FJ55: To buy or not?

[Nickp]

Sorry for the extremely newbie post here. Did some searching and about 2 hours worth of research on the subject to really no avail.

So i just founda 79 FJ55 for sale locally, around here i would say its the first one i've ever seen. Its not in good body shape (body is very rusty. (unsure on the frame) Mechanically the car is sound and the owner said that everything functions as it should. Car has new tires and recently had been tuned up. (plugs, wires, points)

My question to you, say the frame is NOT rusty and its just body rust, Is the FJ55 worth it for 900 bucks. (yes i know your all somewhat biased)

However my other question. Am i stuck fabricating my own patch panels? I did notice one guy selling some IPOR rockers, however i for the life of me dont see anywhere that IPOR is selling anything for the fj55's. I also see a guy on here selling floor pans (which is great and the guy is doing a HUGE service to everyone and i thank him)

SO yea, where to you preservationist get your panels?

Thanks in advance and sorry for the probably millionth time you've heard this question.

 

[j2custom]

X2. Bodywork is an extremely slow and tedious process that can drive a person crazy if they are not prepared for it... it can kill the passion and kill the project. What do you want to do with the FJ55? How do you see it fitting into your life? If you want a nice driver/mostly complete truck maybe wait, there are some nice ones on ebay (and here of course) that may cost more initially but save you money in the long run and get you right on the road. I paid $850.00 for a mildly rusty pig but I am going to cut the rust off... Good luck with your decision. HTH

 

[LAMBCRUSHER]

All true. On the other hand, the 79 was the last year of the pig. So if you could get it back in decent shape, you'd have a really rare beast.

 

[LAMBCRUSHER]

79 should have the larger knuckles and the fine splines, power steering from the factory and maybe even air conditioning. Wider narrower radiator than all the other years- except maybe 78(Bogus???)

 

[bobm]

If you have the ambition and are willing to commit $900 bucks isnt much. used rust bucket 55s are selling for 1500 + in the northeast. And if it runs good thats a major plus.

 

[35inchoverdrive]

I did notice one guy selling some IPOR rockers, however i for the life of me dont see anywhere that IPOR is selling anything for the fj55's.

We did have replacment rockers/sliders for a while for the 55's, but we are sold out of them now, and I don't know when/if we will be doing another batch. That was one of those products that everyone said was cool, but not a lot of people bought. We still have some odds and ends for them, but unfortunately we don't have everything on the site. We've got Minitruck power steering box mounts, a few used body panels ect.

 

[bobm]

Nick did you buy or what?