I bought a 66 Toronado deluxe in CA this spring. It arrived in Gemany 2 months ago and I started checking for bad and missing parts.
So far I got the interior apart und an upholstery shop does new covers.
I still need new seat foams, 'cause the old ones turn to powder when working on them.... we will see how that will turn out.
Brake parts are complete, new shoes, hoses, master cylinder and wheel cylinders all around.. sadly only the '66 Master and 4 drums....
comfortron, AC, all is there nobody knows if it will work but the Power servo is missing. Does anyone have info on he correct power servo for a '66 Toronado deluxe with comfortron AC?

any help is much appreciated..
in an other thread I attched all the numbers I found.. if someone can help me a little with the cars history that would be fine..

https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums/...coding-no.html

By the way this was the cardomain page of the former owner

(http://www.cardomain.com/ride/294802...obile-toronado)

..it looked like a solid car but see what happened....;-)

Harald

 

OK the car was here, the work done to it was a mess but on the plus side it started and it drove....so far so good.

Here are some pics of it and the work that was done so far....

This was the engine bay in the ad:

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8185/8...87be806f_b.jpg

This was it when I had it over here in Germany:

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8184/8...f1b86282_b.jpg

I have the aircleaner and such but it still looks a little different...

 

ok I am still working on the attachments...

Here is more:

 

Here are some more shots of it.

I took the body off the frame, built a cart to move the body around, disassembled the suspension, brakes and the interior.
All parts were sandblasted including the frame. When the majority of the parts is blasted I will start to paint them. I decided to go for KBS coating in black and grey. The boxed parts will also be treated with KBS coating's rust treatment.

 

The disassembly of the interior, especially the seats were the biggest mess so far. Some rats had buit their home in the back seat.....
Also a pic of the last owners work to the floor boards. He repaired the holes with bondo and fiberglass.... two punches with the hammer and all holes were open again. Next big work will be the sheet metal...

 

I bought a portable sandblaster from ACE engineering in england a few years ago. It does a good job, but my shop compressor could be two sizes bigger, so I ended with a 2nd compressor to supply the original I have in my shop.

You see I did a lot of the small parts so soon I will be in the KBS business.
The big parts will be sandblasted at a special company not far away..

 

Looking good I love the pic with the milk crate lol

Welcome !!! I look forward to seeing this build

 

I get nostalgic looking at pictures of this part of the process. So much fun.

 

I see you guys also like milk on that side of the world! The rat thought he would get a free ride, didn't know it would be his last! Great start so far! Thanks for posting....nice to see a Toro get some love here!

 

Yes, that was the rat's last ride...but in style in one of the most advanced Oldsmobiles.
Anyway.. I am on the way to get some of the blasted parts including the frame painted. I wonder which way to go... have it powdercoated or take the long way and prepare everything for a treatment with KBS coatings products.

I think KBS is the better way, I could also treat the boxed parts of the frame and other parts. With a special spray gun and a long hose with a 360degree valve on its end I would be able to treat the boxed parts from the inside.

But... yes.. always that but.. what about the rust inside the boxed parts? The RustBlast (a powerful rust remover / metal etch) from KBS will not be powerful enough to get that done. What other chemical could be used in those areas? The very last attempt would be to cut the boxed parts, treat the rust and weld them close again... what a work...??

What did the other Olds guys do to those areas?

Harald

 

More questions than answeres.....

where should I look for front suspensions parts? I need lower/upper balljoints and all A arm bushings and front wheel bearings..

Harald

 

Harald,

Great thread! I love the early Toros, had a 67 many years ago. That body looks like it is in great shape with little rust, is that true? I love the rat photo, had a similar opportunity with a Riviera a few years ago. Looking forward to seeing this car progress.

 

Nice set up!

 

thats a nice shop you got there

 

Today I found some time to address the front radiator support. It was badly repaired in the area where the batterie is mounted.

I drilled out the weldings and separated the U-channel from the rest.. it looked terrible..
Then I started working on the rust with a wire wheel ......

 

After the major rust was gone it was time for the sandblaster... I still do not have a good face protection... all the glasses I use are blind after some blasting...
After the U-channel was clean I mounted it on a flat surface to copy the dimension and shape of it. That will be used as a template for welding in the new channel parts.

 

After that I realized that the gas of my welder was empty, so I addressed to the front A-armes and bushing removal work.
Thank god I've got a lathe and know how to use it. I fabricated some spacers and other little helpers to press the bushings out. Once the tools were ready the rest was a piece of cake..

 

Nice project, good to see a Toro getting a frame off. I'm doing a lot of that type of suspension work too right now, love those control arm bushings!

I bought all Moog suspension parts for an 85 Riviera, got them all for a good price at Rockauto.com. Not sure what shipping would cost to Germany, but they also usually have a discount code as well so do a search on that. At least it will make the order a little cheaper.

Keep the updates coming!

 

so this week was the time to prep the blasted parts for the KBS coating paint. Normally freshly blasted parts could be painted immediatly with KBS paint, but as I had them in my hands several times I did it the long way... degreasing, then the rustblast treatment and then the paint.
The rustblast stuff left a white residue and the tiny fragments of rust which survived the sandblasting showed as brown areas.

I also bought a paint gun with a long plastic hose and a 360 degree nozzle. With that arrangement I also reached the parts inside the frame rails and inside the lower control arms. I can say, everything is coated with paint, outside AND inside.... but it was a real mess.....

 

By the way is there a second source for the big front wheel bearings except fusick? 229USD is not a bargain...

 

Check Olcar Bearing Co.

 

Thx Don,I wil give them a try.

As far as I read those New Departure 907770 front wheel bearings for the early Toronados and '67/86 Eldorados were never reproduced by one of the big bearing producers.

I found those on ebay..they do not look exactly the same and the webpage says yes they fit the '66 and in the same line No, they don't fit...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/310493688730...ddb39a&vxp=mtr

 

I believe Kanter sells them, but it appears their website is down right now.
Possibly due to hurricane Sandy - they are located in New Jersey.

 

Be very careful of parts from Ebay unless you can verify they are correct before you buy, there is massive mislisting due to ignorance and the desire to get into everyone's search list.

 

Hey There!
You have really done wonders in short time on the Toro! That is a massive undertaking my friend.

Can you get any numbers off the original bearings? There are a couple shops in town that stock or can get Toronado parts
http://brakeplace.com/
http://www.cutter-sales.com/
I hope this helps you with you project!
Cheers

 

Ok, the front bearings were bought from a company named old car source on Ebay. They had those 907770 for 159USD a piece... cheap compared to the 330USD a part from Kanter..

The I finally removed the windshield and the rear glass. The windshield was the easiest part, because I was able to crack it right the first time I inserted the cutting wire...;-( Bad Luck....
The rear glass came out without problems...after cleaning the windshield frame the real challenge began... the former owner's repair on the lower part of the frame.... tape and bondo... see pics...
I guess the best christmass gift would be a good dashboard for my.... I have to ask Santa..

Harald

 

Hey Harald,
great work so far!
I was just curious, if you saw the 66 Toro parts car on german ebay, that sold a few days ago?!

 

nope, seems I missed that one....

 

I've seen it only 5 minutes before the auction ended...otherwise I would've told you!
sry...

 

ok, time for a Toronado update.
first the front hubs and bearings. One of my hubs was badly worn and the bearing almost fell off. Seems the bearing was turning on the hub and not on the inner race. The hub was welded and will be turned back to spec with a lathe.
Second, the windshield and rear glass frames. The lower parts look bad and the dash is a piece of art....see pics..

 

Next were the floor boards. What started with some smaller cut outs is now almost a new floorboard from front to rear. I took the opportunity to have a close look at the cross braces below the floorboards. Actually they did look good for a 46 year old car. As they were visible I sandblasted them and gave them a treatment of KBS coatings.

 

And there was a little time to address the badly rusted radiator support. A had a local shop bent me a length of U-channel for the core support. See pics before and after..

 

The rust worm never sleeps. That is a big job, where are you getting replacement floor pans?

 

I'm starting from scratch, got three big panels lots of coffee and a few beers..;-)

 

In the spare time I built a blasting cabinet out of some parts already lying around.

 

It was time to address the Toronado's floor boards. A lot of work, time sheetmetal, coffee and some beers went into them... the pics tell the story....

 

We fabricated a replacement floor from scratch. As the old boards were drilled out the crossbraces sandblasted and painted, the new boards were pre- drilled, the holes marked on the crossbraces an all the contact area was painted with a special welding primer. That stuff forms a tough barrier and seals the area between two sheetmetals once it gets hot from spotwelding.
here is the end result. Next step is grinding the welds a little and sandblasting of the rest of the interior including all hidden areas as air ducts and the space on both sides of the trunk.

 

Two areas still cause a headache:

The lower parts of the front windshield and the rear glass plus the dashboard.
Are there any other body types around were replacement parts are still avaiable which could be adapted to the Toronado?
To fabricate those parts from scratch that does definetly exceed my skills.....;-)

 

Excellent work.

Thanks for the informative pictures.

 

The 66-67 Riviera used the same basic body structure as the Toro but was a rear drive car, the window areas might be the same. As far as replacement parts being available I doubt they would be except from a junkyard and you will have a hard time getting them to cut up a rust-free body - good luck.