Need some advice. Bj70 and rust

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Gsb15

Gsb15

10 Year
Joined
Mar 8, 2011
Threads
31
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718
Location
Victoria
So I've decided I want to sell my toyota pickup and get a cruiser. Preferable a bj70 LHD, but I'd also look at 60's.
I went to check out this one off usedvic, it's 86 3b with 368km on it. The truck mechanically seems pretty good. (Except a possible glow plug issue, which he wants to fix before selling)
Everything on it seems to be unmolested, it's got a nice interior (after a wash). And it comes with a new clutch kit bought from radd apparently.
He is asking $5500

Now here's the problem, as you guessed. Rust..
The rear quarters are hurting, r/h side especially.
The front of the truck, including floor and rockers and even fenders and the frame are good though. The only rust is the rear quarters.... And it's bad.
I'm not terribly afraid of fabricating body panels as it's kind of what I do for a living, bit I don't really wanna pay that much for it.
The seller is not in a hurry to sell and doesn't want to budge on the price more than $500
This leaves me kinda stuck, there's only 1 other 70 I can find for sale, and it's in van. It's 400km kinda fxxxed with (lifted etc) and he says it's a rusty body as well. This one is $5000 as well

Anyway here's some pics




 
Howdy.....always miss my little rust free BJ70... Looks OK, if the frame is good the rear quarters should be not bad to tackle.. As for how much, we cheap cruiser heads would not want to pay that much..:clap:
 
When I bought mine it was similar, although the inside and wheelwells were all fine. The rockers can be bought still, and aren't hugely expensive, although they are a pain in the ass to install.

With the arse end, if you do away with the fender lip, they're quite easy to do as it's all flat. I did a "quick and dirty " repair to mine when I bought it, and it lasted 5 years until I sold it. I have one of those flanging tools that stamps a lip into sheet metal, I used that on the rear and it worked pretty well. I wouldn't say the truck looked perfect, but the carpets stayed dry. Wet carpets are kinda the shark jumping moment for a cruiser, the rust spreads at double speed once it gets there.


All that said, I didn't pay 5k for it. (more like 1600) For 5k, you're getting close to bj74 kinda money. Not that they're much less rusty after being in canada for 5 years.

Funny enough a guy just sent me some pics of a 74 for sale for a couple k more, and it has lots of rust bubbles. Probably not in much better shape than the one you showed once a guy scrapes the paint off. I like the 70's, but I think they rust worse that 60's or 40's. Hard as that is to believe. Not sure I want to put myself through that bs again.
 
Yea 1600 would be nice. I know I probably should just get a bj74, but I'm pretty stubborn on the LHD. It seems everything toyota has jumped prices recently. Crappy pickups are going for 3000. I was looking at nice 1st gen 4runners a while ago and they where 6-7 grand, with 400k!
 
Let me try something here Graham. I know Nigel (with the nice BJ70) has his eye on a new toy and might be thinning his herd a bit. I could ask what he'd want for his 70 if you like?
 
If I were you, I'd keep my eye out for something less rusty, or much cheaper (cheap enough to make it worth the effort of repairing the rust).

In terms of 70 series rusting, I have to say that I haven't seen any rusty 90+ 70's. I'm thinking something changed with the quality of the steel around then; or maybe some other rust proofing measures. In fact, 90+ landcruisers in general don't seem to have rust problems. I saw a mint HZJ73 sell for around $6500 last year with only 150,000kms or so. Just gotta keep your eyes out.
 
Oh, and with regard to RHD, personally I don't find it a big deal at all. Took me about 15min to get used to it, and a couple more weeks to stop mixing up lights/wipers. For a while it was weird getting back into LHD. Now I'm ambidextrous, haha. I think seapotato is one of the only people I know who has actually owned RHD and still hates it. Most people who hate RHD have never actually driven one.

So what I'm getting at, is don't write off the RHD without actually trying it first.
 
Currently helping a guy who is doing a BJ74 left hand conversion, not nearly as difficult as I thought it would be having a donor vehicle... In saying that he shat the bed when he started re installing everything, jump ahead a step and never addressed the firewall plumbing, now its turned into a bit of a s*** show..
 
Gsb15 said:
Yea 1600 would be nice. I know I probably should just get a bj74, but I'm pretty stubborn on the LHD. It seems everything toyota has jumped prices recently. Crappy pickups are going for 3000. I was looking at nice 1st gen 4runners a while ago and they where 6-7 grand, with 400k!
Click to expand...

Got a 5500 for a rust free Southern Oregon first gen runner, newer tires and rims.. Do no fool yourself, they are not selling for that much money, there is a first gen pick up on used in Vic, no price but I think its under 2k..
 
I've driven RHD enough that I'm fully ambidextrous... But never in my personal vehicle. After getting parts off Morb's parts truck I can sure appreciate rust free RHD vehicles. I'd have to say I can understand both sides of the coin.

I think I'd want to convert a RHD to LHD if I got a 43 or troopy.
 
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