'71 Torino GT

[82firebird 11]

Well, the seats are finally in the car again, for hopefully the last time. Spent the entire day modifying the Procar seat brackets. The seats are basically sitting on the floor now, but now I have ample headroom and can comfortably get in and out of the car. Would love to spend a day with Procar and show them just how effed up their seat brackets are for Torinos.

 

I realize they took some work, but the ProCars look right at home in there.

[Big Secz 26]

I decided that I didn't like the carpet. It was a cheap replacement carpet from Dearborn Classics. I ordered some new carpet and opted to go with a modern cut pile style carpet from ACC over the original 80/20 loop.

 

So today I removed all of the old sound deadener and discovered the floor pans had a lot more surface rust than I originally thought. Still for being original floor pans I think they are in great shape. Luckily I found one place locally that stocks POR15 so I brushed that on. I also found some paperwork under the sound deadener.

Edited January 11, 2014 by Big Secz

[Grabber70Mach 107]

Looking good.

[Big Secz 26]

Finished the floor and the template for the center console.

[Big Secz 26]

Mocked up the console today, complete with spot for my iPod, two cup holders and AutoMeter gauges. Will test fit it tomorrow.

[Big Secz 26]

It fits. Now I can take it all apart and router the top edge with a round over bit, then it'll be ready to cover.

[Big Secz 26]

Finished the console today. It's not perfect but for my first attempt I don't think it came out all that bad. Perhaps my favorite part is the stitching my wife did. Just a little something extra instead of looking like a plain vinyl wrapped console.

[rd49221 14]

looks great! very professional.

[Rudolph Schenker 14]

Very nice!:smile::smile:

[Big Secz 26]

Today I managed to finish up the interior. I installed a modern cut pile style carpet instead of the 80/20 loop and installed the console.

[SWPruett 83]

VERY nice work! That cut pile carpet looks fantastic in your car. Great choice!

[Grabber70Mach 107]

Looks good, very nice job.

[Big Secz 26]

Thanks. I think I need to trim a couple of inches off of the front of the console so it will slide forward a little more. The template I made was out of chip board and a little flimsy. Cutting it out of MDF, it turned out a little longer than I had originally anticipated. But with the curved design I can pull back the vinyl, cut a little off and re-wrap it and you'd never know.

[9RO1M 12]

Very cool

[Pakrat 1,043]

Yeah, looks great to me too!

[Big Secz 26]

So my next little project is replacing the factory dome light with a dome/map light out of a 2001 Explorer. I wish I could say I came up with this idea on my own, but I saw it in another Torino.

 

I scored the light on eBay in excellent shape for $10. Once I got it apart I had to figure out the wiring issue. Let me preface by saying I'm not an electrical guru, so someone may not agree with my approach. But this is what I came up with.

 

Since my headliner is already in I only have a single power wire to run the light. I discovered that for the 2001 Explorer light from factory there were two power wires and one ground wire that ran to the three prong connector. All three light sockets share the same ground and one power is for the center dome light and another power runs to both switches for the two map lights.

 

To hook it up with a single power wire you have to run a single power wire to where the factory ground would go so all three bulbs get power from a single wire. Then I ran a jumper wire to ground the center light and switches. I used three factory screw holes to connect the wires. You have to run it this way for a couple reasons, first being that there is a cylindrical spacer on the back of the dome light base for the screw hole that I ran the power wire to. This fully encases the screw to prevent contact with the metal roof. The other two holes that I ran the ground to do not have this. They just have a linear spacer still leaving the screws exposed. Also too, two of the mounting holes run through the circuit for the switches, so you don't want your power running to the two screws that mount it to the roof.

 

The down side to a single wire hookup is that in order to use the map lights the center dome light will be on also. With a two wire hookup you can use the map lights without the center light.

 

Another coincidence is that two of the mounting holes on the base match up perfectly with the factory Torino holes which will make installation really easy.

Edited February 17, 2014 by Big Secz

[Big Secz 26]

Finished the dome/map light upgrade today.

[Big Secz 26]

Started the Torino this past weekend for the first time all Winter. A couple weeks ago I tried to start the car and the battery was dead and couldn't even jump the car. Bought a new battery and dropped it in, put the key in the ignition turned the key then a loud "POP" and lost all power. Usually never a good sign. I checked the fuses and none blew. Took a test light and everything under the hood was getting power. Just before I was about the get really pissed I followed the battery ground wire to the block, it was a little loose, once I jiggled it I got power again. Easy enough fix. I turned the car over and she fired right up and the 351C ran like a sewing machine. Now I'm ready for Spring, if it ever gets here. Expecting snow here tomorrow.

 

Thanks to 67Rally for the renderings, I'm experimenting with color schemes. Leaning toward the black/green and painting the bumpers the dark metallic green body color.

[zudman 11]

+1 on blk/grn, Body color Bumpers..