I'm going to convert my 66 Toronado to EFI. Any advice?

[762]

The Hydraulic Roller Camshafts from Mondello seem to be in line with the direction I want to go, but like you said, are they considerably more expensive. and I still have no idea which one will work for me. I think I'll give them a call.

Sounds like you might have done done some racing yourself, which brings me to another question:

Oil systems

Since the Olds V8 engines are notorious for sucking the oil pan dry, it's particularly important to manage the flow of oil through the engine. Mondello has 7 & 8 Qt complete kits; is an 8 qt pan overkill? I was also planning on adding oil restrictors.

[xgecko]

You pretty much have to stick with the stock toro oil pan unless Mondello has some that allow the drive shaft to cross under the engine.

What kind of RPM range do you expect to see? If you are going to go over 5,500 RMP or so you will need to do something with your rods; either have them relieved at the journal sides or buy a set from Mondello. If you are going to really push the RPMs above 6,000 you will want H beam rods.

Also keep in mind that as you push the RPM range higher you will need to consider the idle quality. Hydraulic roller cams help maintain a decent idle for longer, so that is an advantage. Vacuum for the brakes is a consideration unless you replace the Vacuum Booster with a Hydroboost unit from an Eldorado (I plan to do this in the fall).

My JM-20-22 will give me good power from about 1,400 RPM on up peaking just over 5,000. Any more agressive cam will require a new high-stall Torque Converter or you will have a hard time getting going.

You certainly will want to replace the pathetic drum brakes with disks and you might even consider doing the rear brakes (Another project I will do over the winter season):

http://www.breznick.com/toronado/brakes/index.htm

You may also need to consider the crank, although you probably have a forged crank.

Yes, oil restrictors are an option; you probably do not need to bother with a new pan, tho. I did not replace anything to my bottom end (I did rebuild it) as I plan to rebuild again in the fall but I did buy a set of the reworked stock rods from Mondello. I sort of wish I had gone with the H beam rods now... not that I intend to do much, but it was only another $100....

[762]

There's a 7qt oil pan from Milodon that says it fits, but now I'm sceptical based on what you said about allowing the drive shaft to cross under the engine.
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/MIL-30305/Application/?query=Make|OLDSMOBILE|Model|TORONADO|Engine+Size|7.0L%2f425

I'll get H-Beam Rods in any case.

This is the first car I've ever tried to customize for racing, so I don't know what RPM ranges I should be operating in

I was talking to a fellow at a car show in Hershey Pa and he had a nicely restored red 66 Toro. He told me that he converted his drums by using the disk brakes from 74 El Camino and that it was a very easy swap. Not 100% sure if I'm right about the make/model of the donor vehicle, but I have his email address and will send him a note and verify.

[xgecko]

You never said what kind of racing you intend to do...

As for oil pans, they all say they will fit but none do. I went through this recently, every single pan claims they fit but they are just going by the 425/455 engine. I know for a fact the Milodon does not fit as I called them to ask. You can see the lack of the driveshaft relief in the picture at the link you sent.

Here is an image showing the relief on a Toro pan:



Did he have an explanation for how he put RWD front disks onto a FWD car? He had to have been lying to you as it is not possible. Unless you mean Eldorado in which case it is spot on as it is the sister car to the Toronado.

The proper procedure requires you obtain knuckles and the upper control arm from a later model Gen 1 or 2 car as outlined in the link I sent. It is also good to get all the little valve bits from around the Master Cylinder. Once you have all these parts it is a pretty straightforward job of replacing the Master Cyl. and hooking up the distribution and check valves. It is best to have some pics or a diagram to show you how it all goes together. All that remains after that is to swap the knuckles.

I went with Slotted and Cross Drilled rotors from Royalty Rotors; there is another outfit that makes comparable rotors. I think it will be worth it for the cooler running, and if you are racing any kind of road style racing you probably will want them. I got mine at A1Auto but I think JCWhitney carries a similar line.

[762]

An Eldorado is most likely what was used for the disk brake conversion. All that I could remember was El Camino. I knew it was El something...
is it possible to have a four wheel disk brake system for the Toronado?


I was thinking of oval track racing or maybe just racing for time. There must be a class for people like me who want to put high performance parts on their vehicles and race them without going all crazy and putting in roll cages and stripping them down to the bone.

[xgecko]

As long as you don't want to do a whole lot of drag racing then the car is as good a choice as any. I do believe there are classes of races for what you want.

It had to be an Eldorado, and yes, you can scavenge the rear disks from a late gen 2 eldorado; I recently purchased just such a car for this reason. I have not done the upgrade yet; that will happen over the next winter season, but I understand it is fairly straighforward. I am also going to convert to the hydroboost system to replace the vacuum boosted braking.

[762]

No drag racing for me, but road racing of some sort is what I'm interested in.

It's good to know that there are 4 wheel disk brake options so I'll keep an eye on craigslist and see if I can find an Eldorado for cheap. I'm going to have to read up on vacuum boosted braking.

Hotchkis has suspensions available for 1966 Olds 442 and Cutlass. Any chance they would fit the Toronado?

[xgecko]

Road racing is good. The car will handle very well for its size if you know how to take advantage of the FWD when taking corners.

I would say there is zero chance these suspension kits would fit. The Toronado has torsion bars in front and leafs in back.

Why are you asking? The Toro suspension, esp. on a 66, is pretty firm to begin with. There are rear spring kits available, and you can get urethane bushings from another member (shurkey) which I have and will shortly know how they ride. You can also adjust the front end ride height by adjusting the torsion bar mounts; look under the car and you will see these bars and the bolt that adjusts them.

[762]

Thanks for all the great info!

I'll be getting my 66 back from the body shop in a couple of weeks (new paint job, seals, etc.) and then I'll start working on the engine.

If everything goes well, I'll have her ready to run by next Spring.

[Sleenda]

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