Well, if one Land Cruiser is good, more is better, right? In the midst of my boredom waiting for the machine shop to finish my 1FZ for the 80 series last spring, I got an itch. I started kicking around the idea of a 40, but had no definite direction on what I wanted. I would casually browse FB marketplace and 'Mud Classifieds looking for something that needed me to bring it home and love it. Started showing them to my wife, saying things like "I could fix that" and "wouldn't it be fun to have a vehicle we could cruise in the summer with the top and doors off?" Wore her down slowly, over time, you see. Made it *Her* idea...like the 80 was!
In early May, this thing popped on Marketplace about an hour away. Dude wanted waaaaaaaaaaaay too much money for it so I sorta dismissed it. The wife kept showing me the ad saying that "this one looks decent" but I wasn't too interested. On Mothers Day weekend, we decided to message the seller and see if we could take a look. He agreed, and on Sunday we drove out to Fallon, NV to see it in person. While it was crusty in the FB ad, it was worse in person. Rust EVERYWHERE. My magnetic flashlight just falls off the side of the vehicle on much of the tub because there is so much body filler. The floorboards are only sorta still there because someone did a DIY bed liner in the tub years ago. Early model 75, so 4 wheel drum brakes. The good: Other than being de-smogged, and a terrible header and exhaust, it was surprisingly all there. Not too much butchery for a 50 year old vehicle.
Whats weird is that other than the knuckles, it wasn't covered in grease and not leaking profusely underneath. I figured it was just out of oil everywhere. It sorta ran on 4.5 cylinders, but missed under load and bucked and hesitated. Brakes pull to the left hard when applied. Steering is sloppy and loose as is expected. Had nearly new 33's on some bullet hole wheels and matching spare, and the interior was pretty decent, considering. Looks to have a Spectre or Man a Fre carpet kit in it. Someone had it painted at one point and they covered all the holes in filler, and only masked things sorta near the part lines....
A deal was struck, and before I knew it, I was the proud owner of a green money pit, to go with the black hole of an 80 series. Perhaps this one will be called the green nebula, or the booger, or the worm hole..time will tell.
In early May, this thing popped on Marketplace about an hour away. Dude wanted waaaaaaaaaaaay too much money for it so I sorta dismissed it. The wife kept showing me the ad saying that "this one looks decent" but I wasn't too interested. On Mothers Day weekend, we decided to message the seller and see if we could take a look. He agreed, and on Sunday we drove out to Fallon, NV to see it in person. While it was crusty in the FB ad, it was worse in person. Rust EVERYWHERE. My magnetic flashlight just falls off the side of the vehicle on much of the tub because there is so much body filler. The floorboards are only sorta still there because someone did a DIY bed liner in the tub years ago. Early model 75, so 4 wheel drum brakes. The good: Other than being de-smogged, and a terrible header and exhaust, it was surprisingly all there. Not too much butchery for a 50 year old vehicle.
Whats weird is that other than the knuckles, it wasn't covered in grease and not leaking profusely underneath. I figured it was just out of oil everywhere. It sorta ran on 4.5 cylinders, but missed under load and bucked and hesitated. Brakes pull to the left hard when applied. Steering is sloppy and loose as is expected. Had nearly new 33's on some bullet hole wheels and matching spare, and the interior was pretty decent, considering. Looks to have a Spectre or Man a Fre carpet kit in it. Someone had it painted at one point and they covered all the holes in filler, and only masked things sorta near the part lines....
A deal was struck, and before I knew it, I was the proud owner of a green money pit, to go with the black hole of an 80 series. Perhaps this one will be called the green nebula, or the booger, or the worm hole..time will tell.
. You're plugging along. Your wife might even let you drive her 40. The windshield hinge mirror works great. I picked mine up in the classified section, they're cott repop arms with Toyota Mirrors. I usually run the top off and need to get into tight places, so I fold them forward out of the way. Fyi, frt and rear turn signal assemblies are grounded by the housings, which eventually fails. It's common to add a ground wires to them. Here's my 75 with the Mirrors.
