Greetings all,
After reading and lurking forever, finally jumping in to this arena. Much thanks to all prior participants for hours of entertainment and education!
I did not grow up as a Toyota or LC fan, but my wife was always harassing me about wanting a LC. We lived in southern Africa for several years and I began to see what all the fuss was about - first with the Hilux and then the LC. Never could afford either over there, but we did drive the reliable-if-not-sexy Toyota Avanza.
That brings us to present-day - Wife and I agree on finally buying a FJ60. It's always been her favorite and I love the look of it too. Also really miss driving manual from our days abroad. I've looked at several but the current options boil down to either a poor condition 1985 with 215k on the motor ($8k-ish) or an above average condition 1983 with less than 160k miles ($16-ish).
The '85 could be used as a daily driver but has several suspect mechanical issues (sat for a long time; timing off; air intake hose partially melted; leaks some oil; possibly leaking CV boots), as well as much surface rust in all the expected lower body places. The nicer '83 had a lot of work done already, mechanically very sound and much less rust. However it appears that rust has been "fixed" in the past in a shoddy manner. I've done body work/rust repair before, and the 83 has rust coming through in difficult places, most notably around the windscreen.
'85 interior is rough; '83 looks great inside but my wife's allergies went nuts as soon as she opened the door and she swears it is from mildew. I've learned over the years that she's usually right on such matters! It's like a superpower.
Lastly, one of the big reasons we are finally getting into LC's is my oldest son is keen to work on stuff with me. So part of the potential fun is getting in over our heads and really digging in to a project together. I would prefer to spend more time on teaching him mechanical, than body work.
The '83 will probably go quickly simply because it's a head-turner currently. The '85 has a lot more unknowns, but a lot more potential. The body work is likely more straight forward. I've comped prices in the area and online and I feel that both are asking $1-1.5k more than what the vehicles are worth.
I would love to get your opinions and advice! Especially on pricing and jumping into first LC project.
Cheers!
After reading and lurking forever, finally jumping in to this arena. Much thanks to all prior participants for hours of entertainment and education!
I did not grow up as a Toyota or LC fan, but my wife was always harassing me about wanting a LC. We lived in southern Africa for several years and I began to see what all the fuss was about - first with the Hilux and then the LC. Never could afford either over there, but we did drive the reliable-if-not-sexy Toyota Avanza.
That brings us to present-day - Wife and I agree on finally buying a FJ60. It's always been her favorite and I love the look of it too. Also really miss driving manual from our days abroad. I've looked at several but the current options boil down to either a poor condition 1985 with 215k on the motor ($8k-ish) or an above average condition 1983 with less than 160k miles ($16-ish).
The '85 could be used as a daily driver but has several suspect mechanical issues (sat for a long time; timing off; air intake hose partially melted; leaks some oil; possibly leaking CV boots), as well as much surface rust in all the expected lower body places. The nicer '83 had a lot of work done already, mechanically very sound and much less rust. However it appears that rust has been "fixed" in the past in a shoddy manner. I've done body work/rust repair before, and the 83 has rust coming through in difficult places, most notably around the windscreen.
'85 interior is rough; '83 looks great inside but my wife's allergies went nuts as soon as she opened the door and she swears it is from mildew. I've learned over the years that she's usually right on such matters! It's like a superpower.
Lastly, one of the big reasons we are finally getting into LC's is my oldest son is keen to work on stuff with me. So part of the potential fun is getting in over our heads and really digging in to a project together. I would prefer to spend more time on teaching him mechanical, than body work.
The '83 will probably go quickly simply because it's a head-turner currently. The '85 has a lot more unknowns, but a lot more potential. The body work is likely more straight forward. I've comped prices in the area and online and I feel that both are asking $1-1.5k more than what the vehicles are worth.
I would love to get your opinions and advice! Especially on pricing and jumping into first LC project.
Cheers!