Buying first fj40

[Rocky_LC]

They come in all conditions down here, but most of 'em seem to be missing tops. The ones at the "lower price points" can be sometimes sun-baked and sometimes a wacky mix of parts...

Like the people who live here I guess!

Good Luck

PS> Lots of people on this board would say the V-8s can bring a lot of problems of their own, unless the swap was done well. That's something to look at, over and above the "regular" FJ40 stuff...

If you ask for opinions on "which is better, 2F or V8", this thread will grow to 15 pages!

I'm really happy with my 2F, but I'll bet a V8 would be fun...

 

[Cleg]

I think that diamond plate skins only exist to cover rust holes. 2+ years into my rebuild and my opinion is that the condition of the body should have been priority #1 up front. Most of the other individual pieces can be restored or replaced relatively easily. It depends of course on what you want to build but the price seems way high for what I see in the pictures. That said, I don't know much about the selection available in your region.

 

[Living in the Past]

Yah I'm looking for ones closer to me, I bet it is nice in Arizona with no rust? I can find them with 6 cylinders all around me but I want a V8 as I priced it and it seems like a much better deal to get one already swapped. Thanks for looking though!

As is great for finding little to no rust FJ40s. If I keeping seeing them hauled out of state on trailers that wouldn't be the case for ever.

Toyota installed the six cylinder so all you really have to worry able is what shape the motor is in. With a V8 you don't know who did the conversion. Some are good some are not. You could be a step a step ahead or just buying someone hack job. Need to watch for that with a V8 conversions.

 

[RWBeringer4x4]

I bought someone else's v8 conversion and while it is something of a "hack job" appearance wise - I love the additional power and the sound of the v8 lope. I have no trouble with cooling or shifting, etc - my only complaint is the flaky clutch. Could just be because its ancient too though!

As much as I'd love a stocker I think you can tell almost right away on inspection whether or not the PO did a crappy job.