1976 FJ40 Olive Green
A little catch-up update
It's been a slammed month of basement refinishing, soccer games, project deadlines, and school activities.
2 major product launches I'm jazzed to share:
After 3 yrs of startup madness,
http://shutterfly.com launched our product
http://www.thislife.com.
My team in less than 2 months launched a 3D headwear designer at
http://nike.teamheadwear.com.
These are the things that fill the gaps between FJ40 updates, right? I'm reading build threads and a recurring theme is the gaps where the money runs thin, schedules overwhelm, and life generally stretches us in multiple directions.
Found this one on CL
Pics attached and full set here:
http://sdrv.ms/173LRbX
B/C of the plate being in IL I ignored it thinking it was a haul to take a look at it. Turns out he was 15 minutes from my house.
The original ad:
I am selling my 1976 Toyota FJ40 in original condition, it has 77000 original miles. The FJ40 is virtually rust free, it was stored indoors all its life. Also when it was purchased new, it had the under coating done to prevent rust. Drives great, starts right up and has no problems. Clutch was just replaced and changes gear real smoothly. I have all the doors with all the bolts labeled and ready to put back on. It has ambulance doors, has the jump seats in the back, hard top and it is olive green. I put new seat covers on. Many extra parts, I have new fenders, body emblems, manuals, factory jack, spare tire holder and spare tire, it also has new brakes, battery, master cylinder, water pump. The FJ40 has its original paint on it and I am at point where I could paint it and make it look brand new, but I have been told to keep the original paint and not paint it. I have seen ones like mine painted and selling on ebay for $28,000. This FJ40 gets a lot of attention everytime I drive it. If you have been looking for a Rust free, original FJ40 and engine runs great, one test drive and you will know how great this FJ40 is. The FJ40 has a clean and clear title. I am selling to purchase a muscle car, I would consider trades for any 60's camaro, GTO's, Corvette or Mustang.
I took it for a spin and really liked it. Despite a backfire during acceleration, this was by far the most comfortable FJ40 I've driven so far.
I did a Google for backfiring and searching here on MUD as well.
Common causes of backfires are:
- Poor or unregulated engine timing is often a cause of intake backfires, but can also be responsible for exhaust backfires
- Improper wiring in the ignition can also lead to timing issues and backfires
- Low fuel pressure, clogged fuel filters, and weak fuel pumps could cause a severe lean air-to-fuel ratio during fuel injection
- Missing or damaged catalytic converter can result in backfires out the tailpipe
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Back-fire#Causes
Sound about right? By the end of my nearly 30 minute drive it has mostly stopped backfiring.
Drove straight, stopped straight. I definitely don't mind not having power steering, but wouldn't turn it down.
So I lined up a guy, Grant, that runs his own body shop and garage to check it out with me the following Monday morning; evaluate the rust, condition of the engine, compression check etc.
In the meantime, another one...
Friday morning my brother-in-law emailed me "FOUND IT!!!". A good looking FJ40 had popped that morning on CL asking $5500. It had an aluminum tub and seemed otherwise rust free. The ad stated it had a manifold leak and needed to be replaced; it would run, but stalled on idle.
I immediately setup a time to go see it, but due to conflicting schedules (soccer!!) it wouldn't happen until Sunday.
By Friday evening it was sold.
I'm not too torn up about that one. I'd prefer not to have the aluminum tub. I'm sure I could be persuaded otherwise if I saw one done well.
Mini damage
The morning after talking to Grant and setting up a trip to see the 1976 FJ40, I was awakened by my wife.
"Dave...Dave...Dave...I backed up into the Mini."
Yukon XL vs Mini Cooper. Yeh, no contest.
Back camera and proximity sensors only work if you give them the approx 5 seconds they need to initialize.
Hood is bent in, plastic grill pieces out of place, and bumper is pushed down a bit. Not actually that noticeable, but will need fixing.
Back to the 1976...
From the photos, Grant felt the rust all looked manageable. Of course, seeing it in person was necessary to really assess the extent.
By Sunday it was sold. Ad pulled. Bummer.
We were talking 6-7k. The owner said he wanted 10. At the time I went to look at it he was asking $10,900. Sunday he dropped it to $9,900 and then it was gone.
What do you think, 10k for something with this extent of surface rust?
Again, full set of pics:
http://sdrv.ms/173LRbX
I didn't take a pic of the dash. It was actually in good shape.
My original budget was much higher, near the 20k mark. Until the near year I'm looking at 10k now. If I can find a steal at or below there, I will jump on it. Come January I'll re-evaluate.
10k and below seem to sell faster...if they aren't total rebuild projects.
If the trends I'm seeing continue, I think I can get a decent FJ40 for 10-15k.
I still keep an eye on
eBay, but there's a lot of crazy up there. I'm definitely on MUD classifieds daily. And CL. Well, crazy is everywhere. ha.
Anyway, time for more soccer. 2 more weeks of 4 kids going in 4 directions. w00t!
