S. American 40’s

[newbtrayback]

Happy Friday! I am new to 40’s and I have been noticing a surge in rigs coming from S America here in Texas. Anyone have experience with 40’s from there?

I have seen only one and it looked clean and magnet held in obvious trouble spots but would want to get compression check, etc.

Any thoughts are greatly appreciated.

Take care

 

[wimberosa]

What can anyone say anew about this topic? We've travelled this road of opinions many times.

Every 40 is a unique snowflake.
Some snowflakes made it past the point of melting...
but have been reconstituted into snowflake resemblances.
South American 40s have no heaters because its warm there.

 

[CenTXFJ60]

You might reach out to AJ @aljollano in Austin. He has good experience with these trucks

 

[ceylonfj40nut]

Inspect with one who knows before you buy. Not all, but many are s*** boxes.

 

[Catching Neutral]

If you don’t know 40s then I would suggest you inspect with someone who knows them no matter what market it is from.

 

[Roastchestnuts]

seriously bring a magnet and look for bondo. I have seen some rust buckets all dolled up online from South America and even stuff imported in from Japan. if somthing does not look right it probably isnt. My kzj78 imported from japan had lots of bondo hiding in spots and it looked really good.

 

[newbtrayback]

Thanks everyone. Really appreciate your responses. I will let y’all know how it goes

All the best

 

[cruiserdan]

Beware the lipstick. Often liberally-applied.

 

[FJBen]

South American cruiser you say?

Can’t be stressed enough, most all of them coming to the US are a mess w en thought they look decent at first glance.

If they were pro wrestlers they’d be introduced like…

Get ready, here comes The butcher of bodywork…the sultan of shoddy work….the Latina patina

Let’s get ready to CRUMBLE!

 

[Roastchestnuts]

South American cruiser you say?
View attachment 3326892



Can’t be stressed enough, most all of them coming to the US are a mess w en thought they look decent at first glance.

If they were pro wrestlers they’d be introduced like…

Get ready, here comes The butcher of bodywork…the sultan of shoddy work….the Latina patina

Let’s get ready to CRUMBLE!

OMG this is hilarious

 

[70fj40]

it might help to also consider who you are buying a Landcruiser from and how long they have owned it. Lots of folks out there with lipstick on a pig just taking advantage of an inflated market.

 

[405]

Just like any other 50 year old vehicle, they've all lived different lives, condition of some are better than others no matter the market. Anyone looking at a vehicle this old needs to do their due diligence and educate themselves prior to buying anything.

A lot of the SA trucks I've seen have been poorly restored. Not all, but many of them have been thrown together with cheap labor, a fresh coat of paint, and odd ball parts to get it running and driving. It is then imported to the US where they hope for big profits from American buyers who are distracted by shiny paint. You can see a lot of this "workmanship" on past BaT auction photos once you start looking at the close up pictures.

That said, I am not against SA trucks (I own one). I feel like it has been done right and it was restored south of the border. I flew out to look at it in person and educated myself for months before buying. It is very straight and dry underneath, which is not surprising given the dry climate down there. I felt comfortable with the truck so I went for it. Mud was a great resource.

Keep in mind the SA trucks do not have emissions equipment on them, and I don't think it can be retrofitted either. That may be important to some buyers who have to pass emissions. Other differences I see mentioned on Mud are lack of dash pad, heater, roll bar, and disc brakes. Transmissions are different too I think, H41 vs H42.

One thing I've dealt with owning an SA FJ40 is some of the parts are different than US spec. So you won't be able to find some things from the dealer. My mechanic told me his parts guy couldn't recognize my VIN. There are other sources that have been great at getting me Non US parts like sor.com. Another good resource to look up part numbers and drawings for Non US trucks are sites like Parts catalog for Toyota Land Cruiser - https://toyota-general.epc-data.com/land_cruiser/ and ToyoDIY.com - https://www.toyodiy.com/parts/

I guess what I'm getting at is to not dismiss a truck just because it is SA or non US. There were differences to be aware of so just know what you are buying and research before committing to anything

 

[rex in bama]

@405 said it well. Re: lipstick on a pig, I was looking for a 40 locally, focusing on NA models. A restored SA model showed up locally though. Before I went and looked at it, I reviewed the restoration shop’s website, which was very well put together. Truck looked nice in the pics. So what the heck, I thought, I’ll go check it out. Once I got up close, the bondo was very apparent, and the wiring looked like electrical issues were soon to follow. Undercarriage looked like other surprises were awaiting.

I was glad for the lesson, and it didn’t cost me a thing (if only they all didn’t!). Made me especially careful when perusing BAT.

 

[Brew40]

 

[Geezer Cruzzer]

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ It's all about the money. Plus, there is a sucker born every minute as PT Barnun said. Newbies want to buy a Cruzzer and they get seduced by a South American lipstick queen. Then there is the emissions issue. The sellers never disclose that. Our 1982 Ms. Scarlett was a desmogged by the first owner. I would never think about selling her without the disclosure that she may not be able to be registered in many parts of the USA.

 

[brian]

just remember paint....erra beauty is only a few mills deep