Fritz the 1978 FJ40 - Back from a Columbia Vacation

[procomsignathid]

Addl pics

 

[Paul_A]

All said great looking. I hope the electrical gremlins are an easy fix like bad grounds or burned out bulbs. That all reminds me of the English sports cars that my wife's family loved--nothing but electrical heartburn.

 

[charliemeyer007]

LouCuss Electrics?

 

[1911]

That all reminds me of the English sports cars that my wife's family loved--nothing but electrical heartburn.

Lucas, the prince of darkness.

 

[Slow Poke]

Nice find. You did well. Congratulations!

 

[fjc-man]

Where’s the front heater? How bout a picture of your vin plate.

 

[procomsignathid]

Where’s the front heater? How bout a picture of your vin plate.

Front heater is no longer present... Working to source parts. I've seen folks here saying the vintage air units work well, but also the stock ones too (if serviced properly). I'm leaning towards stock. Vin plate the one in the driver door frame?

 

[fjc-man]

Yes. You stated that your 40 is from Europe?

 

[procomsignathid]

Well this is interesting. Vin plate says oct ‘77, not 78. That said, the fuse panel so far seems to conform to the 78 design (the tiny 5a fuse at the bottom for the radio).

Also note this sticker on the window, I've done some googling but couldn't locate the shop. Its possible this car is a frankencar between a 77/78 (not sure how the resto was done). I don't believe it was a south america FJ aa the rollbar is here, but who knows for sure.

VIN on frame rails matches the plate FWIW.

 

[Grayscale]

Everything after August is nominally referred to as the next year. Your 10/77 truck is a nominal '78.

The exception is '74 and '78 - those years went to December, I think.

 

[procomsignathid]

Ah ok that makes sense!

 

[MDH33]

Sure it's not a South America import? Gas and no heater sure points to that.

 

[procomsignathid]

Sure it's not a South America import? Gas and no heater sure points to that.

Not sure, but there was a heater. Note all the knobs and whatnot, and the firewall gasket is there as well (it's not a blank, there are two holes there). What do you mean by gas?

 

[Aloha Jen]

In case you were curious about the possible history of your Fj40, I may have found something that point to its origins. Your VIN number, color, and year fj40 shows up on an import manifest in 2021. Imported from Cartagena Colombia into Florida USA. The window sticker address is also consistent with the address structure in Colombia.

Jul 20 2021

HOEGSD10CGPE0011

851240

VEHICULO USADO VEHICULO USADO TOYOTA FJ40 L MODELO 1978 COLOR ROJO BLANCO CAMPERO CABINA DO NO. MOTOR 2F212821 NO. SERIE/CHASIS FJ40260843 VEHICULO USADO VEHCULO USADO TOYOTA FJ40

CARTAGENA

PORT EVERGLADES, FL

The missing front heater also points in that direction as well.

 

[MDH33]

What do you mean by gas?

Gas vs Diesel. A lot of European 40 series are Diesel. Looks like Jen confirmed SA though. Good sleuthing.

 

[procomsignathid]

In case you were curious about the possible history of your Fj40, I may have found something that point to its origins. Your VIN number, color, and year fj40 shows up on an import manifest in 2021. Imported from Cartagena Colombia into Florida USA. The window sticker address is also consistent with the address structure in Colombia.

Jul 20 2021

HOEGSD10CGPE0011

851240

VEHICULO USADO VEHICULO USADO TOYOTA FJ40 L MODELO 1978 COLOR ROJO BLANCO CAMPERO CABINA DO NO. MOTOR 2F212821 NO. SERIE/CHASIS FJ40260843 VEHICULO USADO VEHCULO USADO TOYOTA FJ40

CARTAGENA

PORT EVERGLADES, FL

The missing front heater also points in that direction as well.

Oh wow, this is awesome! Thanks for looking that up... So I guess they went back in and added the roll bar / brought it up to US spec with some donor parts (like the speedo in MPH). Looks like its the original color at least!

Re: the heater, still surprised there's all the knobs (fan/fresh/warm)... But that manifest looks pretty cut-and-dry to me. Guess my car is columbian!

I'll need to do some digging to find out if there are any south-america specific issues I want to be on the look for maintenance-wise.

 

[fjc-man]

Will you have to emissions test based on where you live in Colorado? That’s for 75 and newer.

 

[procomsignathid]

Will you have to emissions test based on where you live in Colorado? That’s for 75 and newer.

Yep, that's on the to-do list this week. Hopefully its not bad news. I did notice the emissions control unit is in the car (not sure if its functioning properly or not). Crossing my fingers...

 

[405]

Maybe an exported US spec restored in SA and imported back to the US?

 

[MDH33]

Post some pics under the hood. We can probably tell you pretty quickly if you'll pass the visual for smog equipment. Does it have a catalytic converter?