I have always loved the look of the troop carriers and with a family of five, we had definitely outgrown my '76 FJ40 that I had owned for 15 years. So the decision was made to sell the '76 and search for a good troopy. While trolling Gumtree one day, I found what looked to be a near flawless, original example in Jimboomba, QLD AUS. It was an original owner truck with 238000 kilometers on the clock. It was not my favorite color (681 Green) but a fairly rare one and appeared to be in great shape.
I shot a PM off to Phil @AUStoUSA. I told him I was looking for a troop and he mentioned the same green troopy that I had seen on Gumtree. A few more conversations and two days later the troopy was mine.
My kids and I decided Jimboomba was a perfect name for the new troopy.
Here she is a few days ago when I picked up Jimboomba at AustoUsa's warehouse, which is conveniently only about 50 miles from my house.
I had never driven a RHD vehicle before so I had a crash course for about a mile before hopping on Interstate 5 for the drive back home. It took a few miles and one coffee stop to relax but all in all, smooth sailing. I was a little worried about how the 2H would drive considering Ive heard mixed reviews. She drove great. It is quiet, smooth and cruised down the freeway easily at 65mph.
A few days later, the weather is crap so I decided to wipe down the interior and pull out a few of the gadgets that had been added that I had no use for like the trailer brakes and the UHF radio. Plus the wiring for these and the aftermarket CD player was a bit of a mess so I pulled the UHF and brake controller and all their wiring and rewired the CD player. It turned out much cleaner under dash.
Next I decided to toss the ugly green turf carpet that was covering the span of the rear wheel wells. I almost felt bad, the PO must have really spent some time installing this as the carpet was perfectly trimmed around every jumpseat and seatbelt bracket. I also pulled out the grey carpet and started wiping away the remnants of Aussie dust and was stoked at the outcome! I have never seen a bed this clean. It is near flawless. There are some scratches at the sill but the rest is perfect!!!
I had a smile ear to ear!!! That is OEM toyota paint, from the factory in 1984!! not a single dimple or pit.
Jimboomba also had the thick, sheepskin seat covers which were a little dirty so I pulled those off too to reveal the perfect seat backs with only one small scratch. I had been told that the seats had some cracks so I was expecting to see seats all cracked apart but was also thrilled to see they were in great shape too. The OEM floor mat was in great shape minus the small crack u under the clutch. This thing was like cracking open a 32 year old time capsule.
Here are a few more pics I took before the stormy weather started here.
I shot a PM off to Phil @AUStoUSA. I told him I was looking for a troop and he mentioned the same green troopy that I had seen on Gumtree. A few more conversations and two days later the troopy was mine.
My kids and I decided Jimboomba was a perfect name for the new troopy.
Here she is a few days ago when I picked up Jimboomba at AustoUsa's warehouse, which is conveniently only about 50 miles from my house.
I had never driven a RHD vehicle before so I had a crash course for about a mile before hopping on Interstate 5 for the drive back home. It took a few miles and one coffee stop to relax but all in all, smooth sailing. I was a little worried about how the 2H would drive considering Ive heard mixed reviews. She drove great. It is quiet, smooth and cruised down the freeway easily at 65mph.
A few days later, the weather is crap so I decided to wipe down the interior and pull out a few of the gadgets that had been added that I had no use for like the trailer brakes and the UHF radio. Plus the wiring for these and the aftermarket CD player was a bit of a mess so I pulled the UHF and brake controller and all their wiring and rewired the CD player. It turned out much cleaner under dash.
Next I decided to toss the ugly green turf carpet that was covering the span of the rear wheel wells. I almost felt bad, the PO must have really spent some time installing this as the carpet was perfectly trimmed around every jumpseat and seatbelt bracket. I also pulled out the grey carpet and started wiping away the remnants of Aussie dust and was stoked at the outcome! I have never seen a bed this clean. It is near flawless. There are some scratches at the sill but the rest is perfect!!!
I had a smile ear to ear!!! That is OEM toyota paint, from the factory in 1984!! not a single dimple or pit.
Jimboomba also had the thick, sheepskin seat covers which were a little dirty so I pulled those off too to reveal the perfect seat backs with only one small scratch. I had been told that the seats had some cracks so I was expecting to see seats all cracked apart but was also thrilled to see they were in great shape too. The OEM floor mat was in great shape minus the small crack u under the clutch. This thing was like cracking open a 32 year old time capsule.
Here are a few more pics I took before the stormy weather started here.
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