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New member, bought another Toronado, after 32 years...

Posted: Sun Jan 05, 2020 6:07 am
by Torotech
Hello all, Christopher here, new member, just purchased another Toronado, (I previously owned a '70 Toronado GT in the late '80s). It's a 1968 base model, fairly rare only 3957 built, with a few options, 49,000 actual miles, that has resided in a dry barn in Illinois since 1979. I had it shipped to Tennessee, and it arrived, much cleaner than the pictures I had seen of it, thanks to a couple of thunderstorms enroute. Interior is mint (Custom interior package with trim code 088 Buckskin vinyl with optional 6 way power Strato split bench seat), however, paint (code XX Buckskin, no vinyl top) and chrome on the front and rear bumpers is not. They would be mint as well, if the previous owner had had the foresight to cover the car, to keep the mixture of birds**t, dirt and hay debris off the paint and chrome! Just goes to show, even if it's inside, it's not protected UNLESS it's properly covered! In any case, the paint is not in great shape, but to be anything but driver quality, it really needs a paint job. Fortunately, the car is about 99% rust free (only rust-through is behind the rocker panel trim at the bottoms of both front fenders, and a couple of spots ahead of the rear fender openings behind the rocker trim), and there are no signs of any prior crash damage, or repaint. All radiator hoses, belts, and most clamps (one heater hose and clamps had been replaced) under the hood are original, and surprisingly, are not dry rotted or hardened, I found that rather unusual. There is a lot of light surface corrosion under the hood, which will require disassembly and repainting brackets, fenderwells, replating zinc plated parts, etc. But, the motor spins over, and everything is there, and unmolested underhood. I also have the owners manual, some of the original interior hang tags, and the original window sticker. All in all, a very nice, very straight '68 Toronado. Another mind blowing factoid I discovered while checking the car over, the A/C, after sitting for 40 years, is still holding a charge. I put my gauges on it, and it was showing a static charge of 95 pounds! Also, when I removed the radiator cap, there was a whoosh of air, it was still holding a vacuum after the last time it had cooled down, when it was driven into the barn in '79. I've dealt with LOTS of old cars over the years, but these two things are a first for me, at least on a car sitting the length of time this one has. That's not to say that the first time I turn the A/C on, that the front seal in the compressor might blow out. Looking forward to getting it driveable this spring, hopefully will be able to drive it to Murfreesboro, Tennessee for the National meet. I've attached a few photos of it to this post.

Re: New member, bought another Toronado, after 32 years...

Posted: Sun Jan 05, 2020 6:24 am
by Torotech
Wanted to add a few more pics, original post only allowed three.....

Re: New member, bought another Toronado, after 32 years...

Posted: Sun Jan 05, 2020 6:50 am
by Tuco
Congrats Christopher! Looks like a nice car. Especially like the carpet ;)
How do you get it to hang upside down in the car port?

Re: New member, bought another Toronado, after 32 years...

Posted: Sun Jan 05, 2020 7:22 am
by Otto Skorzeny
That's pretty nice.

Have you turned over the engine yet? Oil in the spark plug holes, etc?

Glad there's no vinyl top.

Re: New member, bought another Toronado, after 32 years...

Posted: Sun Jan 05, 2020 11:04 am
by Torotech
@Tuco. Didn't know what you meant for a moment, until I opened the image in a new tab! Yeah, that....I had to downsize the image AND rotate it 90 degrees in order to attach it to this post. Somehow it buggered the code, so if you open it from the post, the car flips. Weird!
Actually, that was a strip of original '70s cringeworthy house carpet that the original owner had laid over the original carpet along with a couple of heavy duty rubber mats. Underneath all of that, the original carpet is like new.

Re: New member, bought another Toronado, after 32 years...

Posted: Sun Jan 05, 2020 11:22 am
by Torotech
@Otto. Actually yes, a good dollop of MMO in each plug hole, a little working back and forth by hand, to make sure there were no stuck rings, then spun with the starter. Didn't have my compression tester that day, though. It was on loan to a friend, who has finally returned it. But I haven't yet checked the compression. I need to pull the tank, and get it to my radiator guy for cleaning, build the carbie, replace the fuel pump, and install the Pertronix ignition in the distributor, and see how she sounds.
No vinyl top was actually a prerequisite when I was searching for my next Toronado. The '70 GT that I owned in the '80s had a vinyl top, and I really do not like vinyl tops. They are a good way to rust roof panels and A pillars, IMHO. So I was very happy to find one without, and especially one in a color combo I really like. Feel that I really lucked out on this car.

Re: New member, bought another Toronado, after 32 years...

Posted: Wed Aug 26, 2020 4:14 am
by Sonny Kennedy
That looks awesome! Hoping to see more photos of your ride.