Complete Newbie looking for a Troopy

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S

Suzanne Biase

Joined
Sep 27, 2018
Threads
1
Messages
8
Location
Lubbock, Texas
Hello, my husband and I live in Texas and have six children. We are trying to avoid the Nissan Van and have been cramming into a Landcruiser for a few years now. We have discovered the Troopy and want to use it as a daily driver in town. (From what I have read here, I don't think it would be a long road trip vehicle?) We found one at Worldwide Vintage Autos in Denver (they have no information before the restoration of course) that I was going to take a look at next weekend with a Troopy mechanic guru, but after reading through a bunch of excellent posts on here, I'm pretty sure yall could pick it apart just from the pics. Can you give me your honest feedback and point me toward a different one for sale if need be? In the battle against the large family vans, I would love to learn to work on these things if you think its a doable battle to fight!

1984 Toyota LAND CRUISER FJ45 FRAME OFF RESTORED. RARE LHD TROOPY! COLLECTOR | Denver, CO | Worldwide Vintage Autos | Denver CO 80216
 
Welcome to the world of Troopy’s! They make great family haulers and all around versatile rig. I personally don’t like this company, they bought a truck from me years ago and said they were a private party and wanted a neat truck. A month later it was on there website for three times what they paid for it and they used my advertisement and words to represent the truck! This particular truck is a Saudi spec gas fj45. These are drum brake, no heater, stripped down models. This one does not have power steering as well. If there are no previous resto pics or who restored it I would steer clear. Lots of these trucks get quick bondo, fresh paint, and may appear to look good, will develop rust and paint issues due to poor prep. It is a rare left hand drive which makes it desirable and are not plentiful like the Aussie trucks. Be patient when searching and this site is the best place to learn and ask questions!
 
A picure how they looked after hetched from eggs

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Good luck!... don`t pimp your ride
It´s wrong too if you put or change parts on your can this construction year doesn`t came with when hatched ... if you restore or let restore.
An addition ... if you buy a car or truck the previous owner did long long ago for example an engine swap
stay with this swap belong to the history of this drivable can :)
Cheers
 
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Suzanne. Have you considered 70 series troopies as well?

@The Jade Bean

That extra troopy in your drive found a home yet? Lady in need in texas here :)

Oh and you have a pretty good idea of their long road trip abilities as well eh?
 
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Still sitting in my driveway next to mine in North Richland Hills, TX. They are build for road trips imo. We drove ours from Honduras to Texas and my friends for sale was driven from Peru to Texas. Here’s a pic before we moved. I don’t get anything from the sale, so let’s talk if you’re interested. He’s flexible on the price too.
 
Here’s mine yesterday rescuing my own truck. :rofl:
89D4392A-6FAC-4641-8CD6-14D7DA565100.webp
 
Great tips from everyone! Thank you so much! Maybe we should lean toward buying one and paying someone to restore it?

@jadebean - I think I prefer the older body style but we could shoot over there this weekend and check that one out and talk troopy shop if you have time! We would love a guide to help us through this process. I'll message you.

@a.greenspan and @jfz80 - thanks for the tips and information. So helpful! Keep the options coming. We are trying to be patient ;) such good stuff out there!
 
a second vote for taking that company with a grain of salt. We don't have any experience with them, but I've heard stories that would tend to make me at least do a lot of due diligence. At a minimum you could say they aren't your friend, so to speak. Off a casual glance, that truck has some other vehicle's jump seats in it, bondo in it (look at the mostly missing rear seam behind the front doors), and the wrong model rear ambulance doors on it for a late model truck. All of these things would point me at a much less valuable truck than their asking price. It says the truck was pieced together & painted, rather than a clean original truck that was restored. It doesn't mean I wouldn't buy it. But not at their price.
 
a.greenspan said:
and one more information.
This one is sold.
But if you restore or let restore a Troopy would go this way without the plastic fender wings & the bull bar.
Split rims this one have.... great :) & 7.50 x 16 tyres on such a can would be perfect.
1984 Toyota Land Cruiser BJ45 Troopy
Click to expand...

Personally I think the buyer got cheated on this one.
 
I would definitely question that “restoration” from worldwide vintage. Seems if one was to spend the time and money to properly restore a rig, you wouldn’t leave the old, rusty exhaust system on it. I think the term they need to use rather than “restoration” should be repaint.

Have you taken a look at the one for sale at the heritage museum? It’s nice and has the benefit of a turbo diesel swap. I have seen that one in person and it’s a cool troopy. Wish mine had the 12ht under the hood. Also, you couldn’t meet a couple of nicer folks to deal with.
 
@Rustic76 and @3_puppies Ok that one looks legit. Kind of exactly what we are looking for. Can you tell me why it’s not sold? And is this the same thing where I could ask for before restoration pics and get some more information like what is recommended in the buying faqs? Know anything about who restored it?
 
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