Are you ready for this? PolarBear wants to know if any of this stuff was original since it doesn't look like the "other" 25's in this forum. 
PolarBear 25 Pics!
- Thread starter Cruiser_Nerd
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- #2
Meet 8-FJ25-5702L: 
OMG!!!
JohnnyC
Long ago TLCA# 2231
thats a nice rig 
Schweet 25. Bring it back
Okay, you guys win; I guess I have to buy the darn thing now! When the present owner found this blue 1958 FJ25 in the Salvadoran city of Santa Ana (back around 2000), it had been sitting stored in a garage for almost 30 years; he's just its second owner, and I would be its third owner--not bad for a nearly 50-year-old vehicle. The circa-49,000 miles shown on the odometer is the original mileage, and I do mean "mileage", since it appears to be a U.S.-specification vehicle with the speedometer calibrated in miles. Gonna' be a pain in the neck to get it home, though, since it will displace my beautiful red 1978 HJ45 pickup in a 40 ft. container I'm sending to the U.S. The pickup is more weathertight, so I guess it will have to make the trip north (across Guatemala and Mexico, to "Gringolandia") aboard an open car-carrier tractor-trailer rig...
JohnnyC
Long ago TLCA# 2231
oem tailgate...a very rare one
very cooollll rig
very cooollll rig
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- Thread starter
- #9
I'm wondering about the backup light. Does it say Koito on it? I don't know of any backup lights out there anywhere.
WOW!
assume the bib emblem is correct......if so thats cool!
has it been repainted? that blue seems odd for the vintage.
how about the frame, were not they painted body color?
assume the bib emblem is correct......if so thats cool!
has it been repainted? that blue seems odd for the vintage.
how about the frame, were not they painted body color?
Nice! It's from my homeland!
JohnnyC
Long ago TLCA# 2231
polarbear here is a pic of another cruiser with the same emblems on the front
I have a pictures of another 25 with that same emblem...the picture is in Argentina. I believe the emblem is original.
so........... when is this 25 going to be in the U.S. and available for purchase? 
congrats on what looks like an unbelievable find
congrats on what looks like an unbelievable find
I have some bad news and good news... Bad news is that the fellow who owns the roadside junkyard with the split-windshield FJ25/FJ40 "chimera"/hybrid refuses to sell it; says he'll instead part it out gradually--and make more money that way. Unfortunately, I'm departing El Salvador in two weeks (they start packing me out on Monday--including all my tools), and I just really don't have time left at this point to pursue the matter in that way--buying and removing just certain desirable parts. (I have close friends here who are going to remain in touch with him in case he changes his mind later--which I think is likely. At some point, he'll undoubtedly be in a position where he will need some quick cash, pronto. ...I know it's silly, since it's apparently just an oddball collection of parts, but I'd like to restore it just the way it is--even if that means ending up with an early-1960s FJ40 tub mated to FJ25 front sheet metal, windshield, instruments, etc.) The GOOD news is that today--Wed., July 11--I purchased (for $5,000) the really nice unrestored 1958 FJ25 up in Ahuachapan (which was the original purpose of that June 16 outing during which I discovered the split-windshield FJ). The beautiful little blue '58 is now safely ensconsed inside the Embassy's parking lot, and I am arranging shipping to get it back home to northwest Arkansas--hopefully in time to play with it and enjoy it some when I'm back home next month. ("Turnkey"/door-to-door service that includes Customs expediting at U.S. port of entry, etc. is going to run $5,000-6,000 for a 40 ft. shipping container, but I will be able to fit two of my vehicles in that container.) Anyway, it's finally MINE; today's the first day of my life as a proud owner of an FJ25--and I must say it's a nice one! (NOW will you guys teach me the club's secret handshake and send along the special members-only code ring?)
- Thread starter
- #16
Oh yeah, I think you made a good choice of the 25's too!
That cruiser is awesome!!!
NORTHWEST ARKANSAS!!!!!!
As soon as the sweet little blue gets home let me know. I'm 30 minutes away and would love to come check it out.
Congrats on you find.
Lee
As soon as the sweet little blue gets home let me know. I'm 30 minutes away and would love to come check it out.
Congrats on you find.
Lee
You got it! I should be home in northwest Arkansas most of August and on into September; I just hope the little blue FJ25 gets there in time. My red 1978 FJ40 is already on the way home.
The beautiful cobalt-blue 1958 FJ25 was delivered to me here in northwest Arkansas Aug. 27, no worse for its long journey from Central America. (As I think I may have mentioned in another message string, in the end I was able to purchase the other baby-blue split-windshield FJ25/FJ40 "hybrid"/[hermaphrodite?] as well--for only $600, but left it behind in a friend's shop in El Salvador for restoration.)
Battery (12V) on "Ol' Blue" was low when it arrived, and its battery cables/posts all corroded and in need of replacement. Stupid/careless me, I noticed AFTER I had removed the battery from under the seat and put it on a charger that both battery cables on the FJ25 were black--I assume these rigs are NEGATIVE ground, aren't they, guys?
Just occurred to me that, with it having spent its whole life in El Salvador's balmy tropical latitude, it may not have ever had a drop of antifreeze in its cooling system--I think I'll just drain/flush the cooling system to be safe, and refill 50/50 with a good-quality antifreeze. I haven't crawled around and looked under the radiator yet to determine the easiest way to drain it (I'm out at our lake cabin and the 25's in an airport hangar in town), but I hope I don't have to remove the lower radiator hose, since they all look pretty old and brittle, and--given that replacements are no doubt hard to find--I'd rather not risk cracking or cutting one getting it off and back on.
Previous owner had plastered about a dozen bumper stickers on it; finally got 'em all peeled off...
Although it's stored safe and dry inside, I nonetheless wish I could figure out a way to put a top on it, just to increase its everyday utility. (I don't dare bring it out here to the cabin at a time of year when it can rain just about any day.)
Anyone have any good recommendations/suggestions for tires for this FJ25, which is destined for occasional moderate 4WD use on the rough road to our cabin, plus running errands around town? (I'd kinda' like to go with some kind of Bridgestones, but I don't want goofy-looking raised white lettering that would appear inappropriate on a 1950s vehicle.) Tires on it now are some pretty marginal-looking old Goodyear Wrangler "Aquatread" LT265/75R16.
Battery (12V) on "Ol' Blue" was low when it arrived, and its battery cables/posts all corroded and in need of replacement. Stupid/careless me, I noticed AFTER I had removed the battery from under the seat and put it on a charger that both battery cables on the FJ25 were black--I assume these rigs are NEGATIVE ground, aren't they, guys?
Just occurred to me that, with it having spent its whole life in El Salvador's balmy tropical latitude, it may not have ever had a drop of antifreeze in its cooling system--I think I'll just drain/flush the cooling system to be safe, and refill 50/50 with a good-quality antifreeze. I haven't crawled around and looked under the radiator yet to determine the easiest way to drain it (I'm out at our lake cabin and the 25's in an airport hangar in town), but I hope I don't have to remove the lower radiator hose, since they all look pretty old and brittle, and--given that replacements are no doubt hard to find--I'd rather not risk cracking or cutting one getting it off and back on.
Previous owner had plastered about a dozen bumper stickers on it; finally got 'em all peeled off...
Although it's stored safe and dry inside, I nonetheless wish I could figure out a way to put a top on it, just to increase its everyday utility. (I don't dare bring it out here to the cabin at a time of year when it can rain just about any day.)
Anyone have any good recommendations/suggestions for tires for this FJ25, which is destined for occasional moderate 4WD use on the rough road to our cabin, plus running errands around town? (I'd kinda' like to go with some kind of Bridgestones, but I don't want goofy-looking raised white lettering that would appear inappropriate on a 1950s vehicle.) Tires on it now are some pretty marginal-looking old Goodyear Wrangler "Aquatread" LT265/75R16.
