I recently got my Torino back on the road and I thought some people might be interested in a process thread on how I fixed it up. Here it is at a local cruise night as of yesterday.
I started my search for a musclecar in the spring of 2007. I had decided that I wanted something that could get out of its own way, and I am partial to Fords since they are less common than GMs, but not as expensive as Mopars. I also wanted something other than a Mustang, since they are about as common as dirt.
I was a fan of the "fastback" style on the '67 Mustang, and I discovered that I could get that same roofline on a 1968-69 Torino fastback without the 30-40% premium you pay for the Mustang name. Additionally, there is a lot of parts that are shared between the platforms so parts would be relatively easy to find.
Often cars of this vintage have been heavily modified or had poor backyard repairs done to them, so you want to look for a car that is as original as possible. You also want to get the best car you can afford - usually it's a 2:1 ratio on cost, so by paying $1K more upfront, you'll save $2K in repairs to fix it. So I set a budget of $5000 to buy the car and I scoured through ebay, craigslist and other classifieds for several months looking for the right car.
In July I found an ebay listing for a '69 Torino GT fastback.
It was painted Black Jade - green, basically - and came with a 351W motor, black interior with buckets, factory tachometer, and a toploader 4-speed shifter. It was an original Michigan car, which meant it would have some rust issues. Normally I don't buy any car north of the Mason-Dixon line but this was a well-optioned car in okay condition and it was reasonably priced.
The rust issues were documented in photos. Corner of the trunk:
Hood latch:
Quarter panels:
However, the interior was in nice shape.
The engine was dirty but did not look like it had been radically modified. Some valve covers, air cleaner and an intake.
It had been painted poorly at some point in the past and it was peeling off.
The auction itself ended without the car meeting reserve, and I left it for about 2 weeks while I continued my search. In that time a number of cars in poorer condition sold for more money, so I decided to contact the seller and see if the car was still available. It was, and he agreed on the $5K price.
I borrowed my brother's truck, rented a U-Haul car carrier and drove down to a small town about an hour north of Detroit. Here's a tip - if you ever need to haul a car trailer from U-Haul, tell them you're towing a 1994 Ford Escort, as it's the lightest domestic car in their system and you can use any vehicle to tow with. Whatever you do, don't tell them you're hauling a 3,500lb car!
I met the current owner and he told me the story of the car. The original owner had ordered the car new in September of 1969 and had kept it his entire life. He was killed in a motorcycle accident in 2005, and his best friend purchased the car at the estate sale shortly after. That friend then sold the car to the person I was buying it from, who had the car less than a year and had never driven it. He needed the money for his Mustang project.
I paid the man, loaded the car up on the trailer, and drove the car to the border. On the way down I got a stern talking to from US customs about giving them 3 days warning about importing a car, but that's crap. The Canadian side doesn't care about that, they only want your tax dollars when you show up with the car.
After paying the taxes I drove the 4 hours back to Toronto and got the car safely home.