Restoring 1983 FJ40 Esmeralda in Colombia comments needed

[CHAS404]

The dash cluster was frozen so after reading some here I decided to put it at 0km. Truck is miles unconfirmed. I did not rebuild the motor bec it did not need but i replaced every accessory to the motor and the transmission was gone over along with transfer case.

I had read some guys on here said put it at 0 km/miles so you can atleast say 5000 km from the October 2013 restoration. gives a reference point.

Only thing not new on the truck is the drivetrain, the brakes themselves which are fine and with new pads and shoes and ... I really cant think of anything else. I have 3 pages of new mechanical parts.

 

[CHAS404]

truck was finished October 28th. I was running around like a mad man trying to get it shipped.

I actually flew to Cartagena and DROVE the truck into the port myself. Don't ask me how to ship bec I had a shipping agent that is disorganized (welcome to Colombia).

I will get a system set up soon so I can ship the trucks efficiently. The good news is that I personally have seen 2 of the biggest ports in Cartagena and have learned the shipping process (the hard way).

So truck is in the port waiting to go next friday. let's just hope it all goes well. this is the part that worried me the most. Paperwork in Colombia is no easy deal.

 

[TCSTARK]

Chas04, of it has not been said enough your rig looks fantastic. I love your attention to detail. You should be absolutely proud of yourself. I hope it arrives without further hassle.

 

[CHAS404]

Let's set aside the roasting in cartagena sun trying to get papers for shipping and post some final photos of Esmeralda. The Colombians who have seen have been amazed. I feel very proud to have achieved this here. I can't wait to see what the gringos say back home.








I ended up paying a specialist to lower the front suspension a bit. she sits perfectly level now.

we fixed the bad float in the carb. she starts right up and idles quietly. had a valve job too. radiator was recored but had a small leak. we fixed it.

plenty of small items i need to order back in the USA but she is 99% done.

 

[CHAS404]

Interior really is best part.

 

[CHAS404]

Motor is detailed. everything under the hood is new or rebuilt. everything polished.

I blew the budget on mechanical. I think I was a little naive about the costs.





FYI battery gets replaced with new.

all new belts. all new accessories water pump etc.

 

[CHAS404]

I will keep posting and updating but I will take a moment and say again thanks to all the mud members and their comments and constructive criticism. This truck would not have turned out nearly as well without the resources here at Mud. I hope to contribute back to the forum as much as I can.

I have a background in home construction and my mother was a specialist in renovation and restoration of historic homes. I remember when people were telling her why bother to fix that old house! I see a lot of similarity in the restoration of these beautiful vehicles.

This Esmeralda now, while not perfect, is a rust free original example of an FJ40. Her future most likely will be with a land cruiser enthusiast family that will treasure her and keep her going for another 30 years.

I already have the fever and want to challenge myself with a 60's model!

I hope to learn from my mistakes and improve the process. Mostly I want to get the truck shipped!

Operating in a foreign country is not easy but I will be improving my methods.

 

[CHAS404]

Well I think the truck is on the way to Florida. So far I found a truck, bought a truck, got it transferred into my name (in a foreign country), restored a truck managing specialists (all in Spanish), found the parts in a downtown area, transported the truck from the mountains to the coast (2 days), got through Colombian paperwork (more Spanish) and finally onto the USA.

Now all I have to do is pass through the EPA and Federal DOT and DMV. hahaha. As if it were so easy!

 

[Chamba]

EPA and DOT are easy-peasy because she is over 25 years old. Emissions in Florida may prove the hard part.
EPA form: 3520-1
DOT form: HS-7.

Fill these both out BEFORE the rig arrives in Fla and have them ready for customs. Then tell customs you need a CBP form 7501 to go register it. Customs will need the two above forms. That's it, nothing more. Laughing.

 

[shadows]

wow thats one nice fj40

 

[CHAS404]

She's a beauty! Thanks for all the positive comments. I think I found a low profile modern heat and AC option for us.

 

[CHAS404]

Big news coming soon. I have the truck in tampa FINALLY. shipping was a nightmare. Lots of small fixes to perform. People going NUTS of her on the street. Coming up to me asking about the great looking FJ.

 

[CHAS404]

A few more paperwork steps but I am driving Esmeralda in Florida on Colombian tags! She runs great. I had her on major hwy I am thinking 60mph is max comfortable cruise. Remember she has the Colombian spec 4.10 gears running on 31 inchers.

Esmeralda's first trip to the beach I think ever.



I have owned some fancy cars before but this truck gets more attention than anything I have ever driven. People are falling all over themselves to talk to me about it.

I think they are pretty rare in Florida.

 

[CHAS404]

FYI what do you guys say to the pretty waitress that says I love your JEEP???

 

[CHAS404]

Oh thanks Chamba. My version of the process was take the form 7501 to the Florida dmv/sheriff office then realize the miami agent never put the vin number on the form. drive around in heat with no ac and 4.10 gears to the airport to other customs office.

call miami agent and tell him in spanish please change the form. call him back again and say this is not miami do not put "campero" on there but just put FJ40 on there.

race back to DMV office (driving 1983 FJ40 in Florida heat stop and go)

convince DMV that truck does not have a VIN but has a frame number that i preserved on the frame and also the plaque under the hood.

get paper approved at 4.55 pm on a Friday!

still need to register her.

 

[Chamba]

Oh thanks Chamba. My version of the process was take the form 7501 to the Florida dmv/sheriff office then realize the miami agent never put the vin number on the form. drive around in heat with no ac and 4.10 gears to the airport to other customs office.

call miami agent and tell him in spanish please change the form. call him back again and say this is not miami do not put "campero" on there but just put FJ40 on there.

race back to DMV office (driving 1983 FJ40 in Florida heat stop and go)

convince DMV that truck does not have a VIN but has a frame number that i preserved on the frame and also the plaque under the hood.

get paper approved at 4.55 pm on a Friday!

still need to register her.

I should have said "check that customs fills everything in correctly"...they ain't that bright generally.

Are you still on Columbia plates in Florida? I drove Lexie on South Australia plates for months. I'm still running Australian plates on my motorcycle.

Congrats!

 

[CHAS404]

Thanks so much Chamba. COLOMBIA with a O. super fun driving around with colombian plates. almost mad i never got pulled over. well this shipping/exporting/importing has been tough. but I will post some good news below. Everyone is asking me how to do it or do it for them but I have spent a TON of time learning the process and extra flights down there and even hotel costs etc so I dont really want to say and ALSO i really need to perfect my process. there are so many hurdles. plus EACH STATE is different too I realize.

 

[CHAS404]

Victory at last....

two trips to DMV.

 

[CHAS404]

FINAL SUMMARY (then back to posting some small fun upgrades)...

I bought the truck august 23rd (although I had been researching them since June and July and made offers on a perfect unrestored one until I switched to restore one).

started restoration process august 28th or so

ran around finding all the specialists and hard to find parts (not fun)

finished the truck late October

Final registration in Florida November 25th.

That keeps me under 90 days which was my goal. I had some issues during restoration which cost me time and money and also the shipping/importing was rough.

I have completed what I set out to do and I did it in public showing all my (many) mistakes and successes. Could not have done it without the resources here. It has been a learning experience to say the least. I have rebuilt houses and this really reminds me of restoring an old house. Balancing between modern comfort and period originality. Subcontracting specialists. Sourcing correct parts. Dealing with government entities to get the papers approved (worst part).

I set 3 goals for myself in that first post back in August...

1. show colombia is a source for FJs. Lots of doubters but this is undeniable. Finding a good one is difficult I looked at 25 of them but when i spotted the 1983 model I knew that it was a good one to do.

2. Show that colombians have the ability to do a high quality restoration. I hope the photos show that this is undeniable. I had to oversee and push them and PAY them to show me their best (remember all this is done speaking Spanish the entire time). I would now argue the hand sown interior is even better than the typical US high quality restoration that rely on kits. The custom roll bar is fantastic. I am very proud of how Esmeralda has turned out especially given this was my first time ever doing something like this.

Is Esmeralda perfect? no but she is close. there are plenty of small things that i need to do and plenty of things i would have done differently but I think she is indeed a beauty.

FYI since I have started this project many have said that south of the border restorations would never reach the level of the US restorations. That you could never sell a restored FJ over $30k or so. This is no longer true.

There is a confirmed sale in NC in November at auction of a green 1983 Fj40 soft top for $60,000 plus auction fee. The trucks restoration process was shown and disclosed as being done in Colombia. I have no idea who they are I believe they are Colombian. The truck was very high quality. Looks like he started with a much rougher truck than me but used more Toyota parts than I did in the restoration and was more thorough. In me defense, I added back more USA style accessories like the rollbar and the bucket seats plus the close to correct white wheels.

Anyhow it shows that the quality is there and I have shown my photos and now the physical truck to a few classic car dealers and they are impressed.

3. I essentially stated that i would pull this all together in order to be able to source, restore and import interesting high quality FJs. Esmeralda is the first example.

i hope to be able to import some interesting high quality unrestored FJs soon along with some restorations. I really want to restore a 1960s model and an FJ43.

For now I will post some more finishing touches photos and soon some finished high quality photos. Sorry if this seems a little on the pompous side but after dealing with everything it sure feels great to see that Florida tag on her!

 

[CHAS404]

Some high quality photos thanks to my brother who works in the marketing business... I was teasing him seems like he is taking all the credit now for the truck ... but we agreed the subject sure helps. Now I know why they use these trucks in advertising.





oops the 2nd one came out small. note i did not put the rear torpedo lamps on. i KNOW i just could not touch the body work! maybe later.