Vendor 1978 FJ43 available for purchase $30,000

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Location
United States
Truck is in Colombia. I do not own this truck yet.

I am working on my 9th truck down in Colombia since starting the business a year ago. This is a great candidate FJ43 and I would love to make it my 10th truck.

I am finishing a 1974 FJ43 in Heath Grey pre-sold to a client in Florida. Also working on my 1982 FJ43 that I am probably going to send to the auctions.

I just was offered this great 1978 FJ43 in red. I do NOT OWN it yet as I have too many trucks in process. However, the truck is available and at my shop in Colombia.

For $30,000 you get the truck in Tampa, FL with all import fees paid.... I drove the truck and my mechanic and body man looked it over (we turned away 3 FJ43s in one month so far so we only pick the nice ones)...

1978 FJ43 in red (need to confirm it is original color)... gas tank in the cabin...

Power steering looks to be original or atleast Toyota parts (steers perfect)
new AC (no heat)
new interior with nice custom vinyl floor mat system
power windows
floors have been repaired and then texture painted but looks straight and solid
body man believes it is a new tub
truck painted black underneath (also under the fenders in black)
paint is decent and shiny needs a polish. not perfect paint ( I can paint the truck in PPG paint if you like as an option)
4 speed H41 transmission and 4.11 gears
hubs are newer AVM (I will review them and replace them if needed. I now use AISIN hubs)
brakes 4 drums seemed fine
has a nice fiberglass top paint matched.
I will include a "surfrunner" open sided top that I am now doing ( I can do a full Toyota soft top or a pickup soft top as an option)
I do a full mechanical review of my trucks. New shocks, new exhaust, 5 new tires, brakes checked, 4x4 checked etc.
I would do 5 7.50 x 16 tires on those rims or we can do another option or discount

A $10,000 deposit to Volcan 4x4, LLC secures the truck. We can do a series of deposits with a hold
back until you take delivery.

I just did the grey FJ43 for a client. Deposit was early June and the truck should arrive Florida early August so figure 2 months or so. Price was $30,000. We did some paint work and new AC. Great truck.

This red truck does not need that much. To be perfect I would be tempted to repaint it. I am pretty close to firm price at $30,000.
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Floors... Floors are solid. Have been repaired. Rear tub may have been replaced. Truck drives very tight. The underneath is painted black and very clean. I put all my trucks up on a lift and inspect them. We are not doing oversized exhausts with stainless steel muffler. We can add a custom header too.

FYI I would repaint the floors in a coat of fresh paint as part of the $30,000. Will look cleaner. IMG_3837.webpIMG_3841.webp

Exterior paint is about a 6 out of 10. A lighter red than the 309 Freeborn Red. Under the fenders painted black.
 
Again I really would like to do this 1978 FJ43. A great, solid FJ43 truck for $30,000. The 1982 on the left we are going to do a complete repaint and send it to the auctions with 3 tops and heat and AC. I would like to get $60,000 for it.

You can be driving this 1978 FJ43 in September/October.

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FYI if you want to repaint it we can do it affordably. My painter Carlos has 25 years experience and we use PPG paints.

He just painted the grey one where we did some repairs.. He did the body work too. Great lines.

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Carlos painted this 83 FJ40 frame off truck that later sold for $54,000.
 
volcan4x4.com. charlie@volcan4x4.com

Just shipped our 1982 FJ40 and 74 FJ43 today! 82 is for sale the 74 FJ43 is sold to Florida.

Very proud of both trucks.

The red 1978 truck listed above is missing the data plate on the firewall which annoys me. We can order a new one in the US and have it stamped but adds hassle for my export process. I can find other 1978 FJ43s though.

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This grey 74 FJ43 turned out perfect. Has the original F engine and 3 speed and no power steering. We were going to add it but the truck steers PERFECTLY. I am suggesting to clients to allow me the freedom to do the earlier FJ43s and just go for condition over model year. The 1981 and up FJ43s are becoming scarce and going up in value. I have a 1982 FJ43 I am doing now but I am going high price on these. I really really enjoy driving this 74. I sold it for $30,000. We did a mechanical review on it. We also painted 75% of the truck including the floors. fixed some of the interior and did the AC unit. Needs tint and exhaust still.

Other cool thing about this grey FJ43 is it has the original sales sheet from 1974. Those 15 inch rims came with the truck. It has
mostly original vinyl interior still. Very proud of this truck and would love to do another one.
 
I think I am starting to personally prefer the older FJs. I really like all metal doors. I don't feel a huge different between the power in the 3.9 vs the later 4.2. The 3 speed is clunky (but kinda fun too) but we can change those easily too. I actually prefer the manual steering over the squishy power steering. Hard to say. This grey one has a metal hard top made in Colombia. Very rare. It is fixed. You can not take it off. Most come with fiberlgass tops you can remove or we do soft tops.

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Very proud of this truck. I worked very hard on it and thanks to my paint guy Carlos who really transformed the truck. Carlos is a very hard worker and a top body and paint man.

The best thing is we turned it around very quickly. Thanks for letting me show off a little bit!

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One more. I would love to do another early FJ43 with a soft top. Truck has 31 x 10.5 Maxxis ATs. All nearly new. Steers perfectly without power steering.

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Sorry if this has already been asked and answered but are diesel Cruisers not prevalent south of the border?
 
Colombia has almost none due to lack of diesel fuel availability in the rural areas back in the 1960s and 1970s when the trucks came in. They do now have modern Toyota diesels trucks though. Also the non turbo early Toyotas did not have enough power for the mountains per the locals. It looks like maybe Costa Rica for the early diesels and Europe for the 70 series is the best source for diesels.
 
I passed on the red 78 FJ43 above for now but I am being offered trucks all the time. Only about 10% or so of them meet my requirements. I am seeing that the 1981 and up FJ43s are much harder to find and the Colombians are raising the prices. This is the reason I bought a very nice 1974 FJ43 and a super nice 78 FJ43.

I decided to reinvest in my 1982 FJ43 that I am working on down there and completely repaint a truck that had a decent paint job to start with. Truck looks rough now but will a extensively frame on restored FJ43. Doors, hood, fenders and front apron all painted separately like you would do on a frame off restoration. The old FJs are so cool and easy to take apart!

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I will share with you guys the truck I have been hiding for several months. I am awaiting paperwork on it and working on it. This is the best purchase/find I have made out the 9 trucks so far. This is a 1978 FJ43 in sky blue (they call it azul marina). Very original supposedly 50,000 mile truck (not confirmed yet). Has original exhaust on it. original door vinyl panels. mostly original interior. sun visors still in plastic. Putting an original style Toyota soft top on it now. Great color.

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