When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Check out Fusick Oldsmobiles slate blue it’s in a rattle can but it’s probly a very close match to the original .
that is consistent with the picture. I am looking at potentially buying the car. There appears to be something obstructing the vin I'd tab. I would like to know what would be involved with seeing it
Yeah that power steering brace kinda gets in the way of the pad with the id number on it .I can’t really make out the letter on the heads from my phone, but there are some good numbers guys on this site that might be able to help
Here is the color from Fusick. As stated, the pad is kind of hard to see in the car, but the trans partial vin is easily accessible.
Trans vin is on the ear just behind the metal tag
As seen in car
Close up of vin pad area on trans
Better chain pic:
Donald,
Just one thing to keep in mind. Outside of mechanical parts common to multiple years, very little is made for 68 Toronados even compared to 66 and 67. Also, many parts like the grills, tail lights, reverse lights, wheel well moldings, and certain interior parts are one year only. Even the front and rear bumpers and specific to 68 although 69 can be made to work in a pinch. The point is to take stock of anything missing on the car and be sure that you can either get it or live without it. When I went to look at my 68 it had been taken apart for restoration before the original owner died and, it was missing the front bumper brackets, grill surrounds, rocker moldings, turn signal lenses, a few wheel well moldings, emblems, and some other difficult to find pieces. Luckily I knew of a mostly complete 68 in a local junk yard that had most of what I needed, but I went to check on it before making an offer. For example, the average price for a nice 68/69 front turn signal lens is about $350 if you can find one.
Good luck with your purchase and be sure to post some pics if you get it.
Better chain pic:
Donald,
Just one thing to keep in mind. Outside of mechanical parts common to multiple years, very little is made for 68 Toronados even compared to 66 and 67. Also, many parts like the grills, tail lights, reverse lights, wheel well moldings, and certain interior parts are one year only. .
the car is a survivor and appears to be complete. Will be a consideration if I ever need to replace anything. Not sure what the book value is, but the motor numbers match and there doesn't appear to be any rust. Minor wear on the drivers seat. Not a 400 hp model - single exhaust. 71k on the odometer and appears original based on the pedals and dash/controls. Asking price is 27,500. Thinking of offering 25.
Yes, I certainly would not let the lack of available parts deter me from bying a nice 68. It is hard to give a value with only a verbal description, but $25K - $30K should be a reasonable figure for a nice driver if that is what you are describing. What options are on the car? Is it a standard or deluxe interior car? A deluxe interior car will have more value and with a Toro, the more options the better. I only bought, restored, and kept mine because of the options the car was ordered with. Not sure if you saw this thread, but this 70 W34 just sold for $41,500 yesterday. https://bringatrailer.com/listing/19...le-toronado-4/
Personally I thought this was good money for the car, but it is pretty clean. It is a W34 but has very few other options and in my opinion 70 is a little less desierable than 68. 66 and 67 usually bring the most. Take into consideration that other than the carpet and headliner (both are reproduced) any interior work will need to be custom made. Is the interior cloth or vinyl? SMS is the only company I know of that makes the corrrect cloth and it is expensive. 3 yards of material for the cloth inserts for my seats cost over $500.00 through my upholsterer. Keep in mind the same guy made seat covers, door panels, headliner, and carpet for my vista cruiser and all of that material combined cost less than the cloth for the Toro. If the interior is nice, the paint is nice and the car is solid $25K should be pretty good deal. They are awesome cars running down the road. Mine has no problem cruising 80 MPH down the highway. What color combo is the car you are looking at?
It's not a W34. Nice black interior, but paint is original white and shines but not like the one in the link. No dings or rust (you can see some Minor exposed metal under the lip of the sheet metal where the factory welds are but no rust) Vinyl Bucket seats and console which may not be as desirable in a flat floor Toro. Power windows. Original radio probably no 8 track.
Yes, I realize the 68 you are looking at is not a W34. I was refering to the 70 in the link. I think the value that the W34 option adds to that 70 vs. the desirebility of the 68 body style on the car you are looking at over the 70 body style of the car in the auction kind of cancel eachother out. Especially since there were way more 70 W34's made. Others may not agree. Flat floor aside, buckets and a console on a 68 toro are pretty rare, so I would say that does add value. Buckets are about the only option my toronado was not ordered with. I do like the strato bench though (also put one in my vista cruiser) and it was ordered with every other seat option (reclining passenger seat back, headrests, six-way power track). From what I can tell by the 68 option price lists, the strato bench and buckets/ console were the same price. It was simply a question of which one was selected when adding the custom interior. See Y69 option description in the link below: https://automotivemileposts.com/toro...equipment.html
I think white with black interior is a good combonation (probably more appealing to most than the gold/ black on the auction car). I really like the cloth interior, but the vinyl should definately be cheaper to fix the driver seat at a local upholstery shop (they can probably find a reasonably priced material that will be a good match). So if you like the look of the vinyl, I would again say that is a plus for you. Is it an A/C car or heat only? If it is A/C is it standard or comfortron? Some fear working on the comfortron system to the point they will pass on purchasing a car if it has comfortron, but if it does, don't let it scare you. On these cars, they are really not too hard to work on if you have some decent mechanical skills and understanding. The later comfortron systems with the "brain" under the dash can be a different story.
It has AC, am transistor radio, telescopic tilt steering, power windows. Not too concerned about the AC here in Tacoma, WA, although it has been redone with current cooling system. I definitely prefer the 68/69 model over all other years. I think the 66/67 are kind of ugly with the front end the way it is.
Not too crazy about front drum brakes, bot the wheels look cool. What other things specific to the Toronado should I look for that might be an issue?
They have a tendancey to rust out at the bottom of the a-pillar. Also, GM used something called flow through ventilation on these cars (slots on back panel between trunk and rear glass). There are vents with rubber covers (essentially reed valves) under the plastic panel below the back window. These allow air to constantly flow through the interior (hence the name) and out the vents in the back panel. The problem is that rain will also obvioulsy get in those vents. If you look in the trunk, you will see large rubber tubes running by the trunk hinges from the bottom of that upper panel to the inner quarters under the trunk. These can get torn or clogged leading to water in the trunk or water laying in the upper panel. So you should check the upper panel in the trunk just in front of the trunk lid opening for rust. The flat front floor can also allow water to pool and cause rust. The Tilt/ Telescopic column brings with it a few things to check. These all had rim blow horns (rubber ring the whole way around the inside of the steering wheel that you press to activate the horn). Most of the time this rubber gets hard meaning that the horn will not activate when you press it, or worse will never turn off. If the horn works that is great because these are very expensive wheels to restore. If the horn does not work, you can fix it yourself if you have the pateince. The rubber on my wheel was very hard when I got the car. If I took a heat gun to the rubber, I could get the horn to work, but as soon as it cooled down it would not. Ford and Mopar both had similar options and their rubber ring "switch" is reproduced. They are slightly different from the olds version. That is what I used to fix my wheel. (see photo below). You will also want to check to see if the turn signals work. These columns use a special switch and I don't think it is reproduced. Does the car have cornering lights? I am almost positive the cornering light tilt/ tele turn signal switches are not reproduced. Unlike the 66/67 cars, cornering lights are not immediatly obvious on the 68/69 the turn signal lens is the same, but there is an extra bulb that comes on only when the parking/ headlights are on and you are turning. These bulbs stay on solid and do not blink. They are designed to light up the area you are turning into. There will be a thin extra wiring harness running up the driver side inner fender and an extra 3 pin connector on the turn signal switch connection from the steering column. The rocket emblem on the front bumper is 68 only and very difficult to find as well if it is missing. It is a plus if the headlight doors still go up and down as you will likely have to deal with a faulty vacuum actuator if they do not. You really should not have much of an issue with properly maintaned front drums. 67 and 68 used a 4 piston caliper 12 inch rotor setup. Luckily, my rotors were in good shape because you cannot currently get them anywhere. If you do want disc brakes, you can put on a 69 up single piston caliper system, but disc brake wheels are different than drum brake wheels to allow room for the caliper.
If you buy the car, something else to consider is that these cars have about 20 feet of rubber fuel hose (more than any other car I know of). If you look at the outside frame rail on the right side you will see a 1/4" and 3/8" steel fuel line. These are the only steel sections between the tank and the fuel pump. There is about 5 feet of 1/4" and 5 feet of 3/8" fuel hose running from the tank to the steel line through the back frame rail and another 5 feet of each running from the steel lines to the fuel pump. I would recommend replacing all of this rubber fuel hose with new. When I ran mine, I taped electrical wire to the old hose and used that to pull the new hose through the frame when I was ready.
Last edited by Loaded68W34; Mar 3, 2022 at 08:02 PM.
If you get the car, another preventative item I would recommend is to replace all 4 CV joint boots. My outers were torn when I got the car so I had to do them, but the inner originals are shaped different than anything new I could find and they looked to be in good shape so I tried to keep them. Within a few months I started seeing little "strings" of grease on one side of the engine bay flung out from the recently ripped original inner boot. I pulled that axle back out and replaced the inner boot. A few weeks later, the other let loose and I had to pull that axle to do the inner boot on it as well.
looks like they didn't accept the offer. No response and no longer listed. Oh well. Given the price of gas I really don't need another car with a 455. Especially one that's over 1000 pounds heavier than the one I have.
Yes, they are certainly heavy and fuel efficient they ain't. We will just have to see what this summer brings, but running premium in the Vista, Toro, Chevelle, and most likely the Holiday coupe may mean cutting back on how often I get each out over the next few months.
Yes, they are certainly heavy and fuel efficient they ain't. We will just have to see what this summer brings, but running premium in the Vista, Toro, Chevelle, and most likely the Holiday coupe may mean cutting back on how often I get each out over the next few months.
my 71 cutlass gets about 12-13 mpg doing 60. It's a mild stock build with 70 heads, shallow dish pistons, Quadrajet, th400 and 323 rear end.
