Greetings all. I'm actually starting to make some progress on my build so I figured I should start a build thread. Here is the first pic I took when I found it.
So the story. My neighbor accross the road was talking to my wife about an old "jeep" she was about to put up for sale. I'm the kind of guy that always has his head on swivel looking for the next project so I immediatley hoofed it over there. I've known this neighbor for a bit but it wasn't much of a relationship beyond a friendly hello. Her husband had recently passed. She had sold off a half a dozen CJ5s and this was what was left. The cab was filled with a box of FJ40 parts and a bunch of Jeep stuff.
Apparently my neighbor told a few other people about the land cruiser and by the next day, there was already a couple people trying to get it. At the time I had no idea how rare an off market find like this was. After some back and forth we landed on a price. I won out because my plans were the same as here husbands. Restore it and drive it. The other buyers seemed like flippers who smelled some quick cash.
I am technically the third owner. PO bought this from the original owner in 2002/2003 and then parked it in his shop. He drove it there. I am told that it runs but smokes a bit. It's 95% original and OEM. It has the original spare tire. The other 4 rims have the correct date code. There are a few bits on the cooling system that were replaced with what look like parts from a plumbers work truck. I'll get those back to OEM.
It came with a stack of service records from various Toyota dealerships dating back to the early 70s. When I get some time I'll post some pics of these receipts. You all will get a kick out of some of these prices! Original owner was a navy guy. His card is still stapled to the service booklet. This was built in 6/66-7/66, titled as a 1967. Original owner took delivery on Dec 5, 1969 though. Maybe he was deployed? Just 6 months prior, the Appollo 11 mission successfully landed on the moon!
I have restored and created many restomods in my day, but this one is too perfect to chop up. I am going for a patina build and will bring it back to 100% stock. I have two young kids, so I don't get a lot of time these days, but I'll keep posted as I make progress. Let the journey begin!
So the story. My neighbor accross the road was talking to my wife about an old "jeep" she was about to put up for sale. I'm the kind of guy that always has his head on swivel looking for the next project so I immediatley hoofed it over there. I've known this neighbor for a bit but it wasn't much of a relationship beyond a friendly hello. Her husband had recently passed. She had sold off a half a dozen CJ5s and this was what was left. The cab was filled with a box of FJ40 parts and a bunch of Jeep stuff.
Apparently my neighbor told a few other people about the land cruiser and by the next day, there was already a couple people trying to get it. At the time I had no idea how rare an off market find like this was. After some back and forth we landed on a price. I won out because my plans were the same as here husbands. Restore it and drive it. The other buyers seemed like flippers who smelled some quick cash.
I am technically the third owner. PO bought this from the original owner in 2002/2003 and then parked it in his shop. He drove it there. I am told that it runs but smokes a bit. It's 95% original and OEM. It has the original spare tire. The other 4 rims have the correct date code. There are a few bits on the cooling system that were replaced with what look like parts from a plumbers work truck. I'll get those back to OEM.
It came with a stack of service records from various Toyota dealerships dating back to the early 70s. When I get some time I'll post some pics of these receipts. You all will get a kick out of some of these prices! Original owner was a navy guy. His card is still stapled to the service booklet. This was built in 6/66-7/66, titled as a 1967. Original owner took delivery on Dec 5, 1969 though. Maybe he was deployed? Just 6 months prior, the Appollo 11 mission successfully landed on the moon!
I have restored and created many restomods in my day, but this one is too perfect to chop up. I am going for a patina build and will bring it back to 100% stock. I have two young kids, so I don't get a lot of time these days, but I'll keep posted as I make progress. Let the journey begin!