HJ45 4 Door Truck Questions (13 Viewers)

[BDSeff1fitty]

Going to look at a 1978 HJ45 truck tomorrow a few minutes from us that is for sale as a possible vehicle for my father (spare, not DD). Been 10 years since I had my last 40, and some alarm bells are going off with this thing as I try to do some research to figure out what it is.

Guy is selling for someone else with not much details in the ad, so I've been trying to do some research and found some things on this truck.

Immediate things that stand out:
- Back of the Cab to the Bed; this does not look like any 40 series variant I've seen or can find online, so I assume this is a custom build someone did so need to check the frame if it was lengthened.
- H series diesel from what I can gather online, at least based on valve cover, this may predate the age of the vehicle so most likely a swap
- Remnants of red paint in the engine bay, so questioning the quality of any paint work
- Bed has me thinking this could be fiberglass under the wood panelling
- Tail gate doesn't have the "Toyota" embossed into it, so most likely not OEM
- Top does not appear removable, so wondering how this was "molded" to the body.

Anyone see anything that would scare you away from this thing, or anything suspect I may not have noticed.

Also any views on fair pricing. I was able to find what the asking price was for it in ~2018 on a couple sites ($26K & $40k from the same seller....), and where the seller likely bought it from and what their asking price was ($36K, date unknown but did have some things done to it after the sell around 2018). Current seller doesn't appear to have done anything to it since buying it.

Appreciate any feedback anyone here has.

 

[Chamba]

It's a one-off creation, likely made in Colombia or Costa Rica. Look very closely at the body work for the cab. Is the roof removable? Looks like it Isn't. Value will really specs on how well the work was done. I've seen very high quality with from siren there... but more often is fairly average with a ton of bondo and pretty paint. Render is a VERY humid place and Cruisers prefer a dry climate.

The H is a remarkably slow, underdressed and indirect injected diesel. It's strong, but parts are getting hard to come by. Easy to swap in a 2F or 2H or even a 12HT with the same engine mounts, so I wouldn't put any money into that engine.

Otherwise, damned cool 45.

 

[Michael B]

I would pass on that cobbled together nightmare.

 

[Mike Shull]

It's a one-off creation, likely made in Colombia or Costa Rica. Look very closely at the body work for the cab. Is the roof removable? Looks like it Isn't. Value will really specs on how well the work was done. I've seen very high quality with from siren there... but more often is fairly average with a ton of bondo and pretty paint. Render is a VERY humid place and Cruisers prefer a dry climate.

The H is a remarkably slow, underdressed and indirect injected diesel. It's strong, but parts are getting hard to come by. Easy to swap in a 2F or 2H or even a 12HT with the same engine mounts, so I wouldn't put any money into that engine.

Otherwise, damned cool 45.

Josh is still on here. Doesn’t this remind you of the FJ43 that we went to look at in Colorado Springs? That top seam also had body filler connecting it to the tub.

I agree with Michael B. I’d pass on this one unless they are in the $5k range and you are prepared to redo the body. I saw this listed for sale and I noticed that the front turn signals have been moved back, and no one would do that unless there is a good reason for not putting them back in the stock location.

 

[BDSeff1fitty]

Went and checked it out.

It's been sitting for a few years. I believe it's a ~73 or thereabouts, found a couple pages in a manual dated 73, and then jumped to 78 (which is what it was listed as on FB). Data tag showed HJ45 so guessing the 73 date in the manual make sense for it being a H series motor.

Frame didn't appear stretched, didn't see anything noticeable so suspect the wheel base is that of a 2 door LWB 45, and then that they used the front of the bed wheel wheel to get the body lines they put on the body.

The rear door area had a mix of fiberglass (or something not steel) and steel, door gaps on all of the doors weren't that good, could see day light thru the gaps with the doors shut.
Hard top blended into the body, many spots that could have been done way better.

Spots of paint cracking mainly around the areas for the rear of the cab. Rust peaking thru around the rear doors, a spot on the bed and then around the fiberglass top looks like it needs some attention.

A lot of little things here and there that weren't visible in photos that could have been done better.

 

[Chamba]

I looked long and hard before finally buying my current 43. Mine cost me a bit more, but It's not an amalgamation and that's key in my opinion. So many are cobbled together. Unless you're the one doing the cobbling there's almost no way to know how well it's been done until you start really digging into it.

I would want to go over this with a fine-tooth comb before jumping in to it. From the above description, I would pass if I were you. Remember that labour and bondo are cheap and plentiful in South America: technical know-how isn't.

 

[BDSeff1fitty]

We're not, knew almost immediately as we walked up on it that this was rougher than the pics showed and not what we were looking for.
For the asking price, I would have expected something a little more refined and a lot less of a project.

 

[duncanrm]

Haha, potato quality photos.. always the biggest red flag:

https://www.worldwidevintageautos.com/vehicles/1221/1978-toyota-land-cruiser

I had a good laugh at the silver paint on the exhaust manifold and the side of the cylinder head too.