’83 Toyota Land Cruiser FJ-43

A Classic With Some Hidden Touches

The Finished Product

The vehicle came out amazing, drives down the road smoothly, and stops on a dime! It’s not the fastest Land Cruiser on the market, but Land Cruisers were not originally built for speed. For more information about a vehicle build like this, send us an email and make sure to check out the video on this FJ!

The Backstory

Columbia

This vehicle was an older restoration we finished back in 2015 for a great customer named Greg as well. Greg’s overall dream was to own an FJ-43 because of the longer wheelbase vs. the short wheelbase of the ’40s, so he had the vehicle imported from Columbia. When this truck was imported, it was before many people were doing it, and now everyone seems to have a non-US spec Land Cruiser. Greg was a trendsetter! This was one of the early restorations we did, and we learned a lot from this cruiser. Eventually, the cruiser was sold off and is now currently located on Nantucket as a summer beach cruiser by another great customer.

Assessment

When the vehicle came in for evaluation, the vehicle was extremely solid and came with a factory issued aftermarket hardtop because the FJ-43’s never came with a hardtop stock. Although being solid, it still had a lot of underlying hidden gems underneath its paint. The vehicles in Columbia are work trucks and are fixed up for work, not show. This serves as a great reminder to try and get as many pictures as possible before ever purchasing a truck from out of the country.

Prep & Paint

The vehicle underwent a full restoration down to the bare steel, where we could repair all the hidden problems. Our favorite underlying issue was someone used speaker wire and silicone as seam sealer! Once down to bare steel, we repaired all the metalwork, and Eastwood 2K primed the entire body. The customer requested that the underside of the vehicle be sprayed with a heavy duty bedliner (bullet liner). This is a very Rugged product and helps with heat & road noise. For the exterior color, the customer LOVED green, so we went with a darker green similar to Toyota’s original color that they offered on the FJ-40’s. The chassis was prepped and sprayed with a long lasting heavy duty chassis paint due to the customer’s plans to drive it occasionally in the winter.

Engine & Accessories

The drivetrain is virtually stock other than the few added comfort features. It’s running a 4.2L 2F straight six cylinder with a 4 speed transmission with factory disc brakes and a power steering conversion. The vehicle had a few hidden custom touches. One feature it had is its ability to have an aftermarket hardtop with custom rear doors w/ factory front doors, or have Aqualu doors and run a bikini top with the custom built sports bar. The vehicle is also sporting an aftermarket performance header, 4-inch suspension lift w/ shackle reversal kit, power steering, Vintage Air brand a/c, Tuffy security console, custom stereo, spray-on bedliner inside & out, Winch bumper w/ a Warn 8000lb winch, oversized tires, Dakota digital gauge cluster, Bestop bench seats w/ waterproof coating and custom restored jump seats to match!

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