Oh, oh oh! Pick me pick me! I have 3 BJ74's, and once, for a brief moment in the space time continuum, owned 4 BJ74's at the same time!
Here's what I know.
They are the best Land Cruiser of all time.
It has the 13B-T engine, which is, in my opinion, the best Land Cruiser engine of all time, although, oddly, is only my second favourite Land Cruiser engine.
Unless they have an automatic transmission. Like this one does. Then they are the 97th best Land Cruiser of all time. Not bad... still top 100, but I drove my automatic transmission equipped BJ74 to Flagstaff Arizona and back, and had to overcome the urge to kamakaze into every overpass abutment to end the misery of it all. The auto is better off-road, as it helps to smooth out the 'Twitchy Throttle' complaint that amatuer drivers of Manual Transmission 13BT's seem to complain about.
Rust. Yeah, they get lots. Lower windshield frames are worst, followed by Rockers and rear wheel well arches, especially lower panels behind the rear wheels.
One thing to watch out for... from the factory they had the 'wrong' head gasket. They are a felt/fiber/cloth kind of thing, like what you average small block chev has... Garbage. They blow out pretty regular. You know they are gone when the coolant bubbles out the overflow tank. Good news is that a new multi layer steel head gasket is available from the dealer for reasonable money. Install that, put a new water pump on while you've got it apart, tie the waste gate closed to get max boost out of the engine, and go have fun!
12K is probably a good buy if the head gasket is not blown, and it's not rusty, and you can control your suicidal tendencies when driving the Auto on the highway.
