FJ45 1979 Troopy Soft Top - Is it worth to fix and export?

[DaDeadDictator]

Hello FJ enthusiasts!

I live in Paraguay and bought the second troopy that escorted the now dead dictator whenever he was on parade or travelling.
For more than half a year I have been trying to sell it for a reasonable price here locally but except for lowballers I haven't received a serious offer.
Before you say sell it to me, and this is not the reason why I haven't sold it yet here, it has an issue that must be fixed.
This car was imported without any documents and sold by the army outlet with falsified documents (because it didn't have any).
How do I know this? Besides that the chassis number doesn't fit the model number, there are more clues, but my partner's brothers told me so
and their (deceased) father worked as the colonel mechanic on the Toyos during those years that they were in service.
The documents that I have says it is a BJ40 from 1970, the original chassis number says it is a FJ45 from 1979.
The best and quickest way to solve this issue is to register it as a "found antique vehicle" with the national organisation called Turing Paraguay and its Club Vehículos Antiguos.
But for a Paraguayan buyer it is best to buy it and do it themselves because then the car is directly registered in their name, saving time and money.
The car has had an engine change before I bought it, and is now a diesel car with a working 3B engine and gearbox.
It is in decent condition with rust in the usual places and has some damage at the back.
So my question is: Are there FJ aficionados who would be interested in importing this car from Paraguay after its identity issue is fixed, and if so, how much would this rarer model be worth?
My name is Douglas, a Dutch national who has been living in Paraguay since 2012 and I speak English, Dutch, German and Spanish.

 

[DaDeadDictator]

I'm sure its under like the clean air act - ask VW about cheating on diesel testing.

Importing with a different engine than the original doesn't seem to be the problem, it must be EPA certified. But when I ask whether the Toyota B engine is certified I get this answer:

No, the Toyota B series diesel engines (including 2B, 3B, 11B, 13B, 14B) were not officially EPA-certified for use in new vehicles sold in the United States.
These engines were produced from the 1970s through the 1990s primarily for international markets (Japan, Australia, and the Middle East) and do not meet US EPA or California Air Resources Board (ARB) emission standards.

Key Information Regarding EPA Compliance

• Import Status: Because these engines were not originally EPA-certified, importing a vehicle with a B-series engine (like a Land Cruiser BJ40/BJ70) requires the vehicle to be at least 25 years old to be exempt from Department of Transportation (DOT) and EPA compliance.

And it is 45 years old so...

 

[Living in the Past]

Imported vehicles are suppose to have their original engine. Going from petrol FJ to a diesel BJ is a red flag. Paper work I would imagine state fuel type. First letter in the model would throw up a red flag.

 

[rainingagain]

Why is this illegal? Can you point to the regulation or law?

The engine swap itself is not illegal in the states. You are just limited to states that do not have emission checks as it likely will not pass. The smog/emission checks vary by state but more than half have them in order to get registered to drive on public roads.

 

[gr8ful]

The engine swap itself is not illegal in the states. You are just limited to states that do not have emission checks as it likely will not pass. The smog/emission checks vary by state but more than half have them in order to get registered to drive on public roads.

It’s actually federally illegal. It is just not enforced by a lot of states. Much like speed limits & weed. It kind of depends on what the local enforcement wing cares about.

 

[gr8ful]

Why is this illegal? Can you point to the regulation or law?

It is the EPA exemption that allows them to be in the USA. You can do a US legal engine swap. But not one that is not EPA certified.

 

[Living in the Past]

Curious how the conversion from a. 2F to 3B was done? B engines always used crossmember bolted to the frame sides on each behind the bellhousing as a rear motor. Up until 8/80 F engine has rear motor mounts bolted to the bellhousing. Front motor mounts were different as well. Good chance how the motor is mounted could be a give away. Welded versus riveted are easy to spot.

While engine replacement is a state thing it has to get thru federal customs just get in the country. States do not regulate that

 

[cruisermatt]

@DaDeadDictator

If your goal with exporting this vehicle to another country is profit I would recommend accepting whatever local offer you get and moving on.

 

[charliemeyer007]

Didn't like Heavy D or Wanking Diesel get fined big time for "illegal diesel modifications".

 

[pb4ugo]

I see that chunk out of the left front fender and wonder if they used the cement mixer to mix up some bondo.

 

[FJ404345]

I would just keep driving the troopy !

 

[OGBeno]

@DaDeadDictator

If your goal with exporting this vehicle to another country is profit I would recommend accepting whatever local offer you get and moving on.

Agreed. But every day there is someone who wants to make money importing Land Cruisers from the worst possible places.

 

[DaDeadDictator]

I see that chunk out of the left front fender and wonder if they used the cement mixer to mix up some bon

I woukd just keep driving the troopy !

Although I have on paper plenty of space (10 hectares) I would have to make space for it, but I have other priorities. Either I sell it soon or I mothball it if I can at a neighbor's place.

 

[Living in the Past]

Either I sell it soon or I mothball it if I can at a neighbor's place.

The term mothball generally means to preserve. Unless it's some kind of controlled storage I wouldn't expect to it to stay in it's current condition. Especially a soft top.

 

[kzj70]

I like it, not the colour but it is different and the colour easily changed Here in the UK a 3B swap wouldn’t be a problem as still period for a J4. But I would have no idea of its value. There is a guy from a company Hogg and Swan who brings cars in from Indonesia for sale in the UK, might be worth a try?

 

[FJ404345]

In 1962 Principe Felipe was visiting Paraguay, then the second car was already a 40 series .

 

[Chamba]

Vehicles with an engine with which it was not originally equipped are defined as 'non-conforming vehicles' under the Act: even under the 25 year old rule.

You can read this section yourself. In a nutshell, the engine must be of the same type (ie: petrol for petrol, diesel for diesel) and of the same or newer production year. Again, this will require additional paperwork and inspections. Each inspection and every piece of paperwork is another potential refusal.

This is not to say that it CAN'T be done, or that you won't get a lazy customs guy. But why risk all of this when there are plenty of vehicles available in the third world to import which meet all of the requirements?

 

[DaDeadDictator]

Vehicles with an engine with which it was not originally equipped are defined as 'non-conforming vehicles' under the Act: even under the 25 year old rule.

You can read this section yourself. In a nutshell, the engine must be of the same type (ie: petrol for petrol, diesel for diesel) and of the same or newer production year. Again, this will require additional paperwork and inspections. Each inspection and every piece of paperwork is another potential refusal.

This is not to say that it CAN'T be done, or that you won't get a lazy customs guy. But why risk all of this when there are plenty of vehicles available in the third world to import which meet all of the requirements?

View attachment 4090179

Hi Chamba, I have pulled up the PDF file and found this:

Vehicles with an engine with which it was not originally equipped are defined as 'non-conforming vehicles' under the Act: even under the 25 year old rule.

You can read this section yourself. In a nutshell, the engine must be of the same type (ie: petrol for petrol, diesel for diesel) and of the same or newer production year. Again, this will require additional paperwork and inspections. Each inspection and every piece of paperwork is another potential refusal.

This is not to say that it CAN'T be done, or that you won't get a lazy customs guy. But why risk all of this when there are plenty of vehicles available in the third world to import which meet all of the requirements?

View attachment 4090179

Vehicles with an engine with which it was not originally equipped are defined as 'non-conforming vehicles' under the Act: even under the 25 year old rule.

You can read this section yourself. In a nutshell, the engine must be of the same type (ie: petrol for petrol, diesel for diesel) and of the same or newer production year. Again, this will require additional paperwork and inspections. Each inspection and every piece of paperwork is another potential refusal.

This is not to say that it CAN'T be done, or that you won't get a lazy customs guy. But why risk all of this when there are plenty of vehicles available in the third world to import which meet all of the requirements?

View attachment 4090179

Hi Chamba,

I found the section that mentions this:

The solution could be to simply take out the engine here. I don't get the feeling that this is a popular engine anyway.