cruiser_guy
Out of Africa / North Africa
This FJ55 started out as a father/daughter project. My daughter wanted a 4WD and didn’t have much cash to get one. We found a note on one of the ‘Cruiser boards about a ’76 FJ55 that was suitable for restoration, free to the first one to pick it up. My daughter borrowed our ’84 BJ60, a tow bar and invited a friend who was to a mechanic apprentice and a friend to help keep everyone awake on the drive from Vancouver, B.C. to Minot, ND.
Three days later she was back and the FJ55 was waiting at the border for clearance. After waiting for the requisite 3 business days we were able to go and pick up the truck. We no doubt gave the U.S. Customs a laugh when they came to inspect the truck to ensure it was not stolen. When the customs officer came out and saw the truck she was questioning our sanity for even wanting to export it. The next laugh came from the Canadian side when they wondered why anyone wanted to import a rusty truck. After paying a few dollars in duties (the truck was assessed at $200) we headed home to look over the truck.
It didn’t take long to come to the conclusion that anyone who is not a ‘Cruiser head would not place any more value than $200 on the truck and for some that was a generous amount! The truck had rust holes in the floorboards that you could fall through, there was not much, if any rockers left, the transfer case was in bad shape and the “rebuilt” engine leaked everywhere when we tried to fill it with water to try running it. About the only thing not rusty on this truck was the roof and chassis!
At this point I had severe doubts about this rig being good for anything other than parts.
Three days later she was back and the FJ55 was waiting at the border for clearance. After waiting for the requisite 3 business days we were able to go and pick up the truck. We no doubt gave the U.S. Customs a laugh when they came to inspect the truck to ensure it was not stolen. When the customs officer came out and saw the truck she was questioning our sanity for even wanting to export it. The next laugh came from the Canadian side when they wondered why anyone wanted to import a rusty truck. After paying a few dollars in duties (the truck was assessed at $200) we headed home to look over the truck.
It didn’t take long to come to the conclusion that anyone who is not a ‘Cruiser head would not place any more value than $200 on the truck and for some that was a generous amount! The truck had rust holes in the floorboards that you could fall through, there was not much, if any rockers left, the transfer case was in bad shape and the “rebuilt” engine leaked everywhere when we tried to fill it with water to try running it. About the only thing not rusty on this truck was the roof and chassis!
At this point I had severe doubts about this rig being good for anything other than parts.