1969 Ford Torino GT Fastback Process Thread

[fantasygoat]

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.

[fantasygoat]

The actual restoration process didn't begin until February of 2008, as the body man I had who was helping me wouldn't have space until then. The car lived in my driveway and collected dirt and snow for a few months before heading out 45 minutes from Toronto.

The body man agreed to a finish date of late May on the metal work, but did not start until April. At that point I started going out to the car every Sunday to not only do my own work on the car but to check up on the body man and make sure he was making progress.



As it turns out, the car was actually made up of two cars - the original Jade Black car on the title, and a Wimbelton White car that most of the Jade Black car's performance parts was transferred to at some point in history. Being from Michigan, this re-body wasn't a huge surprise but it certainly made the job a bit harder.



After removing the green paint we found a few major problems, as is common in these kind of restorations. The trunk lid was completely rotten and unrepairable, so a new one would need to be found. Also, the rear panel was severely dented and it would cost less to simply replace it rather than straighten it.



There was some minor rust and accident damage in all four corners of the car, to the point of causing ripples even into the roof panel. Here I am cleaning up inside the torque box area. Most people don't understand the work that goes into cleaning up and painting a 40 year old car. Once the fenders are back on, no one will ever see this part again, but it will be clean.









Cleaned, repaired, primed, sealed and then undercoated. This was repeated on the other side.

It was May and only the driver's side of the car had even been primed, let alone finished. It was obvious that this was going to take much longer than expected.





Work continued. The inside of the fenders were cleaned and undercoated as well - that was the level of detail I was doing on the car, that even parts no one would ever see were being done correctly and to last.



I found a replacement hood in Arizona for $300, and shipping was $200.



Replacement sheet metal for the passenger side, which was really badly rusted out up into the wheel opening area.



Replacement trunklid from South Carolina in mid-body work.



And finally, the rear tail panel from Florida. Coincidently, all three pieces were the exact same shade of orangey red.



A sample of how bad the quarters turned out to be. They were filled with bondo and rust.



Rear panel removed.



While the body work proceeded, I worked on the engine cleanup. This is basically how I found it, after a good power washing.



Around August 2008, the rear tail panel was in place and work had begun on the passenger side of the car.



Painted the engine compartment. Tremclad Semi-Gloss - known as Rustolem in the US - is a perfect match for the original semi-gloss paint.







After cleaning and painting everything. The valve covers still need to be taken off and polished.



Also installed a new aluminum radiator.

[fantasygoat]

October 2008 - majority of the bodywork is done. All the rust holes fixed and assembly for paint begins, as well as final block sanding. Work on the hood begins as well.







The replacement hood was better than the old one but was also damaged from an accident at some point. It also had a lot of surface rust which needed grinding.



A side-by-side illustration of the restoration process.



New lowering springs.



January 2009 - Painting the underside of the hood. We did all the "hidden" parts to save money on prep at the painters.













I also restored a number of items such as the window wiper motor.



Compare this shot to the same one above - quite a bit of difference!



Before sending it for paint, we took the interior apart. What a mess. The carpet was from some other car and several critters had lived in it prior to me taking possession.





Unfortunately, we found some crappy backyard repairs in the floor. Bathroom caulking is not for cars! Also, rust.





So, the passenger rear and driver's front floor pans were replaced. This is around March.









While the body man was working on the floors, I worked on the trim.



Test fitting the driver's seat. I picked the set up on ebay for $100. They're from a 2003 Audi TT.



Finally, the car was ready to head off to the paint shop.





April 2008 - car is ready for pickup from the paint shop.







Assembly begins. While the car was at paint I continued to work on the various parts - cleaning and painting.









Re-chromed trim.







Installing new rubber trim. It takes awhile to fit properly so you install it without glue first to make sure it all fits. Also, since it is much tougher than the original, it causes the doors to be harder to close and the trunk lid to stick up. Hopefully it will settle a bit with time.







Installed the new seats.



Installed sound deadening.



New carpet in as well.



Final trim installed.





Underside fully undercoated.



There is still much to do, and I'll update this thread as it happens! For now, I am enjoying driving it a bit, but not too much with the leaky exhaust that will be fixed next week.

[Anville]

Thread of the year.

[VonDada]

Awzmness.

[MaximumFluoride]

Nice work.

[msaputo]

Awesome, sweet ride. I love Torinos. If I had to pick a Ford it might just be a '70 Torino Cobra 429CJ. Out of my price range though...for now.

[evanplain]

I was skeptical when you said they were Audi TT seats. But, shit, they look great in there. Nice work dude.

[danstiles]

looks great man. I thought you had to sell that thing to start Pop Fuel?

[John]

Great thread, pics and explanation. Weird how it makes me feel that I could do the same thing while simultaneously making me realize that I could NEVER do it.

I am really curious though why with all the attention to detail, you utilized the TT seats. Such a radical departure.