Buying advice

[SteelStacks]

Hi everyone,

Newbie here looking for some buying advice from experts. I have been looking to buy a classic fj40 for a while now. I finally have a chance to buy a 77 locally and wanted your opinions as to what I should expect to pay for it. Guy is asking 20K Canadian so like 15K usd.

I went to look at it and took a bunch of pictures and I’m going to post the ones I think are most relevant. Frame looks to be solid but it does have undercoating for the winter so I may be not seeing everything. It feels solid though when I knock on it with a hammer.

My main concerns is what I think is the floor pans. The pics I am posting is from the undercarriage right in front of the rear wheel well. I assume that is part of the floor pans. The inside of the whole truck is covered with black paint or bedliner so I can’t tell the amount of rust.

 

[SteelStacks]

More pics

 

[SteelStacks]

More pics

 

[SteelStacks]

More pics

 

[SteelStacks]

More pics

 

[-MaTTi-]

A lot of rust, not worth CAD 20k.

It should be illegal to drive these things on salty roads. These are not designed to resist corrosion.

 

[SteelStacks]

The roof was patched because there use to be lights attached on top. The PO hand brush painted a lot of the body. The driver side rear part of the tub seems to be a little concave. There’s a lot of wood panels on doors and dash. Wiring seems to be everywhere.

It starts right up and drives great but alignment seems to be off because steering wheel doesn’t line up when it’s driving in a straight line. Owner doesn’t know the whole history of it. Only knows he bought it from a car collector that lives locally and before that was with a family from Niagara Falls Canada area. Odometer reads 92K but true miles are unknown.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated as this is would be my first classic car purchase. I also told the guy I’d let him know by this Monday. Thank you!

 

[RustyRanger]

That's a lot of rust for $15,000.

Are those rust hole in the windshield frame( under the roof lip)?
The rear panel being bulged out like that is really weird, is it busted loose from the rest of the rub?
Know how to weld and do sheet metal work? It's not terrible, what does the rear fenders and floors look like? They rust out under the gas tank and the front floors and firewall.

 

[ToyotaMatt]

The roof was patched because there use to be lights attached on top. The PO hand brush painted a lot of the body. The driver side rear part of the tub seems to be a little concave. There’s a lot of wood panels on doors and dash. Wiring seems to be everywhere.

It starts right up and drives great but alignment seems to be off because steering wheel doesn’t line up when it’s driving in a straight line. Owner doesn’t know the whole history of it. Only knows he bought it from a car collector that lives locally and before that was with a family from Niagara Falls Canada area. Odometer reads 92K but true miles are unknown.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated as this is would be my first classic car purchase. I also told the guy I’d let him know by this Monday. Thank you!

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you have one thing working agenst u here that can't be overlooked , and thats ICE & snow , every photo of the underside of the

chassis and frame had frozen ice and caked on snow in various locations , this can all or some be covering even more Rust then is

visible now ,

My suggestion is as follows : take the truck some where warm , like a small warehouse ,, or garage , let the ice and snow ALL melt

off , all of it . then take truck to car wash , power hand held wand type , clean underside very very well . let air dry or drive down

clean dry road , then and only then , u can examine the underside properly for a informed decision

reason i think this step is so important is , i really believe there is alot of rubberized undercoating been applied under chassis , and

i think this truck is far more rusty then the photos suggest .....


just make sure your well informed , & know what your buying thats all

good luck ...............

 

[ginmtb]

I say keep looking if $15K is your budget. You can do better. I see holes on the bottom where the liner covered them on top. All that wood paneling too is odd, to replace you’ll spend a nice penny on that stuff. But more importantly is not knowing the rust situation underneath the liner. Patience is a virtue...

 

[php74]

Agreed. You can do way better for 15k. THE most important thing to find is rust free as much as possible, pretty much every mud member will tell you. It’s a nightmare. Good luck!

 

[TheHardWay]

 

[1911]

[Monty Python voice mode]

Run away, run away!

 

[El3bolas]

Run , Forest , Run !!!!!

 

[S4Cruiser]

Do your self a favor and erase this truck from your search! Like others have said...run.

 

[reddingcruiser]

I would pass on this one as a first FJ40.
FWIW, I would consider condition over age with FJ40. A solid '73 is a better deal at at higher price, than a rotted out '77 or '78. The mechanical systems are easier to upgrade than it is to chop out and replace rotted out sheet metal.

 

[TCEd]

You can find a much better vehicle for that money.

 

[Billsboat]

I agree. Ur looking at a lot of expensive rust! And it will only get worse once u remove the ice, snow, and undercoating

 

[SteelStacks]

Thank you everyone for taking the time to comment and help a newbie out. I guess I didn’t take into consideration what it will look like once the snow and salt were washed away. I wasn’t going to give him 20K. I was going to offer maybe 12-15K Canadian but after hearing your opinions I don’t even think it’s worth that so I’m going to pass on this one.

I guess I was just too focused on the frame which seemed solid that i didn’t realize the amount of rust I’d have to fix on the tub. Thank you again and I will continue my search.

I have 2 more I’m looking at locally next week that I will also post here for your advice. One is a 74 project and There is also a 78 diesel bj40 that looks to be in great shape.

 

[TCEd]

Thank you everyone for taking the time to comment and help a newbie out. I guess I didn’t take into consideration what it will look like once the snow and salt were washed away. I wasn’t going to give him 20K. I was going to offer maybe 12-15K Canadian but after hearing your opinions I don’t even think it’s worth that so I’m going to pass on this one.

I guess I was just too focused on the frame which seemed solid that i didn’t realize the amount of rust I’d have to fix on the tub. Thank you again and I will continue my search.

I have 2 more I’m looking at locally next week that I will also post here for your advice. One is a 74 project and There is also a 78 diesel bj40 that looks to be in great shape.

How long have you been looking for a FJ40 ? My best suggestion is to slow your search down and do a bunch of reading within this site. Good vehicles show up with enough frequency that you shouldn't think this is the one, the only one out there.
Also what's your plans and budget for the vehicle once bought ? ed