Years ago I was pulling into work and something caught my eye through the fence trapped in the bushes of the building next door.
I was immediately curious about what I saw and began doing research on vintage off road vehicles with dreams of one day owning one.
Fast forward 10 years and a round trip out of state move and the FJ40 is still there forgotten, slowly being taken over by the world around it. So one day 6 months ago I walked into the office with the intention of making an offer to salvage the FJ40. Once I got the golf balls out of my mouth I learned that the current owner used this FJ40 as a mud racer in the early 80's. And then one day in the 90's he pulled it into the yard and parked it. He also had very little interest in selling it, especially to some guy that just walked through the door.
So i resolved to spend one day month stopping by and chatting with him and gauging his willingness to sell. Month after month I would swing by and say hello and ask some questions, you know try to build a relationship with him. Well my time has paid off and he is getting close and I feel that the next time I stop by I wont be leaving empty handed.
Being new to this world and faced with the real possibility that I will finally have my hands on my first 1974 FJ40 I have some questions that hopefully I can get answered here before I get to deep.
How much rust is too much?
When everything needs to be broken down where do you start?
What is a fair price for a FJ40 that has been sitting out in South Louisiana for the last 20 something years?
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