new here, looking for some opinions

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thewrench

10 Year 15 Year
Joined
Jul 13, 2007
Threads
2
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Hello everyone, my name is steve and i'm from Langley. I was refered here after meeting Enigma last weekend at Hale creek. :cheers: jeff

I drive a 91 toyotya truck with a solid axle and some other stuff;) so i'm not new to toys.

The main reason i am here is I have always wanted an FJ45 and i happened across one yesterday but have no idea what they are worth so i thought i might get some opinions from the experts around here. I took a few pictures so you have a better idea what the condition is.

100_1950.jpg


100_1957.jpg


100_1954.jpg


thats all i got befor my camera died.

this is what i know from talking to the owner;
it is a 1977 1 ton
he has owned it for over 20 years and parked it 3 years ago with the intention of restoring it
was running a chev 350 on propane so the whole propane system is there, just no motor.
has chev power steering
I think he said it had the 4 speed tranny
it has almost new 33" ground hawgs (dont really care, i wouldnt run them anyways)
comes with everything he has laying around for it including all the disassembled body and an extra set of mint doors, another tranny and transfer case, the original fuel system, an additional 3rd for the front diff and some other odds and ends and parts for a chev 350.

his asking price is $3000obo, is this a good price for a 45 in this condition or is it too high.

any advise you can offer me is greatly appreciated, hopefully i too will be a proud landcruiser owner

:cheers:
 
Hi Steve, glad you found your way here!

That 45 looks pretty damn rough for 3k, but then sadly most of them do. The price on them always gets inflated due to the rarity, even more so when the guy actually knows what it is as well.

Yes it will have a 4 speed, unless its been swapped. Drum brakes all around, full floating rear axle and 4:11 diffs. Propane rocks, my 45 is on the bottle as well. They are all rated for one ton (metric ?) and ride like tanks.
The cab roof is removable as well.

Check out www.aqualu.com for replacement aluminum body parts should you decide to lowball they guy and get it. woohoo!

Oh, and if you haven't found your way over to the 45 section here...'git a clickin'!
 
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Steve,
We all like the 45s because they are so rare and just plain cool.
However they are not comfortable as a commuter.
Considering that it will probably cost you around 15K plus a lot of your own work to bring it to a nice shape (from what I can see on the pics), saving a grand from the original purchase is irrelevant.
I guess what I’m trying to say is it depends how much you really want it.
There are some great people in the club (Rob M, Steve and Karin) that can help you turn this 45 into a gem if you choose to take on this project.
We spend so much time in our vehicles these days that I think it should one that makes you feel good about driving it.
Whatever your decision will be, make sure it a Cruiser of some kind, hahaha.
Cheers,
 
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Hi jeff, it's funny that we were talking about how I always wanted one of these but never see them for sale, and then not even a week later theres one just a couple blocks from my house.:lol:

My intentions with this truck would be more as a resto-mod, not a DD but just a play vehicle thats fun to drive. I would loose the 1 ton suspension in favor of something more comfortable and flexy. Ideally I think I would like to put a nice turbo deisel (but time will tell on that as I have considered propane in my 91) in it and run tires in the 37-39"ish range. If I did buy it I wouldnt expect to have it running in for several years tho, it would be something for my dad and I to work on together.

how hard is it to find parts for these trucks, like body panels, odds and ends of the interior, and axles and stuff?

how strong are the diffs in these trucks? I thought the full floater rears were very rare and very strong? what about the fronts, are the birfs an issue with these trucks too?

can the diffs be converted to disks?

how durable are the frames?

If you need some more pictures to get a better idea I can get them no problem

what would you offer for it?

Thanks for the patience with all the questions:cheers:
 
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Have a look at this thread for an idea on the ultimate in FJ45 LPB resto's!

https://forum.ih8mud.com/showthread.php?t=104821

Parts are available but not easy to find. You can easily convert to disc brakes. Rust will be your biggest issue to deal with and that will be confined primarily to the body not so much on the frame.
 
Personally I feel that fixing up an old cruiser is a labor of love.The money really doesn't mean anything.It can be spread over years so then you don't hurt as bad.I know people who got a cruiser and felt that they had to get it up to gem stage right away.With in a year felt over burdened,got pissed off and broke so got rid of thier truck.Got Elsie 10 years ago for 4K,know look at her.Still working on her.Not even close to done but she gets better every year.
 
thewrench said:
Hi jeff, it's funny that we were talking about how I always wanted one of these but never see them for sale, and then not even a week later theres one just a couple blocks from my house.:lol:
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thewrench said:
Its called Karma. Before I bought mine I was thinking I'd like a 45, and a buddy had a bunch of trucks on propane and I thought that would be neat as well. Then about a week or so later I find a 45 on propane :)


how hard is it to find parts for these trucks, like body panels, odds and ends of the interior, and axles and stuff?

No more than any other 'cruiser really. The front end is all the same. Roofs and cabs are harder to find, but not impossible, the boxes are usually rusted to hell tho.

how strong are the diffs in these trucks? I thought the full floater rears were very rare and very strong? what about the fronts, are the birfs an issue with these trucks too?


Same strength as all 'cruiser axles....very strong! They are similar in size to a dana60. Running 36-37" tires should not be a problem. FF rears aren't rare, they come in all 45's (except for South African ones apparently) and all units from Down Under. Birfields are only an issue when turning at full lock, and a locker in the front. So I've heard anyways.
can the diffs be converted to disks?

how durable are the frames?

I've never heard of any problems, except for rust.


what would you offer for it?

Well I'd go there with 3k. Start low and see what you can do. But what Marcin said was quite true.

Thanks for the patience with all the questions:cheers:
Click to expand...


No problem, thats what this site is all about.
 
I've seen that FJ45, it has a lot to offer but is still a long way from being a daily driver
I use to see it all the time at the guys other house. I'm pretty sure it's been in pieces for longer then 3 yrs though, but, I could be wrong
$2000+ would be my guess at a value
$3000 is a bit too much
I've had a total of 12 FJ45's
the 13th is in the works right now, most of those were not worth rebuilding
 
i drive past the house every day and have seen it under a tarp beside his house fop years, i always wondered what he was going to do with it.....

I went over there to take a good look at it in the daylight today and the frame looks rougher than i thought.:frown: The frame rails are full of mud and the back 1/4 of it around the rear spring hangers is swollen and flaking but the rest of it looks ok. The cab is in about the same condition as the one in the link posted above so it doesn't seem too bad.

I think i am going to talk to him a bit more about it and see if we cant come to a deal, but the only thing that really worries me about it is the frame.... oh and the roof is red and flaky and full of pinholes too, so i thinkits shot too.

as for being a long way from a DD, your right, but i was thinking more along the lines of a long term project (5 years or so to be realistic with the amount of time i would have available to throw at it) so that doesnt bother me.

Mud_guppie when you look at it would you think it is worth rebuilding?

Again, thanks for the help with the questions:cheers:
 
thewrench said:
i was thinking more along the lines of a long term project (5 years or so to be realistic with the amount of time i would have available to throw at it) so that doesnt bother me.

Mud_guppie when you look at it would you think it is worth rebuilding?
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I think you're answering your question!!

If the question is, "Will I realize a return on investment in restoration?" then in 99.9% of the cases the answer is NO!

You do it because you want to, because you can't get it new anymore, because it has sentimental or other intrinsic value to you personally but NOT because you're going to get rich because you won't!!
 
cruiser_guy said:
You do it because you want to, because you can't get it new anymore, because it has sentimental or other intrinsic value to you personally but NOT because you're going to get rich because you won't!!
Click to expand...


45 in great shape are worth quite bit. But like said above you do it for a love of cruisers... to own something that cannot be bought new.

I hope you can weld. If not, it is easy enough to learn. Mig welding on body panels takes practice but can be mastered to do this rebuild.

Check out the gozzard site for fiberglass parts for that truck. I would like a fiberglass box. No rust issues to deal with again. Ahhh....
 
the last time I looked at it, I thought it was worth rebuilding
you'll never get rich restoring a FJ45 (correctly)
you'll get rich doing a bandaid patch/bondo job and finding a rich sucker to buy it, but that's about it.
doing it for yourself is a different story
If you build it right, you can expect $30,000 in parts purchases and more if you go nuts on cools toys.
We've done some cool builds and parts alone can get $$$
paint and new panels add up even quicker

My advice is this,
have a good allowance before you start
sandblast or dip everything (for stripping)
replace every bearing in the drivetrain
new hardware is pricie but worth every penny when re-assembling
build what you want, not what the trend says is cool at this time

and yes, I'm too picky
 
I was on my way down ther to try and work somethng out wiht the guy and i saw it was gone:frown: Guy wasnt home either........ hope he didnt scr ap it cause it wasnt selling
 
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