Seller built Frankencruiser for his schoolteacher wife, who rejected it. Car was built as an Alaskan Vacation Vehicle, has 2 1/2 Old Man Emu Springs, Rancho 5000 shocks.
Vehicle as it was originally offered, large wheels and bumper.
Vehicle as it was originally offered, large wheels and bumper.
Only thing I don’t like: chopped rear quarter panels. This is usually done since they trap water and rust so easily. Much easier to just cut them off. Still it does kinda ruin the lines.
Lower end of lift gate has rust. I can’t tell, can you?
Heres the bubbling on underside of lift door. Owner is including a rust free spare.
Seller works at a hot rod shop. Seller’s previous sale on craigslist n-years ago, was of a nice looking Model T Pickup Hot Rod with wide tires and lots of chrome. Seller also reveals he professionally looks at 400+ vehicle a day, in order to source parts for the hot rod shop which deals mostly in Corvettes.
Seller has owned 9+ Land Cruisers, and he built this for himself as a sort of Ultimate. This car was built up from bits of at least 6 other Land Cruisers, including a rare Two Person Front Passenger Seat that seller has had installed in each of his 5 previous Land Cruisers. “Never seen another one. I just thought it was cool.”
Double Passenger Seat
That Two Person Front passenger Seat is cool.Probably it is unsafe outside the city because the middle front passenger only gets a lap belt. Seller has extra seats with correct fabric, his mom worked as an upolsterer and he’d always intended to redo the seat…
Rear view of two person front passenger seat.
Left and right positions in rear have shoulder belts (though they are notoriously difficult to use Toyota belts).
Rear seats have shoulder belts. They should probably get headrests too…
Frame is from a California FJ60, doors from here, lots of interior from a wrecked one, etc. Each part was media blasted to bare metal and then rust treated and epoxied. He’d considered powder coating the frame, but didn’t because it’s so hard to remove if any sort of repair is needed. Personally I’m glad for that, powder coat is notorious for rusting from underneath. Too bad he wasn’t in Seattle, there’s a place that could have Hot Dipped the Entire Frame in Zinc.
Rust just starting on the OME Springs.
Thing needs alignment, seller set it up with no toe so it wants to wander on the freeway, probably I’m going to take it to Fordahl who is someone who can figure out what shock valving this thing should have. Probably he’ll insist on adjustable, but that’s not happening, I’m more hoping along the lines of having some spare Bilsteins rebuilt…
View of a rear wheelwell. Can we see rust forming inside the frame?
If you’re wondering, all Canadian 60 series land cruisers were 12 volt. Otherwise everything electrical is hard to come by cheaply in the States… This one comes with a set of year-old deep cycle marine batteries from Optima (Canadian 60 series all came with 2 batteries to help with cold start).
New pair of deep cycle marine batteries. These are NICE batteries!
The engine is the fabled 3B. Replaceable cylinder sleeves, internal oil spray to the backs of the cylinders, low stress industrial motor renowned for durability. Drive train is Toyota Heavy Duty, used for trucks. This one comes with the H55F five speed.
3B Diesel, but look at that freshly painted engine bay!
I should add: seller is incredibly nice, like pretty much all Canadians. Funny with low-key humor, enjoyed talking with him. Maybe I’m just not used to speaking with people who are smart and know how to be polite.
255k kms! Thats only 158k miles. Check the 600rpm idle.
Things I need to worry about:
- Vetted? Owner says they took car up on vacation the other weekend, wife drove it, worked like a champ. Hopefully gets me home without too much hassle.
- Tires? I’ll be needing replacements when I get back to Seattle, but they do need to get me to Seattle.
Any-way. I’ve worked out the deal with him. He’ll take off the fancy desirable BC wheels and tires, the ARB Bumper and US made Warn Winch, and he’ll find stock wheels with legal (but not new!) tires, replace stock bumpers, include a unrusted tailgate, and he’ll sell to me for an appropriate price. Also, I’ll pay $250 to get that front passenger seat redone with his fabric.
I’m driving up on Thursday morning, 2 1/4 hours not including border frisking.
I had almost purchased a bus ticket to Abbotsford (share Shuttle from SeaTac, or some other private connector) but at the last-minute I find my father’s going to be driving up to Bellingham on Thursday, so he’ll deliver me to Abbotsford (including border crossings that might take a total of 2-3 extra hours!). Road trip with my Dad! Gosh, maybe I should call and arrange to be picked up at the border?
Bringing with me:
- Headlamp! (Black Diamond Icon Polar)
- Clear work goggles (To protect from grit while scraping at underside of car)
- Tools (vice grips, screw drivers, adjustable wrenches)
- Semi-Completed EPA and NHTSA forms.
- Semi-Completed Bill Of Sale
- Wads of cash
- Pass-o-port-o
CanadianBJ 