Hi All,
Just wanted to post my first thread on the site, mainly to thank all of you for maintaining such a great resource for new owners like me.
During a trip to Costa Rica in September 2011, I saw lots of 40 series Land Cruisers driving around, and so when I got home I set about trying to find and import one to my home in New Jersey. With the help of a local friend in Costa Rica and his mechanic, I found and purchased a clean 1978 BJ40 with 77k kms in January. The motor and drivetrain are in great shape, and it runs very smoothly, so no major work needed on the drivetrain.
The truck finally arrived at my home in NJ on March 24. Using all of the great threads and advice on this site (and after talking to many of the Cruiser parts suppliers), I collected a bunch of parts for the truck prior to its arrival. Six days after the truck arrived, I had the following upgrades already done: complete 2.5" OME suspension, wheels/tires/front locking hubs, headlights/fog lights, replacement (smaller diameter) steering wheel, Line-X through entire inside of tub, front bumper, glow plugs (took 3 weeks to get exact right plug from Toyota, and would not have happened without info from this forum), replacement seats (take-out bucket seats from my 1987 911; the seats have 16" sliders instead of 15", so I had custom mounts made and will post pictures in a separate thread), new stereo head unit, and tinted windows.
I've still got a list of 10-12 upgrades left to do, but its already looking pretty good. Title work was slowed because I had to wait for some of the paperwork from US Customs, but I will have the local title and registration in hand by the end of next week. Can't wait to get it on the road.
Thanks again to everyone who bothers to add technical info to this site. I would not have successfully purchased, imported or modified this truck without your help.
Just wanted to post my first thread on the site, mainly to thank all of you for maintaining such a great resource for new owners like me.
During a trip to Costa Rica in September 2011, I saw lots of 40 series Land Cruisers driving around, and so when I got home I set about trying to find and import one to my home in New Jersey. With the help of a local friend in Costa Rica and his mechanic, I found and purchased a clean 1978 BJ40 with 77k kms in January. The motor and drivetrain are in great shape, and it runs very smoothly, so no major work needed on the drivetrain.
The truck finally arrived at my home in NJ on March 24. Using all of the great threads and advice on this site (and after talking to many of the Cruiser parts suppliers), I collected a bunch of parts for the truck prior to its arrival. Six days after the truck arrived, I had the following upgrades already done: complete 2.5" OME suspension, wheels/tires/front locking hubs, headlights/fog lights, replacement (smaller diameter) steering wheel, Line-X through entire inside of tub, front bumper, glow plugs (took 3 weeks to get exact right plug from Toyota, and would not have happened without info from this forum), replacement seats (take-out bucket seats from my 1987 911; the seats have 16" sliders instead of 15", so I had custom mounts made and will post pictures in a separate thread), new stereo head unit, and tinted windows.
I've still got a list of 10-12 upgrades left to do, but its already looking pretty good. Title work was slowed because I had to wait for some of the paperwork from US Customs, but I will have the local title and registration in hand by the end of next week. Can't wait to get it on the road.
Thanks again to everyone who bothers to add technical info to this site. I would not have successfully purchased, imported or modified this truck without your help.
