Questions about buying a pig

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mtnmort

mtnmort

10 Year 15 Year
Joined
Mar 23, 2007
Threads
101
Messages
808
Location
Moab Utah
i didn't want to clutter the Rush post with my questions. I should be in the market for a pig in the next month or so. I've been looking all over for a while. I wanted to spend about $10k on one that's pretty original, but has to have a good body and paint. Can I get something without rust for that price or if I had to, a few grand more? I've been looking at these two, do you guys know anything about them?
Toyota Land Cruiser 1974 FJ55 FOR SALE!!!!!

1972 Toyota Land cruiser FJ55

I owned a pig years ago and have regretted selling it ever since. Any advice would be appreciated.
 
That '74 has been up for sale for a long time now. I think the guy originally posted it at $17k, then $14k, and now looks like he's not sure what to ask for it. It's a nice looking rig though......
 
Thanks. It's good to know its been up for a while. I like that one out of the two. Has anyone here had a chance to look it over? Is that the year of the 1.5F.
 
The 74 picture 15 of the rear floor Looks kind of funky. 72 not sure. I would lean more towards buying one from a Mud member who has been around for a while. Either that or local buy with someone with Piggies expertise. Delancy will chime in.
 
I was hoping it was someone in the mud community or someone here knew of it. My other thought was to see if I could find someone reputable to do a pre buy for me.

I travel for work and might be up by the one in Kansas in the next few weeks. And I'd love to do a road trip from California if it was a good rig.

Please keep the suggestions coming.
 
Here's my opinion. How do you know if the seller has treated, stopped the rust. They all have rust from the inside out. Just because somebody sprayed the outside the rust will pop out from the inside. IN MY OPINION and I'm far from an expert, I would buy one from the dry west, UNRESTORED and have the work done that needs to be. Pretty paint means nothing to rust and that is the gorilla in the room. We can replace parts, restore stuff, but if it's bubbling the paint, then you're going to spend a lot of money and down time fixing it. You don't mind spending money, but not for body putty and paint.

You want to spend 10 grand, then I would start with a 3 grand unrestored dry climate wagon and put another 20 grand into it. :) Just how it works.
 
I understand your reasoning. No matter what I get I'm going to put money into it. I just wanted something I could daily drive for a while before doing much to it. Plus, I suck at body work. I don't mind doing mechanical stuff and just put a solid axle under an 88 Chevy van, but I made sure I found one with a really good body first. I also wouldn't mind something with original paint as long as there wasn't much rust, which might be too much to ask with a pig.
 
Be prepared to work on any piggy - body and mechanics...

I looked at 5 of them before I "settled" on mine. I was after a '76 -79 for the power steering/brakes and 30 spine axles. I ended up choosing the one with the least amount of rust but that is relative - all land cruisers come with factory installed rust.

The best you can do is be patient and locate one that's either been garaged or is in an arid climate.

Mechanical issues will rob you wallet, rust will steal your soul...
 
Both of those are pretty decent rigs. Personally, I'd go with the one in Cali over the one in Kansas, especially if you're planning on using it.
I'd say your best bet would to just be patient on not get overly excited over anything that just popps up. Keep tabs on the classified section here on Mud, and Craigslist. Steer clear of eBay UNLESS you can see the rig in person. That pretty much goes for any vehicle sale - no sight unseen purchase, ever!

With that said, I give the 74 a 5 and the 72 a 3.
 
Thanks for the rating. I've been emailing him back and forth. This was his response about rust.

"I bought her painted already, I bought her in Hemet here in California. The engine never smokes, she's my daily driver. The body is straight, no bondo on her at all. There's a little rust but no rust through. She has 78,920 miles. She's a great pig."
 
He said there was some surface rust. He sent these pictures.

image.webp
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Mtnmort, that bubbling means there is a lot of rust coming through to the outside. Check out Tatat's build and see what he went through fixing that "surface rust". Condensation gathers inside that roof panel and Toyota never treated the metal, so it sat there and rusted all these years.

For a body man, that may not be a big deal, for me it was a deal breaker.
 
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