SOLD 1974 FJ40 FST with parts stash, Central Texas $25k obo - SOLD

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patride71 said:
I like the patina and looks pretty clean. I have the same year and color. You might be a tad rich on the asking price, at least for this forum, but I'd imagine you could get your asking price via ebay. If you were able to prove those are actual miles, then you would have no problem at all selling. GLWS!
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Thanks Pat. When we bought it, I wasn't too concerned about the miles. The price was right and she had the patina and zero cancer that I had been looking for. I should have asked if they had anything on the miles and there is a file around here that they gave me but I don't remember seeing anything in there. I did replace the brake and the accelerator pads, not because they were worn down but because, like just about every hose, they were cracked.

I just don't see the people going through the hassle to roll the mileage back or whatever but not fixing the hoses, replacing the master cylinder, fixing the carb and etc.

I may just have to bite the bullet and get a compression check done. If it turns out that it is officially the 27000 miles, I can up the asking price, right? ;)

Ugh, eBay.
 
The problem is it could have 127K or 227K since the odometer only goes up to 5 digits. I don't think there is a rollback issue. I have the same thing with mine. I bought it with 38K on it, but I think its probably 138K. A compression test won't tell you a lot as far as mileage, but it would tell you the condition of the engine. Granted the 1.5F is a workhorse, so even with 127K it would probably test pretty well if it was maintained.

It does look pretty clean under the hood though.
 
patride71 said:
The problem is it could have 127K or 227K since the odometer only goes up to 5 digits. I don't think there is a rollback issue. I have the same thing with mine. I bought it with 38K on it, but I think its probably 138K. A compression test won't tell you a lot as far as mileage, but it would tell you the condition of the engine. Granted the 1.5F is a workhorse, so even with 127K it would probably test pretty well if it was maintained.

It does look pretty clean under the hood though.
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I know - it's a freaking mystery. The original owner used it to hunt. There were shotgun racks under both rear seats (brackets still on the right side seat) and one drilled into the dash pad. He also had something rigged to the sidesteps because there are two holes drilled into them and an outline of a different color green that he rattle canned on whatever was there. I don't see him using it as a daily driver. Then you factor in the condition of the hoses and the thousand mud-dauber nests that were in it - it sat for a long time. The grandson who sold it to me had 4 other vehicles and sold it so he could put money into them.

Then the numbers - they are super straight. Most of the original mile cruiser claims that I've seen don't have straight digits.

Regardless, she runs great. I've accidentally squawked those back tires more than a few times. Very fun to drive. It'll make somebody (with a garage) very, very happy.

Is your 40 in Austin or Alpine? I imagine it'd be a lot more fun to drive in Alpine.
 
Mine is in Austin. It is a work in progress. I have a 80 series in Alpine, but eventually the 40 will be there when more road ready and once we move to Alpine full time. It should be lots of fun there for sure. My 40 was a ranch one as well, in Idaho, so had a gun rack too. It doesn't appear to have been abused, but it was very well used for sure. Yours will sell as long as you are are patient. You might consider Craigslist? I didn't see it on there when perusing yesterday. Too bad you don't at least have a carport! Or you could put a hardtop on it?
 
patride71 said:
Mine is in Austin. It is a work in progress. I have a 80 series in Alpine, but eventually the 40 will be there when more road ready and once we move to Alpine full time. It should be lots of fun there for sure. My 40 was a ranch one as well, in Idaho, so had a gun rack too. It doesn't appear to have been abused, but it was very well used for sure. Yours will sell as long as you are are patient. You might consider Craigslist? I didn't see it on there when perusing yesterday. Too bad you don't at least have a carport! Or you could put a hardtop on it?
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Alpine full time - that would be awesome! We moved to Smithville to get away from the city but Austin is growing so freakin' fast - and everybody else seems to have the same idea. I think Alpine is probably a safe city escape. The farthest west I've been is Del Rio - One of these days I want to load up one of the pros and see the Davis Mountains.

Anyways, back on topic.

I have put it up on the Austin Craigslist for $22k - just updated yesterday. Patience is something I definitely have. $20k is pretty much the agreed upon bottom line with the wife. If we can't sell it for that then we'll just sit on it and keep it out of the weather the best we can.

I thought about the hardtop back when we had a garage but I seem to remember reading that you had to do some modifications. At this point, we'd have to hang the hardtop from a pecan tree when we weren't using it. I'm sure that would be stamped "MUD-Approved" but I doubt the city would like that.

Wife still won't budge on modifying/adding onto or replacing the gazebo so old Bernie stays for sale.
 
Price bump to $19500 obo - Price includes all the soft-top stuff (Best Top, Kayline bikini, bows & Factory Bows), the carb parts, the original straps, headrests, half doors in the pics, and all original parts that came with the 40 (includes the original FST doors, steering wheel, etc). I'll be keeping the hard donor doors and a set of the FST hinges (2 sets are included in the price).

I can't prove that it has it's original mileage but, after looking at some of the papers they included in the sale, I'm pretty sure it is. The original owner died in late April of 2008. In early May of 2008, his wife or somebody was trying to get a valuation on his 40. They printed out the form they were filling out on vintageoffroad.com and it cut off a lot of the text. But they listed the mileage as 27,189. The current mileage is around 27,280. Ultimately, it was left to his grandson.

There are papers printed from 2001-2003 from Cool Cruisers and places like that about the restoration process. Obviously he thought about it but never got around to it. That's all I got for any semblance of proof, besides the shape of the body itself.

Anyways, $19500 or best offer. I'm not doing it any favors by leaving it covered in the backyard. I can store the parts but not her. If you are interested in more than the parts I said, let me know and we can talk about it.
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Thanks - we need to look into that. My wife's notes from the sale said "Passed compression test" but we, of course, didn't ask for a copy of it. We never thought we'd be selling it so we didn't care. The body was in such great shape for it's age... Lesson learned.
 
It may be a sacrilege but I'd like a FJ in the physical shape of yours but I'd need to convert to a hardtop and wouldn't want all the extra parts body parts and tops you have.
 
TCEd said:
It may be a sacrilege but I'd like a FJ in the physical shape of yours but I'd need to convert to a hardtop and wouldn't want all the extra parts body parts and tops you have.
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I originally was looking for a hardtop 40 and then I laid my eyes on this one... I thought about putting a hardtop on this back when we had a garage but I thought I read somewhere that you have to do modifications. Add that to the fact that the heat index is about 400 degrees here 95% of year, and it didn't make sense to me.
I'm originally from the Petoskey area (a town about 10 miles east of it)- we are actually going to be heading up there in a few weeks to visit family. I love Traverse City - should have been the capital of Michigan.
 
bugsnbikes said:
$3k seems a little low imho- it should easily fetch $10-12k.
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Ah, I was talking about him already owning two 40's. For 3k, I'd have to drive her to the top of a bluff overlooking the Colorado River, put her in neutral, and give an accidental nudge so I can collect the insurance money. ;)
 
Insurance will likely put you back to square one....$3k unfortunately. If your carb is tuned and will get you up the Colorado bluff to send it to the insurance adjuster.......its safe to say a well tuned FST should pull $9-10k and put you waaaaay ahead. :)
 
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At least I would know who to call for restoration advice after I collect the insurance money and pull her out of the water - nice job on your 74.
 
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