An FJ45 Mystery

[JohnnyC]

Vossie

what numbers are on your vin as compaired to the white one?

maybe it was their own serial numbering system? as it looks like they were a CKD

 

[JohnnyC]

so they were making cruisers out of Willowvale??? that plant is just across town from me. i knew they made mazda's and fords out of there but cruisers??

yes ... they were most likely CKD kits.... just as Brazil started out

there should be somebody local who was working at the plant around then.... maybe somebody employed by the new occupants of the factory?

 

[Vossie]

Vossie

what numbers are on your vin as compaired to the white one?

maybe it was their own serial numbering system? as it looks like they were a CKD

i have already posted all available numbers that i har, barring my engine serial no, which i can only get next week when i get her back. as i said earlier, unfortunately mine came with no dataplate, which i really wich i had...

yes ... they were most likely CKD kits.... just as Brazil started out

there should be somebody local who was working at the plant around then.... maybe somebody employed by the new occupants of the factory?

it might be worth a ride out there some time....

 

[JohnnyC]

i have already posted all available numbers that i har, barring my engine serial no, which i can only get next week when i get her back. as i said earlier, unfortunately mine came with no dataplate...

ahhh my bad... i'm not yet 50... but... i do have lots of senior moments

it might be worth a ride out there some time....

This would be your best bet... I would also love to hear from somebody that had 1st hand knowledge about the CKD assemblies... somebody may even have pictures of their process and of the factory?

I would love to see them

 

[JohnnyC]

Love this information:
"1958 February Exports to Angola commenced with eight Land Cruisers
1959 June Exports to the Republic of South Africa commenced with one Land Cruiser "

These trucks are histroically significant as they were the first wave of toyotas attempt at reaching the world outside of Japan during the late 50's .... between 1956-1959

wouldnt it be great to find one

 

[Vossie]

ahhh my bad... i'm not yet 50... but... i do have lots of senior moments




This would be your best bet... I would also love to hear from somebody that had 1st hand knowledge about the CKD assemblies... somebody may even have pictures of their process and of the factory?

I would love to see them

i will take a ride out there some time soon. i too am very interested in their history, esp here in Zim.

Love this information:
"1958 February Exports to Angola commenced with eight Land Cruisers
1959 June Exports to the Republic of South Africa commenced with one Land Cruiser "

These trucks are histroically significant as they were the first wave of toyotas attempt at reaching the world outside of Japan during the late 50's .... between 1956-1959

wouldnt it be great to find one

they would be 20 series, right? best bet would be angola.... im thinking road trip once my 45 is up and running

 

[JohnnyC]

they would be 20 series, right?

yes 20 series...

so far IMHO the most significantly significant cruiser found to date would be the one in peru 1956 FJ25 1415L ... one of 5 shipped over in 1958 for use in peru and bolivia by the "University of Tokyo" as well as "Toyota Motor Japan" for the "Andean Scientific Expedition"

you need to see this link: https://forum.ih8mud.com/fj25-owners-group/175343-fj25-1956-vin-1415-a.html

very cool stuff

 

[lostmarbles]

here are all the numbers for my 45, taken from the reg book
Make: Toyota
Model: Land Cruiser
Year first used as new: 1984
Type: Pick/Up
Color: Cream
Net mass 1860kg
Gross mass 3035kg
Chassis/frame no. FJ45-377177 (this i can verify as being correct, its stamped in my chassis)
Engine no. 2H-1039991
Fuel: Diesel

Tom .... How does his H engine serial number line up date wise?
Is it in and around the same time frame as his frame? July 83 or is it much later or much earlier ... That type of thing

The only thing I have to go on (to try and date Ross's 2H-1039991 engine) is this thread here:
https://forum.ih8mud.com/diesel-tec...r-engine-serial-number-vin-number-thread.html

And so far no-one has entered the details for any 2H-powered land cruiser at all so I've got nothing to compare his engine to.

(So I can't help to date his engine.)

Yes, but Tom few places are as pedantic as Australia and New Zealand.

Wouldn't Toyota have installed a 2h in '83, assuming for argument that Toyota did make a diesel erroneously imported as a petrol.

I can't believe Toyota would ever allow any plant anywhere in the world to sell any Toyota vehicle with incorrect model identification codes.

Toyota even strictly controls how its logo is used (as far as type-face, whether upper-case or lower-case etc).

An executive would have committed Hara-kiri if an FJ45 were sold with a 2H engine!

So I believe the engine transplant would have to have been done without official Toyota approval... ie AFTER the vehicle had left their plant fitted with an F-series petrol engine.

ja, its one my list of things to do when i get her back out of the shop. ive spent 3 yeas slowly rebuilding her to a point where i can at least drive her. i hope to have her on the road in the next week or two.......

I sure hope the missing VIN-plate doesn't represent as much of a hurdle for you in Zimbabwe as I suspect it would for me here in New Zealand Ross.

i have already posted all available numbers that i har, barring my engine serial no, which i can only get next week when i get her back. as i said earlier, unfortunately mine came with no dataplate, which i really wich i had.......

But you gave us your engine serial number as 2H-1039991 from your rego papers Ross. Or do you suspect this is incorrect?

 

[Vossie]

The only thing I have to go on (to try and date Ross's 2H-1039991 engine) is this thread here:
https://forum.ih8mud.com/diesel-tec...r-engine-serial-number-vin-number-thread.html

And so far no-one has entered the details for any 2H-powered land cruiser at all so I've got nothing to compare his engine to.

(So I can't help to date his engine.)

ja, ive tried to date it as well. no luck unfortunately

I can't believe Toyota would ever allow any plant anywhere in the world to sell any Toyota vehicle with incorrect model identification codes.

Toyota even strictly controls how its logo is used (as far as type-face, whether upper-case or lower-case etc).

An executive would have committed Hara-kiri if an FJ45 were sold with a 2H engine!

So I believe the engine transplant would have to have been done without official Toyota approval... ie AFTER the vehicle had left their plant fitted with an F-series petrol engine.

im in total agreement with this. i was talking with my father this morning on the matter, and he believes that this 2F- 2H swap was probably carried out by a South African firm who then sold them on.

I sure hope the missing VIN-plate doesn't represent as much of a hurdle for you in Zimbabwe as I suspect it would for me here in New Zealand Ross.

i hope so too. zim can be quite a mission when it comes to paper work, but this africa, so theres always a plan to be made

But you gave us your engine serial number as 2H-1039991 from your rego papers Ross. Or do you suspect this is incorrect?

no, i think this is correct. that means that when my vehicle was registered here in this country, it had the 2H already. no official here would ever have picked up that it was a mod in an FJ45, they would have just taken the serial numbers and put them in the book and pronounced it good

 

[crushers]

doing a 2H swap is an easy task, if you have all the parts, a weekend job.
the results will look factory.
double the fuel mileage
i can see this happening.

no real mystery
but makes for a enjoyable thread and read.

 

[Vossie]

doing a 2H swap is an easy task, if you have all the parts, a weekend job.
the results will look factory.
double the fuel mileage
i can see this happening.

no real mystery
but makes for a enjoyable thread and read.

true. for me the mystery comes in when i consider that ive seen about six of these 45's, all labelled FJ45 with 2H's, all done in exactly the same way and all with the same unique load beds. i thought it was too big a coincidence for them all to be just PO's putting in 2H's at home.

makes total sense though, give me diesel over petrol any day its cheaper, i get twice the mileage than a 2F, and im just a diesel guy anyway

 

[crushers]

i wouldn't say it was a PO (unless a shop is the PO). i would say it was a dealer or a shop that saw a need or had a request for said number of trucks with diesel engines.
so order new from toyota
order engines from toyota or a breaker
install and fill the order

it there any way to trace back the owners to original?

 

[Vossie]

one other thing, this is a little anal of me, but i want to be correct when i talk of my 40. with it being stamped as an FJ45, but having a 2H in her, do i call her an FJ45 or an HJ45 or something else?

 

[Vossie]

i wouldn't say it was a PO (unless a shop is the PO). i would say it was a dealer or a shop that saw a need or had a request for said number of trucks with diesel engines.
so order new from toyota
order engines from toyota or a breaker
install and fill the order

it there any way to trace back the owners to original?

exactly i have the PO's name but nothing further back than him. and the unfortunate thing is that he has left the country and i have no way of getting hold of him

 

[ozcrusier]

Maybe the mob selling these landcruisers in Africa could build a FJ/HJ45 cruiser for less then Toyota could supply a HJ45. I stripped a 1980 hj45 to transfer the driveline over to a 1978 fj45 and was surprised what I will need to tranfer over for it to become FJ/HJ45.
I would guess its like our snowy river project when Thiess imported early landcruisers into Australia and modified them to suit the project before they sold to the domestic market.

 

[crushers]

it is a FJ with a swap ... that would be the correct term.

 

[Vossie]

it is a FJ with a swap ... that would be the correct term.

so my sig is correct with 'FJ45 , 2H aftermarket equiped' ?

 

[crushers]

yah, or if you want it simple
83 FJ45, aka 'flying tortoise", rocking 2H diesel

 

[Vossie]

yah, or if you want it simple
83 FJ45, aka 'flying tortoise", rocking 2H diesel

i like that thanks

 

[JohnnyC]

talk about a shaddy past... do you know the history of "Willowvale Motor Industries" (WMI)?

"In 1988, details of deep-rooted corruption in the upper echelons of government and the ruling party emerged in what came to be dubbed the “Willowgate” scandal.

“Willowgate” exposed how Cabinet ministers and other politicians abused their positions to source many cars each from a government-owned automobile assembly plant, Willowvale."

"The biggest scandal, however, took place in the late 1980s when some government ministers took advantage of a shortage of motor vehicles and became middle-men in their acquisition from the government-controlled Willowvale Motor Industries (now renamed Willowvale Mazda Motor Industries)"

"there was only enough in assembling to satisfy 10% of the countries new automobile needs"
"the cars were bought wholesale and resold at a 200% profit."

Senior Minister of State for Political Affairs resigned and later that year commited suicide (1989)

they were changing hand in 1989 to run as a mazda only plant "In 1989 we sold 25% of Willowvale Motor Industries to Mazda"

Before this they were assembling Peugeot, Renault, Toyota, VW and Mazda at the same plant with kits.

... theres lots on the net.... amazing