From Ivan P – This is a great project, but I will never get to it. It’s been sitting in my garage since 1986. I rode in it before the guy who gave it to me took the engine and trans out. The engine is disassembled and in boxes. The transmission looks intact. The body has some rust holes, but is in generally good shape. I can’t get under it any longer though to see if there are any rust holes in the chassis.
Ivan didn’t give us all the specs, but I’m guessing that engine-in-a-box is the original inline-six. That’s what these came with from the factory and that exhaust manifold looks right. I don’t see any reason to believe that anyone has “upgraded” it. The Land Cruiser may have started life as a Jeep copycat, but they really came into their own as Toyota made many improvements throughout production. Today they are hugely popular with collectors and outdoor enthusiasts for a reason.
Obviously, there is some rust, but that seems to be a common problem with these rigs. Panels and parts are available so the restoration shouldn’t be anymore difficult than a Jeep. We even found solid used frames online for a couple grand. Hopefully, a full replacement won’t be needed here, but as with any restoration project like this, plan for the worst and hope for the best.
This is going to a big project so hopefully it goes to someone with the resources to finish it. Ivan never got the change to drive it, so hopefully the next owner will at least send him a couple of photos once it’s done so he can have the satisfaction of knowing that it’s back on the road. It’s located in Astoria, New York and Ivan would like to get $3,000 for everything.
You can contact him via email here if you’re interested. Thanks for listing this with us Ivan!
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Decent price but I couldn’t afford it right now, let alone travel all the way across the US to go and get it. They were a great little rig, though. Much better than a Jeep!
I hear that often I recently sold the other one I had (worse condition) but the guy was local
Update: This is an FJ40 intake & exhaust manifold. What’s pictured is an old “hotrod update kit.” Take a look at one here: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Performance-Exhaust-Header-Toyota-Land-Cruiser-1F-2F-FJ40-45-FJ55-FJ60-Manifold-/361553594887
I could’ve sworn that the exhaust manifold in the photo was one side of a small block Chevy, the common replacement engine for this type of vehicle. However that really doesn’t interest me. I’m interested in finding a diesel version. I had a line on a ’78 model that an insurance company had written off because someone filled it with gas and damaged the motor. It didn’t have as much rust as this one and I could’ve gotten it for less than $2K (it sold for $1500.00). True the diesel engines are horrendously expensive to repair but since I’m in the diesel business I could’ve rebuilt it quite economically. It wouldn’t have the performance of the six cyl. and definitely wouldn’t go like an SBC but it would make my eyes water for many years to come…
If you look closely, there are six tubes that run into the collector. It’s an I6.
Wow very cool. I would love to have one as a daily driver.
I`s love for you to have this one
No you wouldn’t, I ran one for several years while working in the oilfield and it was loud and rough. I’d come back from an hour drive exhausted and that was when I was in my 20’s. It would go anywhere, was reliable and looked cool but that’s about it.
Geomechs, I’ve worked on many SB chevs over the last 40 years but I’ve never seen one with 6 exhaust ports on the LHS. My current 1971 FJ45 is fitted with a 327 SBC and these headers pictured would not fit.
Hi Ian. After I took another look at it, I realized that it wasn’t an SBC header. The basic shape threw me off. Thanks for pointing it out…
Biggest problem with these is the short wheelbase and hard springs, mine would pull all day but on the highway I referred to it as ‘the noddy wagon’, after about an hour you were over the hard suspension and constant rocking backwards and forwards unless you had a heavy trailer to load it up in the rear. A decent amount of padding in ‘your own rear end’ helped as well !
I worked in gas station in the early 80s and the owner had a bright red one with a bad motor. He dropped a ford 289 motor in it and when I lived in NJ. back then .Nothing could stop it, even the deep snow! Bruce.
A guy in Southern California dropped a small block Chevy V8 in one of these and called it a “Toyolet”. That’s true!