Is it Worth Saving/ Should I buy it? (1 Viewer)

[ClassyJalopy]

This is asking for buying advice:
Hi Folks - I usually am an uninvited encumbrance in 100 series forums, bitching and complaining about my LX. I have also been secretly drooling over FJ60s all my adult life. A local truck popped up on FB and I find myself drawn to it.
Before I ask if it is a good buy, let me tell you what I want from a 60. I want it to run most of the time. I am mechanically inept but willing to get my hands dirty (have replaced TB, all suspension and axle/drive shafts). I don't weld or do body work but I am okay with living with some rust.
The truck in question is 1983 with original running gear and new KO2 tires. It doesn't seem modified, had pretty clean interior with custom wood dash, door and center console. Driver seat has tear in it. The dashboard and headliner are all in good condition. The rear fenders, rear hatch and lower portions of all doors are rusty. The frame doesn't have holes but a lot of crusty surface. no rust on the roof or the gutter around it.
The truck runs but will need carburettor rebuilt and the fuel pump has a small leak. Tie rods were recently replaced. The front hub lock/unlock smoothly.
Asking price is $5000. What do you guys think - is it worth buying and having someone media blast the frame and cover it with POR 15 and then just drive it? And slowly fix/modify it?

 

[ClassyJalopy]

More pics

 

[Ocho77]

That was for sale in Chicago about 2 years ago. It was listed here as well. Can probably find the for sale ad with a search.

Found it: For Sale - 1983 FJ60 - Stock - Chicago, IL

Seems pretty rusty for me. Even though the body isn't terrible for a Midwestern truck, working on trucks with that rust can be frustrating sometimes.

 

[John McVicker]

Does not look bad at all. You didn’t say anything about the engine but assuming it’s a stock 2f, it looks as if that truck is a good starting point for your described use. And a good price.

 

[D21FJ60]

Get it for as little as possible and do it!

 

[Seth S]

$1500 max. not in anyway a $5000 truck. Thats an ugly underside and that frame looks like its harboring even more ugliness.

 

[ClassyJalopy]

That was for sale in Chicago about 2 years ago. It was listed here as well. Can probably find the for sale ad with a search.

Found it: For Sale - 1983 FJ60 - Stock - Chicago, IL

Seems pretty rusty for me. Even though the body isn't terrible for a Midwestern truck, working on trucks with that rust can be frustrating sometimes.

Amazing! Thank you so much for the tip. Yes the worst thing about rust is how difficult it is to work on them

Does not look bad at all. You didn’t say anything about the engine but assuming it’s a stock 2f, it looks as if that truck is a good starting point for your described use. And a good price.

Yes stock 2F. I didn't have time to drive it (it has been parked all winter) but will go back and check it out a little more in a couple of days

Get it for as little as possible and do it!

What is a good price in your opinion?

 

[Saucerman]

That's a hulking pile of crap. Look at that frame. It doesn't have holes? Look again. Well maybe it doesn't have holes because the holes have rotted out too. I'll grant you the burl wood look is cool on the interior appointments. Granted I have also seen much worse and just as bad resurrected on this very forum. Spend $5k on something else because this truck would make you wish you had gone to Vegas and spent it on strippers instead.

 

[DirtRoads]

I'm biased living in the south but 5000 seems way high.

That being said, you can drive a mechanically sound rusty vehicle if body work isn't your thing. Something to think about.

 

[D21FJ60]

What is a good price in your opinion?

That's a hulking pile of crap. Look at that frame. It doesn't have holes? Look again. Well maybe it doesn't have holes because the holes have rotted out too. I'll grant you the burl wood look is cool on the interior appointments. Granted I have also seen much worse and just as bad resurrected on this very forum. Spend $5k on something else because this truck would make you wish you had gone to Vegas and spent it on strippers instead.

So I will say that @Saucerman isn't totally off, but I still say buy it because there are more of these being taken off the road every day.
Around here that truck would probably get $3k-$5k, maybe.
See if they'd take $2500 and go no higher than $4k, but at the end of the day it is your money. I Would say frame work would be an absolute based on the pictures provided.

edit: It also looks like there is a temp tag on the dash. That seems odd if it was sold 3 years ago...

 

[Seth S]

I'm of the opinion that this one is a rolling hulk of rust and unless you can get it for almost nothing you should walk away from it. The chassis is ugly and the body has a lot of corrosion problems. Whats visible is like the tip of the iceberg with the smallest portion visible. For $1k to $2k you are in the range where you could probably break even as a parts vehicle or a part out vehicle (parting out a vehicle is a PITA BTW).

$5000 buying price and a plane ticket will take you all over the USA where you can find other better deals. This truck could be driven as is for a little while but even then I'd be expecting major work needed to keep it road worthy.

 

[ClassyJalopy]

Sounds like $5k is too high. I have spoken with a local veteran owned business - the cost to media blast and coat the frame is $500 to $600. Assuming that it mechanically not too bad, I am thinking about paying $3k for it.

It has a temp tag because the guy who bought it last year has not driven it much and kept it just parked mostly.

 

[ClassyJalopy]

$5000 buying price and a plane ticket will take you all over the USA where you can find other better deals. This truck could be driven as is for a little while but even then I'd be expecting major work needed to keep it road worthy.

I must look harder then. $5k is basically my discretionary budget and I am not opposed to traveling for the right truck

 

[Seth S]

If you have a truck with a toast chassis but a clean body then the work involved in a chassis swap is justifiable. If your body and chassis need to be swapped then a better truck is the way to go.

For a more constructive reference:

I decided It was time to buy a toy and I wanted either a VW Vanagon camper or an FJ60. I determined my budget was max $10,000 and I was willing to travel to pick item up. I spent a solid year looking at searchtempest (allows you to search all CL ads for a given radius) as well as MUD, Ebay, etc. I actually found a really decent Vanagon right in my home down for about $8000 and I contacted the seller very shortly after the ad was up and by then it was already sold (talk about a competitive market)

In my searching I found that most trucks in the $2500-$5000 range need tons of work, have significant body or rust issues etc. Trucks in the $4000 - $6000 range still had rust issues but either they had clean chassis and ran well but needed body work, or they had nice bodies and ran well but needed a new frame....or the frame was 6/10 and the body was 6/10 but the truck had a lift, and bigger tires, and a bunch of add ons that justified the price difference.

Clean trucks started to appear in the $7000 - $10,000 range...or trucks that needed some body/frame things fix but were heavily modified...5 speeds, V8 conversions, racks, lifts, winches etc.


I found my truck (an 84) at a used toyota truck shop in Colorado and i had a friend in the same town who went and checked it out in person. I paid $8500 for it and I flew out and drove it home. The chassis has a light rust on it...the kind where you run your hand ever it and a rust dust appears...but a few minutes with a piece of sand paper reveals clean metal. I have yet to find any rot on the body and the only rust is in places where the paint has been vaporized by years of living in Sun country....again the kind of stuff that a light sanding eliminates...and I need to repaint the body.

 

[Seth S]

I must look harder then. $5k is basically my discretionary budget and I am not opposed to traveling for the right truck

if you buy that one for $5000 you will be into it for another $10,000 in either personal time and effort and parts or buy paying someone else...and after you have spent $15000 you will have a $7000 truck.

 

[White Stripe]

I see a 800.00 dollar truck their. Fj60's take lots of work and money. Increase your budget and get one as nice as you can. If you are in the rust belt, getting a fj60 and keeping the rust at bay is tough. The sheet metal on fj60/62s is extremely rust prone.

 

[MNKeith]

I'll swing the pendulum again. For Madison, I'd feel really good about that truck for $4k. Drive it and fix what breaks. Drive it in the summer, drive it in the salt, enjoy it until it rots away. You'll get more than your money's worth.

 

[bfoldy]

I would say find another one simply because the rear section of the frame appears to be in seriously bad shape. Far too much work involved for this one to ever recoup what you would invest to make it right.

 

[SteveH]

Whether this is worth buying at any price depends on your plans. Trail beater/deer hunting rig, maybe - super clean resto, no.

I lived in Michigan and I know what a mess older vehicles are when you have to torch everything before you can work on it. If you took that truck for $5K, and added all it needs (frame, suspension, interior) would you be that short (dollar-wise) of this truck for 9K? 1989 FJ62 (This is just an example of a truck anyone in the midwest would kill for, rust-wise - you may not like FJ62s...)

This FJ62 is completely rust free, and basically needs some light cleanup and dent removal/light bodywork. With that done, and with driving it in good weather, you'd have a rock solid 60 series that would appreciate in value. That rusty one will always sorta be at the trail-beater level, in my opinion.

$2500 is where I would want to be on that, with maybe an eye toward one-day getting a cleaner rig. I would not put more $$ into that rusty one than you could turn it over for.

 

[ClassyJalopy]

I was thinking more about a simple trail truck that I can beat on. But looks like a clean and well-sorted truck can be had for about $10k. Perhaps it is time to start saving some more and look for better options in a couple of years