In over my head

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76 Tico BJ40

76 Tico BJ40

10 Year 15 Year
Joined
Jan 24, 2007
Threads
8
Messages
32
Location
San Antonio, TX
I am a South Dakotan living in Costa Rica. Thought I needed a toy so I joined the family of BJ 40 owners. It is a 24v system, probably should have done some research 1st. Don't know if that is a good thing or a bad thing.Does anyone know if there is a way to decode the vin# to see when the truck was manufactured? That is kind of important for import regs in the US in case I want to bring my toy home with me.Anyway, will probably be asking all kinds of quesitons in the future. Also, if anyone has any good sources for BJ40 information, etc, in English, that would be helpful.
 
24volt is a cold spec thing... probably not really necessary in Costa Rica.
Don't sweat it. You will just need to run a voltage converter to power your 12v accessories. Parasite loading is where all the problems seem to come from.
Search this forum and you will find lots o info.

Sheldon
 
Thanks guys I will keep my eyes peeled and try to learn something about my new toy.

They call a Landcruiser a tractor with a bow tie down here. Kind of fitting, don't you think?
rw
 
light_duty said:
http://fleet.toyota.com/html/vin_decoder.asp

this might help decode the VIN.
Click to expand...

so where does one find the VIN - I have one on the paperwork with the truck but it does not work in the vin decoder

I think it is one the frame behind the front bumper somewhere but there is a pretty heavy undercoat so I can see it and don't want to go scaping stuff off until I am sure I am in the right place.

Thanks
 
The decoder won't help on a 40 series.

The vin on the outer frame rail is passenger side up front right behind the bumper

THere should be a vin tag on the firewall.

depending on the year there was one on the inner fender and one on the driver door sill.
HTH
 
Welcome to the board! If it has original seat belts you can look on the seat belt tag located on the very bottom of the seat belt. I don't believe it will give you a month but it will atleast give you a year.:beer:
 
Okay - no original seatbelts, can't find anything on firewall - I am assuming you are talking about on the motor side.I did find it on the frame, but it just has BJ40 then either spaces or 0's then a 5 digit number. Is that all the VIN will be? Sorry, this is all new to me. I was spoiled growing up and always had new cars and their was the easy to read plate on the door or the dash.What are the typical running temps of this motor? I run typically at 180 F but under hard hills it creeps up to 200 F. Most of the gauges don't works so this is an aftermarket temp guage. Also, I check on getting the motor rebuilt down here and was told $1,600. It knocks a little and burns some oil. Don't know if that is a good deal or not.Thanks.
 
76 Tco BJ40 said:
I did find it on the frame, but it just has BJ40 then either spaces or 0's then a 5 digit number. Is that all the VIN will be?
Click to expand...

That would be it!!

76 Tco BJ40 said:
Also, I check on getting the motor rebuilt down here and was told $1,600. It knocks a little and burns some oil. Don't know if that is a good deal or not.Thanks.
Click to expand...

If they do a true rebuild for $1600 it would be a steal but I doubt that it's a full rebuild. I've had experiences with Central American mechanics and they are really good at picking out the suckers and doing "Band Aid" repairs.

Find out what a "rebuild" includes and post it up here. We'll be glad to let you know.
 
wesintl said:
If all you have is the frame stamp and there is not a vin tag to be found I think your going to have issues. There are other ways around this though.
Click to expand...

I think this is more common in Central America.
 
My importation

I am assuming your truck is a 78 from your name.

As long as it is 25 years old (1982 or older) you are fine.

Also, The 'vin" on these are bunk. You have to use the frame number. It should be on the right hand side of the firewall (while looking at the motor from the front bumper). Two ways to verify age.

1) check in the EPC. You may need to add a Zero as mine was missing one. eg: my plate says bj44-002769 but the only one that comes up is bj44-0002769. If yours is Seven digits, you are fine.

2) there is a russian site that has a huge list of frame numbers from various models. Try searching the board for frame number and you should find the link to it.

Lastly, my truck had no vin plate, just the plate on the firewall with the frame number. I was able to register in Colorado with no issue at all. You will need to have a title issued somewhere however. I know someoen that can do all of that for you... PM if you'd like his info.

Good luck

Kraig
 
thanks man! BJ40-002250 is all that I am coming up with, I will have to search harder for on the firewall tomorrow. Yeah, being able to get a title issued would be huge. Any help you can provide would be awesome. It is a 76 by the way.

Thanks!
 
Last edited:
paint looks good. any rust anywhere that you have noticed?>
 
CruisinFJ60 said:
paint looks good. any rust anywhere that you have noticed?>
Click to expand...
body and frame is actually pretty solid - doors and top has some rust

There are some pretty decent ones down here if you look hard and want to pay a little more - they just weren't in my budget this time.
 
I will take some more photos and post them. I have no idea about the turn lights. I am pretty new to the cruiser world - learning a lot fast (and sometimes the hard way - ha!)
 
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