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This car is of possible interest to me. Does anyone know anything about what can be done about the missing plastic trim between the body and taillights on each side? I know this is a well-known problem for cars of this vintage. I just wondered if anyone knows of a source of replacements, which I'm guessing there isn't one, or do I just look in the junkyards, where any other possible source car will have trim that is just as deteriorated.
He mentions, and has a link to, another '78 Toronado for sale by a dealer, and that car doesn't have this trim problem.
I love the XS rear glass! Not sure why these have crumbled on some cars but not others, I've seen this problem before. I do have a 1978 parts car that has these filler panel, but each side has a crack. The pass side might be fixable, but the drives side would take more work as it looks to have been mashed at some point. If you buy the XS these fillers would be available. John
I have replaced these fillers on two 98's and two toro's this last year. One of them was a white XS. All my customers were able to source the replacement parts themselves. So I don't know the source. None of the after market fillers that I've seen fit very well. So if you find them be prepared to trim and fit a lot. I don't think the damaged or cracked originals could be repaired. Once they get this old and brittle, they just fall apart. ~BOB
All my customers were able to source the replacement parts themselves. So I don't know the source. None of the after market fillers that I've seen fit very well. So if you find them be prepared to trim and fit a lot. I don't think the damaged or cracked originals could be repaired. Once they get this old and brittle, they just fall apart. ~BOB
Thanks for the info. If you do ever find out where your customers got the parts, please post the info.
Nice car you are getting there. My Dad had a 74 Toro with with a red leather interior that he bought new in Texas right before we moved to Chicago. Great running and driving car but even with Ziebart rust proofing that car had massive rust by 1976. It was the last Olds he bought, being the third in a row, and he got a dove gray 77 Lincoln town car when we moved back to Dallas.
and Bob's right those old fillers are too rotten to work with and if they were on a car that got up to speed the wind would destroy what's left of them.
Last edited by texxas; January 24th, 2017 at 08:46 PM.
Your welcome. I think I'd try Evaporust soaked rags (with plastic trash bags over top to slow evaporation) laid on the surface rust to see if you can get it to disappear, since that's original paint. The stuff works wonders.
Hey Jaunty did the sale fall through? I see the guy updated the ad 5 hours ago. Hope he's not trying anything funny.
The sale is still on as far as I know. He may be waiting until my check clears before officially considering the car sold and deleting the ad. I sent him a personal check, which he deposited on Saturday (three days ago) and which should clear this week.
The updates to the ad that I've seen are at the beginning where he talks about the VIN, and he actually did that update middle of last week, before I had officially decided to take the car.
But, yes, I hope he's not trying anything funny, either. He's been very upfront and easy to reach right along, and he's sent me photographs of all of the extra parts he's throwing in with the deal that will be in the car's trunk. He's also sending me an extra hood for the car (he mentions in the ad that he has one) and had me call him to discuss the best way to package it. Seems like he wouldn't do all this if he was just going to take my money and run.
Thanks, but those cars are a long ways away, and I'm not sure I need entire parts cars. This car is intact and needs to be repainted more than anything else.
He gave me this information about the items he's including and the last maintenance done to the car:
I've attached two pictures of items I put in the trunk for you and the car. Items include: a used hood insulation pad, new upper/lower radiator hose, rear air shocks, front shocks, a nice used chrome piece on the bumper below the license plate, two extra XS emblems, original set of hub caps, extra used rear rubber bumper filler, some additional smaller pieces and parts.
Also, I want you to know that when I put this car away I changed all the fluids, radiator, oil, etc.....I also put new belts and hoses on it but of course they are old now. I also tuned it up but again, everything is old and needs to be replaced.
So like I said above, I think the seller is sincere and that the sale will go through just fine.
I had a 1976 regency that had that issue as well in the mid 80s it was a bear to find parts for it, especially the regency only parts. Good luck with it, that's one cool looking car and a great color.
The car is paid for. I have the title in hand. It will be picked up by the shipper on Sunday, and I hope to have it in my driveway by the middle of next week.
The seller, who has been great throughout this, included with the title a factory photo of a '78 Toronado XS sent to him by the GM Heritage Center.
Last edited by jaunty75; February 17th, 2017 at 06:42 PM.
The car arrived in town about 6:30 (Mountain time) this evening. I met the truck at a truckstop near the interestate where it was transferred to a wrecker who took it the rest of the way to my house where it was deposited in my garage. It was nighttime, so I couldn't get the greatest of photos, but what I did take are below. One photo is of the car being transferred to the wrecker, several are of it being slowly lowered into the garage, and one is of it in place. That's my '67 Delta 88 convertible in the background behind it. I also took a photo of the VIN plate just because it's pretty darn cool with that 700005 at the end.
I did a very cursory look through this evening, and here's what I found.
1. I was very pleased to see that both brake fluid reservoirs are still full to the brim. Not the cleanest of fluids, but at least that suggests no leaks.
2. The engine compartment is dirty but otherwise things look ok. The seller told me that he had replaced the belts and hoses, among other things, before the car was parked, and I would say that that's an accurate description of them. They look unused, but a little aged, mostly with dust. Probably a little crispy, too, and they will get replaced.
3. The radiator is full right to the top, and the fluid looks clean and green. It'll get replaced, too.
4. The seller told me he changed the oil, too, before parking it, and the level is full and the oil looks brand new.
5. I didn't look through every receipt in the glovebox, but the latest I came across is dated 2011. Not too bad, as I was hoping it had been less than 10 years since it had run, and that appears to be the case.
6. The very very very FIRST thing I'm going to do is remove the trailer hitch. It looks ugly, I'm never going to tow a trailer with this car, and by removing it, I'll gain six inches of space behind the car so I can push it back a little bit and thus have more room to work around the front of the car. I don't have the biggest garage, but it does hold this rather large car.
7. The door plaque says that the tire size is JR78-15. What does that translate to, metrically? The tires on the car now are P215/75R15, which I'm guessing is correct. They're old and worn, so they'll be going as soon as I can get the car moving and take it to a tire shop. But they hold air, so they'll do for now.
8. The dashboard clock is stopped at 2:38. I assume that's PM. I wonder what date that was.
9. There is a canister with an "oil" fill hole on the top at the left front of the car under the hood, and it is connected to, of all things, the horns. What kind of horns need oil? I've never seen that. I'm sure the manuals will tell (I now have in hand the '78 Olds chassis manual, the '78 Fisher Body manual, the '78 Olds New Product Service Information Manual, and the '78 Olds dealer brochure). What else do I need?
Congrats! More pics...how many of these cars were made?
More pics will be coming. As far as production, I thought it would be interesting to look at production through the entire "second generation" of Toronado, of which 1978 was the final year. All of the variations in the use of "coupe," "custom," "brougham", etc. are the way they are listed in Setting the Pace. Olds varied the naming over the years.
1977
Brougham Coupe: 31,371
XS Coupe: 2,713
XSR Coupe: 1 (I think there is some dispute about this and the actual number be could be as many as a half dozen or so)
Total: 34,085
So just under 10% of 1978 Toronado production consisted of the car I have, an XS.
Here's a shot of the cowl tag. The early build date (8C), which is third week of August 1977, is an early date and consistent with the low VIN serial number.
I don't know of a VIN decoder for 1978 models, so I don't know what the other codes mean (other than the "LAN" of course, and I know that the first "3" in the top line means Oldsmobile and the 57 means hardtop coupe).
According to the 1978 paint chip chart, code 79 corresponds to "Dark Carmine Poly," but I would think my car is redder than that and looks more like the chip above, code 77, "Carmine Red Poly," In any event, 1978 is late enough that I ought to be able to get an original invoice from the GM Heritage Center, and maybe that will have the color name on it.
More pics will be coming. As far as production, I thought it would be interesting to look at production through the entire "second generation" of Toronado, of which 1978 was the final year. All of the variations in the use of "coupe," "custom," "brougham", etc. are the way they are listed in Setting the Pace. Olds varied the naming over the years.
1977
Brougham Coupe: 31,371
XS Coupe: 2,713
XSR Coupe: 1 (I think there is some dispute about this and the actual number be could be as many as a half dozen or so)
Total: 34,085
So just under 10% of 1978 Toronado production consisted of the car I have, an XS.
Here's a shot of the cowl tag. The early build date (8C), which is third week of August 1977, is an early date and consistent with the low VIN serial number.
I don't know of a VIN decoder for 1978 models, so I don't know what the other codes mean (other than the "LAN" of course, and I know that the first "3" in the top line means Oldsmobile and the 57 means hardtop coupe).
According to the 1978 paint chip chart, code 79 corresponds to "Dark Carmine Poly," but I would think my car is redder than that and looks more like the chip above, code 77, "Carmine Red Poly," In any event, 1978 is late enough that I ought to be able to get an original invoice from the GM Heritage Center, and maybe that will have the color name on it.
In your production figures, you show on 77 XSR as being built, from all the files, 1 is all that is on record. Then, you said there is some dispute on maybe half a dozen could have been built. Both figures are incorrect. Two XSR prototypes were built, body # 48 and #55. Both built on the first week of 77 model production in June 1976 as pilot cars. That was it. Orders that were already taken were now cancelled and the production XS with the moonroof, not the power t tops, started being produced for a total of 2712 XS cars along with the two XSRs for a total figure of 2714 wrap around rear window 77 Toronados. The XS carried on one more year into 1978. Here is a rare photo of the two XSRs taken together in 2011 just after the silver car was found locked away in a GM storage building. The red car was discovered to still exist in the early 90s, also hiding in storage. This photo, is the first time a photo was ever taken of the two cars together including when they were new. This photo finally solved the myth about only one XSR being built. These two are it folks. You are not going to find another XSR.
Last edited by Herbie; February 27th, 2017 at 08:51 AM.
In your production figures, you show on 77 XSR as being built, from all the files, 1 is all that is on record. Then, you said there is some dispute on maybe half a dozen could have been built. Both figures are incorrect.
So shoot me dead.
The value of 1 for production of the 77 XSR comes from Setting the Pace. I didn't make that one up out of thin air like I did the story about the number possibly being a half dozen.
It's in the story at the top of this page where it is mentioned that there is a possibility that "several more" were produced.
So forgive me for citing non-authoritative sources like the Toronado Owners Association and the author of the most authoritative book in existence on Oldsmobile history.
January 24th, 2017, 10:38 AM
