sure that $500 would make it mine. (If I were to go back to make inquiries and negotiate its purchase, I'd probably pay one of the local--off-duty--security guards we use to tag along and--quite literally--"ride shotgun" with his 12 gauge.) Anyway, have any of you ever seen a split-windshield FJ25? It was a light turquoise-blue color (perhaps long-faded after having been a darker blue), and a hardtop, without much rust. Could this be a VERY early FJ25 bulit around 1955? Is this vehicle so rare and unique that I should I try to acquire it and send it back home to the U.S.? (By the way, to whom can I E-mail photos of the FJ25s I've found here, so that they can be posted for the enjoyment of the IH8MUD FJ25 owners group?)

 

[Cruiser_Nerd]

You can mail the photos to me, I'll post them up in the forum. Tough to tell on the rarity of the 25. Split windshields are rare, even for the markets that got them. Doesn't necessarily mean it's older, unless it's a BJ:

 

[JohnnyC]

this is from metalonmetal here on mud...but was originally from landpimp...nice factory pic of a split windshield

 

[Wayneraintree]

Pics of the unrestored (standard windshield) J25 he initially went to see.....

 

[JohnnyC]

center vent windshield

 

[Landpimp]

no.......that was my scan someone else liberated and called their own...

this is from metalonmetal here on mud...nice factory pic of a split windshield

 

[JohnnyC]

no.......that was my scan someone else liberated and called their own...

I fixed it

he never actually said it was his...he just posted it up

nice pic of the split windshield ...not too many factory pics of one...a great reference photo.

 

[Landpimp]

I know and I don't care if anyone uses my stuff, thats what its for......but don't like it when its claimed its theirs, i spent a ton of $$ and time finding then scaning this stuff.....I like a little credit now and then

I have other pics of th split windows. and the reason folks can still get the early wiper motors is because the split window 40's uses them........all the way up thru the late 70's maybe longer......and thats what those motors are used on.

I fixed it

he never actually said it was his...he just posted it up

nice pic of the split windshield ...not too many factory pics of one...a great reference photo.

 

[Wayneraintree]

The following from PolarBear...

Finally got the film developed I took weekend before last. Pretty
typical-looking FJ25 (or FJ28 or FJ35?) from the front, except for the
windshield. Philip (PolarBear)

Fairly typical-looking FJ25-type instrument cluster, except that the
others I've seen have a stubby white speedometer needle, while this one
has a long slender red one (and MPH-calibrated speedometer goes to 80
MPH, instead of 60).

A better look at the split windshield that cranks open at the bottom for
ventilation. Looks very similar to the windshield on the jeep-like
model BJ that preceded the FJ25; see pages 10-21 in the "50th
Anniversary" book, and the Australian article about the BJ (called "B85"
in the article) on pages 12-15 of the Brooklands book "Toyota Land
Cruiser Gold Portfolio: 1956-1987".

Note: (a) atypical (FJ40-type) squared off/semi-hexagonal wheel cut-outs
in rear fenders (the book "The Land Cruiser: Special Issue of 50th
Anniversary: Toyota Land Cruiser: 1951-2001" shows similar ones on an
early FJ28VA two-door hardtop long body/station wagon); (b) absence of
corrugations in hardtop (I've never seen any pictures of hardtops w/
smooth sheet metal around the rear side-windows).

Like any old Cruiser, it's got its fair share of rust, but to me it
doesn't look beyond salvation. Passenger-side front seat back visible
at left; driver's side seat is missing. No jump seats in back, but
they're no big deal to find.

 

[Living in the Past]

My guess is the tub is a 1964 to 1967. The wheel openings are FJ40 not FJ25. The hold down for the windshield is the later type. The vent windows on the doors are also the later style not the bug catchers. Holes in the fenders for turn signals. No holes for an emblem on the front of the hood and the hole in the apron doesn't have the three little holes to mount the screen on the inlet. Nice old cruiser the bib, speedo and brakes/clutch pedals are FJ25 most the rest looks mid sixties FJ40. Looks like they took parts of at least two cruiser to make one. You never see anything like that here in the states

John

PS you can mail me that emblem that's in the grill along with the windshield, they are not worth anything

 

[67azcruizr]

Looks like it may have been a factory softop also.

 

[Cruiser_Nerd]

That is one oddball collection of parts. I agree looks like a later FJ40 soft top tub, with a sprinkling of 25 parts.

Since it's sitting in a pile of parts, I'd offer him something for the bib, aprons, speedo and split windshield. And make sure you grab the tailgate emblem someone stuck inside the grille! Nothing to worry about bringing back whole though......

 

[67azcruizr]

Is that hardtop home-made?

Pretty funky rivot job and that rear hatch handle looks kinda odd/simple, not necessarily Toyota?

vented apron?

 

[FJnotCJ]

If it still has the engine get the oil pressure, water temp, and maybe even fuel sender to go along with the gauge cluster...I am curious if the inner workings of the gauge evolved with the 40ish rear half of the vehicle or stayed frozen in time with the front half of the rig...

And while you are at it pick up an original parts manual for the South American spec 25s and e-40s!

 

[67azcruizr]

just curious, when did the oil and amp dummy gauges go to just light indicators then back to the later style?

That's assuming that the 58 listed in the begining of this thread has an OEM cluster gauge.

 

[Cruiser_Nerd]

just curious, when did the oil and amp dummy gauges go to just light indicators then back to the later style?

'59 to '63ish (too new for me) were idiot lights.

 

[PolarBear]

I have some bad news and good news... Bad news is that the fellow who owns the roadside junkyard with the split-windshield FJ25/FJ40 "chimera"/hybrid refuses to sell it; says he'll instead part it out gradually--and make more money that way. Unfortunately, I'm departing El Salvador in two weeks (they start packing me out on Monday--including all my tools), and I just really don't have time left at this point to pursue the matter in that way--buying and removing just certain desirable parts. (I have close friends here who are going to remain in touch with him in case he changes his mind later--which I think is likely. At some point, he'll undoubtedly be in a position where he will need some quick cash, pronto. ...I know it's silly, since it's apparently just an oddball collection of parts, but I'd like to restore it just the way it is--even if that means ending up with an early-1960s FJ40 tub mated to FJ25 front sheet metal, windshield, instruments, etc.) The GOOD news is that today--Wed., July 11--I purchased (for $5,000) the really nice unrestored 1958 FJ25 up in Ahuachapan (which was the original purpose of that June 16 outing during which I discovered the split-windshield FJ). The beautiful little blue '58 is now safely ensconsed inside the Embassy's parking lot, and I am arranging shipping to get it back home to northwest Arkansas--hopefully in time to play with it and enjoy it some when I'm back home next month. ("Turnkey"/door-to-door service that includes Customs expediting at U.S. port of entry, etc. is going to run $5,000-6,000 for a 40 ft. shipping container, but I will be able to fit two of my vehicles in that container.) Anyway, it's finally MINE; today's the first day of my life as a proud owner of an FJ25--and I must say it's a nice one! (NOW will you guys teach me the club's secret handshake and send along the special members-only code ring?)

 

[Cruiser_Nerd]

Congrats on the big purchase! The guy with the split-windshield must have got wind of how "rare" those 25's are and thinks he's sitting on a gold mine! ;p

No secret handshake.............no decoder ring..........welcome to the club! Just remember we're learning stuff about these things every day, no one's an expert, and we're all in the same boat!

 

[Roberto]

Does anyone know where I can find the rubber gaskets and seals for that split winshield? I just bought one but it needs the glass and rubbers?

Roberto

 

[PolarBear]

I did finally manage to purchase the light blue split-windshield FJ25/FJ40 hybrid from the junkyard owner out near San Andres (last Thursday, July 19; price: $600); its chassis number (8-J25-6781L) indicates that it must have started out in life as a 1958 model FJ25; engine number is F88812. (By the way, has anyone else seen such FJ25 chassis numbers that read "J25" instead of "FJ25"?) I'm leaving it in the shop of a trusted friend here for restoration; such work is much less expensive here in Central America. He's going to scrounge around for parts and work on it whenever he gets a chance; I expect to return to El Salvador and retrieve it in about a year or two.