Would you buy this if you were in my situation?

[4RNR]

Hey all, I am a current owner of a 1990 4Runner 4WD. I have a close friend that bought a 197? FJ40 with no top or doors a couple of months ago. He has decided that he doesnt want to fool with it and wants to sell. He is offering it to me for $800. It has sat for a few years now with no top. Mechanically I am aware that it does need a clutch, being the reason for sitting for so long before my friend bought it. An FJ40 has been my dream vehicle since I first laid my fourteen year old eyes on them, Im twenty-seven now. The body has a fair amount of rust, no rear seats, front seats have no padding and are in bad shape, needs gas tank, clutch, front turn signal lens and lots of love. I have no bodywork experience but willing to learn. I see this as being a long term project. The wife, as awesome as she is, gave me the go ahead. My problem comes to, Can I really do this. I would have anywhere from $50-$150 a month to kinda put toward the FJ. The motor does run smooth, we started it with carb cleaner and ran it till we ran out of carb cleaner. I know this isnt alot of information about the truck but its about all I know. WOULD YOU DO IT? Thanks in advance, and sorry if I bored you.

 

[Silver dude]

If the under carriage is solid, yeah for sure. Looks like a great project to restore, provided you have access to a shop.

 

[bitoy]

you said it has been your dream since childhood. At 800 bucks, i'd say go for it. learning along the way adds to the fun of restoring your dream car.

Good luck on your choice.

 

[washington taco]

Do you have a garage? tools? or access to them? Is your 4 runner in good shape to drive for the next two years? Do you have the wear with all to see it through? If so offer him 400.00 to take it off his hands remeber he is he the one selling.

 

[Yudda]

YES... YES... YES... If the chassis and drive train are solid then YES.

Its your dream truck and I can understand completely....I finally got mine. My D110.


Also a little story about Grails or 'all time favorite' things.

Along time ago i really wanted to buy a certain rifle. The rifle was extremely expensive and pretty rare ...but thats all i thought about. I took extra jobs and saved and finally i had enough to buy one.

The day came, and i went to the gunshow with my grandfather and we saw there was one at the show. 3000 hard earned dollars in hand and at that moment of truth......i hesitated. I said to the guy....i'll think about it tonight and come back in the morning.

Next morning i went......and it was sold. I was devastated.

After lots of searching (pre-internet) i "settled" on my number two grail rifle...a Styer SSG w/ Double set triggers. Ah... what a rifle. It shot better than i imagined it would....and all was good.

BUT...for the next few years, everytime i would see or read about my true
favorite rifle, I would get excited all over again.....wanting that GRAIL rifle.

3 years later... i saw my true GRAIL rifle on a rack, had the money and purchased it. All my day dreams came true and i had it. Ive sold most all of my collection after moving here to Israel but that one rifle, i will never sell.

Most importantly i learned a good lesson.

If that Toyota is the truly the truck you've been dreaming about for the past 10+ years.....then ******K logic and buy it.

Even if you just stare at it for the next year, while you save up....it will be worth it.

If anything it will focus your daydreaming for the next few years
and to me, thats worth 800$.




Shalom,

Rob


PS: Heres a internet pic of my GRAIL rifle that i bought. a SVD - Dragunov.

 

[mtnbike28]

pause...

I say think hard.... I learned (learning) the hard way. A good body is better than a good motor. It can be easier/cheaper to rebuild a motor than fix a rusting mess. If you wait 2 years, save your $150 per month and add it to the current $800, you will be buying a much better FJ40 that would still need work. Does the body have rust holes? I taught myself body filling and painting, but still can't weld in new metal, it looks like the floor is rusted through.

www.sor.com is the most expensive place to get parts, but you can see they have the replacement pads and covers for the front seats.
www.coolcruisers.com has cheap China made parts, but good for gauging prices to get on the road.
Your Toyota dealer can get most parts OEM, and not that much more, so I price everything I need with them first. Several vendors (toyota dealers) here and on Mud offer discounts for us.

Being in AL, you should be able to find a less rusty one a little further from the Gulf of Mexico. The truck you showed is missing many stock parts that add up quick, a hardtop can be replaced by a soft top or bikini top, but the rear jump seats, etc. add up quick.

I bought my 40 too fast and wish I had waited for a better deal. I love driving mine, but it's a mess!


Just my .02 cents

 

[Yudda]

I say think hard.... I learned (learning) the hard way. A good body is better than a good motor. It can be easier/cheaper to rebuild a motor than fix a rusting mess. If you wait 2 years, save your $150 per month and add it to the current $800, you will be buying a much better FJ40 that would still need work.

Really good advice ! It took me 3 years to find the truck i wanted.
Not easy.....but its worth it.

rob

 

[BIGdaddy]

nah. what a junker.

save up and buy something for $1500-2000 that you can actually drive and use for its intended purpose.

I've done the whole buy a heep of parts thing, both with a cj5 and a suzuki. They were both really dumb choices...

-B

 

[Root Moose]

I'm with Brian - pass.

Sounds like you want the vehicle, not the project.

If you can swing ~$150/month... get a loan and buy a nicely done up rust free one that you can drive and enjoy now.

I've got a list of "project vehicles" as long as your arm. Of the list only a few got "completed".

 

[weatherm]

Like they said above.. .if the chassis is good and you just mainly have surface rust on the body you will be good ... 800 bucks is pretty good... tell him 500 b/c a new clutch is going to run you a little money. you can get cheap used parts from ih8mud.com.

be expected 10mpg ... $1 cans of spraypaint at wallyworld can do a real nice paint job... looks like you got about 2-3k worth of work to do to get it functional

 

[lowenbrau]

We'd call that rust free up here.

I'd pay $800 for that rig if it were in my town. A couple of seats, a battery and a fuel filter and you could have a daily driver. Please pull that hitch extension off the end of frame if you buy it. One ditch crossing and you'll mess up the end of frame and it'll never look right without a bunch of work.

 

[Desert Dan]

How much spare time do you have to put in the project and what are your plans for the FJ40?


If you can't do most of the work yourself plan on paying big bucks to get it done.

I would pass on this one and get a newer model in better shape.

Your money might better spent on your 4 Runner.

 

[MDH33]

If you could pick it up for $800, and had another $2000 to put into it right away, then I would say it's a worthy project. If you can only throw a couple hundred at a time, that will take your forever to get up and running and I think you'll lose interest sooner.

 

[Hltoppr]

Buy it, change the fluids, rubber and take it to Mexico!

BTW...turn that front bezel right side up! :elkgrin:

-H-

 

[cruiseroutfit]

Its worth the $800 in parts. Its rough but workable. Better than many of the ones we've started with