FJ43 LAND (1 Viewer)

[SamBaker]

Hi everyone!

I am relatively new to MUD so let me know if this is in the wrong spot. I am currently restoring a 1977 Colombian FJ43. Now as i'm sure many of you are aware, any FJ's from Columbia tend to be a little rough around the edges and feature some unique "Colombian Creativity" as I call it. Personally I love the 43 and its extended wheel base, being a college kid, packing 9 of my buddies and driving up to the lake blasting tunes is probably one of my favourite things in life. Ive had the truck since high-school and have been working on it ever since (rebuilt the engine, Transfer case and Transmission and some minor fixes/upgrades). As I get further into restoring the truck i've found it difficult to find information specific to the 43. That is why I wanted to start this thread.

The 43 was only offered in South America, primarily Colombia. In order to reduce tax costs it was imported as an "agricultural vehicle" thus, it was only offered with a soft top. There were three companies in Colombia that made hardtops and supposedly used TEQ glass (maybe they were connected to Toyota in some way). It was mainly used as a farm vehicle or rural taxi, meaning they were worked pretty hard! Many components of the 43 were similar to the 40, however, compared to the US 40 it was behind in development. The major differences Im aware of (besides the longer wheel-base) include...

- No emissions/smog
- No dash pads
- No roll bar
- No heater
- No AC (Some trucks had it but I believe it was quite rare or a dealer option)
- Drum Brakes all around
- No power steering
- No factory radio (not 100% about this)

The good thing is, is that most of these parts are fairly easy to add to a 43 since they were made with many of the same body/chassis parts and components. Personally, I love the utility aspect of the 43 and for budgets sake, am happy to keep it original as it was in Colombia. That being said, I love working on/restoring my truck, adding new things and generally freshening it up. So, i'm reaching out to any of you who might have information, original photos/diagrams, Colombian contacts, videos etc... or any cool ideas or things you've done to your 43, that might be able to help/inspire me or any others working on 43's, dealing with the lack of specific info and/or Colombian creativity.

Basically ANYTHING related to the FJ43, feel free to post it here!

Thanks in advance and happy cruisin!

Sam

 

[ToyotaMatt]

My AMBER KUSTOM KOITO LED Head Lamp Kit .............

12v & 24v KOITO's KUSTOM AMBER LED JDM ( NON-USA) TOYOTA OEM Parts Maker H4 Semi Sealed Beam LED Headlights & Sub Harness Kit w/ Factory Instructions Manual FJ40 FJ60 BJ70 - VintageTEqParts.com

This KOITO' KUSTOM LED KIt covers both 12v VOLTS and a 24v VOLTS TOYOTA LAND CRUISERS , including the 70...

vintageteqparts.com

 

[FJ404345]

Nice 43 rig Matt !

 

[devo]

Matt is that yours? Thought yours was mustard?




devo

 

[devo]

Nice topic SB. Hopefully folks will chime in to add information about the 43 and not just post photos!
I don’t have a ton to add but I’m always looking for more info.

Hardtops where made by MPR and one other company
Some did come with factory PS
The run of 43’s had the cowl vent long after they disappeared in other markets
43’s kept with the (better) H41 four speed . (My 1981 has the H41 + 3.73 diffs = great combo)
You don’t need heat in Colombia so the heater was deleted
On the creative side: My fender marker lights were deleted and replaced with 70 series style

My few improvements that I can think of : front disc brakes, front bucket seats, Pertonix ignition, better carb from a ‘87 FJ60

There is a outfit in Colombia that makes every sheet metal part for the J4_ series if you would need those
I have a Colombian connection if you need one?

This all I can think of for now!



devo

 

[ToyotaMatt]

This is Mine

that Red one above was a clients rig

we were comparing the AMBER LED KOITO KUSTOM Kits i offer ...........

 

[JuanJ]

Hello,

In fact there is a Colombian shop that makes replacement panels for 40 Series Land Cruisers. I have seen its advertising in Facebook. Worth a look/search, I think.

Cabinor and Fivres built FRP tops for 40 Series. I am not sure whether they are still in business, though.





Juan

 

[FJ43 1980]

You nailed the main differences. The rear springs are different from a 40 (longer), but same as swb 45 pickup; 43s have rear sway bar like 45s; rear barn doors and hinges are different; rear tub isn’t notched for amby doors.

As 43s don’t have all the pollution control crap as US 40s they have different carb, dizzy, water pump, fan (no clutch) t-stat housing and air cleaner housing.

@ToyotaMatt is very knowledgeable on all things Toyota incl 43s.

Some Colombian rigs have creative p/s setups and electrical work.

For parts ToyoDIY.com is a good source. Type in your VIN and you’ll find most part #s. Availability can be an issue.

Also try TOYOTA | Japan Parts EU.

Also plenty of good info here on mud.

For an amazing restoration of a 1979 BJ43 you have to read:

Builds - BJ43 1979 “Save the beauty”

Hi, here is a story about BJ43L- KCJW restoration. From very beginning I started the search of the rare examples such as medium wheelbase cars (FJ43/BJ43/BJ46). In addition to the rarity such cars are the best compromise between comfort and manoeuvrability. FJ43 are not common in Europe, so my...

forum.ih8mud.com

@Stutes and @FJ404345 have very nice FJ43s that have been / are being restored.

 

[ToyotaMatt]

You nailed the main differences. The rear springs are different from a 40 (longer), but same as swb 45 pickup; 43s have rear sway bar like 45s; rear barn doors and hinges are different; rear tub isn’t notched for amby doors.

As 43s don’t have all the pollution control crap as US 40s they have different carb, dizzy, water pump, fan (no clutch) t-stat housing and air cleaner housing.

@ToyotaMatt is very knowledgeable on all things Toyota incl 43s.

Some Colombian rigs have creative p/s setups and electrical work.

For parts ToyoDIY.com is a good source. Type in your VIN and you’ll find most part #s. Availability can be an issue.

Also try TOYOTA | Japan Parts EU.

Also plenty of good info here on mud.

For an amazing restoration of a 1979 BJ43 you have to read:

Builds - BJ43 1979 “Save the beauty”

Hi, here is a story about BJ43L- KCJW restoration. From very beginning I started the search of the rare examples such as medium wheelbase cars (FJ43/BJ43/BJ46). In addition to the rarity such cars are the best compromise between comfort and manoeuvrability. FJ43 are not common in Europe, so my...

forum.ih8mud.com

@Stutes and @FJ404345 have very nice FJ43s that have been / are being restored.

i have found many a production build date on

DIY


both non USA and USA alike

I want to know how they and them alone

have this much sot after details archives ?

Does anyone know how this can be fact ?

 

[devo]

If these images are not too small ....

Important Dimensions of Frame in centimeters:



devo

 

[Stutes]

You nailed the main differences. The rear springs are different from a 40 (longer), but same as swb 45 pickup; 43s have rear sway bar like 45s; rear barn doors and hinges are different; rear tub isn’t notched for amby doors.

As 43s don’t have all the pollution control crap as US 40s they have different carb, dizzy, water pump, fan (no clutch) t-stat housing and air cleaner housing.

@ToyotaMatt is very knowledgeable on all things Toyota incl 43s.

Some Colombian rigs have creative p/s setups and electrical work.

For parts ToyoDIY.com is a good source. Type in your VIN and you’ll find most part #s. Availability can be an issue.

Also try TOYOTA | Japan Parts EU.

Also plenty of good info here on mud.

For an amazing restoration of a 1979 BJ43 you have to read:

Builds - BJ43 1979 “Save the beauty”

Hi, here is a story about BJ43L- KCJW restoration. From very beginning I started the search of the rare examples such as medium wheelbase cars (FJ43/BJ43/BJ46). In addition to the rarity such cars are the best compromise between comfort and manoeuvrability. FJ43 are not common in Europe, so my...

forum.ih8mud.com

@Stutes and @FJ404345 have very nice FJ43s that have been / are being restored.

To clarify, my FJ-43 did not have an OEM rear sway bar but I had the builder add a custom one. There are aftermarket bolt ons available but they would not work with my rear mounted fuel tank.

 

[SamBaker]

Hi guys, sorry for taking so long to get back to everyone, great info! So glad I started this thread. Ive found the main issue with my 43 is the wiring. Does anyone have some sort of wiring diagram specific or appropriate to a 43?

 

[Stutes]

Hi guys, sorry for taking so long to get back to everyone, great info! So glad I started this thread. Ive found the main issue with my 43 is the wiring. Does anyone have some sort of wiring diagram specific or appropriate to a 43?

This the one my builder did for mine. Note that it was a restored with a 1FZFE and Dakota Digital Dash so it will differ from the OEM. I also have the Toyota Land Cruiser FJ40, 43,45, 55 & 60, '68'82 (Haynes Repair Manuals) 1st Edition which includes all the wiring drawings. Its available on Amazon for $21.

 

[SamBaker]

Amazing, thanks so much!

 

[devo]

Here is a bit of electrical schematics that I have on file, courtesy of the M10 Master @ToyotaMatt

Hope you can read all the small print...........



devo

 

[FJ404345]

@SamBaker can you post some pictures of your FJ43 ?

 

[Greek Cruiserhead]

...and the JDM version (1979) of the BJ43
As we can notice, no Free Wheeling Hubs...

=====
1984 BJ42, frame-off restored, 4E9 Toyo beige
1983 BJ45, resto projecτ

 

[bikersmurf]

Dang it... I’d forgotten all about plans to extend my 40 into a 43. now you’ve got me wanting to do it all over again.



On a more serious note. I really love 43s. Keep the pictures coming. If my body would let me, I’d stretch my 40 into a 43 when I replace my 1/4s. Unfortunately that means stretching a hardtop, and even though that could be done with some sheet metal, a couple ambulance door windows, and some fibreglass work... It’ll be a long time before I can replace the outer 1/4s and building a 43 would be 20x the work.

 

[SamBaker]

@FJ404345 Heres a link to a dropbox containing pics of my 43. These were taken around 5 or so years ago in Colombia after it was "restored" there. You can see I have a lot of work to do to make it right but hey, thats the fun part! Current pics wouldn't be much as i'm in the process of taking the body off for a repaint and repair (Looking at the dropbox that may seem unnecessary but like I said those pics were 5 years ago in Colombia) I think i'm going to repaint it back to blue, as that was the trucks original color. I wasn't planning on doing such a thorough restoration this year but due to the virus I have so much time to work on it, turns out this is the best time to do it. Maybe I should do a restoration thread following the process, would that be of any interest to anyone?

Dropbox link: 77 LandCruiser - Fotos Profesionales

 

[SamBaker]

Also, to the bezel police out there, THESE PICS WERE COLOMBIAN!!