1970 FJ55 Advice needed please.

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neoworm

neoworm

10 Year 15 Year
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May 14, 2006
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I may have a good deal on a 1970 55 that is currently in San Jose. I am looking at bringing it back to Canada as a resto project. Can anyone give me specific problem areas that I should look for on this thing. It is all original with minimal rust. Quarters, rockers, doors are good. Apparently there are a few small holes in the raingutter area. Bottoms of the front fenders are rusted. Floor is good. Interior apparently isn't too bad. Frame is good. Comes with a new Headliner ( not installed) and some spare parts. Engine needs rebuild/replace.

Prices also seem to be all over the place for these things. Any specific areas I should request pics from. Thanks in advance for any info.
 
Plan on pulling the windshield and rear side cargo windows if you want to properly install the headliner it's coming with... will probably open a large can of worms... poke your finger around the old headliner (around the windows and roofline) any crunching? Rust can be real bad inside the gutters and roof, even if only a few holes are showing...
 
The A-pillars get moisture trapped inside and slowly rust from the inside out. This takes a long time and doesn't happen to all pigs, but is a very serious problem with structural integrity. The rear body mounts are usually covered, and contain surprises from time to time. Under the front seats, under the floorboard is a square tube that becomes a serious floorboard problem. All of these are not something a picture can inform you about though, so just assume your pig has them, especially under the floorboard.

The front frame crossmember is problematic with cracks, since it is welded instead of riveted like the 40's. Later pigs adressed this problem with reinforcements and gussets, but a 1970 did not.

And I'll reinforce what scouthead said about the headliner. The windshield is no biggie since your pig doesn't have the non-replaceable pimp chrome strip. But the cargo windows will also have to come out and the weatherstripping will break. That's another $230 to replace just that rubber piece. Body damage is cheaper to fix than rubber on a pig.
 
Check the step at the floor under the rear seat, body mounts at the front driver and passenger foot area, rear quarter panels. Rusty roofs can be a pain too. I had to do that on mine as well.
The chassis is usually quite decent on the '55's it's the '60's that have rusty frames.
Where are you bringing it to in Canada? I did ours in the Vancouver area about 3-4 years ago. It'll be the POTM next month!
 
With all the "bad" pointed out.... it is my opinion that the reason prices on pigs are so variable is that "good condition" pigs, i.e. little to no rust and good mechanicals are rare but the majority of 55's out there have issues simply due to age, none too much to overcome mostly but in general, these old rigs will need some things addressed and usually it entails replacing rusty metal and updating old mechanicals. So take that into consideration... a "good condition" 55 could easily bring 10K$... others with issues are worth considerably less. I bought my 55 for 1600$, it needed mechanical work and the body was 75% good (originally a CO truck)... let us know how it goes!
 
I have a 1970 fj55 project as well, from my experience the hardest thing to find is a good roofline, also the hardest to replace, I was lucky and found a rust free roofline, it won't be rust free, not gonna happen, but a good roofline and minimal rust down lower would probably be a good project candidate.

Noah
 
You'll need to have a look at mine when I'm up in Vancouver again! You can see it in the POTM next month (June).
 
Looks to be sooner than I expected. I've got surgery scheduled for May 29 and I'll be driving the FJ55 up.
I'll likely be hanging out in the Abbotsford area where my parents live.
 
Ok well the owner would like $1500 for it. He didn't specify US or CDN. This is the best pic he can send me so far. He is here in Vancouver as well. He is going to ask the guy storing it if he can send some more recent and detailed pics for me. Doesn't come with wheels and tires either. Well not those ones anyway.
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the price is sweet........if it is a runner I'd say grab it........agree totally with Jeffrey; have never seen one that nice here in the South east UNLESS they originated out west!

Lou
 
To import into Canada you need a bill of sale in your name and then you'll need to give the US Customs notice (minimum 3 business days) that you are coming so they can ensure it's not stolen.

You'll stop at the US side on the way up to tell them you're there. Hopefully they've done their homework. They'll come out, laugh (at least they did for us) and tell you that you're good to go. Proceed to the Canadian side, pay the Canadian duty and tax collectors (border guards??) their duties, taxes, fees and whatever else they can hit you for and then you can leave (don't even ask about "free" trade).

p.s. I won't have the '55 with me when I come up. I decided to fly instead. It'll come up eventually.

Look at what we started with and you can see why they were laughing!
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