Consulting the council of sages.

[WyattEarp1789]

Gents, I need help and a dose of reality. Is this a good idea? I’ve been given the opportunity to by this vehicle. 85’, 3F. I drove it this morning and got my hands on it. I’ve snapped some worrisome pictures. Is this worth the rust issues? What is the expectation of work involved to mitigate and eliminate the rust?

 

[WyattEarp1789]

More

 

[WyattEarp1789]

 

[cruiserpilot]

Gonna be nasty under that white paint. Are all the lower door edges clean? Sunroof is bad, if it doesn't leak it's
only because it hasn't been opened in a decade by the looks of it.
This is not a top dollar machine, pricing should be in lower end of normal advertised prices.
It would require a full removal of flares, doors, windows ( top and sides ) full body restoration/paint.
If it's mechanically maintained then it's acceptable, look at rear brake emergency backing plate pivots and see if they
are corroded to oblivion or actually work. Check speedo and emergency cables for corrosion.
Did you take any pics from below of the inner rockers below the doors. Particularly the body mount just
inboard of the rear doors, pull up carpet and pull back wheel inner carpet/cover and check there for rust.
Notorious spot to hide a whole lot of grief. Run your fingers along the entire inner wheel lips and if you
can do that without loosing skin to loose rust.
Find an objective friend to take with you next time you look, and look at it as a money investment not
a cool truck. Basically how much time and effort are you willing to put into it with your CC?

 

[WyattEarp1789]

Gonna be nasty under that white paint. Are all the lower door edges clean? Sunroof is bad, if it doesn't leak it's
only because it hasn't been opened in a decade by the looks of it.
This is not a top dollar machine, pricing should be in lower end of normal advertised prices.
It would require a full removal of flares, doors, windows ( top and sides ) full body restoration/paint.
If it's mechanically maintained then it's acceptable, look at rear brake emergency backing plate pivots and see if they
are corroded to oblivion or actually work. Check speedo and emergency cables for corrosion.
Did you take any pics from below of the inner rockers below the doors. Particularly the body mount just
inboard of the rear doors, pull up carpet and pull back wheel inner carpet/cover and check there for rust.
Notorious spot to hide a whole lot of grief. Run your fingers along the entire inner wheel lips and if you
can do that without loosing skin to loose rust.
Find an objective friend to take with you next time you look, and look at it as a money investment not
a cool truck. Basically how much time and effort are you willing to put into it with your CC?

Current asking price is roughly $13K. I am, however, making a list and doing some research on with the local market for rust work. It wont be very costly. But nightmares can lurk in unexpected places. I drove it and purposely pushed it. Mechanically speaking, the vehicle is sound. This vehicle, as it has been told to me has been sitting and undriven for 4-5 years. Its visibly neglected but drove, turned, shifted and broke very well for the given situation. I inspected the rear hatch and found no rust, however, in the interior rear left, where the rear wiper fluid goes, there was some rust, a small amount, but still there which begs the question of where the leak would be from the rear window.

 

[CruiserTrash]

Current asking price is roughly $13K. I am, however, making a list and doing some research on with the local market for rust work. It wont be very costly. But nightmares can lurk in unexpected places. I drove it and purposely pushed it. Mechanically speaking, the vehicle is sound. This vehicle, as it has been told to me has been sitting and undriven for 4-5 years. Its visibly neglected but drove, turned, shifted and broke very well for the given situation. I inspected the rear hatch and found no rust, however, in the interior rear left, where the rear wiper fluid goes, there was some rust, a small amount, but still there which begs the question of where the leak would be from the rear window.

I'm normally one for supporting people buying foolishly rusty trucks and getting them on the road, but man ... this thing is rough. I can see body filler in the rocker which means this was a rusty truck, got a slapdash job with filler, then a quick respray. You can see the line on the door jamb where the newer paint meets the old. And judging by the amount of mildew on the exterior, all of this happened long ago. That means the original rust, which wasn't addressed to begin with, has been creeping under the paint for a long time. The rockers and doors sills look gone. The rust coming through the bottom of drip edge on the roof makes me think it needs a completely new roof - especially considering the amount of rot that's likely around the sunroof. It also looks like there's lumpy filler under the right tail light. What else is hiding?

If it were a $2-4k truck, I'd say buy it, put the absolute least amount of money possible into it, and drive it the s*** out of it. Wheel it and beat on it. For $13k? I personally wouldn't touch it with a 10 foot pole. Doing the body & paint right is going to cost $20k+. Add that to the $13k and you're at $33k without touching anything mechanical. If your budget is that high you can do far better. You can import one that's 10x the truck for that money. And if your budget is only $13k all-in, you can do better with that too.

Sorry to be a negative nancy ... you can do better though!

 

[Mace]

That body repair will be expensive.. What's the frame look like?

 

[Spike Strip]

It's an interesting truck, as a high-roof LHD 3F powered FJ62, but you should be aware parts may be hard to come by in USA, unless you ship from overseas, though there will be much overlap with USA trucks.

Body work, as stated, will be expensive (unless you plan to do it yourself), or just plan to drive it as is, and there's plenty of years of driving left just as it is, providing the frame isn't buggered.

In either case, I personally wouldn't pay that much for a gasser in that condition, unless it has factory lockers?

 

[kevin in okinawa]

it's too much IMO...too much work (rust) and too much asking cost. Keep looking.

 

[cruiserpilot]

however, in the interior rear left, where the rear wiper fluid goes, there was some rust, a small amount, but still there which begs the question of where the leak would be from the rear window.

Surprised no one else realizes the leak isn't the window, it's the very old plastic window soap line that cracks and leaks into the
bottom of the upper hatch. FIRST thing I did on my 60 was remove that plastic line and rear wiper. If you remove the
inspection panels and look inside with a flashlight all will be revealed. Big tire and fuel cans/chainsaw can't see anything
out that window anyways.

 

[cruisermatt]

Your pictures are in Colombia, but your location say Ft Lauderdale. for $13K (assuming USD) after the cost of import you will be majorly upside down in that truck unless you are doing everything yourself

 

[WyattEarp1789]

Your pictures are in Colombia, but your location say Ft Lauderdale. for $13K (assuming USD) after the cost of import you will be majorly upside down in that truck unless you are doing everything yourself

I live in Fort Lauderdale, Florida but I am deployed to Bogota, Colombia. I will be here another 3 years. I have diplomatic privileges for a shipment for one vehicle back to the states at no cost to me as part of my orders. But you and many others have brought up excellent points and im thankful and appreciative for the help and guidance.

 

[WyattEarp1789]

Surprised no one else realizes the leak isn't the window, it's the very old plastic window soap line that cracks and leaks into the
bottom of the upper hatch. FIRST thing I did on my 60 was remove that plastic line and rear wiper. If you remove the
inspection panels and look inside with a flashlight all will be revealed. Big tire and fuel cans/chainsaw can't see anything
out that window anyways.

Thanks, boss. Will make sure to keep an eye out for this.

 

[WyattEarp1789]

it's too much IMO...too much work (rust) and too much asking cost. Keep looking.

Thank you. I actually think I will. I counter-offered super low to see if they'd bite, which I dont think they will, but who knows. I've already started looking elsewhere.

 

[WyattEarp1789]

I'm normally one for supporting people buying foolishly rusty trucks and getting them on the road, but man ... this thing is rough. I can see body filler in the rocker which means this was a rusty truck, got a slapdash job with filler, then a quick respray. You can see the line on the door jamb where the newer paint meets the old. And judging by the amount of mildew on the exterior, all of this happened long ago. That means the original rust, which wasn't addressed to begin with, has been creeping under the paint for a long time. The rockers and doors sills look gone. The rust coming through the bottom of drip edge on the roof makes me think it needs a completely new roof - especially considering the amount of rot that's likely around the sunroof. It also looks like there's lumpy filler under the right tail light. What else is hiding?

If it were a $2-4k truck, I'd say buy it, put the absolute least amount of money possible into it, and drive it the s*** out of it. Wheel it and beat on it. For $13k? I personally wouldn't touch it with a 10 foot pole. Doing the body & paint right is going to cost $20k+. Add that to the $13k and you're at $33k without touching anything mechanical. If your budget is that high you can do far better. You can import one that's 10x the truck for that money. And if your budget is only $13k all-in, you can do better with that too.

Sorry to be a negative nancy ... you can do better though!

No negativity at all, my freind. Im still very much a student a this and appreciate all of the comments. I need the negative to keep my rose colored glasses off and stay in reality. I see these trucks and i fall in love hard. Thank you.

 

[WyattEarp1789]

It's an interesting truck, as a high-roof LHD 3F powered FJ62, but you should be aware parts may be hard to come by in USA, unless you ship from overseas, though there will be much overlap with USA trucks.

Body work, as stated, will be expensive (unless you plan to do it yourself), or just plan to drive it as is, and there's plenty of years of driving left just as it is, providing the frame isn't buggered.

In either case, I personally wouldn't pay that much for a gasser in that condition, unless it has factory lockers?

Yeah, i love these high roof variants so much.

 

[WyattEarp1789]

That body repair will be expensive.. What's the frame look like?

Honestly, without getting these added accessories off and getting it up on a lift, i won't know for sure. It seems sound but i may need to investigate more.

 

[cruiserpilot]

It’d be cooler if it had utility doors on the back. Probably only because we don’t get them
but being able to open one side and step in like my 74 would be nice.

 

[cruisermatt]

even with free import that is a lot from that vehicle. You'd be better of getting a better example. I bet with a bit more budget you could be into a much better range of vehicles there.

 

[cruiserpilot]

One question on South American vehicles. I know in Canada they have to have heater with
defrost to import believe it or not. I’ve seen some trucks without heaters. I presume these
trucks you are looking at are equipped as we expect?