Rainman
Wondering what my next vehicle will be...
Somebody pinch me!..
I guess I’ll start at the beginning. I bought my 1st Cruiser in 1989. An October ’77 FJ40. I co-founded the STLCA in 2001. I became a BOD member for the TLCA around 2005?. I built Zebranator I and II. I drew a bunch of cartoons for the Toyota Trails magazine over the years. BUT!.. While that was going on, the best thing happened.
In 1997, I bought my dream truck. With the search help of my good friend Gary Bjork, (RIP) I bought a ’66 FJ45 LWB from Oregon. Rust free! Well, one little spot, but that doesn’t count. It was an awesome truck. I only drove it once before pulling out the 327ci Chevy and preparing for the King of Beasts. I had a crate motor Dodge Ram 8.0L V10 sitting right beside it in my garage. I made an actual size cardboard copy of it and set it inside the frame. It was going to fit perfectly… with minor adjustments. Fast forward about one year and… I had to sell it. Back then, Cruisers weren’t worth nearly what they are now so I didn’t get a lot for it but it took it’s trip to Massachusetts.
It took quite a while but I eventually forgot about that truck for the most part. Honest. Oh, I remembered that I owned one but it wasn’t a thorn in my side anymore. I somehow ended up talking to Randy Elkin and drooled over his “custom FJ28 Troopy.” He mentioned that he knew where my old FJ45 was and that a friend (Paul) owned it. It was weird when he said that he was the second owner after me and neither one had done a single thing to it. “It sits just like you left it all those years ago.” That was in August of 2013. “I think he’d sell it even though it’s not up for sale.” I replied, “I wish.” and left it alone.
Then forward up to December, 2018. An opportunity came up that allowed me to try and find Paul. It took a few days searching and asking but finally found him. Well a little talking and he said he’d thought about selling but was worried about who would get it and not treat it right. He knew who I was and said he’d sell it to me. A side note: I’ve always said that Land Cruiser owners are generally the Best and his next words proved why.
“I’ll tell you what. I’ll sell you your old Cruiser for the price you sold it all those (20) years ago.” The only thing I’ve done is buy parts for the rebuild and I’m close to having everything.”
ARE YOU SERIOUS? I won’t give away what that price was to protect us both but man, oh man, how happy am I?
So here I stand. Ready for the next big build. I’m still making decisions on what to do with it but my first lean is toward restoring it. Or should I say, resurrecting it. We are just barely over an exact 20 years from the time it left Nashville to the trip back to Middle TN. The truck looks exactly like it did all those years ago. I made the (now I realize) mistake of rattle-canning it tan. I would’ve left it alone if it didn’t have grey primer on the side of the bed. I believe it was originally Coronado Beige. It doesn’t matter anyway, I’m changing the color and going all out on this rebuild. A sad note, it got left outside for maybe only a one of the 20 years but it rusted the perfect hard top. CRAP.
I thought this Cruiser was going to be a build I’d jump right into but STPCHLD jumped in my lap first. So I’ll have to wait a couple of months before I can really get a start on this one. We managed to thread time between snow storms in the east to get the truck from Boston to Mountain City, TN. Then the tow from there to Franklin on March 5th.
Introducing… MY45AGN
Parked in Oregon in 1997.
(including a 20 year old paint out the winch not included. Long before Photoshop.)
The last registered license plate.
These are the shots I took before Y2K:
The cardboard V10.
How clean a frame is that?
JB and Corky taking a joy ride in their first FJ45 ever seen in person.
And now:
Sitting on the trailer waiting for it’s turn in the new climate controlled atmosphere. (well, in the next post. 5 image limit...)
I guess I’ll start at the beginning. I bought my 1st Cruiser in 1989. An October ’77 FJ40. I co-founded the STLCA in 2001. I became a BOD member for the TLCA around 2005?. I built Zebranator I and II. I drew a bunch of cartoons for the Toyota Trails magazine over the years. BUT!.. While that was going on, the best thing happened.
In 1997, I bought my dream truck. With the search help of my good friend Gary Bjork, (RIP) I bought a ’66 FJ45 LWB from Oregon. Rust free! Well, one little spot, but that doesn’t count. It was an awesome truck. I only drove it once before pulling out the 327ci Chevy and preparing for the King of Beasts. I had a crate motor Dodge Ram 8.0L V10 sitting right beside it in my garage. I made an actual size cardboard copy of it and set it inside the frame. It was going to fit perfectly… with minor adjustments. Fast forward about one year and… I had to sell it. Back then, Cruisers weren’t worth nearly what they are now so I didn’t get a lot for it but it took it’s trip to Massachusetts.
It took quite a while but I eventually forgot about that truck for the most part. Honest. Oh, I remembered that I owned one but it wasn’t a thorn in my side anymore. I somehow ended up talking to Randy Elkin and drooled over his “custom FJ28 Troopy.” He mentioned that he knew where my old FJ45 was and that a friend (Paul) owned it. It was weird when he said that he was the second owner after me and neither one had done a single thing to it. “It sits just like you left it all those years ago.” That was in August of 2013. “I think he’d sell it even though it’s not up for sale.” I replied, “I wish.” and left it alone.
Then forward up to December, 2018. An opportunity came up that allowed me to try and find Paul. It took a few days searching and asking but finally found him. Well a little talking and he said he’d thought about selling but was worried about who would get it and not treat it right. He knew who I was and said he’d sell it to me. A side note: I’ve always said that Land Cruiser owners are generally the Best and his next words proved why.
“I’ll tell you what. I’ll sell you your old Cruiser for the price you sold it all those (20) years ago.” The only thing I’ve done is buy parts for the rebuild and I’m close to having everything.”
ARE YOU SERIOUS? I won’t give away what that price was to protect us both but man, oh man, how happy am I?
So here I stand. Ready for the next big build. I’m still making decisions on what to do with it but my first lean is toward restoring it. Or should I say, resurrecting it. We are just barely over an exact 20 years from the time it left Nashville to the trip back to Middle TN. The truck looks exactly like it did all those years ago. I made the (now I realize) mistake of rattle-canning it tan. I would’ve left it alone if it didn’t have grey primer on the side of the bed. I believe it was originally Coronado Beige. It doesn’t matter anyway, I’m changing the color and going all out on this rebuild. A sad note, it got left outside for maybe only a one of the 20 years but it rusted the perfect hard top. CRAP.
I thought this Cruiser was going to be a build I’d jump right into but STPCHLD jumped in my lap first. So I’ll have to wait a couple of months before I can really get a start on this one. We managed to thread time between snow storms in the east to get the truck from Boston to Mountain City, TN. Then the tow from there to Franklin on March 5th.
Introducing… MY45AGN
Parked in Oregon in 1997.
(including a 20 year old paint out the winch not included. Long before Photoshop.)
The last registered license plate.
These are the shots I took before Y2K:
The cardboard V10.
How clean a frame is that?
JB and Corky taking a joy ride in their first FJ45 ever seen in person.
And now:
Sitting on the trailer waiting for it’s turn in the new climate controlled atmosphere. (well, in the next post. 5 image limit...)
