- Joined
- Sep 9, 2004
- Threads
- 186
- Messages
- 11,024
- Location
- Boise - Idaho
- Website
- www.snlandcruisers.com
If any mod or a number of you think this thread is inappropriate by all means lets delete it!
I am a vendor, obviously, and I do plan to re-sell this truck. That is why I bought it. However, I also am an enthusiast, I drive these trucks I buy, I work on them myself and I sink my own money into them. I have very high standards and I feel a truck should meet a certain criteria before I re-sell it. I have recently started a business importing Latin American Cruisers. This is my second truck with this new venture, this thread by no means is meant to push that venture. What it is meant to do is share with you all what I think is a very cool truck! I have another thread going like this in the 70-series section which nobody seems to mind so I figured why not this truck as well!?
I was trying hard to find an HZJ75 Troopy as my second truck and I did find a few and missed out on a few as well. By word of mouth along comes this 1984 HJ47 pickup. I have a workshop down here in Latin America and as mentioned I do all my own work. I don't want to be doing full on restorations though, been there and done that. At this time no desire to do that. That is why I called this thread a "re-furbish" because that is what I am doing, re-furbishing a certain amount of the truck. Any ways, along comes this HJ47 by word of mouth. I seen it a number of times but never really checked it out closely cause I was hunting hard for a Troopy. So one day, my local friend says, hey you want to go check out the HJ47? I am like sure man! So I grab my headlamp, it is after dark now, and I grab my electronic body filler detector and we head on over to the guys place who own it. Now these guys found this truck like a year ago, in 100% original condition. It is a family who owns it, two sons and the father. They went and did "their" thing to it which honestly I am not very stoked on that. I would rather they just re-sold it (and to me) as they found it. Not the case though. So I start going over the truck with my body filler detector, I can't find any bondo! Wow, ok I am impressed. I do notice some rust, mostly the floor pans are shot and there is a bit in the floor of the bed. Ok fine, rust to me is better than 1/2" of body filler! I take it for a drive, it runs very good, most things seem to work just as they should. Gauges don't work though, speedo does but not the gauges. It shows 232,000 original kms which I am just going to call 145,000 original miles, slightly less but whatever. Over all the truck is pretty solid for it's age and in good condition. We start talking deals and they are way to high in my opinion. I make my low offer and they are like no way, we got more than that in it they say. I make my high offer which they refuse so my friend and myself leave and let them chew on it. Sure enough we strike a deal for my high offer and just over a week later the truck is mine.
That was yesterday. I received the truck yesterday and it is now in my possession. I did do a "feeler thread" on the truck in the classifieds before I bought it, to try and help me make up my mind.
Here is the thing, on the documents for the truck it says 1983 but I don't believe that. Down here back then registration was kind of a whatever you say kind of thing. I trust ToyoDIY.com much more than what the docs show down here. So I search the vin # at ToyoDIY and here is what I get, ToyoDIY.com also @tlaporte helped de-code the truck in the feeler thread which is as follows.
Here is a picture of the vin plate that goes with this,
Before I do any more typing, here are more pictures of the truck.
Cheers
I am a vendor, obviously, and I do plan to re-sell this truck. That is why I bought it. However, I also am an enthusiast, I drive these trucks I buy, I work on them myself and I sink my own money into them. I have very high standards and I feel a truck should meet a certain criteria before I re-sell it. I have recently started a business importing Latin American Cruisers. This is my second truck with this new venture, this thread by no means is meant to push that venture. What it is meant to do is share with you all what I think is a very cool truck! I have another thread going like this in the 70-series section which nobody seems to mind so I figured why not this truck as well!?
I was trying hard to find an HZJ75 Troopy as my second truck and I did find a few and missed out on a few as well. By word of mouth along comes this 1984 HJ47 pickup. I have a workshop down here in Latin America and as mentioned I do all my own work. I don't want to be doing full on restorations though, been there and done that. At this time no desire to do that. That is why I called this thread a "re-furbish" because that is what I am doing, re-furbishing a certain amount of the truck. Any ways, along comes this HJ47 by word of mouth. I seen it a number of times but never really checked it out closely cause I was hunting hard for a Troopy. So one day, my local friend says, hey you want to go check out the HJ47? I am like sure man! So I grab my headlamp, it is after dark now, and I grab my electronic body filler detector and we head on over to the guys place who own it. Now these guys found this truck like a year ago, in 100% original condition. It is a family who owns it, two sons and the father. They went and did "their" thing to it which honestly I am not very stoked on that. I would rather they just re-sold it (and to me) as they found it. Not the case though. So I start going over the truck with my body filler detector, I can't find any bondo! Wow, ok I am impressed. I do notice some rust, mostly the floor pans are shot and there is a bit in the floor of the bed. Ok fine, rust to me is better than 1/2" of body filler! I take it for a drive, it runs very good, most things seem to work just as they should. Gauges don't work though, speedo does but not the gauges. It shows 232,000 original kms which I am just going to call 145,000 original miles, slightly less but whatever. Over all the truck is pretty solid for it's age and in good condition. We start talking deals and they are way to high in my opinion. I make my low offer and they are like no way, we got more than that in it they say. I make my high offer which they refuse so my friend and myself leave and let them chew on it. Sure enough we strike a deal for my high offer and just over a week later the truck is mine.
That was yesterday. I received the truck yesterday and it is now in my possession. I did do a "feeler thread" on the truck in the classifieds before I bought it, to try and help me make up my mind.
Here is the thing, on the documents for the truck it says 1983 but I don't believe that. Down here back then registration was kind of a whatever you say kind of thing. I trust ToyoDIY.com much more than what the docs show down here. So I search the vin # at ToyoDIY and here is what I get, ToyoDIY.com also @tlaporte helped de-code the truck in the feeler thread which is as follows.Here is a picture of the vin plate that goes with this,
Before I do any more typing, here are more pictures of the truck.
Cheers
