- Location
- United States
Ok guys, I posted a few weeks ago that I was trying to sell my truck, but only had exterior photos. Here is one of them (a special one because it was for an actual modeling shoot)
I also posted these photos with the hard top as well:
Here's the part where I talk up the truck and tell you all of the stuff that I have tried to do right to it in the 2 years that I have had it:
I found the truck in September '07 on Ebay. I liked it so much that I flew out the very next day from LA to Houston to check it out. I gave it a pretty solid look-over and drove it a bit. There were a few funky things about it in the electrical department, but overall I was pretty pleased. I gave him a pretty large check thanks to Capital One's blank check program... Otherwise, this young guy trying to make it in the acting world would not have been able to get his hands on a daily driver FJ40 for a long time. So, with a deep breath and white knuckles I set off westward, a tropical storm brewing in the rear view mirror.
The first night of the drive was quite humorous. First, I discovered that my left turn signals were not working at all. Oh, and the right turn signals would only work if my brake was pressed. Then, I would hit a bump and the headlights would go out completely for a second until I gave the fuse panel a friendly tap. Oh, the joys of an old vehicle!! It was apparent to me that I would have to do an electrical overhaul as soon as I got home! Other than the electrical issues the truck ran great! The alignment was excellent, it didn't drift, the engine ran well (only got 10-12 mpg..ha), but even still I didn't know what to expect from her, so I hung on tight.
The rest of the first 2000 miles went with only a few hiccups. The first was the clutch slave cylinder. It had an internal seal fail while stopping at a Chick-Fil-A in El Paso and decided to spray fluid everywhere. The local Autozone didn't have a rebuild kit, and the Toyota dealer wouldn't have the parts until Monday, 4 days after I was supposed to be back at my job. So, I had to go Macguyver style on it. After disassembling it and figuring out how it worked, I raided the O-ring drawer at Autozone. I grabbed up 4 O-rings that had the right diameter, stacked them together, and hoped for the best. Voila!!! It worked! The guy at Autozone was kind of impressed so he said I could just have the O-rings (Thanks Autozone guy for your $.02 contribution). Just as an added point of pride, my bootleg slave cylinder lasted another 3500 miles before I replaced the whole thing.
Rather than bore you with more story-telling, I guess I will go ahead and say that I kept a notebook of every single gas fill-up, every repair, every replacement, and every receipt for the whole time I owned it. Here is a breakdown of the mileage at the time of each repair/servicing:
72,104 miles - Changed Air Filter, Oil, Oil Filter, Checked Tire Pressure
72,483 miles - Complete Rewire with Generic 12-Circuit Wiring Kit (Added speaker wiring into loom, and routed additional radio power and speaker wires for Tuffy console to be added later)
73,338 miles - Changed Spark Plugs, Wires, Rotor, Dist. Cap, and Coil
73,433 miles - Replaced Intake Man. Gasket, Replaced Valve Seals, Replaced Harmonic Balancer
74,228 miles - Replaced Clutch Slave/Master with Reman. and Stainless Braided Line
74,399 miles - Changed Oil
77,264 miles - Changed Spark Plugs, Wires, Dist. Cap, Rotor
77,305 miles - Had Carb. Rebuilt, Replaced Air Filter
77,364 miles - Greased all Grease Fittings, Changed both Wiper Blades
77,388 miles- Replaced Rear Differential, Replaced Carrier Gasket, Replaced Cover Gasket (still leaky), Replaced Rear Axle Seals, Inspected Axle Splines, Replaced Brake Booster (Reman. Unit), Replaced Brake Master Cylinder (Aftermarket), Replaced Right Rear Wheel Cylinders, Replaced Rear Brake Hard Line Down Frame, Repalced soft line to rear axle with New Extended Stainless Braided Line, Replaced Hard Line from Rear Splitter to Right Wheel Cylinder and Hard Line to Secondary Cylinder on Right Side, Replaced Right Rear Brake Shoes
77,450 miles - New Rear Brake Drums
77,456 miles - Installed EGR Block-Off Plate
77,586 miles - Replaced Distributor and Coil (Aftermarket)
78,736 miles - Installed Optima Red Top Battery
That brings us to the present. When I bought the truck it had 70,309 miles on it, and now it sits right around 81,261. I would say that I lovingly put those 11,000 miles on it in the last 2 years. I would love to know more about the history of the vehicle prior to my owning it. I would love to know who riveted in a replacement driver's side floor pan, painted it silver, built the custom tailgate, or put the lift on it. From what I can tell, the previous owner loved this truck and took care to keep things looking as factory as possible (No drilling out the dash panel YAY!!!). I tried to do my part to hide any modernities that I added (Hence the Tuffy console to hide the Pioneer Cd/Ipod player). The previous owner Rhino-lined the whole inside, but kept the undercarriage original (and mostly rust free).
I needed a few extra seats, so I added some of the larger side-facing seats in the back, but they were in ****py condition. I planned on reupholstering them, but haven't got around to it as you'll see in the photos. I have to say that it's great to be able to tote around 5 of my friends (and a dog) to the beach.
I also added the front shoulder seat belts, and the large lap belts that will go over 2 people on each rear seat. I found an authentic Toyota CB Radio that I put into the factory radio hole. I have a done a whole lot of other stuff, but just go check out the Photobucket album to see all of the photos. That's where you will see the good and the bad at the same time. I have tried to disclose as much as possible, and am in a tight spot right now so I have to sell this baby. I still owe on her, and will have to make at least payoff on her to give the title to her new owner. So, I am starting at $12,500obo, but wholly understand that the current economic situation doesn't pass over the doors of Cruiser owners even though we have the coolest vehicles anywhere.
My wife and I are moving across the country to upstate New York to help her Grandma....grandpa passed away and left behind a time capsule in the form of a 2 bay auto shop that had been sitting exactly as it was when he closed the doors in 1986. Here's a photo from back in the 60s...
The rest of her family is trying to convince her to sell the place and get out of there, but we can't let that happen, so we are going up to help her sell off the remaining parts inventory and equipment and build her a downstairs apartment in the "showroom" to the left.
So guys, be nice. I have a ton on my plate this month including selling my completely restored and customized 1978 Honda CB400T II Hawk. I will try and respond as fast as possible to any questions you may have and welcome anyone to come and test drive this great vehicle.
Here is a link to the photo album with all 157 photos, so take your time and look at all of them HERE! Thanks for checking out my post! Sorry it was so long!
Blessings,
Seth
I also posted these photos with the hard top as well:
Here's the part where I talk up the truck and tell you all of the stuff that I have tried to do right to it in the 2 years that I have had it:
I found the truck in September '07 on Ebay. I liked it so much that I flew out the very next day from LA to Houston to check it out. I gave it a pretty solid look-over and drove it a bit. There were a few funky things about it in the electrical department, but overall I was pretty pleased. I gave him a pretty large check thanks to Capital One's blank check program... Otherwise, this young guy trying to make it in the acting world would not have been able to get his hands on a daily driver FJ40 for a long time. So, with a deep breath and white knuckles I set off westward, a tropical storm brewing in the rear view mirror.
The first night of the drive was quite humorous. First, I discovered that my left turn signals were not working at all. Oh, and the right turn signals would only work if my brake was pressed. Then, I would hit a bump and the headlights would go out completely for a second until I gave the fuse panel a friendly tap. Oh, the joys of an old vehicle!! It was apparent to me that I would have to do an electrical overhaul as soon as I got home! Other than the electrical issues the truck ran great! The alignment was excellent, it didn't drift, the engine ran well (only got 10-12 mpg..ha), but even still I didn't know what to expect from her, so I hung on tight.
The rest of the first 2000 miles went with only a few hiccups. The first was the clutch slave cylinder. It had an internal seal fail while stopping at a Chick-Fil-A in El Paso and decided to spray fluid everywhere. The local Autozone didn't have a rebuild kit, and the Toyota dealer wouldn't have the parts until Monday, 4 days after I was supposed to be back at my job. So, I had to go Macguyver style on it. After disassembling it and figuring out how it worked, I raided the O-ring drawer at Autozone. I grabbed up 4 O-rings that had the right diameter, stacked them together, and hoped for the best. Voila!!! It worked! The guy at Autozone was kind of impressed so he said I could just have the O-rings (Thanks Autozone guy for your $.02 contribution). Just as an added point of pride, my bootleg slave cylinder lasted another 3500 miles before I replaced the whole thing.
Rather than bore you with more story-telling, I guess I will go ahead and say that I kept a notebook of every single gas fill-up, every repair, every replacement, and every receipt for the whole time I owned it. Here is a breakdown of the mileage at the time of each repair/servicing:
72,104 miles - Changed Air Filter, Oil, Oil Filter, Checked Tire Pressure
72,483 miles - Complete Rewire with Generic 12-Circuit Wiring Kit (Added speaker wiring into loom, and routed additional radio power and speaker wires for Tuffy console to be added later)
73,338 miles - Changed Spark Plugs, Wires, Rotor, Dist. Cap, and Coil
73,433 miles - Replaced Intake Man. Gasket, Replaced Valve Seals, Replaced Harmonic Balancer
74,228 miles - Replaced Clutch Slave/Master with Reman. and Stainless Braided Line
74,399 miles - Changed Oil
77,264 miles - Changed Spark Plugs, Wires, Dist. Cap, Rotor
77,305 miles - Had Carb. Rebuilt, Replaced Air Filter
77,364 miles - Greased all Grease Fittings, Changed both Wiper Blades
77,388 miles- Replaced Rear Differential, Replaced Carrier Gasket, Replaced Cover Gasket (still leaky), Replaced Rear Axle Seals, Inspected Axle Splines, Replaced Brake Booster (Reman. Unit), Replaced Brake Master Cylinder (Aftermarket), Replaced Right Rear Wheel Cylinders, Replaced Rear Brake Hard Line Down Frame, Repalced soft line to rear axle with New Extended Stainless Braided Line, Replaced Hard Line from Rear Splitter to Right Wheel Cylinder and Hard Line to Secondary Cylinder on Right Side, Replaced Right Rear Brake Shoes
77,450 miles - New Rear Brake Drums
77,456 miles - Installed EGR Block-Off Plate
77,586 miles - Replaced Distributor and Coil (Aftermarket)
78,736 miles - Installed Optima Red Top Battery
That brings us to the present. When I bought the truck it had 70,309 miles on it, and now it sits right around 81,261. I would say that I lovingly put those 11,000 miles on it in the last 2 years. I would love to know more about the history of the vehicle prior to my owning it. I would love to know who riveted in a replacement driver's side floor pan, painted it silver, built the custom tailgate, or put the lift on it. From what I can tell, the previous owner loved this truck and took care to keep things looking as factory as possible (No drilling out the dash panel YAY!!!). I tried to do my part to hide any modernities that I added (Hence the Tuffy console to hide the Pioneer Cd/Ipod player). The previous owner Rhino-lined the whole inside, but kept the undercarriage original (and mostly rust free).
I needed a few extra seats, so I added some of the larger side-facing seats in the back, but they were in ****py condition. I planned on reupholstering them, but haven't got around to it as you'll see in the photos. I have to say that it's great to be able to tote around 5 of my friends (and a dog) to the beach.
I also added the front shoulder seat belts, and the large lap belts that will go over 2 people on each rear seat. I found an authentic Toyota CB Radio that I put into the factory radio hole. I have a done a whole lot of other stuff, but just go check out the Photobucket album to see all of the photos. That's where you will see the good and the bad at the same time. I have tried to disclose as much as possible, and am in a tight spot right now so I have to sell this baby. I still owe on her, and will have to make at least payoff on her to give the title to her new owner. So, I am starting at $12,500obo, but wholly understand that the current economic situation doesn't pass over the doors of Cruiser owners even though we have the coolest vehicles anywhere.
My wife and I are moving across the country to upstate New York to help her Grandma....grandpa passed away and left behind a time capsule in the form of a 2 bay auto shop that had been sitting exactly as it was when he closed the doors in 1986. Here's a photo from back in the 60s...
The rest of her family is trying to convince her to sell the place and get out of there, but we can't let that happen, so we are going up to help her sell off the remaining parts inventory and equipment and build her a downstairs apartment in the "showroom" to the left.
So guys, be nice. I have a ton on my plate this month including selling my completely restored and customized 1978 Honda CB400T II Hawk. I will try and respond as fast as possible to any questions you may have and welcome anyone to come and test drive this great vehicle.
Here is a link to the photo album with all 157 photos, so take your time and look at all of them HERE! Thanks for checking out my post! Sorry it was so long!
Blessings,
Seth
