Alright, let's get this thread started.
So, it all started a little over a month ago, when my aunts husband called my dad that his boss has a red Land Cruiser sitting on his yard, waiting for wreckers to pick it up. Daddy told me about it and asked if we needed some parts for our current Cruiser. "Yup, let's check it out" was pretty much my first thought.
At this point we didn't know anything else than it was a 60 series LC, and it has been sitting for 5 years.
For our surprise it was an original HJ61 with factory turbo engine, lockers, rear seats, (deciding factor, these are quite rare in Finland) and of course tons of rust.
Oh, by the way, it was only 30 Km's away from my place.
We checked it out and picked up taillight lenses and front window wind deflectors for the green LC.
I had a thought about buying the whole thing in my mind for few days, finally i had to ask the owner if he wanted to sell the whole thing, he was a bit unsure and said he will think about it. Fast forward 2-ish weeks and he agrees to sell it.
Of course i didn't want to buy a pig in a sack and wanted to test drive it first before making any decisions. The Cruiser did not have batteries or suitable wheels so i had to bring my own.
Ok, first start in 2 years. The Cruiser started like it was parked last day. It smoked a bit for couple mins but cleared once the engine warmed up. Clutch was frozen but got it free with a little footwork. Then, took it for a couple rounds around the yard to get some feeling about it, no strange noises, no binding brakes, nothing unusual other than frozen locker mechanisms and transfer shifter. Additional info i got from the seller was, he bought it from an auction five years ago with an intention to fix the rust and daily drive it.
He found a lot more rust than there was meant to be, and left the LC sitting in a corner of his yard.
Previous owner had it for another 5 years sitting, that makes 10 years off the road in total, which explains all the rust it has today. Tall grass underneath is far from an ideal parking spot.
We agreed on a price and we scheduled a pick up day, 3 days later. Lucky me, my friend offered me a free transportation.
My plan is to take the whole thing apart, and bring it back to its former glory.
Ok, let's get to the pictures.
This is how it was found. Tarp as a lower tailgate. Steel wheels that didn't fit...
Delivered at the friends place. Nice to have the right equipment.
Had to borrow the wheels from the green HJ.
PO started to take it apart but got overwhelmed by the rust and tucked the parts in the back.
More pics to follow --->
So, it all started a little over a month ago, when my aunts husband called my dad that his boss has a red Land Cruiser sitting on his yard, waiting for wreckers to pick it up. Daddy told me about it and asked if we needed some parts for our current Cruiser. "Yup, let's check it out" was pretty much my first thought.
At this point we didn't know anything else than it was a 60 series LC, and it has been sitting for 5 years.
For our surprise it was an original HJ61 with factory turbo engine, lockers, rear seats, (deciding factor, these are quite rare in Finland) and of course tons of rust.
Oh, by the way, it was only 30 Km's away from my place.
We checked it out and picked up taillight lenses and front window wind deflectors for the green LC.
I had a thought about buying the whole thing in my mind for few days, finally i had to ask the owner if he wanted to sell the whole thing, he was a bit unsure and said he will think about it. Fast forward 2-ish weeks and he agrees to sell it.
Of course i didn't want to buy a pig in a sack and wanted to test drive it first before making any decisions. The Cruiser did not have batteries or suitable wheels so i had to bring my own.
Ok, first start in 2 years. The Cruiser started like it was parked last day. It smoked a bit for couple mins but cleared once the engine warmed up. Clutch was frozen but got it free with a little footwork. Then, took it for a couple rounds around the yard to get some feeling about it, no strange noises, no binding brakes, nothing unusual other than frozen locker mechanisms and transfer shifter. Additional info i got from the seller was, he bought it from an auction five years ago with an intention to fix the rust and daily drive it.
He found a lot more rust than there was meant to be, and left the LC sitting in a corner of his yard.
Previous owner had it for another 5 years sitting, that makes 10 years off the road in total, which explains all the rust it has today. Tall grass underneath is far from an ideal parking spot.
We agreed on a price and we scheduled a pick up day, 3 days later. Lucky me, my friend offered me a free transportation.
My plan is to take the whole thing apart, and bring it back to its former glory.
Ok, let's get to the pictures.
This is how it was found. Tarp as a lower tailgate. Steel wheels that didn't fit...
Delivered at the friends place. Nice to have the right equipment.
Had to borrow the wheels from the green HJ.
PO started to take it apart but got overwhelmed by the rust and tucked the parts in the back.
More pics to follow --->