1985 BJ40? (1 Viewer)

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Apr 24, 2018
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Location
Los Angeles, CA
Hey guys

Looking to import this BJ40 from Nicaragua to California. Can you guys tell me of the challenges I will face doing this and my options. Also I don't have too much information regarding this vehicle. Hoping you guys can help. Here is all the info I have. I can upload more pictures if needed

Pictures: BJ40 - Google Drive

1985 BJ40
Motor: 3B0658592
Chasis: JH42007289
Vin: 021
 
SA 40's are not known for their quality. They are generally rode hard and then plastered bak together with whatever happened to be lying around on the jungle floor. Then WALA a nice fresh coat of shiny paint and its like new again. Only not so much. It can be imported but then you have a SA 40 that you don't have heat in or disk brakes or..... by the time you are done, you could have bought a NA model and been done with it. If your heart is set on a BJ then Canada is a great source.
 
You can see the body is not straight in a number of pictures. So, the paint is probably covering up a big mess.
 
Ship it out of the Pacific Coast if you can. It will save you time & money not having to go through the Panama Canal. As others have mentioned, the truck has had a lot of work done to it, so don't pay a premium on it, unless you have personal knowledge of how it runs & all that sort of stuff. You are in LA, so lack of a heater isn't a crisis in your personal case, but can hurt your ability to sell nationwide later.

Before you commit, do your research on foreign diesels into California. I am not sure if it can be done any longer, even with 25 year, federally exempt trucks. It might be, but I know I've read there were a lot of recent rule changes apparently, making it either harder or impossible.
 
Do u have a picture of the door jam vin Plate and a picture of the frame number
Those numbers you posted don’t make sense to me. Also a bj40 should of had a B engine not a 3b 1985 year almost one of the last ever ,some of the last build rigs down there ended in 1986 production dates.
 
Do u have a picture of the door jam vin Plate and a picture of the frame number
Those numbers you posted don’t make sense to me. Also a bj40 should of had a B engine not a 3b 1985 year almost one of the last ever ,some of the last build rigs down there ended in 1986 production dates.

x2. I'm asssuming OP means BJ42, not BJ40. But unless SA got really stripped down models nothing about that interior says 1985 to me.

The brief research I've done suggests diesels 1997 and older are smog exempt in CA, can that be right? Not sure how imports work.

If it was me I would buy a US FJ40. If after that your heart still aches for a louder, slower, dirtier version of what you already have ... well the hardest part will be finding a 3B, and that's a lot easier to import than a whole truck. Just my $.02
 
They did still get the BJ40 there I Think later than most they also had a lot of wierd drivetrain combos. 3b with three speed tranny and 4spd tcase. B engine with the 4spd and and early 3spd tcase lower geared case. They had some wierd combos
That rig you would think has the 5 speed with split case. But I bet ya it doesn’t.
More info would be needed.
 
OP did you get one yet? I'm considering importing a Costa Rican BJ40 to Colorado

Why go through the risks of importing something from SA when there’s tons of them already in the USA?
 
If it was me I would buy a US FJ40. If after that your heart still aches for a louder, slower, dirtier version of what you already have ... well the hardest part will be finding a 3B, and that's a lot easier to import than a whole truck. Just my $.02
I totally agree on the US fj40 route and doing a diesel engine swap. Fining a donor bj60 up here in Canada can net you a 5 spd and power steering often. I parted an 83 bj60 for a fella in Idaho and he put it all on his trailer and only needed a bill of sale to get it into the US. There were questions at the borer but nothing like importing a vehicle and all the inspections required after. You can basically import an entire vehicle minus anything a vin is attached to without much fuss. If you connect with some folks up here who troll for old donors you can have them track one down. They come up for sale not as much as they use to but there still around. Crawlin cruiser is a good guy to make friends with.
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hi,

the foot rest is not straight along the body =your body come from a 42 serie

bj40 have never had 3B engine , but only B engine first or second generation
on the 40 the master cylinder for the brakes have alway two tanks
all the engine compartment come from 42 serie

for me your car isn't a 40 but a 42
 

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