Rare Parts

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Chazzer
Posts: 120
Joined: Mon Jul 13, 2009 7:17 pm
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Years Owned: 1968 Ocean Mist Metallic, purchased September 2005. Ripped into a kazillion pieces in 2010 for a full blown resto. A few more kinks to work out and she’s almost done.
Location: Ontario, Canada

Rare Parts

Postby Chazzer » Wed Oct 26, 2011 4:51 pm

Does anyone out there in Toroland have any feedback to share on Rare Parts? They manufacture ball joints and tie rods for the first gens. They appear to be the only source available for these items.
Cheers, Jim

TOA# 146

Twilight Fenrir
Posts: 475
Joined: Fri Mar 26, 2010 8:29 am
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Years Owned: 1982 Chevrolet El Camino
1986 Pontiac Fiero
1966 Oldsmobile Toronado

Re: Rare Parts

Postby Twilight Fenrir » Wed Oct 26, 2011 5:13 pm

xgecko will likely chime in, as he had bought both types...

but Kanter also make sa complete front end rebuild kit. Ball joints, tie rod ends, control arm bushings, everything... much, much cheeper than the rare parts parts. I bought the kanter kit myself, (Haven't installed yet) but it's pretty nice stuff.

http://www.kanter.com///productdetail.a ... 39&Prc=182

$312 for everything you need.
TOA #839

User avatar
Chazzer
Posts: 120
Joined: Mon Jul 13, 2009 7:17 pm
TOA Membership Number: 146
Years Owned: 1968 Ocean Mist Metallic, purchased September 2005. Ripped into a kazillion pieces in 2010 for a full blown resto. A few more kinks to work out and she’s almost done.
Location: Ontario, Canada

Re: Rare Parts

Postby Chazzer » Wed Oct 26, 2011 5:32 pm

Thanks for the quick reply!

Interesting enough I restored a 67 Pontiac GP rag back in the mid 90's. I bought Kanter ball joints for it as it was all I could locate at the time. I was not very impressed with them as I recall. They seemed kinda cheesy looking and flimsy. They assured me that looks can be deceiving and they were up to the job. I'll never know cause I lucked out and found 4 Moog ones that looked much beefier and used them.

The Kanter ones are still some where in the storage room!

I heard that the Rare Parts guys were some how associated with Moog, ex employees or ex -engineers...something like that (just a rumour I heard).
Cheers, Jim

TOA# 146

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xgecko
Posts: 455
Joined: Wed Oct 13, 2010 9:21 pm
TOA Membership Number: 831
Years Owned: My first Toronado was a 1968 W-34 with the bucket seats and center console... (weeps gently) It was a New England rustbucket in 1982 after less than 14 years. So sad. But it is what infected me and before I knew it I had another '68, a '69, a '70 and eventually inherited a friend's '67 and another friends '73. After buying my brand new Grand Prix in 1988 I retired the last of my Toronados and pulled the 455 I had rebuilt along the way and put it into storage in a friend's barn where it is to this day.
In Mid September of 2010 I happened to see a repeat of the show where Jay Leno did his 66 Toronado and had an instant remission of the disease which resulted in my purchase of a 1969 in very good condition. I am now in the process of fully rehabilitating it and hope to have it on the road in the spring of 2011.
Location: Gig Harbor, WA

Re: Rare Parts

Postby xgecko » Thu Oct 27, 2011 6:52 am

I bought the Rare Parts Ball Joint only set for about $610. I then I saw that Kanter has the full set plus tie rod ends plus suspension bushings for $312. Needless to say I returned the Rare Parts set as I was still ahead by $190 after the 20% restocking fee...

So far they seem fine. I put a few thousand miles on the car over the summer and it shows no signs of wear.
I have my Fuel Injected Toronado. Life is good! 8-)
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User avatar
Chazzer
Posts: 120
Joined: Mon Jul 13, 2009 7:17 pm
TOA Membership Number: 146
Years Owned: 1968 Ocean Mist Metallic, purchased September 2005. Ripped into a kazillion pieces in 2010 for a full blown resto. A few more kinks to work out and she’s almost done.
Location: Ontario, Canada

Re: Rare Parts

Postby Chazzer » Fri Oct 28, 2011 3:52 pm

X,
That is a big difference in price no doubt about it.

Question for you: when you returned the parts to Rare Parts did they wanted to know the reason? If they so, did they they have any comment on the big difference in price?
Cheers, Jim

TOA# 146

User avatar
xgecko
Posts: 455
Joined: Wed Oct 13, 2010 9:21 pm
TOA Membership Number: 831
Years Owned: My first Toronado was a 1968 W-34 with the bucket seats and center console... (weeps gently) It was a New England rustbucket in 1982 after less than 14 years. So sad. But it is what infected me and before I knew it I had another '68, a '69, a '70 and eventually inherited a friend's '67 and another friends '73. After buying my brand new Grand Prix in 1988 I retired the last of my Toronados and pulled the 455 I had rebuilt along the way and put it into storage in a friend's barn where it is to this day.
In Mid September of 2010 I happened to see a repeat of the show where Jay Leno did his 66 Toronado and had an instant remission of the disease which resulted in my purchase of a 1969 in very good condition. I am now in the process of fully rehabilitating it and hope to have it on the road in the spring of 2011.
Location: Gig Harbor, WA

Re: Rare Parts

Postby xgecko » Fri Oct 28, 2011 5:36 pm

They did not hassle me in the slightest. Rare Parts does seem to be a good place to do business, just make sure their pricing is acceptable. I do not recall telling them why I was returning them but it would not have mattered; they charged me 20% so had no reason to care.
I have my Fuel Injected Toronado. Life is good! 8-)
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67indy
Posts: 1
Joined: Wed Apr 12, 2017 4:11 pm
TOA Membership Number: 0
Years Owned: 1967 Toronado

Re: Rare Parts

Postby 67indy » Wed Apr 12, 2017 4:44 pm

Twilight Fenrir wrote:xgecko will likely chime in, as he had bought both types...

but Kanter also make sa complete front end rebuild kit. Ball joints, tie rod ends, control arm bushings, everything... much, much cheeper than the rare parts parts. I bought the kanter kit myself, (Haven't installed yet) but it's pretty nice stuff.

http://www.kanter.com///productdetail.a ... 39&Prc=182

$312 for everything you need.



will this work for my 1967 toro?

User avatar
xgecko
Posts: 455
Joined: Wed Oct 13, 2010 9:21 pm
TOA Membership Number: 831
Years Owned: My first Toronado was a 1968 W-34 with the bucket seats and center console... (weeps gently) It was a New England rustbucket in 1982 after less than 14 years. So sad. But it is what infected me and before I knew it I had another '68, a '69, a '70 and eventually inherited a friend's '67 and another friends '73. After buying my brand new Grand Prix in 1988 I retired the last of my Toronados and pulled the 455 I had rebuilt along the way and put it into storage in a friend's barn where it is to this day.
In Mid September of 2010 I happened to see a repeat of the show where Jay Leno did his 66 Toronado and had an instant remission of the disease which resulted in my purchase of a 1969 in very good condition. I am now in the process of fully rehabilitating it and hope to have it on the road in the spring of 2011.
Location: Gig Harbor, WA

Re: Rare Parts

Postby xgecko » Thu Apr 13, 2017 5:34 am

All first gen Toros have interchangeable parts for almost everything. In the case of the bushings for sure, and I love them. The handling improvement is likely to be large, although I cannot truly tell. I just know my car handles fantastically with zero play in the front suspension. The slightest move of the steering wheel produces an appropriate output. Granted, I have a custom built Steering Box that is extremely low tolerance, so that is part of the reason for such good response, but the bushings definitely play a role.

The bushings I am referring to are Schurkey's polyurethane bushings - which I would get over the Kanter rubber ones, so that really changes things based on your post. I would consider your application: performance or luxury. Luxury might be better served by the rubber bushings which will provide a slightly softer ride at the expense of chassis response.

Assuming Schurkey is still selling them. In fact, I might want to get an extra set, so I think I will inquire.

I would not hesitate to install them. Just follow directions and be careful when removing and installing from the control arms. It is not hard if you are careful.

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Doc Hubler
Posts: 363
Joined: Thu Sep 27, 2012 9:37 pm
TOA Membership Number: 992
Years Owned: 1967

Re: Rare Parts

Postby Doc Hubler » Thu Apr 20, 2017 7:53 am

I installed the Kanter kit on my car. Really haven't yet driven it yet as I'm just finishing the restoration, but the Kanter parts really did seem just fine and like the originals. I replaced all suspension parts on the car with the exception of the rear spring to axle pads which were not readily available and were still in excellent shape on my car.

I had purchased from Rare Parts many years ago for my 41 Hudson pickup restoration. They had excellent parts. At the time, they really only sold to businesses, and individuals only for premium price, so I suspect that is still the reason for the price disparity. Their parts are excellent also, but go with Kanter for affordability.


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