Hey all, thinking about joining the toy. scene. I live in the northeast and there are not very many around here so i am forced to look elsewhere in the country. I have been searching autotrader and ebay and I came across this one for sale from what seems to be a restorer/dealer http://www.vintageoffroad.com/photos/70blue/. It looks real nice and sounds to be just what I am looking for. I plan to use this vehicle as a daily driver, for the winter at least. So the fact that he says it cruises real nice on the highway and all is a big plus. What do you guys think about it? What kind of things should I ask him? I know what I want and this thing seems pretty close to it, ie. V8, lift, rust free. What do you think about using something like this as a daily driver? Will it be reliable? We don't have many wheelin' areas up here but there are some and I deffinetley want a capable vehicle. What do you think of the price, too much? FYI it would cost me about $600 to have it shipped and I would be buying it sight un-seen. Anyway, any input you might have would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers
Peter

the engine compartment wiring looks a little cheesy, but that can be fixed.

also, for reliability, it has a vacuum operated tcase...which isnt very reliable, but that can be converted also.

overall it looks nice!

i've seen a few ads of theirs and everything they sell seems to be freshly painted and in "excellent condition","amazing", "incredible",..........
the tub does look pretty rust free, but unless that truck has a th700 in it, you would not want to do 80 on the freeway.

if i were you, i'd try to find one closer to home or take a trip out west and look at a few of them maybe over a weekend or something. don't ever buy a rig sight unseen!:eek:

but that's just my $.02 worth.

PS: the same guy was trying to sell a 1963 fj40 as an "ultra rare fj25 in stunning condition" about 2 months ago!:flipoff2:

Vintage Offroad? :eek:

I wouldn't buy anything from them. $$$$ Everything is always listed for mucho quid and everything is always listed as the best and hottest thing out there. To me, and this is my opinion only, it would be like seeing a hooker and having her say the video camera doesn't have a tape in it - ignore it :flipoff2: Kidding of course.

I see you're in CT. Saw one on ebay yesterday that looked clean and was in Danbury. If I remember correctly it was stock 2F, but there are a ton of 40's out there. Don't rush. Take your time and you'll find a good at a great price.

.... and don't buy anything sight unseen. There are tons of guys out there, on this board and local clubs that if you ask, they could look at it for you and let you know if it really does look clean etc. That's how I decided on mine that's being shipped out this week from Dallas. I live in NJ, but a budy that lives in DFW looked at it for me and said the description appeared to be accurate.

:cool2:

I looked that cruiser over as best as I could, and there is no way I'd pay 12k for that! Looks like they washed it, did a quick sand job and painted with some crappy blue paint.

They did'nt bother to paint the inside of this perfect rust free 12 thousand dollar 80mph riding cruiser, and the hard top is jacked up above the windshield. I'm willing to bet that there is bondo hiding underneath alot of that prety blue paint as well.

I could see if they were asking like 4k for it, but 12k! I'd pass. They don't even mention what type of tranny it has, and thats because they don't know anything about it I'm sure.

This is the same dude that bought my 70FJ40. Gave what I wanted for it, and had a truck pick it up from California, and take it back to MI. I was in shock most of the time, because I couldn't fathom anyone paying what I wanted for my cruzah site unseen, and paying to have it shipped across the USA. He was a very trusting fellow, and was true to his word. I do not know what he sold it for but I imagine he got a sizeable amount for it. It was a sweet truck!:(
Now I must start all over again!!
I don't know about buying from him but selling was easy, he was a good dude to deal with.:skull:
I think his prices are steep though!

I was looking at all the cruisers that guy has for sale, and although most of them are very high priced, some are prety nice. Like the yellow FJ45 short bed! But the way I see it, the cruisers for 10-15K are worth more like 4-8K and the ones for 20-25K are more like 10-12K.

Here's the link to that cruiser in Danbury that climbermike is talking about.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1872262834

I liked this item from the list of features:

Hi-Performance suspension is smooth on the roads.


I gotta get me a high performance suspension:rolleyes:

2 things I see right off the bat...

1. The odometer has been changed, who knows how many miles those axles have on them?

2. (and this is the deal-killer) No heater. Not much good in the winter without a heater!!

edit: I just saw the description...he says the heater works great, but it's not there! There's a guage where one of the defroster hoses is supposed to go, and the other one is blocked by the CB!

holy shit i never saw the price!! 12k? never mind dude! mine is worth about 5 and i got it for 2.5 so keep looking there are some killer deals out there!

Peter,

If you're not in a real hurry, buy something like a project truck that you will build yourself, according to your own requirements. You'll probably get much more satisfaction by doing that way. :D

Just a thought...

bye,

Custom automatic transmission?

Custom trailer tow package?

"special street bead-lock rims"

What is this guy :smoking:??

As was said.. $5g's, max.

It does look to have a heater (i see a hose running to the core), but I dunno if there's any kind of temp control left...

I would not buy anything from that joker at vintage offroad. ALL overpriced and butchered trucks.

-Brett

Hm, I spoke too soon, I see the heater now, I need more experience with the older trucks, I guess. Sorry, all! I still have a couple months to claim being a dumb teenager, right? ;)

I stand behind what I said about the defroster, though. Tho PO of my '40 put a guage there, and...the hoses won't fit right with a guage in place. He might have a bootie fab setup going to make it work, but I wouldn't trust it...

I think I am going to pass. I already knew that I guess, just wanted to get some other opinions. The one on ebay looks kinda interesting but I think I see some body cancer already coming through on the rockers. The northeast just kills these trucks. I would like to get some kind of project truck but I am in kind of a bind for a winter vehicle. I wrecked my winter beater about a month ago (VW golf) and my Porsche does not like the snow too much. So I would really like to find something ready to go. I have also been looking for an EB, but again nearly impossible to find a good example in the northeast, unless it's some outrageousley priced restored example, which I don't want. I am looking for something nice and rust free that I could take my GF out to the bars in but not so nice I would worry about getting it all scratched up in the woods.

I guess I may have to take a short trip down south to look at some vehicles and either drive one back or have it shipped.

Well thanks again for your input guys! If anyone comes across something interesting let me know, I'll also keep you posted if I find something.

Cheers
Peter

the paint job is a $300-$500 special- notice poor masking around reverse light and overspray on front crossmember

whip antenna mount above reverse light (not filled etc)

rear springs at best may have add a leafs and shocks/shackles look old.

brake pedal is where clutch pedal is (problematic with this type of firewall)

tire swing out post has dented rear dutch door to point of weird metal plate to support it

factory radiator will cause summer overheating problems

as noted, wiring is horrible.

I am glad to hear this truck is out of the running as I would only purchase it to part it out. P.O.S, $4K is too much as is $1K too much.

Peter-

Glad you saw the light on both those rigs. I didn't think the ebay one was worth the one hour drive to look at for myself. "Older Restoration" + blistering obvious in photos = Death Rot.

Don't give up on cruisers for a winter rig. FJ60's are much better in the winter and there's two in here for $2-$3k:

http://www.bargainnews.com/BNO/CatSearch.CFM?type=suv

Remember, no safety inspection back to '77, and it could be another year before we see emissions testing again.
;)

It would be kind of stupid to buy a rust free truck and ship it to CT to drive in the winter salt, No? :confused:

just found another "custom btb typr cruiser" this joker is selling:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1871930184

what a :rainbow: piece of crap!:flipoff2:

Hey Cruiser Nerd, you live in CT? I didn't realize they were still doing any safety inspections, you say only older than 77, huh? I may have found a 75 up in manchester but I was sorta relying on not having to go through inspection. The truck does not really have to be my everyday winter driver, really only when it gets bad out there. But if I do find a nice rust free truck, i will try to do my best not to let the salt attack it (rince it, garage it, etc.) anyway.

Hey 944Pete,

My stock 77 is on a car transport on it's way from DFW to NJ (hoping to get that stock truck out of TX before Nolen drives over it). I kept looking in states like GA, OK (sooners suck), TX, AZ etc. You'll be more likely to find something rust free. Plus, chances are someone on this board or another would be willing to check it out for you. Go see as many as you can in your area regardless of their price. The more you look at, the more you'll know what to ask etc. Not a single visit will be wasted - trust me.

I found my truck posted only 1 place one time and it was on a bulletin board - not an email list. I'm pretty stoked about the deal. There are a lot more out there - just don't rush. That's the hard part - not rushing - I know that :flipoff2: .

Keep looking, you'll find it. I even went to the tlca site and went to the classifieds of every single member club.... then searched for nonmember clubs.

Keep the chin up and you'll find it. Then right after you find it, you'll probably stumble across a few more :D

CT requires safety inspection for vehicles 25 years or older. Royal PITA, It can only be done at Danbury, Wethersfield, Willimantic or Hamden DMV. Avoid Wethersfield as that's where they train the motor vehicle drones.

One of the items on their check list is the battery hold down. The inspector looked for my battery about five long minutes before he gave up. He'd be damned if he was gonna ask me where it was. (It's under the drivers seat on my FJ25) I had my engine crank with me too, another opportunity lost.

If that '75 has drum brakes you can almost forget trying to get it to pass on the brake dyno first time out. I found my '71 in Manchester, and it's relatively rust free.

Hit me direct if you want to chat.

The lights and wheels are :rainbow: but if the rust ain't all puttied over with bondo might be a good driver.

http://www.sor.com/sor/showphoto.tam?xax=8314&key%2Ectx=eddiesidd2189%40hotmail%2Ecom%2D11%2F12% 2F02%2D11%3A27%3A58&backto=%2Fsor%2Fclass3%2Etam

Dang, try this, look at the bottom of the page for the '78.

http://www.sor.com/sor/class3.tam?xax=29825&uu=4594576

Way ahead of ya Jim, emailed him already and gonna call him tommorow. Almost looks too good to be true. Thanks