For Sale Idaho 1963 FJ45LV (2 Viewers)

Year

1963

Vehicle Model

1. 45 Series

Not mine, just posting for reference. I drove all night from CO to Idaho for this one, it was listed for $2500 and I was all over it. Then the guy calls back and says people are offering him $10k plus for it, sight unseen. Well I saw it and $2500 is the right price, he was stuck on $10k, we parted ways. Soggy truck, wet, moldy and rusty. Lots of things taken apart and pieces missing. The search continues...

 

[Paraglider]

You definitely have to have owned one to understand. If you don’t enjoy working on your cruiser then no, a 45LV is definitely not for you!! This one is really rough, but not beyond saving. The hard to find parts are mostly there. But the body work will either take a lot of $$ at a body shop or someone (like Pete!) with the desire to do it himself without feeling rushed. The value of these seems to be climbing steadily too which helps. 10 years ago this would have been a great parts truck, but nowadays who knows.

Although I will say, of all the ones to come up for sale recently this is the most overpriced probably but nothing surprises me anymore.

It's good that some of you see rusty gold in that LV where I see scrap metal with a form to it. . ExtremVA, you're a little hasty, though, in your judgement about who gets what. I spent 3 years of 4-10 hour days, mostly six days a week restoring my '82 HJ47 (I'm retired). In 1991, I bought a stone French farm home built in 1723 that my French relatives said "Gary's crazy" when they first saw it. I bought it without going inside because there was a huge lock on the front door (so buying something without knowing all that would be involved is part of my history). It took 1-2 months (I was a college professor) , six days a week and usually 12+ hour days every year for 27 years to restore it. I'm currently building a third home using late 1800s white oak hand hewn barn timbers I had shipped from Wisconsin. So I get it. But what I've also learned through the process that others might not have or might not care about is what you sacrifice by devoting so much time to restoring things. For every hour I've spent on my "relationship" with these physical things, I've not spent with family and friends (although much of the time with the French home was doing the restoration as a family--until the kids left home for college). You can never get that time back. Kids grow up. Grandkids grow up. Things, on the other hand, are always in a similar state of being as when you left them (if sheltered). It's just a matter of priorities. We each have to make those decisions for ourselves. Knowing what I know now, I would take a look at that 45LV and run the other way.

 

[scoobiedubes]

Very long winded way of saying you have different priorities and there’s nothing wrong with that. Personally when I’m in the garage, my kids are in there with me. Or it’s when they’re in bed. I don’t think we are making anything but good memories. If ever there comes a time when my kids don’t like being in the garage with daddy, my priorities will certainly change too. Until then, I have the best of both worlds.

 

[Paraglider]

Very long winded way of saying you have different priorities and there’s nothing wrong with that. Personally when I’m in the garage, my kids are in there with me. Or it’s when they’re in bed. I don’t think we are making anything but good memories. If ever there comes a time when my kids don’t like being in the garage with daddy, my priorities will certainly change too. Until then, I have the best of both worlds.

It was also a way to show xtremeVa that I know what restoring things involves--maybe even better than he does as I've probably been at it longer (unless he's over 68 and started earlier than 30 years ago).

 

[xtremeVA]

@Paraglider - I didn't see your responses until now and it does sounds like you fully understand how difficult, and the commitment it takes to bring these rusty relics back to life. Your words are so true that when we pursue our passions it is very important to understand the sacrifice of time and relationships that are never regained. Thanks for those words.