daaaang
Build Absalom's HDJ81 Build Thread - Restomod
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Wow! looks great!
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- #23
PM sent, Mr. Mind Reader
Fantastic!
You're not afraid your clients will freak out in the passenger seat or won't want to go in? Or would that the most exciting and memorable drive of their life? I trust it'd be the latter. Certainly something to remember you by!
You're not afraid your clients will freak out in the passenger seat or won't want to go in? Or would that the most exciting and memorable drive of their life? I trust it'd be the latter. Certainly something to remember you by!
Looks great! I hate the 2tone red... well done.
Can you share info about the importing process. Doesn't being over 25 years old have something to do with it? What about safety requirements? Your 80 is enviable!
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- #27
Check it outShow us the paint job already!
In the long run, no ... but expect to be hassled every step of the way. Every person wants a little $$ to help with each step. It adds up, but worth it
Yea, it was. I'm about to order a new one from Toyota lol.
Yea, I was surprised how expensive they are still. I'm trying to buy another one for the wife, and there's just none available at auction.
These are great points, and I imagine it'll be mere months before this is relegated to off-road duty and I pick up another boring 3 series for client duty.Sweet truck! I recognize you from t4r.org (also a 3rd gen 4runner guy). I'm a little iffy on this truck as a realtor-mobile (I'm a Realtor as well), but I guess it all depends on your clientele. I can only imagine the RHD conversations. I gave a client a ride in my LX450 *once* and that was enough to convince me to take the IS350 or TSX to all appointments. Some of my folks also look down their nose at anything older than 5-10 years.
Me too, check it out!
I believe I posted all the pics on my SLR, but I will double check. If I didn't plan on moving to Colorado before this next summer, I'd never dream of black seats. Fortunately, Denver doesn't see 115 degrees, so I should be ok
A few others have raised concerns of using this as a client mobile. I'm beginning to consider just repurposing this as a family fun vehicle and getting something more sensible for client usage. It certainly would be memorable, it's still weird when I ride as passenger. Driving it, however, feels completely normal now!
Thanks, I really just wanted it to look exactly like yours.
Thanks! So basically, it's a 3 month process. I first began scouring Japanese auction houses to get a feel for price. I then contacted a broker and made a deposit. This made me eligible to place bids. I then placed bids on, and lost a few trucks. Finally I won this bute, and paid the full fees. It took about 1 month to make it from the AH (haven't used that abbreviation since my WoW days!), to the shipping yard. Meanwhile, we waited on the AH to provide de-registration and export documents. Finally, it got on Wallenius Wilhelmsen Oberon and she was on her way. It was easily the most excruciating wait of my life. Finally, she arrived in Long Beach, and I went to pick her up. Cleared customs, paid all my collection fees (figure about $5k in fees before price of truck), and she was in my hands. What a great day that was.
Looks like it...
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- #30
So, why did you decide to sell after all this work and money put into the truck?
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- #33
So you sound like a car salesman.
Is the vehicle for sale or not?
Lol, oh no
That's what my brother said. Yes, the truck is for sale. Think I should reshoot the video? I hate to sound like a greasy salesman. That's a great question. I've kind of built myself into a corner unfortunately. The original plan for the truck was just to make it the family camping truck and wheelin' machine. Then it arrived on USA shores, and it was MUCH cleaner than either my wife or I anticipated. I couldn't stand the idea of just taking it out and thrashing it. So, we fixed it up with the intent of making it a client car for my daily job as a Realtor. It'd work well for that, but now we're left without a 4x4 family truck or a project.
So, the plan is sell this to a fellow enthusiast, get a budget minded client car (something boring like a Honda Accord, etc) and then import a lesser quality HDJ81 and commit to making it a full time off roader. I'm a young father of two, so I'd be up crap creek without a paddle if I were to damage this beauty on the trail.
I'd love feedback on the price tho!
Oh the plot here is so thick and juicy...
And there is just so much to back it all up....
But I will defer.
I will play nice as Cdan has always recommended.
And there is just so much to back it all up....
But I will defer.
I will play nice as Cdan has always recommended.
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- #35
Plot? Don't hold back, tell me whats on your mind.Oh the plot here is so thick and juicy...
And there is just so much to back it all up....
But I will defer.
I will play nice as Cdan has always recommended.
Sounds like you suffer from analysis paralysis. I sold my FJ62 for the exact same reason. It was so clean I was afraid to actually use it.
Much happier with my 310k mile jalopy LX450
Much happier with my 310k mile jalopy LX450
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- #37
The big girl having fun up in Sedona, sorry for how short video is!
Oh snap. Its Ryan Reynolds.
I recognize a couple of those rigs from t4r.org 
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- #40
Argh, yea I just don't see it :/ lol