1972 Toyota Land Cruiser

FJ55 Wagon

6 - Cyl.

Manual

FJ5526969

Gasoline

Up for sale is my 1972 Toyota Landcruiser FJ55 station wagon. This truck is almost ALL ORIGINAL with a few very minor changes. Let me start out with the history of this vehicle. I bought this truck about a year ago from a seller who lives in Eastern Washington State. The east side is the very dry and arid part of Washington. He purchased the truck from the original owner of the vehicle (who also lives in Eastern WA) but instead of using the vehicle, it just sat in his driveway until he decided to sell it to me. He provided me the very old (70’s era) looking title/registration from the original owner. He also gave me the owner’s manual which was still in its plastic strip. The owner’s manual has a sticker from Man-A-Fre from way back when they first opened for business. He had lost the keys to the vehicle and there was no battery so it was sold “as is” to me. He stated he’d brought the truck to a mechanic who “flushed the fluids” and told him the truck ran fine. After hauling the truck home on a trailer, I started going through it bit by bit. Overall, it was in EXCELLENT condition and it was apparent that the original owner had really loved and taken care of this vehicle. The interior is nearly perfect with the exception of the headliner directly above the drivers head which is torn. The seats are NEAR perfect and the carpet looks new. The dash, like all of these trucks, is cracked. There is no rust on the interior of this vehicle and all the original access covers, mats and tools are accounted for. Since there were no vehicle keys, I removed the ignition cylinder and a door lock cylinder and brought them into a locksmith. Once there, they made keys based on the OEM cylinders themselves. This way, I was able to retain the OEM ignition cylinder/door locks without changing everything. I was concerned about how long this vehicle had sat without being used under covered storage. Based on how clean and rust free the truck was I figured it had probably sat for awhile. As a precautionary measure, I opened up the fuel tank by removing the sending unit so I could see how it looked inside. WOW. It became immediately apparent that this truck had been parked for a VERY, VERY long time. The inside of the fuel tank had ½”-3/4” of solid varnish on the bottom of it which had gummed/plugged every thing up. I removed the entire tank and brought it to a radiator/fuel tank shop where it was boiled out chemically. I was told that the tank was still in excellent shape and after the cleaning it looked great inside. Before re-installing it, I back flushed all the fuel lines which had also gummed up. The fuel level sender was also cleaned up so that it now functions just fine. The carburetor was also in very sad shape as a result of sitting for such an extended period of time. Wanting to do it right, I sent it down to Mark at Mark’s Off-road in California where he totally rebuilt it to the tune of about $400. He told me it was one of the best, un-molested carbs he’s seen in a very long time. The fuel filter was also changed and I added extra in-line filters (directly in front of the OEM filter) as an additional precaution before hooking everything back up. The engine and the under hood area of this vehicle was completely stock when I bought it. I didn’t want to ruin this fine rig by putting anything on it which would detract from the original “feel”. I did however, replace the points ignition assembly with a breakerless PERTRONIX unit. Not only can you not tell that this unit is installed (unless you pull the distributor cap) but it creates a much hotter, consistent spark. I matched this with a black, PERTRONIX flamethrower coil which appears original. I replaced the plug wires, spark plugs, distributor cap and rotor also. The plugs are high quality NGK units not some cheap junk. If you’re wondering, I changed the engine oil/filter too and I didn’t note anything wrong with the old oil that came out of the engine. I checked the compression of the engine and all six cylinders where within 150PSI +/- 10PSI. By the way, if you hate that fact that I upgraded the ignition, I have all the OEM ignition components (minus coil) which will be sold with this truck. The radiator which was in this truck appeared to be the original one but it had developed vertical stress cracks in the upper tank and leaked coolant. I replaced the radiator with another Toyota OEM unit which I had in my shop but I first brought it to a radiator shop where it too was boiled out, flow tested and pressure tested. It’s good to go and is filled with new coolant mixed 50/50 with distilled water. The entire electrical system of this truck works perfectly and it’s obvious that no one has ever fiddled around with it or spliced additional wires into the harness. All of the headlights, running lights, brakes, tail, turn and backup lights work fine. I didn’t even have to replace any bulbs after buying it. There is an additional switch installed (on the very lower portion of the dash) which I’m guessing was set up to control a set of fog lights down on the front bumper. The lights were not present when I bought the truck but the wires lead out to the front bumper. The wiring for these lights is indicative of the quality of work/care of the original owner. The circuit was wired correctly with a relay and circuit breaker. Once the truck was running, the bearings on the OEM alternator soon failed. I took the unit into a very good alternator shop and they completely re-wound the OEM unit and replaced the bearings. It now functions perfectly and it wasn’t made in China. I have no doubt it will now last for many years to come. The truck drives better than I could have ever imagined. I’ve owned multiple FJ40’s over the years and I’m used to worn out/abused steering which is at best sloppy and at worst, life threatening. This truck is TIGHT. It will easily cruise down the freeway at 60MPH with one finger on the wheel and the rig doesn’t wander a bit. The brakes are OEM vacuum boosted and are drum front/rear with a dual circuit OEM brake master cylinder. They stop the truck well and don’t squeal. They are by far the best working, OEM Landcruiser drum brakes that I’ve driven around on. I replaced what looked like 70’s ear off-road tires with a very good set of winter tires. They are mounted on the OEM steel wheels but I don’t have the hubcaps. The wheels are coated in very ugly, oxidized, brown paint. The suspension on this truck (minus the shocks) is factory and in my opinion it should be left that way. The springs still look good and for a sprung-under Landcruiser suspension it rides great. They original shocks were replaced before I owned the truck. They’re nothing fancy but they seem to work well. The underside of this truck is amazingly clean. With the exception of being coated in cat hair in several places (like I said, I think it spent years in a covered garage) it shows no indication that it was ever abused off-road. There’s no tell-tale mud packed in every crevice. The drivetrain is all stock of course and the engine is mated to the OEM 3 speed transmission and transfer case. Both the transmission and transfer case are the desirable floor shifted units instead of the “3 on the tree” or the vacuum shifted transfer case. I replaced the exhaust system from nearly the stock exhaust manifold back to the tailpipe with a very “OEM style” muffler which runs nice and quiet. When I bought the truck the odometer read 996 miles. When I started driving it, I realized that the speedometer worked fine but that only the tenths on the odometer where moving. When I took it apart, I realized that the entire odometer assembly, minus the tenths, had gummed up and frozen in place. I can not tell you when this would have occurred or how many miles where put on this truck before I bought it. If you look at the overall condition of the vehicle it quickly becomes apparent that there’s just no way this truck has seen very many miles over the course of its life. I replaced the entire speedometer assembly with another OEM unit which now shows just over 20,700 miles, this replacement unit has now also ceased to function. I believe on the of the internal plastic gears finally gave up. The engine is VERY strong and doesn’t ping or knock under acceleration. It runs quietly too and doesn’t leak oil. The engine photos are really how clean the engine/components are. No, I didn’t spend hours scraping grease from everything. The exterior of the engine is nice and dry and the oil stays where it should; in the engine. There is however, a very small leak at the rear of the oil pan. It’s very small; as in a few drops on the driveway over time. So, the real downside to this truck was the horrible paint. It was obvious that it had been cheaply painted several times and much of the paint was peeling off in big flakes. However, the body of this truck, from sitting covered, is in absolutely beautiful condition. The factory undercoating is intact and strong. The only rust hole I can find on this vehicle is a small pin hole on the very bottom on the inside of the drivers door. Yes, there are a few very small dents but that should be expected from a vehicle of this age and I really think that trying to fill/repair them would be doing this vehicle a disservice. I hated the paint. Since it wasn’t original, I decided to sand it all down and at least get it in primer. That is how the vehicle is now. I meticulously removed almost everything from the exterior of this truck and I spent weeks prepping it. I did not find any nasty surprises when I started sanding it down but there had been some minor repair work done in a few places. This was NOT due to rust/rot but rather to fix a dent. The roof has a repair in it as does the drivers side front fender. There is lead/solid metal body filler on (which I believe was done by Toyota) on the upper corners of the windshield frame and the very top of the rear fenderwells. Again, I think this solid metal filler was done when Toyota joined two pieces of metal together and needed to smooth the joint. There is also a small amount of bondo (for a collision repair) on the rear drivers side quarter panel. I can confidently say that none of this is from rust/rot because the back side of these panels is just fine. If you don’t believe me, come see it for yourself. This truck is by far the cleanest example of an original FJ55 that I have ever seen. If you know anything about FJ55’s you can sympathize with a comment my friend made “Yeah, those came with body rust from the factory”. Since this vehicle is only in primer, I am willing to let you sand off some of the paint just to test and see if what I’m telling you is the truth. If you’re only coming to kick the tires and hem/haw then think again. If you’re truly serious then we can easily work something out. By the way, I used Gillespie Red Oxide Primer on this vehicle which is the civilian equivalent to what the military primes all their trucks/tanks with. It’s very good stuff and I use it on all my vehicles. The primer shows watermarks in some spots BECAUSE IT’S PRIMER and not intended as a topcoat. So, that is the history and the good stuff about this vehicle. Here is my one major complaint about it. The carburetor is still not quite right. It idles fine, runs down the road fine, and makes great power on the “F” engine BUT, it stutters a bit sometimes time you try and accelerate off of idle. I spoke with another guy who told me he had this EXACT SAME PROBLEM after sending a carb to get worked on. At this point, I need the driveway space badly and I simply don’t have the time or patience left to remove the carb, drain it and ship it back down to California so that the problem can by properly addressed. That is my major gripe with this truck. I can live with the torn headliner. Just so it’s covered, all the glass in this truck is fine and the window regulators all function as they should. The front windshield does have a small rock chip in it. The classic, electrically driven rear window does not work as a result of the weak plastic gear which gave up the ghost some time ago. The new gear is about $75 from Specter Off Road and the electrical motor itself functions fine. The FJ55 is missing the OEM side mirrors and somewhere along the line someone felt it wise to install big, dumb, trucker style mirrors in their place. To add these stupid mirrors, they drilled two small holes in each front driver/passenger door so that the big mirror could be properly supported. Why someone would do that irritates me to no end. Anyway, I fixed the holes (4 total) but they can still be seen in the primer. Before a final topcoat is applied, they will need additional blending work so they can’t be seen. The weatherstripping on this truck is all original and it’s certainly showing it’s advanced age. The truck still runs quiet down the road but if you really want to restore this truck right all the weatherstripping will need to be replaced/updated. Because of this, I didn’t get overly crazy with painting the door jambs. If you’re really serious, you’ll strip the old weatherstripping out completely, paint the door jambs perfectly and then start afresh with new weatherstripping. That’s the truck and I’ve tried to cover it as best as I can. Being a Landcruiser nut, I cannot allow this fine, fine rig to sit out in the rain any longer. It needs to go to a home where it can be stored undercover and properly taken care of. I have an extensive FJ40 project in my garage now and just no time for this rig. I can’t bear the thought of it growing green slime from lack of use. Like I said, this is a great opportunity to own a very, very clean FJ55 which is ready to be final painted in whatever color scheme you choose. I have a clean Washington State vehicle title in hand and the truck has current registration through April/2011. Just because I didn't mention this before, the 4WD system works flawlessly and the front axle is equipped with WARN manual locking hubs. On 05/08/2010, I drove this truck almost 200 miles North/South on Interstate 5 with ZERO issues. It runs VERY well and is a pleasure to ride in. I'd have no qualms about driving anywhere. Just so it's said, I'm more than happy to work with you on arranging commercial shipping WHICH YOU WILL PAY FOR or you can just drop by and pick it up. If you have questions, I’d much rather you call me instead of email because I have very limited internet options out where I live. Call Ross at 360-305-6861, Thanks