PROJECT FJ35 Is Over - LV Gets "T" Boned At 60mph

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2ndGenToyotaFan said:
I thought I was having a bad dream when I opened this thread.... So sorry Gene, I was really looking forward to seeing this rig come together. Lets hope your injuries prove to be minor and that you find the inspiration to change the direction of this project, or start a new one with some new old parts. I'd really love to see an FJ35, faux or other, in person someday, I hope it'll be yours! :cheers:
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I thought I was having a bad dream too when I woke up this morning and remembered my wagon was gone. My injuries are nothing really. It all could be a lot worse. I won't change the direction of this project, just start over if given the chance. I just dig the 35 too much to call it quits.
 
Land Cruiser Junky said:
I thought I was having a bad dream too when I woke up this morning and remembered my wagon was gone. My injuries are nothing really. It all could be a lot worse. I won't change the direction of this project, just start over if given the chance. I just dig the 35 too much to call it quits.
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The only LV I know of off hand is a '64 in upstate NY...around Albany...so you probably know it's quite a mess. Then there is https://forum.ih8mud.com/fj45-classifieds-corner/216168-1966-fj45lv-sale.html and she looks like a great project to finish...especially if the insurance lets you keep yours:beer:

Sure hope I start reading about the new project 35 soon! :cheers::cheers:
 
65swb45 said:
It is my sincere hope [and I know this is shared by others who have actually met him;)] that somehow, somewhere, we can find Gene a donee LV shell that has exactly the number of parts missing from it as Gene has left from this one, and that we can come together as a community to help Gene get a new LV on the road.
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Well, here's to a new beginning...
Land Cruiser fj45lv wagon very rare
 
Wow! Thank God you came out of that. I see how hard the impact was by looking at that pole you hit. Holy Jesus! There were definitley some angels riding in that LV with you!

That LV has a ton of good parts and I HOPE you hold on to them. I appologize to you on behalf of the VULTURES that cared less about you and more about the parts.

When you finally get back to thinking straight and you want to put this ICON back together: I have a Frame from a 1966 cruiser "You" can have. You are also welcome to have any other parts from Mudmonster that I wont be using. Unfortunatly I will be cutting the ABCD Pillars by the window sills and I have already given "LEFTY's" roof away.

I also have two straight driver door shells for you "FREE". But they need a little rust patch work... not too tough.

Sounds like you have a great wife there!

I pray that this brings you and your family closer together. Relationships are all that matters in this life.

Great woman you have there
Land Cruiser Junky said:
Yesterday I was working at a very nice hotel in Santa Monica, CA and I came to the back where my LV was parked to get some tools and found about 15 guys around my wagon and underneath just checking it out. I talked with them about Cruisers for 10 minutes. Driving it home I got a honk and a thumbs up twice from other drivers. I loved driving that wagon as much as I loved working on it and am bumming hard that it's gone. More than that though I am so thankful to God for sparing my life and not leaving my 3 boys fatherless and my wife a widow. If you guys could have seen the impact and what that LV went though you'd really know what I mean. After the accident a CHP officer was standing with me and looking at the wagon said,"I can't believe how protected you were and how well this thing stayed together. This old Land Cruiser is a beast and you are lucky to be alive. If this were a new vehicle it would have been all over the road". I probably hit the pole at 40mph.

The vulture tow truck driver with the police scanner in the cab pulled his flatbed up and told my wife (who came to the site in her vehicle) that there was going to be an undisclosed hourly rate to tow the vehicle to his yard. She told him to get the hell away from the vehicle and called AAA and had it towed to our house. A damn good woman that isn't intimidated by a aggressive 250lb towtruck driver.

There are some parts that can be salvaged, but most of it is toast. I'll strip it for anything still left in good shape. I'd love to hang onto parts for another LV project, but I'm just holding down the fort with my wife being sick and all, so I'll probably sell them off.
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Mikesta said:
That LV has a ton of good parts and I HOPE you hold on to them. I appologize to you on behalf of the VULTURES that cared less about you and more about the parts.
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Well said Mikesta and you are a good man for offering the parts to get the LV back together again. Maybe this will be the Phoenix of LV's!!
 
UPDATE BELOW!!!!


alright guys. gene is by no means a wealthy guy and has his plate full with financial obligations and challenges so there's no way he'd be able to afford to buy another wagon right now or anytime soon. that does'nt sit well with me because i consider myself lucky to count gene as a good friend and somebody i respect a lot. so here's the idea i came up with yesterday right before i called mark A:

how about if we show some community support and try to buy an LV for gene?! i know what you're thinking; it'll be impossible to find anything for under $5k and it'll be really hard to come up with that much money. well, i have made a couple of calls and sent out a few emails in hopes of finding a decent roller for a decent price. i think we should be able to find a "roller" ( no powertrain ) for about $2000-2500. mark A has already volunteered his shop for a work-party-weekend to swap the powertrain from the now deceased 35 to the new LV. we should be able to get the job done in one or two days given that we have the parts to get the mechanical systems up and running. gene's donor rig has lots of useable parts that can go right into another chassis.

so here's the plan: get donations from fellow mudders, pirate4x4 members, the LCML and buy an LV. then we'll need to get it transported to socal and set up a date for a few cruiser-heads to show up and do work.

i'm not 100% certain about how to get all this started. i was thinking somewhere along the lines of setting up a seperate account with a new paypal addy linked to it. any input would be great since i've never done anything like this.

so put some thought into it and let me know. i have pm'd a few guys about it and everybody has been very supportive and offered to send some cash and/or parts to get gene back in an LV.nobody deserves this more! :beer:


UPDATE:


i have set up a payupal account under : fj35lv4gene@yahoo.com

please send your donations there. if you'd rather not go thru paypal, then send me a pm and i'll give you my addy at home!!!!

thanks a lot guys!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
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Well I'm just speechless. Can't believe someone would even think to do something like this.
 
damn Gene.......so sorry, I know how you loved that LV :(
 
Hey Georg, I know it ain't much but I'm in for $100 and volunteer my limited skills at Marks shop. But I can lift heavy s*** and hold the more skillful guys beers with the best of them.
 
orangefj45 said:
alright guys. gene is by no means a wealthy guy and has his plate full with financial obligations and challenges so there's no way he'd be able to afford to buy another wagon right now or anytime soon. that does'nt sit well with me because i consider myself lucky to count gene as a good friend and somebody i respect a lot. so here's the idea i came up with yesterday right before i called mark A:

how about if we show some community support and try to buy an LV for gene?! i know what you're thinking; it'll be impossible to find anything for under $5k and it'll be really hard to come up with that much money. well, i have made a couple of calls and sent out a few emails in hopes of finding a decent roller for a decent price. i think we should be able to find a "roller" ( no powertrain ) for about $2000-2500. mark A has already volunteered his shop for a work-party-weekend to swap the powertrain from the now deceased 35 to the new LV. we should be able to get the job done in one or two days given that we have the parts to get the mechanical systems up and running. gene's donor rig has lots of useable parts that can go right into another chassis.

so here's the plan: get donations from fellow mudders, pirate4x4 members, the LCML and buy an LV. then we'll need to get it transported to socal and set up a date for a few cruiser-heads to show up and do work.

i'm not 100% certain about how to get all this started. i was thinking somewhere along the lines of setting up a seperate account with a new paypal addy linked to it. any input would be great since i've never done anything like this.

so put some thought into it and let me know. i have pm'd a few guys about it and everybody has been very supportive and offered to send some cash and/or parts to get gene back in an LV.nobody deserves this more! :beer:
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This is very sad. I lurk a lot and don't say much, but this time I will. I have a shell I will give to Gene. If he wants to rebuild it, it is free to him. I have looked in awe at the photos of his wagon, and now even more so at the beating that one of these Beasts can take. I bet you could heve flipped it on its wheels and it would have started and driven away............
The Wagon I have would need most of the parts he already has. As well as some work. Anyone interested in helping???? Have to get it to him or the "crew" from a location in Northern Colorado.
I am travelling out of town and may not be able to check my email much for about 2 weeks. This cruiser would be well suited for ths project, I may need to keep the axles for another Wagon, but we will see. Take some time Gene, but it would be sad to let this dream go. Hope your and the Wagon's recovery go well.:cheers:
This all still brings a tears to my eyes.
Eric C.
 
With My frame and Misc parts and FJ45LV's Body and your current cruiser, You have a new cruiser.

My frame will need 1 support from your frame (which should be good)... and it has engine and tranny mounts for a 454 welded on it as well.

FJ45LV, do you have the frame too? My frame won't be as stock as a FJ35.
 
When the PayPal account is known- post it here. I can't travel to Cali to participate- but I can throw some dollars that direction. Cruiser Karma.
 
if we all can give just alil....it will add up to alot...thats the way it always works...when you get an account i'm sure woody can post it front page...

wish i lived in that neck of the woods also...it was the envy of quite a few people...and a good guy owns it...and that same good guy will have it back again.

the TLC community always comes together to give a helping hand in one form or another...i know 1st hand as i almost lost my rig in a wreck also...and the community came thru.

God has a plan for you just as Mark said...what that is ? who knows...but...i do know...you are going thru a turning point in your life...and we are able to help you thru it...just let us know what you need :)
 
that's the spirit!

i guess we need to work out the logistics. i will set up a paypal account tomorrow. then we'll have to figure out transportation and such. i'm sure that between the transportation forums on here and pirate we'll find somebody to bring the parts to socal or to my place in norcal. i can deliver from here to socal.


also, i know times are tough and not everybody might be able to just send cash or quasi cash via paypal. so here's an easy way to help:
dig out a couple of your old cruiser parts and put them on ebay. have the buyer pay for them via paypal to the "donation account" and ship the parts to the buyer. it'll help you clean out the garage, won't cost you much at all and it'll definetly help out our little cause here. i'm not asking you to donate 100s of dollars; just a couple of parts here and there. if we can get a couple of dozent guys to chip in with parts then we'll come up with some pretty serious scratch in no time.

thanks again guys, i will post up on all the forums once i get things set up. please give me a day or two and i'll get the ball rolling.

until then! :beer:
 
This hit home. Happened to me a few years ago.
You will learn how nice folks really are and how much they care about you. Even folks that don't know you well.
Georg, start up a fresh thread with the paypal link, parts list, and possible goals. This can only happen if folks step up. Getting part of the way could backfire. Gene could have a partial 35... Let's talk it up and get him his fj35 back. If the donors are crap, you know who may have a nice one....possibly too nice..

Goebs
 
Gene, I am so glad you are ok. Ige called from Moab and wanted me to post up she is very sorry for your loss. I am amazed how well the rig did hold up. If you need anything, let me know.
 
Well guys, I don't even know where to begin. I'm overwhelmed again and "Thank you" certainly isn't enough. I just came in from chopping up the twisted roof rack and cleaning the inside of the LV up and removing some other parts, only to sit down and read what's going on here. Now I'm sucking up the tears and am once again speechless. Called my wife in and I read your posts to her and I couldn't even get through them all. I am deeply humbled. Thanks to all of you. Geez, you guys have certainly lessened the blow of losing my wagon and have already got me itching to start pulling useable parts.
 
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