'71 Torino GT

[Big Secz 26]

Yes, the rimblow is original to the car and it is in excellent condition. No cracks or sun-fading.

[Big Secz 26]

Installed a new Holley 670 Street Avenger carb. Had some issue at first then git it all sorted out. Car starts beautifully, but runs a little rich (little puffs of smoke coming out of the exhaust). I set the idle mixture screws back to their stock setting (since I got the carb after it had been set up for another car) and then advanced the choke one notch like Holley says to do. Not smoking as bad as before but still smoking.

 

Also got a new bench seat console in the mail today. And on another happy note I discovered that the 8 track player works perfectly. Took the Torino out for a spin around the block and listened to Led Zeppelin on 8 track, was pretty cool.

[Mike65 475]

Took the Torino out for a spin around the block and listened to Led Zeppelin on 8 track, was pretty cool.

 

Very cool :thumbup1: Lookin' good.

[Big Secz 26]

Getting some of the grunt work out of the way for the winter projects. First on the list is converting to front disc brakes. Today I finished sand blasting and painting the parts.

 

Anyone know the toque specks for the castle nuts for the upper and lower control arms and the tie rod ends?

 

Here's the before and after.

[Machspeed 219]

Nice car and a steal at $8k. I say leave the interior as is, it looks great. Had a friend in HS that had a 71 GT. He bought it from the original owner back in 79, I think. The car was bright yellow, all original with a 302 2v carb, but decked out such that it looked very fast....i.e. Cragar wheels, rear window slats, front spoiler. The original owner called it, "The Boss Banana". Beautiful car, done up real well, but a turd with a 302 2V. I can't imagine anyone ordering that size of a car with that engine. In fact, it seems strange to me now that that car, being a GT, would even be offered with that engine. Again, awesome find on your part.

[Big Secz 26]

Because I like to get the wife involved when I do stuff on the car I figured making new dust shield to spindle gaskets would be right up her alley. She is a crafty person. So I handed her the spindles and gasket material and told her to let her use her creative ability to figure this one out. Turned out great, couldn't have done it better myself.

[Big Secz 26]

Well the job issue that months back prevented me pursuing my Eleanor project is finally resolved. Life as a federal government contractor can be sketchy some times. My company put me on one last project before laying me off. Turned out to be a blessing in disguise because my client loved my work and they created a job for me. I was essentially able to leave one job and walk into another. So now I am a proud federal government employee and will be able to enjoy the job security.

 

Work on the Torino has been slow. Motivation has been lacking for some reason. But this past weekend I decided to put the brakes together. Was amazed at how easy of a job that was. I put them together on the bench because I didn't have time to actually jack the car up and start working on that. I think I'll work on that early Thanksgiving day.

 

I love how the junkyard salvaged parts turned out. They look like new.

[Big Secz 26]

Well the job issue that months back prevented me pursuing my Eleanor project is finally resolved. Life as a federal government contractor can be sketchy some times. My company put me on one last project before laying me off. Turned out to be a blessing in disguise because my client loved my work and they created a job for me. I was essentially able to leave one job and walk into another. So now I am a proud federal government employee and will be able to enjoy the job security.

 

Work on the Torino has been slow. Motivation has been lacking for some reason. But this past weekend I decided to put the brakes together. Was amazed at how easy of a job that was. I put them together on the bench because I didn't have time to actually jack the car up and start working on that. I think I'll work on that early Thanksgiving day.

 

I love how the junkyard salvaged parts turned out. They look like new.

[70mstang 11]

Gratzz in nailing down a job Big! Brakes are looking good

[70mstang 11]

Gratzz in nailing down a job Big! Brakes are looking good

[Pakrat 1,043]

So what does this wonderful news mean now for the E project? Will the Torino become a flip project or are you enjoying it too much with the family to start chasing the dream again just yet?

[Pakrat 1,043]

So what does this wonderful news mean now for the E project? Will the Torino become a flip project or are you enjoying it too much with the family to start chasing the dream again just yet?

[Big Secz 26]

Pak,

 

I'm going to put E on hold for a while. I'm really enjoying the Torino and financially I'm in the car really well and there isn't a lot that needs to be done to it. I'll keep my eye open for that "barn find" '67-'68 fastback, but there are no immediate plans for that right now. Right now I just want to build a bad ass Torino.:punk:

[Big Secz 26]

Pak,

 

I'm going to put E on hold for a while. I'm really enjoying the Torino and financially I'm in the car really well and there isn't a lot that needs to be done to it. I'll keep my eye open for that "barn find" '67-'68 fastback, but there are no immediate plans for that right now. Right now I just want to build a bad ass Torino.:punk:

[Big Secz 26]

Work on the Torino has been slow going. I ended up installing new lower control arms and tie rod ends. I also cleaned and painted the drag links. Would have installed the new disc brake lines but I don't have the correct bolts and I need to cut and flare the steel brake lines. Hoping I can get the wheels back on soon.

 

I've opted to go with bucket seats, looking at these:

http://procarbyscat.com/seats/Elite-Lumbar

 

Of course that means that I had to find a set of Torino bucket seat tracks which I scored off of a guy on the Torino forum, I still need to source a set of seat risers and a bucket seat floor brace.

 

One thing I miss about the Mustang is with the Torino I can't just open a catalog and order what I need. There's a lot of searching to find decent parts. The hunt is kind of fun when you're not in a time crunch.

[Big Secz 26]

I made a little more progress today. Got the front wheels back on the car. A few more things to do then I can drop her back on the ground and get it ready to yank the motor and trans.

 

Not bad for some junk yard parts and a brake rebuild kit from Chockostang.

[bnickel 10,004]

looking good, can't wait to see it all done. you should get a catalog from http://www.dearbornclassics.com/ they have a ton of torino parts....they even have rack and pinion conversion kits for them too. FYI in case you didn't already know about these guys. it's true that finding torino/ranchero parts isn't as easy as finding stang parts but there are more options than most people think and as you've already found out a lot of the stuff is the same as mustang/cougar parts in fact you should also check out http://www2.cougarpartscatalog.com/ as alot of cougar parts are the same as torino....door handles for instance are the same for some torinos and cougars and if you need hideaway headlight parts for a torino the a lot of the cougar stuff will interchange as well

[Big Secz 26]

Yeah, I'm familiar with Dearborn. They are owned by Ecklers. My biggest complaint with them is their shipping prices suck. I guess I got spoiled with CJP and their free shipping. Right now a lot of what I have been doing has been Torino specific. I have found the Chockostang has good prices and are really helpful. Right now I've been sourcing the parts needed to convert to front buckets. So far a guy on the Torino forum has helped me acquire a set of original seat tracks and seat risers. Another guy contacted me and said he has a the bucket seat floor brace, just waiting on pics before I jump on it.

 

Now I need to find a nice set of headlight surrounds, another part that isn't reproduced. But I have other projects to keep me busy while looking for these parts. Getting ready to yank the motor and trans and detail the engine bay and then address my oil and trans leaks.

 

It's coming together, slowly. Only able to work on it on Saturdays, so I haven't been able to get as much done as I would have liked. It would be nice to have a second set of hands around the garage to help make things go a little quicker.

[Big Secz 26]

Got the new Procar Elite 1200 Series lumbar seats delivered. Still waiting for the seat brackets to come in from Procar and the bucket seat floor brace. I discovered that I didn't need the stock bucket seat tracks as the new seats come with seat tracks designed to work with their brackets. So I have a set of seat tracks now that I will be selling. Makes me wonder if I will need the seat risers or if the brackets are designed to compensate for the risers. So I may have a set of seat risers to sell as well. Will have to wait to find that out. I set the seats in place to see how they will look. I really like them. The quality seems to be really good and the style really modernizes the interior a little bit. I'm going to leave it column shift and build a custom console.

[Ash 145]

I think they look quite subtle and suit the interior quite well. Very clean looking, nice!

[Big Secz 26]

Worked my tail off today. Motor and trans are ready to come out. Just need to round up some help for next weekend.

[Big Secz 26]

Got a little more work done today. Managed to get the engine bay painted. Next I have to swap out the front brake lines and drill out a broken bolt. Then I can start tackling the motor and trans.

[Big Secz 26]

Made a little more progress. Here's the before and after.

[Big Secz 26]

Got the MSD all hooked up except for the coil. The engine is almost completely done. Just a few more minor things to button up. Progress is slow, wish I had an extra set of hands to get this done quicker. Anxious to get it back on the road.

[Pakrat 1,043]

Got the MSD all hooked up except for the coil. The engine is almost completely done. Just a few more minor things to button up. Progress is slow, wish I had an extra set of hands to get this done quicker. Anxious to get it back on the road.

 

I know exactly how you feel but I'm having a hard time feeling bad for you. :rolleyes: